The Romans had terms for breakfast, lunch and supper – ientaculum ,prandium and cena – the first two of which were seen as only minor meals and were mainly eaten cold. In the morning, water with bread and cheese, and sometimes also eggs, olives, capers or milk and honey, would be taken. The midday meal too might be limited to a piece of bread with cheese or cold or smoked meat, vegetables and fruit, with water or wine as the main drink. The main meal was the evening cena, which was often celebrated in grand style by the upper classes, and to which its members invited one another. The wealthy had a room in their houses especially for this purpose, the triclinium, where men and women dined in recline, while the children sat. The order of the three slightly rising couch beds, each for three persons, was graded hierarchically; attendants served the meal.

A complete cena included three parts. The appetiser (gustatio) was usually served cold, and consisted of salads, raw vegetables, eggs and fish or seafood. The main course included dishes of cooked vegetables and meat. The dessert (secunda mensa) contained pastries and fruits. The process of the evening meal was ritualised, with an initial offering of wine opening the feast. After the gustatio came a drink of honey wine (mulsum); following each course, the drinking bowls were filled with various other wines. After the main course, an offering was made to the lares, the tutelary gods of the house. Following the cena, a banquet would continue with a comissatio, a round of drinking with fixed customs, in which the drinking bowl was passed round for a variety of toasts. Such a banquet (convivium) could therefore last eight to ten hours, or until dawn, accompanied by many presentations, such as music, dance and games.