of the rich, let all the vessels be of silver and gold, and the semicircular table,703 not such as one person can lift, but as two young men can with difficulty move, and the wine-jars lie in order, glittering far beyond the silver with gold, and let the semicircle704 be smoothly laid all over with soft drapery. Here, again, let there be many servants, in garments not less or- namented than those of the guests, and bravely appareled, and wearing loose trowsers, men beauteous to look upon, in the very flower of life, plump, and well conditioned; but there let there be only two servants disdaining all that proud vanity. And let those have costly meats, but these only enough to appease hunger and inspire cheerfulness. Have I said enough? and are both tables laid out with sufficient minuteness? Is anything wanting? I think not. For I have gone over the guests, and the costliness both of the vessels, and of the linen,705 and the meats.706 However, if we should have omitted aught, we shall discover it as we proceed with the discourse. 261 Come then, now that we have correctly drawn each table in its proper outline, let us see at which ye will seat yourselves. For I for my part am going to that of the blind, and the lame, but probably the more part of you will choose the other, that of the generals, that is so gay and splendid. Let us then see which of them doth more abound in pleasure; for as yet let us not examine into the things of hereafter, seeing that in those at least this of mine hath the superiority. Wherefore? Because this one hath Christ sitting down at it, the other men, this hath the Master, that the servants. But say we nothing of these things as yet; but let us see which hath the more of present pleasure. And even in this respect, then, this pleasure is greater, for it is more pleasure to sit down with a King than with his servants. But let us withdraw this consideration also; let us examine the matter simply by itself. I, then, and those who choose the table I do, shall with much freedom and ease of mind both say and hear everything: but you trembling and fearing, and ashamed before those you sit 703 [So Field, after several mss. But “the semicircular” (no substantive, see a few lines below) was an obscure word in such a connection, and the idea of one man lifting a table seemed strange. So, as the preceding and fol- lowing portions treat of vessels, several other mss. substitute for this whole statement (down to “move”) the following: “and let there be a gilded bowl of half a talent weight, so that two young men can with difficulty move it,” the last clause being the same as in the other text. Montfaucon admitted both into his edition, thus making a conflate reading.—J.A.B.] Montfaucon in a note mentions William the Conqueror being represented sitting at such a table, sometimes called a sigma, from the form C. He refers to his Antiquité Expliquée, T. iii. p. 111. [That the three tables arranged as a hollow squire (triclinium) should be sometimes converted into a semicircle would be a natural piece of luxury, but not likely to become common, because really less convenient.—J.A.B.] 704 Here, the couch which belongs to the table. Such is the stibadium described in the accounts of Pompeii. 705 στρωμάτων, carpets, cushions, coverings for the tables, &c., &c. 706 [This labored exuberance of descriptive detail is a grave fault of Chrysostom’s style, but was highly accept- able to his contemporaries.—J.A.B.] 459 Colossians 1:1,2