Nero 6

By Pueros

Chapter VI – Rituals

(The villa of Caius Silius, Rome, in August of the 5th year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius [AD 46])

‘Put in the mortar celery seed, dry pennyroyal, dry mint, ginger, fresh coriander, seedless raisins, honey, vinegar, oil and wine. Crush it together [in order to make a dressing]. Place three pieces of Picentian bread in a mould, interlined with pieces of [cooked] chicken, [cooked] sweetbreads of calf or lamb, cheese, pignolia nuts, cucumber, finely chopped dry onions [shallots], covering the whole with [jellied] broth. Bury the mould in snow up to the rim; [unmould], sprinkle [with the above dressing] and serve.’

- recipe for ‘Apician Jelly’ by Apicius (‘De Re Culinaria’)

The ordinary Roman is not a great meat eater, a truism exemplified by the fact that the word for corn, ‘frumentum,’ also means military rations. This situation is not caused by distaste for such carnivorous fare but by the inability of the common person to afford such food.

In Rome itself, many rely on the corn dole to survive. They often cannot even find the price of converting the grain into bread, relying instead on making a porridge, puls, which is an unappetising boiled mixture of ground wheat and water.

The gastronomic regimen in well-to-do homes is, however, different. Breakfast, or jentaculum, for those who want it, might be bread, covered with cheese, dried fruits or honey, or dipped in wine. Lunch, or prandium, is another light meal, often consisting of well-disguised leftovers from the previous day.

The daily main meal, cena, is usually started mid-afternoon or early evening, after work and the men’s visit to the baths. It can, and frequently does, last many hours, particularly if guests have been invited.

Dinner parties, which are the most important social occasions for the well-off, are invariably showy and elaborate and can be either dignified or disgusting affairs, depending upon the discrimination of the hosts and their guests. Participants recline on their left elbows, on couches set around three sides of the dining table, and eat with their fingers. The meal normally consists of three parts, starters, main and dessert, within which there can be many courses served individually or together. Compared with the lot of the ordinary people, the privileged enjoy a copiously varied, extravagant and expensive diet.

I am aware of a famous cookery book by a noted gourmet named Apicius, whose peak was during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius. He spent nine tenths of his 100,000,000 sestertii fortune on good living before killing himself. His suicidal melancholy had resulted from a belief that he might not be able to continue his exorbitant lifestyle for much longer, even though he still had the enormous sum of 10 million sestertii left.

Apicius’ book can confirm what I relate now and later about banquet menus.

The ambitious wealthy host is usually more concerned about showing off with expensive ingredients, many from abroad, and supposedly amusing disguised presentation, than providing delicious exotic tastes. For example, Apicius’ recipe for peacocks explains only the conversion of this delicacy into unimaginative, rather wasteful rissoles but provides a portrayal of how to make anchovy delight without anchovies, a dish he claims that is guaranteed to fool anyone. As further exemplars, Petronius, in his entertaining ‘Satyricon’, describes a sow’s womb being made to look like a fish and the decoration of quinces to make them resemble sea urchins.

The extensive use of boiling, as a method of cooking meat and fish, and of rich sauces, to pour over the resultant courses, generally leads to a much blander taste than is justified by the amounts of money expended on the costly constituent components. The most popular sauce is the factory-made fish concoction called ‘garum’ or ‘liquamen’, which can be mixed with honey or vinegar to produce sweet or sour dressings respectively.

Mealtime extravagance amongst some of the elite eventually became so outrageous that laws were passed banning certain ingredients, such as doormice, which are even more expensive than oysters. However, few Romans take any notice of such legislation.

Wine is the national and natural drink of Italia, although the poor frequently can only afford beer, considered by most wealthy Romans as good enough only for northern provincials, such as the Gauls. The best contemporary viniculture vintages, such as Caecuban, Falerian, Massic and Setian, come from the border region between Latium and Campania. In order to enable participants to last through lengthy dinners without succumbing to drunken unconsciousness, such beverages are often watered.

Mulsum is a common cooling aperitif that accompanies first courses. The liquid refreshment is made from must, the first treading of grapes, and honey. However, I understand that Pliny the Elder recommended that simple dry white wine should instead be the initial drink.

Perversely, slaves often enjoy much better fare than the lowliest citizenry because they are commonly fed from their masters’ larders or leftovers, although the extent of this largesse depends upon the status and disposition of their owners. Seneca the Elder even propounded the view that such vassals should actually be allowed to dine with their betters but this munificent suggestion is rarely followed.

Nevertheless, thankfully few agree with the proposal of the earlier philosopher, Cato, who thought that slaves should be limited to bread, discarded olives and the dregs of fish sauce. However, I suspect that the general greater generosity relates more to the need to keep valuable property in good condition than to altruistic concern for the welfare of fellow humans.

This evening, the banquet hosted by Caius Silius was the one at which the Emperor Claudius was to be the guest of honour. The host was determined to show off his vast wealth by making the event one of the most lavish dinner parties of the year in Rome. No expense had been spared in terms of the numbers attending or the opulent cost of the food and drink. A very expensive and varied entertainment programme, involving the best artistes, had also been arranged. My master was determined to ingratiate himself with the Emperor, especially as he had ambitions to secure a consulship, an honour so far denied him, sooner rather than later.

Large numbers of slaves had been brought in from Caius Silius' extensive country estates to supplement the manpower of his urban household so that the guests would be well attended. This was to include having their goblets filled whenever the gesture for such a requirement arose and being served each course proficiently without unnecessary waiting.

I was very nervous about the event because I had been earmarked to attend Claudius himself, whose recent triumph in Britannia was to be indirectly flattered by being served by a newly acquired, young and very pretty slave from that nation. It was known that the Emperor was strongly heterosexual and so would have preferred a female servant but, for such formal occasions, where strict court etiquette and ritual were to be followed, this would not have been correct form.

The performance of my recent household tasks, primarily in the presence of Sribonia and Tullia, ready to scurry hither and thither to collect items or convey messages for them, had apparently indicated that I was highly competent in menial duties. These often now included serving them at meals. The major domo had therefore advised Caius Silius that I should be up to the job of attending the Emperor. My nerves stemmed from worry that he might be wrong because I was sure that mistakes would lead to punishment of a type that I dared not even contemplate for my peace of mind.

I was dressed in the normal way, although Apollinus, who had been assigned to other similar work during the banquet, took even greater care of my preparation than usual. My fellow 14 year-old not only took clear interest and pride in his work on my form but also did not want to earn a spanking or worse from the major domo for any deficiency in my looks.

To ensure that my appearance was perfect, I was dressed in a brand new scarlet tunic, with a fresh laurel in my long golden hair. I could tell that my friend thought that he had performed his chore well by the bulge in his own apparel at the conclusion of his task. Unfortunately, both of us appreciated that this was no time for my now customary gesture of thanks for his tender loving care.

The start of the banquet was scheduled to take place in the huge perfectly manicured main garden, where many tables and couches had been laid out in a circle around a large central grassy entertainment area. Interspersing the seating stood an abundance of ornate stands with dormant oil lamps, ready to be lit to provide light once the sun had set.

Several similar but smaller seating arrangements had also been set up in indoor rooms. One was for literally minor guests whilst the others were ostensibly in case the later climate, or a need for more broken and intimate groupings, recommended a move to a less open and big environment for the major participants.

In truth, however, Caius Silius had actually taken the precaution, of a possible move indoors into smaller arenas for some, in case the Emperor became drunk, a state that he thoughtfully believed should be displayed to as few as possible. My master was not, of course, thinking of Claudius’ own welfare but of his own. He did not want any of his rivals, many of whom he had had to invite to the banquet because of social custom, to have any excuse to criticise his hospitality as being uncaring towards the guest of honour to a later sobered Princeps.

Many of the guests had already arrived and were lounging and chatting on their carefully allocated couches. I heard a not inconsiderable number bemoaning their distance from where the Emperor was to recline, presumably because they thought that their social status justified a more prominent location, although they were generally incorrect.

Those present included virtually all of Rome’s most important people, who happened still to be in Imperial favour, and their families. Unusually for such a banquet, Caius Silius had not only extended invitations to the guests’ wives or, in the cases of the unmarried and the homosexuals, partners but also the children. A separate large indoor room and entertainment programme had been reserved to host the offspring.

I presumed at the time, and I have since encountered no reason to doubt my presumption, that Caius Silius not only wanted to show off his almost unprecedented extensive largesse, and the splendour and size of his urban residence, to top Roman society but also to try to impress, and ingratiate himself with, boys and girls who should grow into some of the city’s most influential people. In fact, six future Emperors were present at the banquet, although only three were amongst the children.

At the time, I did not know any of the faces present on the nearby couches but I was to learn the names of many of them later, as they basically form the cast list for the early stages of my lengthy saga. Some of the children, out of my sight indoors, were also to play particularly major parts in my life, along with others still to be born.

One of the interesting features of the assembling, supposedly adult, guests was the age discrepancy between the youngest males and females. I noticed that the youngest boys present, all wearing the toga virilis denoting the attainment of manhood, were 16 whereas there were girls several years younger.

I later discovered that this was because all post-pubescent girls were considered sufficiently adult and ripe to be married off to help cement family alliances and fortunes, unlike boys who were not deemed mature until they gained the toga virilis at 16. Many females would become the wives of much older men, although a few might be betrothed to males of similar age and wait for later wedlock.

13 year-old Sribonia was one of those who would be amongst the adults on the night and she and her father and young pregnant stepmother were to be heavily courted by prospective suitors for the girl, all eager for a match with one of Rome’s most prominent and wealthy families. However, her male parent, in whose hands the final decision would be made, had already decided to play the field a little longer. Caius had mighty ambitions for himself and he was determined to use his elder daughter’s marriage to secure an alliance that would best help him with his ambitions.

In the event, however, it was not the presence of a prospective husband for his daughter that most affected my master’s future prospects but rather the attendance of a certain prominent young woman.

(The countryside outside Rome, same time)

‘A Greek of mean condition came, first, into Etruria, a low operator in sacrifices and a priest of secret and nocturnal rites. These mysterious rites were, at first, imparted to a few but afterwards communicated to great numbers, both men and women.’

- Livy (‘A History of Rome’)

The lovely very young Hylas had miraculously fully recovered quickly from his terrible castration and had been introduced not only to his new owners and home, a complex of rooms above a shop in a shabby back-street in Rome’s plebeian quarter, but also to the more innocent parts of his new role. However, some functions remained mysterious, although not for long.

232 years earlier, the authorities of Republican Rome had tried to prevent foreign influences, mainly from the east, from invading the religions of the city, wishing instead to maintain a ‘pax deorum’ on behalf of the citizenry. However, state rituals had become too rigid and ossified for popular plebeian taste, and many common people therefore sought more interesting and exotic, if not erotic, experiences elsewhere, such as those to be found in the ceremonies of Cybele.

The Senate of the time did not wish to incite disorder within the teeming masses by banning completely the most liked imports, such as the worship of the Cybele, but insisted instead that associated rites were performed with greater discretion and privacy. However, worries that adherence to the orgiastic rituals of Bacchus, which were rapidly becoming immensely popular, could create civil disorder encouraged the legislature to introduce laws forbidding anyone from becoming an officer of the cult or a congregation of more than five adherents.

These severe limitations on the cult’s activities, and the fact that those who flouted the new laws were regarded as political rather than religious offenders, thereby inviting much harsher punishments, proved in effect to be a proscription. Nevertheless, the worship of Bacchus furtively survived the Republican age and began to flourish again during the Imperial era, although the practice of confining most of the rituals to secret societies continued.

Bacchus is the Roman name for the Greek god of wine, Dionysus, in his most inhibited form, and the introduction of his worship subsumed that of Liber, previously long known in Italia as a more benign viniculture deity.

Being a vegetation god, Bacchus is connected with fertility, death and rebirth. His cult can only be entered through formal initiation, during which certain mysteries are revealed. Many rituals involve copious drinking and orgiastic dancing and sex. There are rumours that human sacrifices are perpetrated.

Hylas’ initiation into the worship of Bacchus, the purpose of the secret society of which he was now the newest and youngest male slave, did not take place in his new dingy home. The deeply and rightfully apprehensive 4 year-old eunuch was instead taken in a covered ox-drawn cart to a private open-air sanctuary in countryside woodland outside Rome, which had been the scene for over 200 years for rituals of the clique that now owned him.

Hylas wore only a grape-green tunic, probably as short and tight fitting as those to which I was now becoming accustomed. However, he was not permitted into the wooded clearing, surrounded by many young and old male and female society members and servants, without at first wearing a hood to block his eyes from initially viewing the scene.

Two free women, both attired in their best stolae and one shaking a tambourine, escorted the tremulous unsighted Hylas into the secret sanctuary. There, a priest dressed as Silenus, part bestial and part human satyr of the forests and mountains, usually bald, fat, bearded and possessing horse ears, and invariably later jolly and drunk, waited behind a table, on which a tall covered object lay. A winnowing basket was on the floor nearby.

4 year-old Hylas was soon to discover in horror what the senior Bacchic priest was concealing and what were contained in the wicker container.

(The villa of Caius Silius, Rome, same time)

‘But he whose inborn worth his acts commend,

Of gentle soul, to human race a friend.’

– Homer (‘The Odyssey’, book xix, line 383)

Apollinus had his hands full. He and the slaves assigned to the service of the guests’ children probably had the most difficult time of all the servants present on the night because many of the young visitors, some as young as 5 years old, were spoiled mischievous brats.

Unlike teachers who might be slaves, the menials of Caius’ household did not have the authority to chastise any of the patrician children and so, without recourse to such disciplinary measures, anarchy prevailed. Many puerile internecine squabbles had to be diplomatically resolved and food fights terminated by the servile staff, whilst much personal abuse was suffered, including being the target for very rude insults and thrown culinary items.

Apollinus eventually emerged from the room in a most dishevelled state, both in mind and appearance. For the evening, like all those temporarily assigned serving duties, the colour of his normal tunic had been changed to scarlet, like the usual hue of my own garment. However, it had become stained with a rainbow of shades as a result of the various types of food and drink thrown at him by young laughing guests.

Apollinus’ face was also bright red but not just from exertion and mental and physical exhaustion. My fellow 14 year-old had been thoroughly humiliated by the many young mischievous groping male and female hands that had regularly explored under his tunic whilst he went about his difficult duties. He seemed to have been especially singled out by those present for special attention, probably because, I later surmised, of the proximity of his age to their own and his undoubted physical charms. My friend had been forced to tolerate, without complaint or other response, frequent intimate manual exploration of his most private bodily areas, to accompanying cheeky giggles, whilst leaning over tables. He subsequently told me that he did not know how he managed to maintain his composure and restrain his anger, necessary attributes because any undiplomatic reaction would have led him to be the recipient of a severe flogging or worse from the major domo.

Apollinus also subsequently advised me that four of the worst miscreants were Tullia, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Marcus Annaeus Lucanus and Silius Italicus. Somehow, I was not surprised. However, I did find it interesting that, after his late arrival, best friend in tow, Britannicus, the Emperor’s likely heir and therefore the most important child present, proved to be unlike the other young patricians present.

From Britannicus’ frequent looks of disgust at the large boisterous child assemblage and of sympathy at the slaves, the 5 year-old appeared to regard the, using an understatement, impolite behaviour of his fellow young guests as contemptible. His attitude seemed to infect his younger companion and consequently both boys maintained an air of detached antipathy towards the other young patricians but of polite civility towards the servants as proceedings unfolded.

Britannicus and Titus Flavius Vespasianus seemed to be content in each other’s company and conversation, without bothering with anyone else. Much of their chatter, my eavesdropping friend later informed me, centred around ball games, with considerable and remarkably mature debate as to whether they should continue to use the folliculus to play harpaston. This large leather air-filled sphere is not supposed to be used for this pastime, nor for that matter is the hard-floored palaestra because the sport’s vigorous rough and tumble can be injurious. A smaller ball and a grassy playing field are more appropriate.

Apollinus informed me that Britannicus and his friend had been particularly nice to him, probably because he seemed to be bearing the brunt of the others’ mischievousness. My friend also disturbingly disclosed that he noticed that 8 year-old Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus had given the 5 year-old prince frequent furtive stares, which in my fellow 14 year-old’s opinion contained clear hatred and which, naively as it turned out, he thought was unusual because the pair were related.

For Apollinus, the exemplary behaviour of Britannicus and Titus Flavius Vespasianus was not just some comfort from a terrible experience. My fellow 14 year-old was also genuinely very excited at the thought that the gentle, considerate, pretty son of Claudius should be the next Emperor. “The prince’s eventual accession to the purple,” my friend suggested, “bodes well for everyone in the Empire!”

Apollinus’ first meeting with Britannicus and Titus Flavius Vespasianus was an occasion that neither my friend nor I forgot and it was to have very important consequences in all our later lives.

(The temple of Cybele, same time)

‘Praise him upon the loud cymbals; praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals.’

- ancient Jewish psalm

Axenius was busy at rehearsal. The young temple slave had already quickly picked up the proficient use of cymbals, a musical instrument imported into Rome with the cult of Cybele and named after the goddess, and was now learning to utilise the shamanic frame drums also associated with the deity’s worship. However, the 16 year-old was not looking forward to utilising the percussion implements for the first time, as the rituals in which he would be participating would be very public and he would once more be dressed in feminine attire.

Axenius was now much happier with his lifestyle, particularly as he had unexpectedly realised a dream of enjoying regular sexual delight for the first time since his castration a number of years previously. The young temple slave’s previous owner, Caius Silius, had only given him grief during the man’s many nocturnal visits for sodomy but his new master/mistress, through considerate careful well-practised skill, had introduced the beautiful 16 year-old to anal heaven. However, despite this, the young Germanian really did not want to display himself as a feminised follower of Cybele during certain forthcoming festivals. He was then scheduled, along with many youthful colleagues from the goddess’ temple, to dance through the streets of Rome in female garb, whilst displaying his newly acquired accomplishment with the musical instruments.

(The villa of Caius Silius, Rome, same time)

‘An intellectual was eating dinner with his father. On the table was a large lettuce with many succulent shoots. The intellectual suggested “Father, you eat the children; I'll take mother!”’

- Philogelos (‘The Laughter Lover’, a collection of 265 jokes from ancient Greece)

I was at attention, adjacent to the Emperor’s couch, waiting to serve the still absent Claudius. Whilst I stood at this formal loose end, I was aware of many guests’ eyes, both male and female, focusing on me. My face at first turned a bright red when I realised that there was not only bypassing interest behind some of the looks but also clear entranced lust. However, this embarrassed phase was quickly shed, to be replaced by a return of vain pride, which caused me to disport myself with much greater confidence and self-regard.

I was still enjoying the tingling, almost erotic, bodily thrill of being obviously admired again for my beauty when a loud fanfare of trumpets sounded, announcing the arrival of the Imperial party with their escorting hosts. My nerves, temporarily forgotten during my self-indulgent moments of boastful deportment, immediately returned.

My hands began to shake and I wondered how on Earth I could possibly serve the Emperor in any way resembling competence whilst in such a tremulous state. The dark thoughts that invaded my mind, of the terrible penance that I would suffer for shaming my master by proving my ineptitude in front of the Princeps, did not help matters at all.

(Plebeian quarter, Rome, same time)

‘Those who once had a say in the election to power of everyone, from consul to legionary commander, have taken back seats, claiming as their rights just bread and circuses.’

- Juvenal (‘Satires’, X, 79-81)

Cephas was not concerned with ritual, just with trying to bring a more righteous and better way of life to the people of Rome, particularly the ordinary populace who lived in poverty and squalor, by citing the example and teachings of his dead friend. He therefore rented a large room in a grimy back-street tenement and invited those he met to come at certain times to share his hospitality and listen to what he had to say. Many went away unconvinced and therefore back to their former existence. However, some believed what the man from the east preached.

Meanwhile, Cephas’ colleague, the interesting but rather ill bald-headed man, with meeting eyebrows and a rather prominent nose, continued to exhort similar to any in Antiocheia who would listen.

(The villa of Caius Silius, Rome, same time)

‘Take honey and put in a bronze pot. Add wine and warm well to boil. Boil thoroughly. Lower heat and simmer until half rendered. [Repeat] Stir vigorously while cooking. After cooking, strain into another pot. Remove from fire and cool. When cool, reheat to low fire. On the following day, skim the scum off. Then add pepper, ground mastic, leaf and saffron, a single measure of each, [and] 5 baked date pits softened in wine. Add together and mix to make a mash. Then carefully add sweet wine. Add charcoal if necessary [to cut bitterness].’

- recipe for ‘Spicy Treat Party Drink’ by Apicius (‘De Re Culinaria’)

Although I was expecting the arrival of the Imperial party, the loud trumpet fanfare, which interrupted the not always convivial loud discourse between guests around me, still startled me.

My hands then began to quake even more when I saw, for the first time, the Emperor Claudius and his current wife, Messalina, approach the couches next to which I stood. My legs began to feel as if they were made of jelly.

(The countryside outside Rome, same time)

‘When the wine had inflamed their minds and the dark night and the intermingling of men and women, young and old, had smothered every feeling of modesty, depravities of every kind began to take place because each person had ready access to whatever perversion his mind so inclined him……..The violence was concealed, however, because the shrieks of those tortured by deviant sex or murder could not be heard over the loud wails and the crash of drums and cymbals.’

- Livy (‘A History of Rome’)

The hood was removed from Hylas’ lovely head and, as the infant became accustomed to the evening sunlight again, the Silenus removed the cover from the object on the table. The fearful boy might only have been 4 years old but he recognised the herm for what it was supposed to represent, a huge erect phallus. As his female escorts then stripped him of his tunic and four strong men, from the surrounding, now very raucous, crowd, came forward to grab and position him firmly for the initiation ritual, he also began to realise where the already greased object, now embedded under him in the grassy ground, was destined to go.

Hylas’ horror only intensified when, to the musical accompaniment of cymbals and drums, the winnowing basket was opened and a short-handled multi-stranded whip was produced from within.

(To be continued in chapter VII – ‘Celebrations’)