The Waiting Servant in Later Roman Art

Abstract

Although literary sources from the early Empire attest to the importance attached to the presence of a large staff of specialized servants at the banquets of the wealthy, in the art of this period little emphasis is placed upon the servants in banquet scenes, who serve essentially utilitarian functions. By the later Empire, however, figures of attendants bearing offerings become much more prominent and convey messages of the wealth and status of the owners and of the lavishness of their hospitality. The article studies the iconographical sources of these figures and compares the processions of servants shown in other contexts as part of the general representation of the life of luxury.