Mensa

“The simplest kind of table was a round one with three legs. It is shown in the drinking scene painted on the wall of a wine shop at Pompeii, and is represented in the annexed woodcut. Tables, however, must usually have had four legs. For the houses of the opulent, tables were made of the most valuable and beautiful kinds of wood, especially of maple, or of the citrus of Africa, which was a species of cypress or juniper. As the table was not large, it was usual to place the disches and the various kinds of meat upon it, and then to bring it thus furnished to the place where the guests were reclining. On many occasions, indeed, each guest either had a small table to himself, or the company was divided into parties of two or three, with a seperate table for each party, as is distinctly represented in the cut under Symposium.” — Smith, 1873

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