Puke Collector at Roman banquets 豪宴上的拾污者

Here's a room full of ravin revelers, looking remarkably¹ a lot of people in the pub next door.

Roman wine was deadly stuff when the party really got going, the slaves, who I'm calling Puke Collectors, had to run around clearing up. Other than that, it was pretty much like our Christmas lunch right down to the party hats.

"Fiona, what is that hat?"
"It's a Fringing cap."
"Fringing cap? Do women wear them too?"
"Oh, yes."
"What do they signify?"
"They signify liberty. They are the caps given to slaves when they are freed. But at the Saturnalia everybody wears them since the idea that this is the time when the poor and the rich and even the slaves would sit down with their masters. So everybody is equal for this about a week of the year."

"So, Eric doesn't have to be serving all night?"
"Well, this household obviously aren't playing the egalitarian game, because not every Roman household does that, so, at the Saturnalia, so, he's having to stand up, he's still having to work."

"Eric, this is an egalitarian household, you can sit down, well, I'll do your job."
"Thank you very much."

"John, have you got one of those caps?"
"Sure."

"You'll hold the wine."
"...."

There is a common belief that Romans had a room called vomitorium where they used to throw up. Sadly for me, it's not quite true.

"Hang on, hang on! Davis, chucked up. Er, that's disgusting."
"You are the slave, so, you are gonna clear it up, he is not going to do it."
"Of course I'll have to clear it up. This is the worst job, isn't it?"

"Ur, do we actually know that slaves had to clear up the sick at parties?"
"We...we know this quite clearly from literary writers. Sanic's letters are particularly rich on, so condemning² the excess of drinking and eating, and also the excess of having your slaves do everything for you even clearing up puke."

Puke collectors had to be prepared to do anything. To their masters, they were human tools who had to be invisible.

There's something you can't do:
You can't laugh at their jokes, you can't hiccup³, you can't sneeze, you can't cough or they're gonna beat you. And in the evening some households such as the Fredman Trumalkio's house, he goes for pee, he washes his hands and he might dry his hands on your hair.

(name) you are not gonna throw up, are you?.
No,I hope not. Because a woman who throws up is considered loose woman, possibly adulterous .
Can you hold on to it for a moment?

How many days of the year do they have to do this?
It's a 365-day-of-the-year job because you are the slave and they don’t have dinner without you. So you have to do it at the Saturnalia or our Christmas, you might get extra food even the meanest master will give you extra wine. So you do get something
This's quite fair one. Just spread the mop on that, do you think? .....

But you get free food which cannot be too bad and these oyster⁴ are actually rather nice.

But, however bad this job might have been, at least it was indoors. During the festive⁵ season, some jobs were much worse.

Freshly declare, you do look a bit green.

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ravinn. Voracity⁶; rapaciousness⁷. 贪婪；贪吃

reveler n.摆设酒宴者, 饮酒狂欢者

egalitarianadj. Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil rights for all people. 平等主义坚信、促进或以如下信仰为特征的，即相信人门在政治、经济、社会和公民权利方面是平等的

vomitorium n.(尤指古罗马竞技场的)大通道,出入通道

oyster n.(动) 牡蛎, 蚝

1 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

2 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 hiccup   

n.打嗝

参考例句：

• When you have to hiccup,drink a glass of cold water.当你不得不打嗝时，喝一杯冷水就好了。
• How long did he hiccup?他打嗝打了多久？

4 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

5 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

6 voracity   

n.贪食，贪婪

参考例句：

• Their voracity is legendary and even the most hardened warriors cannot repress a shiver if one speaks about them. 他们的贪食是传奇性的，甚至强壮的战士也会因为提起他们而无法抑制的颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He ate with the voracity of a starving man. 他饿鬼似的贪婪地吃着。 来自互联网

7 rapaciousness   

n.贪婪；强取，贪婪

参考例句：