''Accubitum'' (plural: ''accubita'') was one name for the

ancient Roman furniture Ancient furniture was made of many different materials, including reeds, wood, stone, metals, straws, and ivory. It could also be decorated in many different ways. Sometimes furniture would be covered with upholstery, upholstery being padding, ...

couch A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, or chesterfield, is a cushioned item of furniture for seating multiple people (although it is not uncommon for a single person to use a couch alone). It is commonly found in the form of a bench with uph ...

es used in the time of the Roman emperors, in the ''

triclinium A ''triclinium'' (plural: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who ...

'' or dining room, for reclining upon at meals. It was also apparently sometimes the name of the dining room itself, or a niche for a couch. Sometimes it denotes a multi-person curved couch, for which the term stibadium is also used. Klinai is the Greek equivalent, sometimes also used. The

mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, conta ...

es and feather-beds were softer and higher, and the supports (''fulcra'') of them lower in proportion, than in older triclinium couches. The cloths and pillows spread over them, and over beds, were called ''accubitalia''.Aelius Lampridius, ''

Augustan History The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'', "Antoninus Heliogabalus" (Pars II), 19, 25; Schol. ''ad Juv. Sat.'' v.17

Notes

References

* Couches Ancient Roman culture Ancient Roman furniture {{furniture-stub