Cenacle

The cenacle (from Latin cena "meal") was originally the dining room located on the upper floor in the Roman house. The daily, informal meals were taken there, in contrast to the representative rooms on the ground floor where guests were received.

Cenacle later meant the entire upper floor. These rooms were often used to house slaves and were also rented out, so that Cenaculum eventually assumed the meaning of a "poor apartment".

literature

• Walter Hatto Gross : Cenacle. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, column 1104.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Varro De lingua Latina 5,162: ubi cenabant cenaculum vocitabant [...] posteaquam in superiore parte cenitare coeperunt, superioris domus universa cenacula dicta ; Festus 47.12 L.