Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Roller can justifiably claim to have pulled the cloth from under an old and inadequate model of ancient dining, and in the process drawn important conclusions about the wider issue of the self-definition of elites and non-elites in Rome... [T]his stands out as a devoted, sophisticated and ambitious study of a central aspect of ancient culture."--Emily Gowers, Times Literary Supplement "Roller's book not only achieves its goal of disproving the communis opinio regarding dining posture but also shows that a detailed study of such a topic has much to teach us about the Roman world."--Carolyn Shank, Gastronomica "Dining Postures addresses a fascinating aspect of Roman social life which has never been given this amount of direct attention before. Its conclusions raise interesting questions and will open further debate; it is a provocative addition to the ever-growing bibliography on body language and social manners."--Mary Harlow, Journal of Roman Studies
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 Chapter One: Dining Men: Posture, Leisure, and Privilege 15 1. Overview 15 2. Reclining and Elite Otium: Some Literary Evidence 16 3. Reclining and Social Integration: Subelite Funerary Monuments 22 4. Reclining and Self-Reflection: Pompeian Mural Decoration 45 a. Casa del Fabbro (I.10.7) 49 b. Casa dei Casti Amanti (IX.12.6-7) 61 c. VI.16.36 69 d. Casa del Triclinio (V. 2.4) 70 e. Provisional Conclusions: Subelites and Self-Reflection 77 f. Grand Houses 80 5. Alternative Postures and the Rejection of Otium 84 6. Conclusion: The Popina 92 Chapter Two: Dining Women: Posture, Sex, and Status 96 1. Overview 96 2. Women's Dining Posture, Ideology and Practice: Literary Representations 98 a. Republican Period 99 b. Augustan Period 112 c. Imperial Period 118 3. Women's Dining Posture and Family Values: Subelite Funerary Monuments 123 4. Women's Dining Posture and Self-Reflection: Pompeian Mural Decoration 139 5. Conclusion: The Ideology and Practice of Women's Dining Posture 153 Chapter Three: Dining Children: Posture, Pedagogy, and Coming-of-Age 157 1. Overview 157 2. Sitting Children 159 3. Reclining Children 169 4. General Conclusions 175 Appendix: Convivial Wine Drinking and Comissationes 181 Catalogue of Funerary Monuments and Wall Paintings 189 Bibliography 197 Index Locorum 209 General Index 215
