Cenabis civiliter

Anti-etiquette of the symposium in Martial's Epigrams

Abstract

The symposium as an opportunity for social gathering is undoubtedly one of the most present themes in Martial. In particular, there are numerous scoptic epigrams in which the author mocks those who, from his point of view, were unable to respect the rules that this form of meeting imposes: the result is a gallery of characters made grotesque by their own excesses (thus, e.g., the Zoilus protagonist of 3, 82), clumsiness (see e.g. 11, 31), lack of generosity or lack of attention to others (see e.g. 2, 79, or 3, 14). The aim of the paper is to provide a catalogue, divided by type, of the infractions of symposial etiquette denounced by Martial, considering a peculiar anthropological implication: the banquets described by the poet of Bilbilis are never between equals.