''Accubitum'' (: ''accubita'') was one name for the ancient Roman furniture

couch A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, chesterfield, or davenport, is a cushioned piece of furniture that can seat multiple people. It is commonly found in the form of a bench with upholstered armrests and is often fitted with springs a ...

es used in the time of the Roman emperors, in the ''

triclinium A ''triclinium'' (: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Ancient Rome, Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek language, Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch, or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to ...

'' or dining room, for reclining upon at meals. It was also sometimes the name of the dining room itself or a niche for a couch. Sometimes it denotes a multi-person curved couch, for which the term '' stibadium'' is also used. '' Klinai'' is the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

equivalent, sometimes also used. Frequently, the Romans would gild these couches with silver or bronze. The

mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person Lying (position), lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a Quilting, quilted o ...

es and feather-beds were softer and higher, and their supports (''fulcra'') were lower in proportion than those of older triclinium couches. The cloths and pillows spread over them, and over beds, were called ''accubitalia''.Aelius Lampridius, ''

Augustan History The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'', "Antoninus Heliogabalus" (Pars II), 19, 25; Schol. ''ad Juv. Sat.'' v.17

References

Bibliography

* Couches Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Roman furniture {{furniture-stub