If You Eat With Your Fingers, You Might Be a Roman

By Liisa Eyerly

In my first-century murder mystery “Obedient unto Death,” there is a scene at a formal Roman dinner party. I have watched movies portraying Roman dinners, but watching and writing about them are two entirely different skills. What did the ancient Romans living around the Mediterranean eat and drink at dinner parties? Did they drink from goblets, mugs, or glasses? What were serving dishes made from? Wood? Ceramic? Jewel-encrusted gold and silver? Glass? (The answer is—all of the above.)

                                                The British Museum London: Roman glass from the eastern provinces.

Did they actually recline while eating? Or was that just in the movies? If so, how does a person eat while reclining? And, for that matter, who reclined on the pillows and cushioned couches while eating? Not the slaves serving the dinner and removing the guests’ shoes, that’s for sure. Not the working poor who barely made it home before dark to sit on the floor or on a wooden stool to eat a dinner of cold porridge.

By Unknown artist - Theodore H. Feder (1978) Great Treasures of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16084918

At most social gatherings, dinner parties, and private banquets, the wealthy, the aristocracy, and the powerful did indeed dine while lying propped on their left arm and using their right hand to select food placed on low tables in front of them.

Three couches were set up in a C formation in a triclinium (dining room). The optimal number of dinner guests was nine, with three on each couch. This intimate setup was designed to promote enlightening and witty conversation.

                                         Fig74 wall painting from Pompeii Roman banquet knecht.png WikiMedia.org

The most prestigious guests or family members were seated on the center couch, while the least esteemed were placed on the right side, a clear indication of their lower status. (Does this bring back nightmares of middle school lunchrooms?)

Reproduction of a triclinium By User:Mattes - https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6422364

Meanwhile, the slaves or household servants could access all the guests from the center of the C formation, delivering new courses, constantly refilling wine glasses, and clearing plates and extremely soiled napkins. Knives for cutting and spoons for soup were used sparingly, which meant fingers were the standard utensils. Forks as common eating instruments were several hundred years in the future. Do you think licking greasy fingers was socially acceptable?

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Liisa Eyerly’s Secrets of Ephesus series adds a Christian twist to first-century Roman Empire mysteries. Her debut novel, Obedient Unto Death (2022), won the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award and first place in Spiritual Fiction. The second book, Fortunes of Death, releases on October 15th, 2024. A lifelong mystery lover, Liisa was inspired by the Apostle Paul’s depiction of early Christians. After careers in teaching and librarianship, she began writing full-time at fifty. Liisa lives in northern Wisconsin with her husband and enjoys pickleball, kayaking, Bible study, and visiting Ancient Roman sites. 

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