Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Mensa
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich.
MENSA (τράπεζα, shortened from τετράπεζα). In the primary notion, a surveying board or table (from metior); whence it came to be applied in as general a sense as our word table, including every kind of form both round and square, though the square form is mostly implied when the word is used by itself, without any adjunct descriptive of the shape intended. The following are the most characteristic senses in which the word is employed.
1. Either simply, or with the epithet escaria, a dining-table. In the earliest times, at least amongst the Romans, dinner tables were square, and supported upon trestles, or several legs, according to the size of the slab, as exhibited by the annexed example (Mensa/1.1), from a painting in the Vatican Virgil, representing the companions of Ulysses at dinner in the island of Circe. But after the invention of circular dining-tables, this form was generally relinquished, excepting in the soldiers' messroom, where it was still retained. Varro, L. L. v. 118.
2. Mensa prima (πρῶτη τράπεζα). The first course at dinner; sometimes brought in upon a tray (ferculum), which was placed upon the table; at others the table itself was brought up already set out, and placed before the guests, the whole being removed together when its contents had been eaten; hence the expressions, mensam ponere, auferre, tollere, removere, correspond to our own, "to bring in," and "to take away the dinner." Ov. Met. xi. 19. Plaut. Truc. ii. 4. 13. Cic. Pis. 27. Virg. Aen. i. 216.
3. Mensa secunda (δεύτερα τράπεζα). The second or last course at a meal, consisting of fruit, sweetmeats, and confectionary; our dessert. Hor. Sat. ii. 2. 121. Nep. Ag. 8. Cic. Att. xiv. 6. and 21. Cels. i. 2.
4. Mensa tripes. A table supported upon three legs, as contradistinguished from monopodium, which had a single trunk or stem. Though sometimes made of an ornamental character, like the example (Mensa/4.1), from a Pompeian painting, the three-legged table was one of the commonest, as it was likewise considered to be of the humblest kind in use amongst the Romans. Hor. Sat. i. 3. 13. Ov. Met. viii. 662.
5. Mensa vinaria. A table for taking wine upon. When round, as in the last woodcut, which represents a table of this kind, it was termed cilibantum (Varro, L. L. v. 121.); a distinction which implies that square ones were likewise employed for the same purpose.
6. Mensa vasaria. A table intended to hold the jugs, cans, and other utensils (vasa) employed for domestic purposes. Of these, there were two kinds; one for the atrium, and the other for the kitchen, both, however, square or oblong, and each distinguished by a characteristic name, CARTIBULUM and URNARIUM, under which descriptions and illustrations are given. Varro, L. L. v. 125, 126.
7. Mensa Delpica. A table used as a piece of ornamental furniture, explained and illustrated s. DELPHICA.
8. Mensa sacra. A table made of marble, gold, or silver, which served as a sort of altar, and was placed before the statues of the gods, with the wine vessels, fruits, and viands offered to them at the solemn feast of the lectisternium, as exhibited by the annexed wood-cut (Mensa/8.1), from a terra-cotta lamp. Festus, s. v. Cic. N. D. iii. 34. Virg. Aen. ii. 764.
9. A table or stand upon which some tradesmen, such as greengrocers, poulterers, fishmongers, &c. displayed their commodities for sale in the streets and markets. (Hor. Sat. ii. 4. 37.) The illustration (Mensa/9.1) represents a stand of this kind covered with vegtables, poultry, and fish, in the forum at Herculaneum, from a painting discovered in that city. The owner sits by the side of his stand, while a customer presents a plate for the article purchased; the jars on the ground also contain eatables.
10. Mensa lanionia. A butcher's chopping-block; probably similar to those still used by the same class of tradesmen. Suet. Claud. 15.
11. Mensa argentaria. A money-dealer's table or counter, upon which he sets out the sums of money required for transacting his daily routine of business. (Donat. ad Terent. Ad. ii. 4. 13. Compare Hor. Sat. ii. 3. 148.) It is to this early practice that our terms "banker" and "bankrupt" owe their origin, which have come to us through the language of the Florentines, the principal bankers of Europe during the middle ages. At this period they used to set out their money, like the old Romans, upon a wooden bench or bank, "banco;" hence they were termed "banchieri;" and if any of them could not meet his liabilities, his counter was immediately broken to pieces, and himself prohibited from further continuing his business, whence the broken bank (Italian banco rotto) gave rise to the name of bankrupt.
12. Mensa publica. A public counter or bank; i. e. of which the capital belonged to the state, derived from the taxes, and was disbursed for the public service. Cic. Fl. 19. Pis. 36.
13. A raised stand or platform upon which slaves were exposed for sale. (Apul. Met. viii. p. 171. Apol. p. 432.) Same as CATASTA.
14. A flat square grave-stone, laid over the remains of the deceased; the simplest kind of monument to the memory of the dead. (Cic. Leg. ii. 26.) The illustration (Mensa/14.1) represents an original found near Rome; the hole in the centre was intended for pouring unguents into the grave or tomb.
15. A long flat board or slab, forming one of the component parts of military engines (Vitruv. x. 11. 6.); but how it acted, or what purpose it served, is not easily understood. But see the illustration, s. CARROBALLISTA.
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