Dining and Obligation in Valerius Maximus
The Case of the Sacra Mensae
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9664144 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jack J Lennon (University of Nottingham, corresponding author), Jack Lennon |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 719-731 |
| Publication date | 2015-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Classical Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-8388 • E-ISSN: 1471-6844 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0009838815000117 |
| OpenAlex | W2605819987 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
The phrase sacra mensae appears in only a select number of instances from the first century a.d. onwards. This paper seeks to demonstrate that references to sacra mensae are not coincidental, and that they were employed deliberately by authors such as Valerius Maximus and, after him, Quintilian, Tacitus and Seneca, based on an assumed shared understanding of their significance on the part of Roman audiences. Although it appears across a variety of literary works and in a range of contexts, the phrase does not seem to have been used in reference to a specific rite or rites performed at the table. Instead, sacra mensae appears to have been used primarily in a metaphorical sense, designed to epitomize the customs and respect attached to dining in Roman culture. Religion certainly played an important part in creating the aura surrounding the table, which was subject to various rituals and superstitions that were discussed by ancient authors. However, beyond the sphere of religion there was the equally important social emphasis on dining, which enforced notions of conviviality and personal obligation between hosts and guests. Disregard of such traditions came to be identified as a hallmark of tyranny, which provided the writers of the Principate with an opportunity to use the sacra mensae as a powerful literary device against those who failed to respect established customs of hospitality
Art · Hospitality · Literature · Obligation · Political science · Section (typography · Subject (documents · Tourism · Variety (cybernetics · Augustinian Studies and Theology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History · Law · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods · Philosophy
Thyestes
L. Varius Rufus, De Morte (Frs. 1–4 Morel)
A Spectacular Feast
The Hag and the Household Gods
Thyestes’ belch (Seneca, Thy . 911–12)
Sallust on the Eighties
Oedipus and Thyestes among the Philosophers
Horizontal Women
An Analysis of Seneca's Thyestes
Competing Endings
The Greek Tyrant and Roman Political Invective of the Late Republic
Religion and Politics in the Late Second Century B. C. at Rome
Lucretius and Civil Strife
The Rhetorical Tyrant in Roman Historiography
| Highly cited | No |
|---|