''Accubitum'' (plural: ''accubita'') was one name for the
ancient Roman furniture couches 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
mattresses 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'', "Antoninus Heliogabalus" (Pars II), 19, 25; Schol. ''ad Juv. Sat.'' v.17]
Notes
References
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Couches
Ancient Roman culture
Ancient Roman furniture
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