In Ancient Rome, the Epulones formed a collegium of seven men, and were one (the least) of the four great religious corporations (quattuor amplissima collegia) of Roman priests, the others being Pontifices, Augures, and Quindecemviri. The Epulones arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games, duties that had originally belonged to the Pontifices; membership was an honor in the standardized sequence of public positions called the cursus honorum.
Initially there were three members to the college of epulones (banqueting managers), though later their number was increased to seven. Julius Caesar increased their number to ten, but after his death it was once again seven. Their college was by far the newest, being founded only in 196 BC. It was from the beginning open to plebeians.[1] The necessity for such a college obviously arose as the increasingly elaborate festivals required experts to oversee their organization.[2]
The patera was the sacred bowl used by the septemviri epulonum. It was a shallow bowl with a raised center, so that when held in the palm, the thumb on the raised center does not profane the libation as it is poured into the focus. It was the special emblem of the Epulones. The paten used today by Roman Catholic priests, omits the raised center.
References
External links
- Lacus Curtius website: Epulones from William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.
- Roman Magistrates
- religio Romana: Patera
- Epulones
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