A Complete Good Works Translation Dossier from Deipnosophistae 4.36, 4.37, and 4.40

Athenaeus preserves several compact fragments of Posidonius on Celtic social custom: dining on meat and bread, ranked seating, drink service, corma, rightward ritual movement, the spectacular generosity of Luernius, bardic praise, and combat or ritualized death around feasting. The dossier keeps the fragments as Athenaeus transmits them while giving readers a coherent source-unit for Celtic feasting and aristocratic display.

Translation

Athenaeus 4.36 — Posidonius on Celtic Meals

Posidonius the Stoic, in the Histories he composed, recorded many customs and laws among many peoples, in a way not foreign to the philosophy he had chosen. He writes: 'The Celts set out food with hay spread beneath them and on wooden tables raised a little from the ground. Their food is a few loaves of bread, but much meat, boiled in water and roasted over coals or on small spits. They take this food cleanly, but with a lion-like appetite, lifting whole limbs with both hands and biting them from the bone. If anything is hard to tear away, they cut it off with a small knife, which lies ready in its sheath in a separate case. Those who live beside rivers and beside the inner and outer sea also serve fish, baked with salt, vinegar, and cumin; they also put cumin into their drink. They do not use olive oil because it is scarce, and because they are not accustomed to it, it seems unpleasant to them. When several dine together, they sit in a circle. In the middle sits the strongest man, as though he were leader of a chorus, surpassing the others either in skill at war, family, or wealth. The host sits beside him, and the others next on either side according to the rank they hold. Shield-bearing guards stand behind them, while the bodyguards sit in a circle opposite and feast together like their masters. The servants carry drink around in vessels like spouted cups, either earthenware or silver. Their serving platters are also like these; some have bronze platters, others wooden or woven baskets. Among the rich, the drink is wine imported from Italy and the country of the Massaliotes, and it is unmixed, though sometimes a little water is added. Among the poorer people there is a wheat beer prepared with honey; among the common people it is drunk by itself. It is called corma. They sip from the same cup a little at a time, not more than a cyathus, but they do this frequently. The servant carries it around to the right and to the left; this is how they are served. They also worship the gods by turning toward the right.'

Athenaeus 4.37 — Luernius, Bituïtos, and the Bard

Again, Posidonius, describing the wealth of Luernius, father of Bituïtos, who was brought down by the Romans, says that Luernius, courting the masses, rode in a chariot through the plains and scattered gold and silver among the tens of thousands of Celts who followed him. He made a square enclosure twelve stades on each side, filled vats with costly drink, and prepared such a quantity of food that for several days anyone who wished could enter and enjoy what had been prepared, served without interruption. When he finally set a limit to the feast, one of the native poets arrived too late. Meeting him with song, the poet hymned his greatness and lamented himself because he had come late. Luernius, delighted, asked for a small bag of gold and threw it to him as he ran beside him. The poet picked it up and again sang, saying that the tracks in the earth where Luernius drove his chariot carried gold and benefits for human beings. Posidonius recorded these things in the twenty-third book.

Athenaeus 4.40 — Single Combat at Dinner

Posidonius, in the twenty-third book of his Histories, says: 'The Celts sometimes fight single combats during dinner. Gathering in their weapons, they shadowbox and make feints against one another; sometimes they even go as far as wounding, and after being provoked by this, if those present do not restrain them, they come even to killing. In the old custom, he says, when hams were served, the strongest man took the thigh. But if someone else laid claim to it, they stood up to fight in single combat to the death. Others, in the theater, receive silver or gold, and some a number of jars of wine; after securing the gift and distributing it to their closest friends, they lie stretched on their backs over shields, and someone standing by cuts their throat with a sword.'

Colophon

This page translates Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 4.36, 4.37, and 4.40 from Greek for the Celtic continental expansion of the Good Work Library. The translated units are Posidonius fragments preserved inside Athenaeus' banquet-book frame; the translation keeps that source situation visible while gathering the Celtic material into one bounded dossier.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 4.36, 4.37, 4.40

Greek source text from Perseus Data citation pages for Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae. This dossier gives three complete Posidonius excerpts preserved by Athenaeus on Celtic meals, aristocratic generosity, bardic praise, and combat at dinner.

Athenaeus 4.36

Ποσειδώνιος δὲ ὁ ἀπὸ τῆς στοᾶς ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις, αἷς συνέθηκεν οὐκ ἀλλοτρίως ἧς προῄρητο φιλοσοφίας πολλὰ παρὰ πολλοῖς ἔθιμα καὶ νόμιμα ἀναγράφων Κελτοί, φησί, τὰς τροφὰς προτίθενται χόρτον ὑποβάλλοντες καὶ ἐπὶ τραπεζῶν ξυλίνων μικρὸν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐπηρμένων. ἡ τροφὴ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἄρτοι μὲν ὀλίγοι, κρέα δὲ πολλὰ ἐν ὕδατι καὶ ὀπτὰ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθράκων ἢ ὀβελίσκων. προσφέρονται δὲ ταῦτα καθαρείως μέν, λεοντωδῶς δέ, ταῖς χερσὶν ἀμφοτέραις αἴροντες ὅλα μέλη καὶ ἀποδάκνοντες, ἐὰν δὲ ᾖ τι δυσαπόσπαστον, μαχαιρίῳ μικρῷ παρατέμνοντες, ὃ τοῖς κολεοῖς ἐν ἰδίᾳ θήκῃ παράκειται. προσφέρονται δὲ καὶ ἰχθῦς οἵ τε παρὰ τοὺς ποταμοὺς οἰκοῦντες καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἐντὸς καὶ τὴν ἔξω θάλασσαν, καὶ τούτους δὲ ὀπτοὺς μετὰ ἁλῶν καὶ ὄξους καὶ κυμίνου: τοῦτο δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸ ποτὸν ἐμβάλλουσιν. ἐλαίῳ δ᾽ οὐ χρῶνται διὰ σπάνιν καὶ διὰ τὸ ἀσύνηθες ἀηδὲς αὐτοῖς φαίνεται. ὅταν δὲ πλείονες συνδειπνῶσι, κάθηνται μὲν ἐν κύκλῳ, μέσος δὲ ὁ κράτιστος ὡς ἂν κορυφαῖος χοροῦ, διαφέρων τῶν ἄλλων ἢ κατὰ τὴν πολεμικὴν εὐχέρειαν ἢ κατὰ γένος ἢ κατὰ πλοῦτον. ὁ δ᾽ ὑποδεχόμενος παρ᾽ αὐτόν, ἐφεξῆς δ᾽ ἑκατέρωθε κατ᾽ ἀξίαν ἧς ἔχουσιν ὑπεροχῆς. καὶ οἱ μὲν τοὺς θυρεοὺς ὁπλοφοροῦντες ἐκ τῶν ὀπίσω παρεστᾶσιν, οἱ δὲ δορυφόροι κατὰ τὴν ἀντικρὺ καθήμενοι κύκλῳ καθάπερ οἱ δεσπόται συνευωχοῦνται. τὸ δὲ ποτὸν οἱ διακονοῦντες ἐν ἀγγείοις περιφέρουσιν ἐοικόσι μὲν ἀμβίκοις, ἢ κεραμέοις ἢ ἀργυροῖς: καὶ γὰρ τοὺς πίνακας ἐφ᾽ ὧν τὰς τροφὰς προτίθενται τοιούτους ἔχουσιν: οἳ δὲ χαλκοῦς, οἳ δὲ κάνεα ξύλινα καὶ πλεκτά. τὸ δὲ πινόμενόν ἐστι παρὰ μὲν τοῖς πλουτοῦσιν οἶνος ἐξ Ἰταλίας καὶ τῆς Μασσαλιητῶν χώρας παρακομιζόμενος, ἄκρατος δ᾽ οὗτος: ἐνίοτε δὲ ὀλίγον ὕδωρ παραμίγνυται: παρὰ δὲ τοῖς ὑποδεεστέροις ζύθος πύρινον μετὰ μέλιτος ἐσκευασμένον, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς καθ᾽ αὑτό: καλεῖται δὲ κόρμα. ἀπορροφοῦσι δὲ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ποτηρίου κατὰ μικρόν, οὐ πλεῖον κυάθου: πυκνότερον δὲ τοῦτο ποιοῦσι. περιφέρει δὲ ὁ παῖς ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ τὰ λαιά: οὕτως διακονοῦνται. καὶ τοὺς θεοὺς προσκυνοῦσιν ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ στρεφόμενοι.

Athenaeus 4.37

ἔτι ὁ Ποσειδώνιος διηγούμενος καὶ τὸν Λουερνίου τοῦ Βιτύιτος πατρὸς πλοῦτον τοῦ ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων καθαιρεθέντος, φησὶ δημαγωγοῦντα αὐτὸν τοὺς ὄχλους ἐν ἅρματι φέρεσθαι διὰ τῶν πεδίων καὶ διασπείρειν χρυσίον καὶ ἀργύριον ταῖς ἀκολουθούσαις τῶν Κελτῶν μυριάσι φράγμα τε ποιεῖν δωδεκαστάδιον τετράγωνον, ἐν ᾧ πληροῦν μὲν ληνοὺς πολυτελοῦς πόματος, παρασκευάζειν δὲ τοσοῦτο βρωμάτων πλῆθος ὥστε ἐφ᾽ ἡμέρας πλείονας ἐξεῖναι τοῖς βουλομένοις εἰσερχομένοις τῶν παρασκευασθέντων ἀπολαύειν ἀδιαλείπτως διακονουμένους. ἀφορίσαντος δ᾽ αὐτοῦ προθεσμίαν ποτὲ τῆς θοίνης ἀφυστερήσαντά τινα τῶν βαρβάρων ποιητὴν ἀφικέσθαι καὶ συναντήσαντα μετὰ ᾠδῆς ὑμνεῖν αὐτοῦ τὴν ὑπεροχήν, ἑαυτὸν δ᾽ ἀποθρηνεῖν ὅτι ὑστέρηκε, τὸν δὲ τερφθέντα θυλάκιον αἰτῆσαι χρυσίου καὶ ῥῖψαι αὐτῷ παρατρέχοντι. ἀνελόμενον δ᾽ ἐκεῖνον πάλιν ὑμνεῖν λέγοντα διότι τὰ ἴχνη τῆς γῆς ἐφ᾽ ἧς ἁρματηλατεῖ χρυσὸν καὶ εὐεργεσίας ἀνθρώποις φέρει. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ καὶ εἰκοστῇ ἱστόρησεν.

Athenaeus 4.40

Ποσειδώνιος δ᾽ ἐν τρίτῃ καὶ εἰκοστῇ τῶν ἱστοριῶν Κελτοί, φησίν, ἐνίοτε παρὰ τὸ δεῖπνον μονομαχοῦσιν. ἐν γὰρ τοῖς ὅπλοις ἀγερθέντες σκιαμαχοῦσι καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀκροχειρίζονται, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ μέχρι τραύματος προίασιν καὶ ἐκ τούτου ἐρεθισθέντες, ἐὰν μὴ ἐπισχῶσιν οἱ παρόντες, καὶ ἕως ἀναιρέσεως ἔρχονται. τὸ δὲ παλαιόν, φησίν, ὅτι παρατεθέντων κωλήνων τὸ μηρίον ὁ κράτιστος ἐλάμβανεν: εἰ δέ τις ἕτερος ἀντιποιήσαιτο, συνίσταντο μονομαχήσοντες μέχρι θανάτου. ἄλλοι δ᾽ ἐν θεάτρῳ λαβόντες ἀργύριον ἢ χρυσίον, οἳ δὲ οἴνου κεραμίων ἀριθμόν τινα, καὶ πιστωσάμενοι τὴν δόσιν καὶ τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις φίλοις διαδωρησάμενοι ὕπτιοι ἐκταθέντες ἐπὶ θυρεῶν κεῖνται, καὶ παραστάς τις ξίφει τὸν λαιμὸν ἀποκόπτει.

Source Colophon

The Greek source pages were captured from Perseus Data on 2026-05-13 and inspected on disk at Tulku/Tools/celtic/sources/continental_batch_2026-05-13/athenaeus_posidonius_celtic_feasting/. The English translation is a New Tianmu Anglican Church Good Works Translation made from the Greek source. Athenaeus 4.40 is stopped at the end of the Posidonius excerpt, before the following Euphorion material.

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