The ''stibadium'' (plural: ''stibadia'') is a later form of the Roman ''lectus triclinaris'', the reclining seat used by diners 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 ...

. Originally, the ''lecti'' were arranged in a group of three in a semi-circle. The ''stibadium'' was a single semi-circular couch, fitting up to a dozen people, which replaced the triple group of ''lecti'' in the dining-room, frequently in alcoves around the centre of the room. This

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

is also called sigma.''The Roman banquet: images of conviviality'', Katherine Dunbabin, 2003, p. 166 This name comes from the

lunate sigma Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used as ...

(upper case C, lower case ϲ) — which resembles, but which is not at all related to, the

Latin letter The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...

C and was used in Eastern forms of Greek writing and in the Middle Ages. The ''stibadium'' was originally an outdoor seat but was introduced indoors in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD because the shape was more convenient for entertaining and as ''triclinia'' became larger and more elaborate. Unswept floor mosaic in Chateau de Boudry

Unswept floor mosaic in Chateau de Boudry

Films about

'' convivia'' often feature a ''stibadium'' rather than a ''lectus''.

External links

{{Commonscat inline, Stibadia
Rogue Classicism

Notes

Ancient Roman furniture History of furniture

See also

External links

Notes