A ‘Manual’ of table manners in Ancient Thrace (according to Xen. Anab. 7.3)

Abstract

Dining etiquette is not an invention of modern society. In Antiquity, the organization of the tableforspecial occasions also followed certain rules. The reception of the guests, the sequence ofserving the dishes, and the elements of tableware and furnishings correspond to the cultural traditions of individual civilizations. The article aims to present the Thracian royal feasts as events following a certain sequence and ceremonial, rather than celebrations of chaos and intemperance, referring mainly to Xenophon’s account of the dinner organized by the Odrysian paradynast Seuthes II at the beginning of the 4th century BC.

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