Book 4 — Chapter III.

§ 1. Syssitia of the Dorians and other Greek races. § 2. Simple fare of Sparta. § 3. Public tables of Sparta and Crete. § 4. Abandonment of the simple fare in some Doric colonies.

1. With respect to the food and meals of the Dorians, we will only mention those points which are connected with some historical or moral fact, since we have already considered this subject in connexion with the economy of the state.

In the first place, the adherence of the Dorians to ancient Greek usages is visible in their custom of eating together, or of the syssitia. For these public [pg 284] tables were not only in use among the Dorians (with whom, besides in Crete and Sparta, they also existed at Megara in the time of Theognis,1301 and at Corinth in the time of Periander),1302 but they had also once been a national custom among the Œnotrians1303 and their kinsmen the Arcadians, particularly at Phigalia;1304 and among the Greeks of Homer the princes at least eat together, and at the cost of the community; a custom which was retained by the Prytanes at Athens, Rhodes, and elsewhere. In particular, the public tables of Sparta have in many points a great resemblance to the Homeric banquets (δαῖτες)1305; only that all the Spartans were in a certain manner considered as princes. The Spartans, however, so far departed from the ancient custom, that at the time of Alcman they lay1306 at table; while the Dorians of Crete always sat,1307 like the heroes of Homer and the [pg 285] early Romans, according to the ancient European usage, which was entirely supplanted among the early Greeks by the oriental custom introduced by the Ionians.

2. With regard to the food, it is probable that in Sparta much had been retained from ancient usage, and that the rest had been from its first origin peculiar to the nation. The profession of cook at Sparta was, as we have already remarked, hereditary,1308 and consequently they had no inducement to vie with one another in the delicacy and luxury of their dishes: they cooked the black broth, as their ancestors had done before them. It was likewise more difficult to make dishes of various ingredients, on account of the division of the different departments of cookery; for instance, some cooks were only allowed to dress flesh, others to make broth,1309 &c. The bakers, whose trade also was hereditary, generally baked nothing but barley-bread (ἄλφιτα);1310 wheaten bread was only eaten at the dessert of the public tables, when presented by liberal individuals.1311 The latter kind of bread was originally scarce in Greece, whither it was introduced chiefly from Sicily;1312 in which country they had also a particular [pg 286] kind of Doric wheaten bread, of coarser meal than was common elsewhere.1313 The chief dish of meat at the public tables was the black broth (μέλας ζωμὸς);1314 also pork,1315 the meat being subjected to stricter regulations than any other kind of food.1316 Poultry and game were generally eaten after dinner: beef, pork, and kid, were chiefly supplied by the sacrifices, which upon the whole were an exception to the Phiditia.1317 Their mode of drinking was also that of the ancient Greeks; which, as far as I am aware, is only mentioned in Homer. Before each person was placed a cup, which was filled by the cup-bearer with mixed wine, when it had been emptied; the wine was however never passed round, and no person drank to another; which were Lydian customs introduced by the Ionians.1318 Both in Sparta and Crete it was forbidden by law to drink to intoxication;1319 and no persons were lighted home except old men of sixty.1320

3. But a still more beautiful feature in the Doric character is the friendly community of their public tables, founded upon the close union of the company [pg 287] of the tables (ἑταιρία in Crete);1321 into which fresh members were admitted by unanimous election (by ballot).1322 Whether a preference was shown to kinsmen is uncertain; the syssitia indeed, as divisions of the state, were founded upon a supposed relationship, that is, the connexion of houses;1323 but here we are speaking of smaller societies, consisting of about fifteen men. A company of this kind was a small state in itself,1324 arranged upon aristocratical principles,1325 although the equality was not interrupted by the privileges of any individuals. The ties of this friendly union were however drawn still closer by the constant intercourse of giving and taking, which enriched the scanty meal with the more palatable after-meal (ἐπάϊκλον) or dessert, which no one was permitted to purchase:1326 from which the κοπὶς should be distinguished, a sacrificial feast, which individuals furnished [pg 288] on stated occasions, and invited to it any friends whom they wished, and particularly the kings.1327 The phiditia were not, however, considered a scanty and disagreeable meal, until thrown in the shade by the refinements of modern luxury; for they had originally been intended to increase the comforts of the partakers. The conversation, indeed, turned chiefly upon public affairs:1328 but laughter and jocularity were not prohibited.1329 Every person was encouraged to speak by the general confidence, and there were frequent songs, as Alcman says that “at the banquets and drinking entertainments of the men, it was fit for the guests to sing the pæan.”1330 Nor was the appellation φειδίτια, that is, the spare, or scanty meals, of any antiquity, and the Spartans received it from abroad:1331 by whom, as well as in Crete, they were once called ἀνδρεῖα, or the meals of men.1332 For the men alone were admitted to them: the youths and boys ate in their own divisions, whilst the small children were allowed to eat at the public tables, and both in Crete and Sparta they sat on low stools near their fathers' chairs, and received a half share without any vegetables (ἀβαμβάκευστα).1333 The [pg 289] women were never admitted to the syssitia of the men: both at Sparta and in Crete the rule was, that they ate at home;1334 in the latter state, however, a woman had the care of the tables of the men.1335 The Cretans were distinguished by their great hospitality: for every two tables of the citizens there was always one for foreigners; and when two cities were in close alliance with one another, their citizens mutually enjoyed the right of frequenting the public tables of the other state.1336

4. This temperance and simplicity, which was longest preserved in Crete and Sparta, were considered by the ancients as characterizing generally the whole Doric race, and a simple mode of cookery was called Doric;1337 although many cities of that race, such as [pg 290] Tarentum, Syracuse,1338 and Agrigentum,1339 entirely abandoned the severe and sober habits of their race; and having once broken through the bonds of ancient custom, gave themselves up with the less restraint to every kind of luxury and indulgence.1340