Triclinium

A ''triclinium'' (plural: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who reclined on their left side on cushions while some household slaves served multiple courses brought from the ''culina'', or kitchen, and others entertained guests with music, song, or dance.

The ''triclinium'' was characterized by three '' lecti'' (singular ''lectus'': bed or couch), called ''triclinares'' ("of the ''triclinium''"), on three sides of a low square table, whose surfaces sloped away from the table at about 10 degrees. Diners would recline on these surfaces in a semi-recumbent position. The fourth side of the table was left free, presumably to allow service to the table. Usually the open side faced the entrance of the room. In Roman-era dwellings, particularly wealthy ones, ''triclinia'' were common and the hosts and guest would recline on pillows while feasting.

The Museum of Archeology in Arezzo, Italy and the House of Cairo in Pompeii offer what are thought to be accurate reconstructions of ''triclinia''. The custom of using '' klinai'' ("dining couches") while taking a meal rather than sitting became popular among the Greeks in the early seventh century BC. From here it spread to their colonies in southern Italy (Magna Graecia) and was eventually adopted by the Etruscans.

In contrast to the Greek tradition of allowing only male guests into the formal dining room, called '' andrōn'', while everyday meals were taken with the rest of the family in the ''oikos'', the Etruscans seem to not have restricted the use of the ''klinē'' to the male gender. The Romans may have seen the first dining ''klinai'' as used by the Etruscans but may have refined the practice when they later came to closer contact with the Greek culture.

Dining was the defining ritual in Roman domestic life, lasting from late afternoon through late at night. Typically, nine to twenty guests were invited, arranged in a prescribed seating order to emphasize divisions in status and relative closeness to the '' dominus''. As static, privileged space, dining rooms received extremely elaborate decoration, with complex perspective scenes and central paintings (or, here, mosaics). Dionysus, Venus, and still lifes of food were popular. Middle class and elite Roman houses usually had at least two ''triclinia''; it is not unusual to find four or more. Here, the ''triclinium maius'' ("big dining room") would be used for larger dinner parties, which would typically include many clients of the owner.

Smaller ''triclinia'' would be used for smaller dinner parties, with a more exclusive set of guests. Hence, their decoration was often at least as elaborate as that found in larger ''triclinia''. As in the larger ''triclinia'', wine, food, and love were always popular themes. However, because of their association with patronage and because dining entertainment often included recitation of highbrow literature like epics, dining rooms could also feature more "serious" themes. As in many houses in Pompeii, here the smaller dining room (''triclinium minus'') forms a suite with the adjoining '' cubiculum'' and bath.

In later republican times, after the introduction of round tables of citrus wood, the three couches were replaced by one of crescent shape (called ''sigma'' from the form of the Greek letter), which as a rule was only intended to hold five persons. The two corner seats () were the places of honour, that on the right being considered superior. The remaining seats were reckoned from left to right, so that the least important seat was on the left side of the most important. The use of the ''sigma'' continued until the Middle Ages.

See also

*Accubita
* Cyzicene hall
*Domus
* Stibadium
* Klinē

References

External links

Triclinium
(Plan of a Roman House by Barbara McManus)

*{{EB1911, wstitle=Triclinium, volume=27, pages=266–267, short=x

Rooms
Couches
Ancient Roman culture