a sacrificial ceremony observed by the Greeks and Romans on occasions of extraordinary solemnity, when the statues of the gods were placed in a reclining posture on couches, and a feast was spread on tables before them. This ceremony, according to Livy, was first observed in the year of Rome 354, on account of a destructive murrain among cattle. At first a distinction was made between the gods and goddesses, as at the Epulum Jovis held in the capitol, where the statue of Jupiter was laid in a reclining attitude, while those of Minerva and Juno were set on chairs. Afterwards this distinction seems to have been neglected, as may be inferred from a representation on the carved handle of a Roman lamp engraved by Bartoli.