OPSOPHAGY. 541 



often as the Jews ; the first cleansing took place just be- 

 fore sitting down to the prooemium, and consisted of dry- 

 ruhbing the fingers with bread-crumbs^ which were then 

 thrown to the dogs, a custom perhaps alluded to by the 

 Syrophoenician woman, ' the dogs eat the crumbs under 

 their master's table;' a second ablution took place when 

 the first tables and dishes had been simultaneously re- 

 moved; 'epulse mensseque remotse;' and the washing 

 apparatus was again introduced in the last course, when 

 a new set of 'well-sponged and polished tables' made 

 their appearan.ce : — 



Ol 6'auTe (TTToyyoun irokvTpfiTOKri Tpairefas vifoc* 



These Grecian feasts were at first confined to few 

 personages ; gradually, however, the numbers increased, 

 and at length became as the sand {yJra/jjfiaKoa-ioi,) , till the 

 crowd grew so inconveniently large (from five to six per- 

 sons being often squeezed into one couch or bed) that at 

 Athens the whole party was limited by law to thirty; 

 this restriction however was not imposed so much to 

 secure social comfort, as with a view to avert political 

 danger to the state, and to prevent domestic conspiracies 

 from hatching in the midst of such turbulent and over- 

 grown assemblies. 



Besides the more ordinary improprieties resulting 

 from excess displayed at a Greek feast, the Romans fur- 

 ther disgraced their entertainments by a vile system of 

 favouritism and partiality shown to the different guests 

 at table. This conduct seems to have approached very 

 nearly to that of the kings of Parthia {vide Athenseus, 

 lib. v.), who were graciously pleased to condescend to 

 throw scraps of food to those they called friends lying 



repast as coBsisted of but one disk, when tlie hands were not 

 washed. 'Prandium sine mens&, per quod non sunt lavandse 

 manus.' — Seneca. 

 * Homer. 



