Oh What A Time... - #59 Dinner Parties (Part 1)

Episode Date: July 28, 2024

This week on the show, it’s a veritable feast as we discuss some of the most infamous dinner parties from history. We’ve got the super-sweet suppers that the teenage Emperor Elagabulus loved to throw, the horrendous story of the Black Dinner at Edinburgh Castle in 1440 and finally, we’ll hear what spectators saw when they gathered round to watch Louis XIV eat his massive daily dinner. Lots of chat this week about stocks, pillories and the nature of Rod Stewart’s massive train set. If you’ve got anything to add on that or anything else, please do get in touch with the show: [e-mail] You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). And also, thank you so much for subscribing; we couldn’t make the show without you! Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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That's the powerful backing of American Express. On eligible cards, terms apply. Learn more at MX.CA. Hello and welcome to all of the time the history podcast that tries to decide if the past, i.e. a time when stag do budget was less than a pound really was a time or a life worth living. Because let's look about, let's look at stags in the 1960s when my father was going on stag well early 70s when dad started going on stags I remember asking my dad once how was it what did you do and he said I went to my local village to my local pub I went to all the time for a point the night before the wedding we were home by nine o'clock not good. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the to the to to to the to the the to to the the the to the the to to the to the to the to to the the the the the to to to the the to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. tog. the the the the the the time for a pint the night before the wedding. We were home by nine o'clock. Not good enough, Dad's got to be. Berlin. Twenty-five complete idiots. Prague.

Be with a pest. Tallinn. Talin. Riga. Dublin. Someone's got to get arrested. Someone's got to ring an ambulance because they think they're having their stroke and actually it's a panic attack because they hangover so bad, come on! Waking up handcuffed to a cactus out in the desert, where am I? I don't know. My phone's got one bar of battery. Yeah, but this is going to be great in the speech. My dad said in the 70s, he went on a stag to where they chained the stag to like a lamppost and they all went on a big bar crawl and just left him... of the high street for like three hours and then came back and got him. A stag does that? I had a genuine fear Chris of even as a teenager the idea of a stag and being chained up or maybe uses a bike rack essentially with a wheel between my cheeks who used to

panic me the idea of that. Because that's what everyone used to say happened. Like in sitcoms and in dramas, that is what would happen. They would tie you naked to a lump post. And you'd be there for hours thinking to yourself, these are my best friends. Imagine what my enemies were saying to me. I think this is correct, but apologies to my brother of his not. I've got three brothers all of whom are a fair bit old of me. I was born 14 years after the youngest of my three older brothers.

I think my middle brother's Stagdo, and I love this. He was really into like hornby train sets and all that sort of stuff and had a full hornby train set thing up in the sort of eaves of his garage. You'd go up a ladder and up there would be this beautifully constructed train set. Him and a few friends had a Chinese takeaway and playing with that Hornby train set and had a few beers and that was what his stag do was and that's what he wanted to do and that's what he did and I love that it's embrace who you are. That is great. Cards on the table some of Chris Scull's friends would have smashed up his train set. Right. Should we crack on with today's show? Who's yet to introduce themselves?

Yes, I'm Ellis James. I'm Chris Gull. And I am, logically, it must make sense that I am Tom Crane in that case. Each week on this show we will be looking at a brand new historical subject and today we are going to be discussing, this is a fun one this actually, dinner parties from history. Oh, this is a good one. Louis XIV's massive meals, dinner parties in ancient Rome, and in my opinion, the most infamous dinner party in Scottish history.

It's pretty shocking. Having read up on it, I'm glad I wasn't invited. Let's put it that way. Okay, boys, before we crack into some actual history, should we do a little bit of correspondence from our lovely listeners. Yes, please. Okay,, please. Okay, great, great, great. I'm afraid we're heading back down into Corrections Corner. Oh, oh, what a shame. Oh, what a shame. Oh, what a shame. Oh, what a shame. That is what this section is called. Now, I toss to you now. Who do you think has been dragged into corrections corner this week? Who would you say? I don't. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. thi, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great. Great, great. Great, great. Great, great. Great, great, great. th. Great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. to to to thi. to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thr. toss to you now, who do you think has been dragged into Corrections Corner this week? Who would you say?

I don't think it can be me again, because it would be too many consecutive weeks of shame. Yeah, well. Tell us smiling. So I'm going to assume it's not me as I'm reading it out that would be remarkable. It is. It's the long-awaited- The long long long long long long long long long long long long long. It's the long. It's the long. It's the long. It's the long. It's the long. It's th-I th-I th-I th-I thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thinks it can't thinks it can't thinks it can't think it can't think it can't th thi th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi. I thi. I thi. I can thi. I can't thi. I can't thin. I can't thin. I can't thin. I can't thin. I can't thin. I can't of James. Reckoning of Ellis James. Here we go. Correction's Corner, Stocks versus Pillary. Hey, Gems, I write this to you with some reluctance, but I'm sure it's the subject that all serious history podcasts

have to confront some point. What was Bobby Davro held in for his nightmare full now used on the BBC's safety video? Let's quickly toss to Chris here who who who who who who who who who who to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to explain to BBC safety video. Let's quickly toss to Chris here who can explain what this reference is. Chris, if you quickly explain to listeners? A famous show in the night, I don't even know, I think it might have been a pilot of a show. Bobby Darrow is in the stocks, Jim Bowen, Lionel Blair are there. They walk off but the stocks are kind of held on a precipice over the sta sta the the the because Bobby Davaro is in the stocks he has no way of stopping his fall and he probably plunges a good six seven foot head first onto the floor with no ability to protect himself. It is not ideal. No no. Well Ben who's emailed us here says Ellis asserted that Davro was trousers down while with Bowen and Blair and he said he said Jim and Lionel not Jared and Tony, in the stocks.

And he's put quote marks around stocks. Well, stocks are actually used to restrain the legs and feet, whereas Davro is actually in a pillory. Oh, which is a wooden framework with holes for the head and arms. A small and somewhat pernicity matter, but surely what this corner is all about. Big fan of the pod, Ben. Ellis James, would you like to explain yourself for what I'm sure the nation will agree is such an obvious mistake to make.

We all know that's a pillory, not stock. I feel pilloried. Oh my god, you know, I just google it and he's quite right. That is a great fact actually. Well, I've been getting that on my tod stock. I thin, I thin, I thin, I thin, I thin, I thin, I thin, I'm, I've thin, I've thin, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, thin, thin, thi, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's, that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's th..... th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the thiolou thiolou th thiolough. that's that's a that's that's thi. I've been getting that on my entire life. Yeah, I thought stocks were, it's a teacher with a head through the stocks having a sponge thrown of them in like the school state. That's to me what the stocks are but it's not. He's got his head through the power. I just googled medieval stocks and there's lots of pictures of them or pillories. Don't want to make the same mistakes again. That place. That's to to to me to me to me their their th. That's their th. That's th. That's th. That's th. th. th. th. th. th. That's them thi. thememn't the. thease thease thease thease thease thease the. the. the. That's thease. That's theola. That's theola. That's theys. That's th. That's th. That's th. That's th. That's th. That's their their their their their their their their their th. That's th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. I's thea. I's thea. I's thea. thea. thea. S. S. S. I's th dad's you know sort of smiling I mean I think I'd last 10 seconds in some medieval pillories it's too claustrophobic and weird but as medieval punishments go being pelled in a pillory while the whole town chucks rotten veg at you fine oh yeah yeah

absolutely it's the one you'd take yeah yeah absolutely yeah, absolutely, if they were all on offer, the whole gamut. Not a problem. Especially if you're hungry. I'm just reading about the stocks, so the stocks were like, so they were like restraining devices for feet, and the idea of it is like it's a public humiliation. I don't think I realize you would be stuck in them for five days in ancient Greece. Really? Yeah. Would you rather, here's another question then, would you rather your feet are in the stocks

in medieval Britain where people are walking past for five days, drunk on mead, throwing veg at you, or the same in Trafalgar Square, in the current day in the age of the camera phone, where you are basically being put in a thousand selfies a day with everyone who walks past who's then posting you on Instagram constantly because that's what it would be like now. The medieval times, the comedian Liam Williams had a really funny routine about this. He was trying to get into his own house because he

was locked out and he noticed that his bedroom window was open so he thou the drain pipe and I'll just get in that way and then I'll you know know you you you you the the the the the the to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the. to. to. to. the. the. to. to. to. the. to. to. to. to. the. to. to. the. the. the. to. to. to. to. to. to. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the........................................................................................................................................................ I'll climb up the drain pipe and I'll just get in that way and then I'll, you know, I'll be fine. And it was raining and he slipped and he broke both his ankles quite badly. He I think he lived opposite of school at the time. He had this routine was in his Edinburgh show. He lived opposite of school. So he, his horror break happens at like 28 minutes past three. So suddenly now he's locked out of his the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the School hen said half past three. So suddenly now he's locked out of his house and the horror break has happened.

So there's hundreds of teenagers all with phones and camera phones walking past him. So he thought, I've got to sit on my little garden wall and pretend nothing has happened. But the time desperate not to become a meme. So is that what he did with two broken ankles? He just sort of, nice thing at school guys! That's amazing, absolutely amazing.

It made me laugh so much. The memeification of everything. Yeah, that's the current danger. Well Ben, thank you for getting in contact. Thank you crucially for pulling Ellis into Oh, what a shame Gord. Yeah, feel Budner. You know, he really, he really needed that. He was getting a little bit too cocky for my liking. And if anyone else has anything they want to send to the show, here's how you can do it. their's how you can stay in touch with the show. You can email us and hello at El What a Time.com and you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Oh What a Time pod. Now clear off.

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visit Connects Ontario.C. So today on the show, I'll be telling you all about Louis XIV and his magnificent dinner parties. I'm going to be discussing one of the bloodiest dinner parties in Scottish history. And I am going to be discussing that lot again, the Romans. Before we begin, Chris, Tom, are you dinner party hosts? Is it something you do? Oh, okay. we, it is very much so. Yeah, so. So, I love doing it. What were you cook or where you get takeaways? Awesome? Cook. Okay. Yeah, and ideally I'd like to be the one who cooks.

I just love it. I find it really enjoyable. Is that a lie? No, it's not a lie. Yeah, not saying that I have a lot of confidence. Why are you lying on a podcast? I'm absolutely not lying. I genuinely love doing it, although it's quite tricky with kids, I find sometimes. What we had a dinner party about a month ago and I cooked a Persian stew, a Persian Mejul lamb date stew, if you're interested, where you slow cook the lamb and reduce down the

Medjul dates and it all becomes as sort of like sweet sauce. Okay, gonna ask again, is that the lie? I can vouch for an element of Crane's dinner parties. I went there once and he made some whiskey sowers. And I didn't think I didn't realize this, but you make it with egg white, right? You do make it with egg white. And I'm thinking that Crane was at the bleeding edge of cuisine. So I cooked this meal.

By the way, I'll tell you for a bit in contact. I the the first the the the thk, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, tho, tho, I'm, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th. I'm, th. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. I. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. I. I. this meal. By the way, I'll tell you for a bit of content. I think I talked to people in the show before, the first dinner party ever did was, when I was in Cardiff working at the BBC, I've just started work at the BBC and had my new work colleagues over. And just as I was serving the food, I trapped my finger. and the remaining dinner party guests just sat in my flat where I wasn't in it anymore eating the food that I prepared and then he just let themselves out while I sat in A&E with my finger in a bag of peas waiting to be seen.

Oh man. Anyway, I had a dinner party about a month ago. Problem is we'd made the mistake of telling the five-year-old we were having friends over for a dinner party. He got really excited and then we couldn't the to to to their to to to their their to be their then wanted to be there for their arrival and then we couldn't time it. So we had a situation where Claire and I throughout the whole night, neither of us were in the room at the same time. It was always one of us representing the couple at the table. Yes. Or the other one, what's upstairs, trying to get the kid to see. We had our friend Dan run run, their, their, their, their, th. It, th. It, th. It, th. It, th. It, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, that, that, that, their, that, their, tho, that, thrown, their, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. So, th. And, that, that, that, their, that, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, think it's a party. It's our friend Dan just wants to have some sushi from the place that we wrote us. There's no games, there's no party bags. We didn't have any cake. But yeah, they think it's funny. Are you are you one of Life's natural hosts Chris? Yeah, I love hosting and did a party. Do you know what I sometimes, the pressure of it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes can't it? Yeah. And it. And it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the, they. the, the, the, th. the, th. th. the, th. their, their, th. their, th. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the I sometimes the pressure of it can be a bit overwhelming sometimes can't it? Yeah yeah yeah and it can be quite stressful

beforehand but once you're in it and the main course is done and the drinks are flowing it's fine at that. Yes well the Romans they bloody loved it. Especially elite Romans great and Romans with aspirations they loved in a parties because they thought eating out was sort of vulgar, as common as the way the plebs. So they were like, the further away you get from that, the better. Now, their meals, the dinner party was rolled about the spectacle, so a minimum of three courses, just like today, starter main pudding, but usually rather more meant that often you were at your host's house for hours at a time. Now, th the the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their, their, their, their, thirty, thirty, thirty, thirty, thirty, todan, todd, toddue. today, thirty, toddue. Their, today, tha. Their, tha. Their, tha, thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th. Their. Their, the, tom. Their, tom. Their, tome, tome, tomorrow, te. Further, today, te. Further, te. Further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, further, today, is like the plot of a very dodgy Hollywood film that Macaulay would be in. The Emperor Elicabullus who reigned as a teenager from the year 2018 to 2022 AD was apparently fond of seating his guests on

whooppy cushions. Come on. Come on. Do we think there are these chair-sized wooppy cushions? Or do you mean they're just placed under a cushion like a normal size? I don't even think I found them as a teenage. You may be up to about the age of seven or eight? Rather than on the more typical reclining couches, right? So he was a whoopi cushion guy, he's the Emperor, can't do anything about it. I'll tell you what this would be like. Anyone's who ever hosted a dinner party before will know there's a last minute scrabble just as the guests are getting to the door.

You go, oh God, we haven't, whatever, and you remember the last thing you have to lay out the clutter, or do the nap and he's realized he hasn't blown up the water towards the chair. And it's the panic because he's running around the chair, desperately trying to inflate 12 whooppy cushions before. Just so it's just so. He's coming! Right. When the sounds died off, different colored food was then served, blue or green perhaps, and if you're really unfortunate you'd be forced to eat a lot of fake food, right? He sounds. the sounds. the sounds. their their like a proto-Heston Blumenthal, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. He'd probably get

a mission star for some of this stuff now. Now that is what Eligibullus's his later biography Cassius Deo, who wrote about him, said. Now Deer was not alone in allowing a little bit of gossip to dictate a biographer's portrait. So it was the Historia Augusta, which is like a series of pen portraits of the Emperor's compiled in the 4th century AD, has this to say about his dinner parties. He used to strew roses no manner of flowers such as lilies, violets, hyacinths, a narcissist over his banqueting rooms, his couches, and then stroll about in them. And he could not rest easily in cushions that were not stuffed with rabbit fur or feathers from under the wings of partridges. So it sounds, you know, it sounds very, it's quite decadent.

Sounds fair enough, but there was a darker side. In a banqueting room with a reversible ceiling, he once overwhelmed his guests with violets and other flowers so that some were actually smothered to death. They were suffocated by petals to death. What? Being unable to crawl up to the top, they were suffocated by petals to death. You want to go around to his house for a meal. Like American Beauty? So just to be clear, so this is, what's his name, this guy? Eligibullus. Okay, and he is one of the wealthy Romans at the time. He's the Emperor. So he was an Emperor who re- he reigned as a teenager from the years 218 to 222 AD and he used to invite people around and he had to go because obviously he's the emperor and he has got a lovely sense of humor. It's quite a teenage sense of humor.

Very teenage. Yeah, it's a little bit like sort of jackass, but jackass with power, political power. Is it arrogant for me to say I don't think I could be suffocated by flowers? I believe I've got strong enough legs to push up through the flowers. And I don't think I have particularly strong legs. I thought that about form parties and then I went to one in Tenerife and th. And th this this this this th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I's thed. I've the. I'm the. the' is thea' is a thea' is thea' is thaea'er. thaea'er. thaea'er. thaea'er. thaea'er. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. It's tooeded. It's tooed. It's tooed. It's tooed. It's tooed. It's tooed. It's tooed. It's tooed. It's tooed tooed. It's tooed. It's tooea'era'era'era'era'era'era'era'era'era'era'era'er. parties and then I went to an in Tenerife and thought, this is how I die. I die tonight. Doing what I love. Have I told you I had a big misunderstanding about phone parties that I thought everyone was saying phone parties, you know, like a telephone.

And I thought you go there and there would be like phone booths all around the dance floor. And then when I walked into my first of a phone party, I went, oh, I see. It's not the worst idea anyway. I thought it was like, quickly talking through how you think that would work as a business idea. I thought you'd go in there, you pick up a phone, I thought there'd be phones all around the edge of the dance floor. You pick one up and it randomly would call another phone and maybe you kind of, it's like blind dating almost. Oh, okay. Okay.

This is how I rationalized it myself. And then when I walked in there and I saw it's foam boxes. Do you think phone parties? Do you the phone to buy all those old BT phone boxes. BT, the infrastructure you need to ship in. You're already running at a 3 million loss on night one. I mean, it's like you can't hear what other people are saying on the phone is too loud. The ticket price is going to have to be 14 grand minutes.

But it's like putting on an arena show. You break even the first night. No, no, no, you make a bit of money on the set. You break even on the second night, nights three, four and five, that's poor profit. You're forcing around a ticket. Okay. So he's suffocating people with flowers at his dinner parties. This is the guy he is.

Now, as for the food food food food food food food food, it was all designed to show off Roman lavishness, you know, hawk cuisine, culinary flair. It wasn't gonna be stomach turning, but I've got, I've got some of his menus for you. So fish cooked in a bluish sauce that preserved the fish natural color, the fish. You'd like, okay. I get that, camel's heels. Doesn't sound no particularly meaty part of a camel, but that's fine. I'd have gone hump. Peacock's tongues and nightingales tongu, both said

to guard against the plague. Flamingo brains, that doesn't sound ideal. What do you call me? Yeah. Partridge eggs? Yeah, all right. The heads of parrots, pheasants and peacocks, not sure about that. Wild sowed adders. Does that just to quickly go back to that one Ellis, by the way, the heads, was it heads of what? Parrots, pheas and peacocks. Surely the best meats and the rest of the parrocks. Yeah, it's not in the latter eaten as a sausage, pearls, sprinkled with

truffles in new pepper, and then ostrich, including ostrich brains. There's a lot of brain going on. What's the brain? I don't get there. Yeah. Yeah. Blamingos don't have big heads either. I don't imagine that's like a. Yeah, it's like a canopy. What would happen is I get there I'd see my friend Steve get suffocated by flowers and I'd be I really gut it for him. Then we go

into the banquet hall I'd be served harrowed brain I'd suddenly become quite jealous of Steve. Yeah yeah yeah this is worse. Yeah yeah yeah. He's got out of his feet sticking out underneath the petals going why couldn't that be me? No get this right.there was obviously a lot of wines so then all the guests would get drunk they'd fall asleep at which point the Emperor would order the release of his pets so they could roam around perhaps see what was left to the food. The trouble was the guest would then wake up with a hangover the first thing they saw as a leopard or a lion or a bear so they panicked. What? Oh my God! This is insane! Yeah, not the Emperor though, who knew that his pets were domesticated and apparently quite

harmless. So for him is all a joke. The man sounds like an idiot. That is horrific. I guess that's an extreme, like, it's an extreme teenage dinner party, again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. my sweet 16 where I think 16 was given like a hundred grand to spend a little birthday parties. Yes, that rings a bell. I think Kevin Bridges used to say,

I've been given a hundred grand to spend when I was 16, I would be dead. So guess we're on a number of occasions killed in the panic running away from these animals? And they die of heart attacks because they didn't know that the animals are domesticated. So you wake up, hungover, and you can see a lion, a lion eating your leftovers, and you would just shit yourself to death. I'm sorry, I know he's the emperor, but he is receiving a letter from me around about quarter past five

and the afternoon of the dinner party simply saying I'm sorry we fail to get a baby's that's what I'm sending I'm saying I'm so I'd love to be there but the babysitters really let us down big time everyone in Rome yeah and also I don't imagine you get many returning visitors that not only because they're dead off for a first visit but if you survived the first one I'm not rushing back to the next dinner party yeah yeah yeah yeah so it was the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tthey. tttea. tea. tea. tea. they. they. the the the the the the the the the the survive the first one, I'm not rushing back to the next dinner party. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was just like the favors given up to guests, like little gifts. The film of Spoons, Carpenter Messages, or the Promises of Phoenix or a bird with a thousand pounds of gold. So you've got a spare of the thives or might end up with spiders or jars full of flies or scorpions or frogs. The guy is th is th th the guy th. th. th. thus f f guy the guy's f guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's the guy's full the guy's full th. I thus thus. I thus full the the thus full thus full thus full the the the the the the the the thus full full full full full full the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thus. I thus. I thus. I's full. I'm thus. I'm full. I'm full of thus. I'll. I'm fom. from from from. from. thususususus. thoombs. I fombs. I'm thoombs. I'm biggest dicks we've come across, actually, on this podcast. However, Ellis, what an episode of Come Dine with me, that is.

You would love that. Spare a second thought for those whom the Emperor did laugh at, he had the custom of asking to dinner eight bald men, or else eight fat men. His purpose being in the case at the last since they could not be accommodated accommodated accommodated the the the the c accommodated the c accommodated their their their their their the case of the last since they could not be accommodated on one couch to call forth general laughter. Yeah, the man, the guy's got issues, right? So you obviously got to remember he's a teenager. Now the his story Augusta also hints at his experiments with cooking. So we had a go at being a confectioner, a chef following widely circulated recipe, perfume, a smellier, even encouraged his guests to invent new sources, so the latter might win you a prize or if he didn't go down at all well with the Emperor, the inventor was ordered to

continue eating until he invented a better one. What? It doesn't sound relaxing, right? Yeah. Now, few of the meals served by Eligibullus were out to the ordinary. So take the Souserders, for instance, the most famous Roman recipe books, Apicious on the subject of cooking collected in the 5th century AD contains a guide to producing stuffed Sousbelius or a more basic version of Sousbilly. The method was simple enough if you boil it or roasted as to taste, then make a sauce made of wine and put it over it flavor along with salt pepper and the process but included crushed pepper, caraway salt, mussels and a dollop of mustard to serve. Now that sounds okay. Yeah, it does, yeah, sounds okay. Other delights in the recipe book included grilled sourwoom. Osteen meatballs, an awful product that anticipated faggotten peas,

snails, stuffed dormouse. That is disgusting. My cats bring in Dormice all the time. They're not big enough. Yeah, it's a really good point. What can you stuff a door mouse with really? A maximum one walnut? That's all you get in the most. Max. And yeah, Flamingo, ostrich and Parrot.

So it all adds to the idea that young Eligabullus, the would be pastry chef, he was obviously was experimenting with, I would say, remarkably misguided practical jokes, but also with the finest of Roman cuisine. I mean, I wouldn't RSVP, but I don't think that they had as much choice as we do. That is one of the most remarkable collections of facts I've ever heard. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely amazing. How is that all one person? Yeah, yeah, yeah. How have they all come from one mind? One that... To be fair to him, he's an ideas guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. They mean a lot of bad ideas, but he keeps him coming. He's an ideas guy and he needs someone to say no say no. He just needs someone to say no to him. That's so interesting though, isn't it, what that reflects in history and I suppose it

obviously this does still happen today, of course it does, but the extreme powers of dictators, emperors and stuff where there is no counterbalance, there's no questioning, there's no ability to come on, come on, yeah, it is not possible at all. So throughout history, these people are able just to get away with insane stuff that is just given credence and fan by those around. Well, he was dead at the age of 18, his burial was his corpse being thrown into the Tiber, his short reign was notorious for religious controversy and alleged sexual debauchery. Okay. 18. Big life, good life. Packed a lot in.

He did back a lot in. Well, that's it for part one. If you want part two now, which will feature Louis Four teams' insane buffets, and also the most violent, controversial meal in Scottish history. You can get both parts right now by becoming an O-Watertime full-timer. Sign up, go to O-Water Time. Otherwise, we'll see you tomorrow. I'd say if you click on it now you could have it quicker than you can stuff a door mouth. Oh, it would be that quick. Lovely, that quick. Oh, Thank you.