Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Coenaculum

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

COENAC'ULUM. An eating-room, according to the original and strict meaning of the word (Varro, L. L. v. 162.); but, as the apartment appropriated for that purpose was usually situated in the upper part of the house, at one period of Roman history, the word came to be used much more commonly in our sense of a room upstairs (Festus, s. v. Liv. xxxix. 14.), and the plural coenacula (like the Greek ὑπερῷον) to designate the whole suite of rooms contained in an upper story (Cic. Agr. ii. 35.); and, as the upper stories at Rome were chiefly occupied by the poorer classes, a sense of inferiority is frequently implied by the term, so that our words attics or garrets would in such cases furnish the most appropriate translation. (Hor. Ep. i. 1. 91. Juv. x. 17.) The annexed example (Coenaculum/1.1), from a Roman painting, exhibits the external appearance of the coenacula; and the two last illustrations to the article DOMUS, which represent the plan and elevation of a two-storied house excavated at Herculaneum, will show the manner of building and distributing the apartments of an upper story in private houses of a moderate size.

2. Coenaculum meritorium. A hired lodging, in an upper story. Suet. Vitell. 7.

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  Coenaculum/1.1