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DESCRIPTION
OF
A
ROMAN
BANQUET.
8l
tifical
banquet,
attended
by
six
priests
and
as
many
priestesses,
the
following
was
the
menu:
First
course
(intended
merely
as
a
whet
to
appetite)
:
conger
eels,
oysters,
two
kinds
of
mussels,
thrushes
on
asparagus,
fat
fowls,
a
ragout
of oysters
and
other
shell-fish,
with
black
and
white
marrons.
Second
course:
a
variety
of
shell-fish
and
other
marine
animals,
becaficos,
haunches
of
venison,
a
wild
boar,
a
pasty
of
becaficos
and
other
birds.
Third
and
principal
course:
the
ud-
ders
of
swine,
boar's
head,
fricassee
of
fish,
fricassee
of
sow's
udder,
ducks
of
various
kinds, hares,
roast
fowls
with
pastry,
and
Picentine
bread.
This
by
no
means
meagre
bill
of
fare
was
far
sur-
passed
in
later
times,
especially
in
the
pastry
and
con-
fectionery;
and
this
part
of
the
repast
was
distinguished
by
the
originality
and
artistic
forms
of
its
devices,
in
which
the
confectioner
rivaled
the
statuary.