EPULUM DEDIT: ÖFFENTLICHE BANKETTE IN DEN LATEINISCHEN INSCHRIFTEN
EPULUM DEDIT: PUBLIC BANQUETS IN LATIN INSCRIPTIONS

Summary/Abstract: Epulum dedit: Public banquets in Latin inscriptions. The contribution analyses the epigraphical evidence of the Principate period (1st- 3rd c. AD) concerning public banquets (epulum or similar) in the Latin West of the Roman Empire. Such banquets were aimed primarily at the strengthening of the conscience of the members of mainly urban but also rural communities for their socio-political unit, chiefly from the perspective of the free and adult male population. They thus always presuppose also the exclusion of other persons living in the same place: slaves, inhabitants without the community’s franchise (incolae), women and children. These social groups were only seldom included in such events. Conversely, public banquets served to enhance the hierarchic differences within the socio-political unit, as they rendered more visible the main status groups of urban life: decurions, augustals and populus/plebs. At the same time, the epulum was an important instrument for the members of the elite to anchor their private munificence in the collective memory, especially through financing banquets to be held annually on the giver’s birthday.

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