(Aigion, Achaea, Greece, same time)

‘Counterbalanced against the iron is the sweet lyre-playing.’

- Alcman of Sardis, about the Spartans who, through the arts of war, secured enjoyment of the arts of peace

Athenodorus and Melankomas were the guests of honour at a traditional Greek ‘symposium’, a type of dinner-party, hosted by Sarapion. The occasion was being held to mark two events.

The first involved celebrating the wreath of celery proudly worn on top of his golden locks by the still exceptionally beautiful Athenodoros. The famed 19 year-old athlete had just returned with his trainer, 23 year-old Melankomas, to Aigion from Nemea, where he had again won the adult stade in the recently held local biennial games. In the process, he had once more beaten Kallikles and remained unbeaten in all races. The runner’s former coach, Sarapion, was only too pleased to mark such a marvellous victory by hosting the symposium.

The sole entertainment at the rather restrained symposium was, by prior mutual agreement, confined to convivial conversation, with a young pretty male lute-player providing discreet background music. The event was therefore not one when the special guest would be a beautiful recently post-pubescent boy of sound lineage, who would be paraded before exclusively masculine adult guests in order to attract a pedagogue. Such still common activity might have included some eventual nudity and generally non-penetrative sex play, as initial inhibitions were overcome by copious consumption of wine. The occasion would also not be one of the frequent alternative scenarios, when often very expensive female courtesans, ‘hetaeras’, or escorts, ‘mistharnousai’, provided additional company, or cheaper erotic artistes supplied other amusements.

The second reason why Sarapion’s symposium had been organised was to celebrate the imminent departure for Rome of Athenodoros and Melankomas.

(Imperial palace, Palatine Hill, Rome, same time)

‘….knew how to have fun while the wine passed round.’

- Callimachus of Cyrene, about himself

Having kissed both Gaius and Hylas goodbye for now, I walked to Claudius’ heavily guarded ornate dining chamber. However, before I ventured inside, I had to suffer the usual body search and accompanying good-natured ribald commentary from the armed Praetorians on duty, resplendent in their colourful uniforms, comprising garishly plumed helmets, shiny embossed breast plates, kilts of red cloth and brown leather, greaves and the finest boots.

I was, of course, now very well known to the Praetorian guards. Nevertheless, they always insisted on checking my form for supposed hidden weaponry or poisons, undoubtedly, given the accompanying lewd verbal asides, not only out of duty but also from unrequited lust.

The Praetorians also never gave up their attempts to lure me into their beds. Typical of the crude questions that would ring in my ear, as I was eventually allowed into Claudius’ luxurious dining chamber, was "Care for a good fuck, Bicilus, when you come off duty?" I, of course, disappointed them when I finally departed the Emperor’s service to retire to my own room but they always accepted their disappointment with good humour, perhaps because they were aware of the occasional intimate liaison I still indulged with their Prefect, the strong disciplinarian, Burrus.

On this particular night, Claudius surprised me by already being situated on his couch, with another food-taster standing nearby. Normally, I timed my arrival to occur before the Emperor ventured into his dining chamber. I therefore apologised profusely for being late.

"You’re not late, Bicilus," Claudius kindly replied, again without stammering, "because I was early, as befits a good host." I subsequently noticed that the settings on the low table immediately in front of the Emperor’s couch were for two diners.

"Tonight," Claudius then announced, "you’re to be my guest for ‘cena’, Bicilus. Please lay next to me on my couch and the food and wine will be served!" The Emperor was aware that I would normally not have eaten dinner previously, as what I tasted for him was usually sufficient nightly repast.

I was very surprised but also greatly honoured by Claudius’ unprecedented gesture and it was I who now stammered as I obeyed the Imperial command. "Th….th….thank y….y….you, M….M….Majesty," I spluttered. In response, the Emperor smiled and declared "You’re beginning to sound like me, Bicilus!"

After taking my place on the couch, a delicious salad starter arrived and I was presented with an ornate silver goblet, full of undiluted Falerian wine. Claudius then asked a question, as he sipped his own similar drink from the notorious cup, presented by his late friend, Herod Agrippa, which had been responsible for my short incarceration on a horrible galley.

"Did I tell you, Bicilus," Claudius enquired, "that I was once thrown into the Rhine on the orders of my nephew, Gaius Caligula?" The Emperor had not previously informed me of the affair, which occurred when his predecessor had been unhappy that the Senate had used his supposedly unworthy uncle to transmit congratulations for entirely fake military successes in Germania. Any other victim would surely have kept quiet through embarrassment but the present Princeps used the incident instead as the basis for an opening amusing anecdote.

Claudius related the short story so well and humorously that I could not prevent myself from giggling, which pleased him so much that he set out to tell me many other funny tales from his long life. The Emperor could, of course, have instead alternatively told me about many melancholy happenings but he obviously judged that this was not the occasion to stir unhappiness. The result was regular laughter from his young slave, who consequently enjoyed one of the best nights of his life outside the company of his normal friends. Such dinners were also to be pleasantly repeated often over the next couple of years or so, although later discussed topics were sometimes rather sad and serious.

I suppose that some people will consider it pathetic that a Roman Emperor should be so shy and lonely that he sought the regular company of a young barbarian eunuch slave. However, I shall always be grateful for Claudius’ kindness, from which I not only gained great pleasure but also learnt much.

(Domus of Petronius, Quirinal Hill, Rome, dawn, next morning)

‘The truth is that each man’s soul has planted in it a desire to love. It is as much its nature to love as it is to feel, understand and remember. It clothes itself in this desire. If it finds nothing to love at home, it will fasten on some alien object.’

- Solon of Athens

Petronius woke early from his unusually rather sober overnight slumber. Despite being the possessor of a huge bed, the currently naked eligentiae arbiter immediately promised himself to buy an even bigger one.

Petronius subsequently managed to climb off the bed without waking the similarly disrobed Encolpius, who had been resting to his left. The eligentiae arbiter also succeeded in allowing the unclothed boy, who had been lying to his right, to sleep a bit longer.

As Petronius then left his large and ornate bedroom to order breakfast, nakedness now covered by a simple tunic, he grinned affectionately at the two young slumbering nudes he was leaving behind, with both of whom he had made love during the previous night. The eligentiae arbiter’s smile was particularly directed at the younger shape, as the apparently joyous boy had advised him, with seeming sincerity and supreme satisfaction, that he had never previously enjoyed sex with another person.

Petronius shared the delight of the boy, who had deliberately set out on the previous evening to seduce his new master. ‘After all, how else can I reward such a clearly kindly man for rescuing me from the cruel and vile Aulus Vitellius?’ Giton had earlier asked of himself.

(Aigion, Achaea, Greece, same time)

‘They bent to their rowing and with their oars tossed up the sea spray….’

- Homer (‘Odyssey’ 13.78)

Many of the proud population of Aigion had gathered on the quayside of their city’s harbour to express their farewells to their famed young athlete, Athenodoros, and his renowned trainer from Caria, Melankomas. The task of reaching the municipal trireme, which had been named after the champion runner, was therefore prolonged, as the illustrious pair had to walk through the accumulated huge crowd, in which everyone appeared to want to say a personal goodbye for now to the eminent duo. However, the deed was eventually accomplished and the two young lovers found themselves waving at the throng as their vessel set sail.

Their trireme, motion assisted by the professional oarsmen present, would travel west along the Sinus Corinthus and then cross the Mare Ionium to the Italian port of Brundisium in Calabria [respectively Gulf of Corinth, Ionian Sea and Brindisi – Pueros]. Athenodoros and Melankomas would then disembark, to be transported up the Via Appia to Rome in the Imperial coach that would be waiting for them.

Athenodoros and Melankomas had been summoned to Rome by the Emperor Claudius himself.

(Domus of Petronius, Quirinal Hill, Rome, same time)

‘Whoever judges Eros a god less than great is either a fool or one who has no experience of the beautiful and remains in ignorance of the god whose power in human affairs is greatest.’

- Euripides

Petronius was enjoying a light breakfast, or ‘ientaculum’, of wheat biscuits, honey, dates and olives, plus diluted wine, alone in his triclinium, as Encolpius and Giton slept on in his bed. As the elegentiae arbiter ate the simple fare, he happily recalled his seduction during the course of the previous evening by his new slave boy.

Giton had succeeded in seducing Petronius by using all of his wondrous charms, whilst his new master enjoyed supper alone. The boy had played his music to the accompaniment of his own soprano singing. He had then surprisingly suddenly disappeared only to return quickly to display his stunning body, clothed in an erotic costume, obtained by his co-conspirator and new close friend, Encolpius, in whom he had confided his intent.

Encolpius had selflessly not experienced any jealous concern about the idea. The older slave instead realised that Petronius’ strong sexual appetite would easily accommodate and keep happy two young eunuchs in his bed.

Giton had danced to erotic perfection, in the process gradually and teasingly shedding his costume, which had originally and rather appropriately presented him as a winged Cupid. Meanwhile, Petronius’ throat became increasingly dry in line with the slow disrobing and the intensifying throbbing of his hidden erection.

By the time that a completely naked Giton danced before Petronius, the boy’s intent to seduce his enthralled new master could not be halted, even if the 14 year-old had now changed his mind. The elegentiae arbiter was simply too enraptured to control himself sufficiently to desist from ravishing the young eunuch, whom he eventually swept from his feet at the end of the dance to carry to bed. A giggling Encolpius followed in their wake, glad that his friend’s ploy had worked.

Petronius’ happy recall of the previous night’s bawdy events, as well as the continued slumber nearby of his two young eunuchs, was then brought to an end by the sound of loud banging.

(Domus of Aulus Plautius, patrician quarter, Palatine Hill, same time)

‘His road is the road of action and risk accepted.’

- Demosthenes, about Philip II of Macedon

Suffuscus was, as usual at this time, performing his first task of every day, namely the feeding and grooming of his yearling, Bucephalus. The horse would still not let any human near him except for his beautiful young master.

On this day, Suffuscus also bridled Bucephalus, as boy and horse would soon be embarking on a long journey. The 15 year-old was, with his friend, Nero, to revisit for the summer holidays the enormous Campanian estate, which had formerly belonged to Caius Silius but was now supposedly in Imperial proprietorship. However, the 13 year-old prince himself actually now formally owned the property, although no-one had yet bothered to inform him of this fact, achieved through the corrupt dealings of the Imperial treasurer, Pallas, on behalf of Agrippina.

Suffuscus had tried to persuade Nero to ride a horse to Campania too but his friend had smilingly declined, stating "My bottom would prefer to rest on a cushion in a coach!" The older boy was therefore anticipating riding Bucephalus alongside the Imperial carpentum, which, having deposited its important young passenger at the seaside estate, would then travel on to Brundisium to collect two famed athletes coming from Greece, the younger of whom was actually of Roman stock.

The very clever Suffuscus maturely appreciated that his friendship with such a potentially powerful but also highly tempestuous boy as Nero was a risk. He knew that he had somehow managed to subdue some of his younger companion’s worst traits, but he also wondered how long they could be suppressed. Nevertheless, as he and the prince subsequently set out on the road south to Campania, he felt a sense of duty to continue to try to be an intimate for the sake of the 13 year-old’s soul, as well as for future of Rome.

(Domus of Petronius, Quirinal Hill, Rome, same time)

‘We say that pleasure is the beginning and end of a happy life, for we recognise it as a primary and innate good, and from it we begin all choice and avoidance, and to it we return, judging every good thing by the standard of that feeling.'

- Epicurus

(Imperial palace, Palatine Hill, Rome, same time)

‘The graceful thing

Is not to sit

By Socrates and talk

And cast aside the Muse

And all the great matter

Of the tragic art.’

- Aristophanes, wanting more poetry and less philosophy

Apollinus was busily engaged in drying the naked and shivering Britannicus, who had just finished the customary morning bathing process by plunging into the cold frigidarium in the otherwise deserted palace baths nearest to his quarters. As the very handsome 20 year-old Imperial slave did so, he tried his best not to think of the immense beauty of the 11 year-old form he was towelling, including the little erection currently sported by his gorgeous young charge.

Apollinus subsequently dressed Britannicus in the simple white purple-edged tunic worn for normal everyday use by the boy above his loincloth underwear. The Rhodian had then just managed to affix the child’s sandals to his feet when Titus, who would not be 11 until December, emerged at the open arched doorway to the bathing facility.

Britannicus and Titus then played happily together in the prince’s quarters until their principal tutor, the renowned Cornutus, arrived to conduct the first of the day’s lessons. The renowned teacher subsequently delighted the boys by suggesting "I think you’re both old enough to read some of Catullus’ verses.

The normally innocent-looking Britannicus and Titus then smiled and giggled mischievously at the suggestion, already being aware that Catullus, who had sadly died at the early age of 30 just over a century previously, was famous for his bawdy poetry.

(Domus of Petronius, Quirinal Hill, Rome, later same morning)

‘….the most gorgeous boy who played the cithara and danced beautifully.’

- Xenophon, describing a young artiste hired for a symposium (‘Symposium’)

Encolpius had been referring to one of the writings, ‘Symposium’, of the Greek historian, philosopher and soldier, Xenophon, who had lived over 4 centuries previously. He had described such a dinner party held at the house of an acquaintance, Callias, in celebration of the victory of the host’s special young male friend in the boys’ wrestling at the Great Athenian Panathenaea festival.

According to Xenophon, an appropriate provider of human amusements had been hired to supply a skilled girl and boy to perform the post-dinner entertainment. The young pair eventually produced a whole range of complicated daredevil acrobatics, presumably in erotic skimpy costumes, before culminating their act with a pageant of the mythical story of Ariadne marrying Dionysus on Naxos, which ended with the children embracing and kissing intimately before approaching a bridal couch.

"Given that Giton will be literally playing the relevant role, I’m also looking forward to following Misgolas’ habits in respect of young male ‘musiciens’," Petronius added mischievously to his answer to Encolpius’ original query. On this occasion, as well as to the Greek term for professional symposium performers, reference was being made to the Athenian who, like many of his contemporaries, had centuries before been famous for his addiction to beautiful boy cithara-players.

"I’m sure you are," the grinning Encolpius retorted.

(Porta Flaminia [Flaminian Gate], Rome, same time)

‘The city is the teacher of the man.’

- Simonides of Cos

"You’ve exhausted us!" claimed Axenius on behalf of Pliny and himself. The 22 year-old Germanian eunuch was referring to the long walk the pair of lovers had just completed in the very pleasant company of young Agricola.

The threesome had walked round the full 6½ Roman miles of the thick, towering walls, over 4 centuries old, that originally encircled the Imperial capital, although the vast conurbation had long since outgrown this protection, which was so strong that not even Hannibal had attempted to breach it. Agricola had specifically asked to traverse the route in order to gain a proper perspective of the fortifications, as well as see the other interesting sights on the way. Axenius felt obliged not only to grant the boy his wish but also to accompany the 12 year-old. He also asked Pliny to come too, as there was no-one better than the handsome polymath to answer the undoubted array of questions that the highly intelligent and curious child would ask.

Agricola had already made firm friends with Axenius’ slightly older twin siblings, Anacletus and Axenia, and slightly younger adopted son, Arius, as well as with Gaius’ boy entourage and Caratacus’ five delightful children. However, the 12 year-old visitor to Rome was to see the sights only in adult company today, as it was considered very doubtful that any of the other youngsters would maintain either the necessary amount of energy or interest throughout the planned long walk.

Pliny had pleased Agricola enormously with the very first piece of information he imparted to the fascinated boy, whom he addressed by his praenomen. "Did you know, Gnaeus," he asked, "that on the 13th day of Februarius every year, during the purification festival of the Lupercalia, two aristocratic youths, brows smeared with goat’s blood, run virtually naked round Rome’s walls?"

The very interested Agricola confirmed that he had not been aware of these facts. The smiling Pliny then informatively added "The only covering worn by the youths is a goat’s fleece and, as they proceed, they lash out at any women they pass with whips made from the hide of the same animal. Their action is supposed to banish sterility and encourage childbirth!" As intended by the polymath, the boy’s beautiful face suddenly sported a huge grin, whilst his rosy lips uttered a few chuckles on learning about such silly rites. The 12 year-old might have believed in the gods but he did not accept that sensible people could regard as correct all of the ceremonies associated with such deities.

The threesome began and ended their walk at the Porta Flaminia, or ‘Flaminian Gate’, from where the eponymous road heads northeast across Italia. The locale is situated at the northern foot of the steep Capitoline Hill, on which, as previously described, rests the ancient but still magnificent temple of Iupiter Optimus Maximus, along with some smaller but still impressive places of worship for other deities.

Having on a previous occasion already walked up the 100 steep steps towards the massive bronze doors of the temple of Iupiter Optimus Maximus, Axenius was happy that Agricola did not seek to repeat the exercise on this day. However, as the inquisitive boy later passed, he did ask who had been the last criminal to he hurled to his death from the notorious precipice, the Tarpeian Rock, which formed the southwest corner of the sheer-sided Capitoline Hill. Pliny then again entertained the 12 year-old enormously by providing comprehensive gory details of the latest executions, which can be publicly viewed from the Forum Romanum, which is located in the adjoining eastern valley, on the other side of which is the Palatine.

Also at the northern foot of the Capitoline Hill is the Tabularium, which is the state archive where public records, or ‘tabulae publicae’, are stored. The intrigued Agricola had read out the epigraph inscribed on the monumental front of this impressive building, which overlooks the Forum Romanum to the southwest. The inscription states that a Consul named ‘Quintus Lutatius Catulus’ had contracted the construction. "When was that?" the boy then asked of the brilliant Pliny, who instantly replied, as if he had anticipated the question and had already used his polymath brain to formulate the answer, "135 years ago!"

Rome’s old walls enclose an area about two miles from north to south and one across, which includes all of the city’s seven famed hills. The fortifications skirt the foot of five, namely, in clockwise rotation, the Capitoline, Quirinal, Esquiline, Caelian and Aventine. The Palatine and Viminal remain untouched.

The southerly Aventine Hill is also steep-sided and, although within Rome’s walls, is incongruously outside the city’s official boundary. The local residences are mainly plebeian and therefore very modest.

Half a Roman mile to the northeast is the Caelian Hill, which is famous for oak groves. Behind is the larger Esquiline, which to me is rather macabre because it is the location of mortuaries and crematoria, whose chimneys regularly billow ominous black smoke, plus another venue for the putting to death of criminals. Birds of prey always hover above, ready to feast on the bodies of such executed dead. However, a later close friend of mine, who was the eponymous nephew of another character already known to you in this saga, dear patient reader, chose to situate here his magnificent mansion, which possessed fragrant ornamental gardens.

To the north of the Esquiline is the smallest of Rome’s famous seven hills, the Viminal, which is a cramped and rather neglected site housing a few dowdy monuments and is happily bypassed by most local traffic. The locale gave its name to a type of willow, the ‘Salix Viminalis’, which grows there and whose long pliable shoots are ideal for basketry.

Sprawling to the south of the Viminal, in the wet valley surrounded also by the Esquiline, Capitoline and Palatine Hills, is the plebeian Subura quarter. This is an area of contrasts. The part where Axenius has some of his schools, and where Gaius, Cornutus and Servius and Persius and Quintilianus lodge in associated properties, is relatively respectable. Neighbours include many fairly successful tradesmen, such as shop and inn keepers, blacksmiths and cobblers. However, other sections are full of slum houses and tottering four or five storey tenements, which represent the less disreputable and more rowdy abode of the large unemployed and criminal classes.

Walking through the narrow streets of the worst parts of the Subura, where sunlight never ventures, is dangerous not just because of the constant threat of being mugged. Poorly maintained tenements collapse regularly, usually killing many poor passers-by as well as most residents. Fires are frequent, with more than a hundred minor blazes in one day not being uncommon. The main cause is the fact that none of the mainly timber-framed apartments possess chimneys, despite the presence of many oil-lamps for lighting and wood-fuelled braziers and ovens for heating and cooking.

Rome’s 7000-strong corps of fire-fighters, or ‘vigiles’, first established by Augustus, are only equipped with hoses fed by feeble pumps, which encounter difficulty in wetting even the first floor of tall tenements. Their most practical tools tend to be the vinegar-soaked blankets and mattresses used to try to deaden the falls of victims caught in fires, who are tempted to throw themselves suicidally out of high windows rather than be burnt to death. The most useful member of the team of firemen therefore tends to be the doctor.

In addition to these dangers, pedestrians in certain parts of the Subura quarter might encounter items thrown out of windows above. The least worse of such hazards are often the invariably obnoxious contents of slop bowls.

Local smells are also frequently unpleasant. Most plebeian abodes possess no lavatories and so those more conscientious residents, who do not dispose of their refuse by the simple expediency of throwing the waste out of the window, carry the effluent to nearby stinking cess-pits, usually located down dark narrow alleyways. Public conveniences, or ‘foricae’, also do not help to sweeten the atmosphere, as they basically comprise long wooden or stone benches with round holes on which people squat, regularly for long periods as they chat to others similarly situated nearby. They afterwards cleanse themselves with a shared sponge and the more hygienic might additionally wash their hands in a gutter rivulet opposite to where they had been sitting. Rome is a communal society and so, as in the over 100 public baths in the city, privacy in toilets is considered an needless luxury.

Happily, the area round Axenius’ local educational establishments is usually permeated by more pleasant odours. These emanate from respectable inns offering meals, smaller stalls and mobile vendors with little transportable ovens retailing snacks, such as smoked bacon, sausages and fish, plus shops selling aromatic foods and other goods. The main disadvantage of the locale is the paucity of street lighting, which means that venturing outside on a moonless night, into a large but compacted and haphazard city with no numbered addresses and road signs, and few street names, is a challenge to say the least. The threat comes from not only becoming lost but also litter, which often includes sharp stones and broken pottery, can injure any feet that are only protected by sandals.

In contrast to the Subura Quarter, the northernmost of Rome’s seven hills, the Quirinal, is inhabited, like the Palatine, by the rich and is therefore adorned by many streets full of splendid dwellings, necessarily close together because of space limitations. However, even these generally otherwise luxurious homes, amongst whose residents were Petronius, Axenius and Pliny, rarely possess toilets, most families instead using commodes.

Like the dwellings of the rich elsewhere, local residences do display a stone or pottery replica of a phallus protruding from one of the external windowless walls, which is a safeguard against evil spirits. Many children also possess, like Nero, rings, brooches or medallions depicting similar erections and the inscription of ‘hic habitat felicitas’, or ‘here is happiness’. Such ‘fascina’ are supposed to protect the youngsters from witchcraft.

None of Rome’s hills are of any great height, with even the Palatine being only about 40 or so paces tall. Nevertheless, the genuinely exhausted Axenius and Pliny were not pleased to hear Agricola’s next request. The boy made his solicitation as the threesome ventured through the Porta Flaminia, heading for the Forum, where many awesome buildings, including temples, basilicas, law courts, banks and the state Senate and Treasury, plus busy shops and cattle, fish and vegetable markets, awaited them. Also present were the raised rostra, boastfully ornamented by the destructive bow rams of captured enemy ships, on top of which orators addressed the public.

"Can we climb the Palatine," Agricola asked, "as I’d like to see the view from on top?" Axenius and Pliny both quietly groaned at the thought of making their tired feet trudge up the road, the ‘Clivus Victoriae’, flanked by the houses of the very rich, which ascends the hill. Although the top is only about 300 paces from the Forum, the walk represents a wearying climb.

"How about finding a decent inn in which to sit and eat lunch first?" Axenius pleaded, hoping that, by the time the middle meal of the day, or ‘prandium’, had been consumed, the energetic boy might have forgotten his whim.

Agricola, suddenly realising from the reference to lunch that he was hungry, conceded Axenius’ entreaty. However, the boy would not forget his desire, ultimately kindly granted later, to climb up the Clivus Victoriae because of the real reason why he wanted to make the walk.

Agricola secretly wished to see the domus where he had been born before being taken as a baby to Massilia, in Narbonensis, Gaul, after the execution of his brave and noble father, whose best characteristics had been inherited by his delightful son.

When briefing Giton and Encolpius earlier about his plans for the night’s extravaganza, Petronius had informed them that “The Greek symposium, usually indulged only by the rich upper classes, is a highly ritualised occasion and an important forum for forging friendships. The event takes place in the men’s room, or ‘andrōn’. This place is usually relatively small, with a slightly raised floor on all sides, which provides the platform for couches adjacent to the walls."

“The symposium,” Petronius further elucidated, “is generally preceded by dinner, in the form of a sumptuous feast. The tables are then taken away, to be replaced by smaller versions with ‘tragēmenta’, or dried fruits and nuts and other desserts, on top. The floor is swept of litter and bowls of water are passed round so that the participants can wash their hands. The host and guests are also sometimes garlanded with flowers and anointed with perfumed oils at this point."

"The symposium itself then begins with a libation of undiluted wine, or ‘akratos’, using a special cup, or ‘metaniptron’, passed round the participants, in honour of the ‘Good Divinity’, or ‘Agathos Daimōn’. The ritual is accompanied by paeans sung to the god.”

"The symposiarch," proceeded Petronius, "dictates the amount and pace of drinking by telling a slave how many kraters to mix and when the servant can ladle the wine into a jug, or ‘oinochoē’, from which the liquid is poured into cups, compulsorily drained by the users. He is additionally responsible for toasts.”

"Cups," Petronius then declared, "once often comprised the likes of a small ‘kyliskē’ at the beginning but a big and deep one-handled ‘kōthōn’ [containing about two pints – Pueros], based on a Spartan drinking vessel, internally ribbed to collect lees, at the end of the evening. Alternatives to the latter include the ‘kantharos’, which is a bat-eared goblet, originally of the Boeotians and Etruscans, plus the boat-shaped ‘kumbion’ and the ‘lepastē’, which is associated with the verb ‘laptō’, meaning ‘to drink in one go’.”

"Large drinking horns, such as a ‘keras’ and ‘rhyton’, are also sometimes introduced when the revelry becomes particularly serious. One enormous version, called the ‘elephant tusk’ and accommodating two ‘choes’ [about twelve pints (!) – Pueros] is additionally occasionally exhibited for drunken braggarts to attempt to consume the contents in accordance with the verb ‘laptō’, namely in one effort. Meanwhile, conversation generally includes anecdotes and poetry recitations, with the main themes rarely straying from drinking, love, sex and other pleasures.”

Petronius had formally welcomed all of his guests in his atrium, where light refreshments, all of Greek origin had been served until everyone had arrived. The party had then moved to the new andrōn, where a beautiful boy and girl were already playing respectively a cithara and flute.

Next, in anti-clockwise order, the direction in which conversation would be formally allowed to flow by the elected symposiarch, were six further couples. These comprised Axenius and Pliny, Cornutus and Servius, Persius and Quintilianus, Rubellius Plautius and Apollinus, Silius Italicus and Nerva and Gaius and me, kindly allowed the night off by Claudius. A ninth couch was occupied by Giton and the aulētride.