Meals in a Social Context

Examines the role of meals in creating a sense of family and community in the Mediterranean world in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. This work provides insight into how social mores and etiquette were passed on to children, how family life increased in importance for Christians, the conflict in styles when Greeks and Romans met, and more.

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This collection of outstanding essays gives an in-depth look at the role of meals in creating a sense of family and community in the Mediterranean world in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. By looking at the dining habits of Greeks and Romans, Jews and Christians, Essenes and Therapeutes, an international cadre of scholars provides insight into how social mores and etiquette were passed on to children, how family life increased in importance for Christians, the conflict in styles when Greeks and Romans met, and how meals attained and sustained religious significance. Other topics include funerary banquets; the etiquette of a formal dinner; the position of women at meals; royal feasts; the development of the Eucharist as a separate ritual; the architecture of the Greek andron and the Roman triclinium, early synagogues and temples; the diets of each culture. A separate chapter discusses the provision of food for the hungry and the public ownership of the sea, salt and fish.