In Ancient Roman culture, cena was the main meal of the day. The grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus preserved in his De Verborum Significatione that in earlier times, cena was held midday but later began to be held in evenings, with prandium replacing the noon meal. It was a focal point of social life, along with the public baths, the frequenting of which often preceded the meal. Seating during dinner was in the triclinium, three couches for reclining arranged as three sides of a square, with a small table for food in the middle of all these.
