In honor of the prominence of royal feasts in Megillas Esther, a glimpse at some of the most (in)famous historic banquets

IN ancient Rome, it was parrot tongues. In medieval England, it was peacocks. At one peace-treaty banquet, there was a four-foot-tall mosque made of marzipan. While the cuisine at royal parties down through the ages was always a showstopper — like at Achashveirosh’s six-month-long banquet — the excess often heralded a monarchy’s undoing

Replete with fetes and bursting with banquets, Megillas Esther opens with an account of King Achashveirosh’s gluttonous bacchanalia, followed by smaller affairs that feature both Queen Esther’s cunning and Haman’s downfall, all of which play a key role in the story’s plotline. The Gemara tells us that Esther was aware that feasts could entrap the wicked, one reason given for her motivation to extend a personal invitation to Haman. Indeed, royal tables throughout the ages have shone a spotlight on some of the worst sides of those in power. In some cases, as in the Megillah, the excesses herald their undoing.

Here, in honor of the prominence of royal feasts in Megillas Esther, a glimpse at some of the most (in)famous historic banquets

Party Hearty

Host: Roman Emperor Nero
Year: 64 CE
Occasion: Nero wanted to have a good time

You had to be there:
For powerful Romans, excessive, hedonistic feasts were a regular part of life, and Nero (d. 68 CE), who earned himself a name in history as a particularly wicked and debased emperor, was no exception. The best known of the emperor’s feasts is recorded by Tacitus, a Roman chronicler.

Nero had a special room in his palace for conducting his parties, which, according to Roman historian Suetonius, was built on a set of rotating disks to simulate a feeling of dining in the heavens. In 2009, a group of archaeologists actually found ruins they posited might be the spinning dining room.

Nero’s most notorious feast was held on several boats bedecked with gold and ivory. In addition to the natural maritime setting, Nero collected rare beasts and sea life from around the empire to impress his guests. Reminiscent of Achashveirosh’s feast, it was marked with immorality.

As the fete ended, a fire broke out in Rome, destroying much of the city, and it was this conflagration that fueled the legend of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. While it’s true that the emperor fancied himself a great musician and often held guests captive listening to his performances, historians discount the fiddling story. Still, it reflects the low regard in which Nero was held and his indifference to his people.

On the menu:

There are no recordings of the menu at Nero’s banquets, but a fictional rendering of a feast from the same time period opens a window into what guests might have been served.

Wealthy Romans sought to impress their guests not only with the quality of the food’s taste, but also the exoticness of the items procured for eating. In the story, Trimalchio, a wealthy freed slave, served his guests rabbits with edible wings attached and a set of items made to resemble the signs of the zodiac. The rendering of a different feast from the same period tells of a dish made from parrot tongues.

Wine was plentiful at such gatherings, and usually mixed with heated water and an array of spices. Drinking took place at designated times during long feasts.

Wealthy Romans typically ate lying down on couches, throwing bones and unwanted scraps on the floor. Their favored position was to lay flat on their stomachs, holding their heads up with one hand and picking at their plates with the other.

Use of the vomitorium (exactly what it sounds like, according to the many historians) was but one of several offensive practices Romans engaged in during these excessive feasts.

Guests were often entertained by murals around the dining room and live actors, singers, or musicians. More extravagant gatherings could feature gladiator fights or wild beasts performing tricks.

Just desserts:

Unsurprisingly, Nero never managed to endear himself to either the Roman people or the nobility. Four years after his maritime feast, the empire’s leadership and military rebelled against him. After waking one morning to find himself deposed, abandoned by all but a small group of freed slaves, the megalomanic emperor committed suicide.