The introduction of the semi-circular table-bed (sigma or stibadium) took place in the dining-rooms of the Roman world as early as the High Empire, but this piece of furniture chiefly came into fashion with Late Antiquity. After a survey of the evidence of that type of furniture in the earlier centuries, the present article establishes a typology of the sigmas of a later period know through archeology : some are preserved in masonry, occasionally attached to a basin (fountain-sigma) or as stibadia clearly outlined by the contours of the tiled pavement. The inventory allows one to compare the shapes and the cumbersome bulk of the beds and on occasion of their accompanying table. One can thus obtain a better knowledge of the lay-out of the bunks in reception rooms and of the probable number of guests they housed. Meanwhile practical conclusions can be drawn of the functioning of dining-rooms in Late Antiquity dwelling houses.
The eighteen reception rooms with three apses which are known to us today in the western provinces of the Roman empire (in Africa, Gaul and Spain), dating from the fourth and fifth centuries AD, are both town dwellings and country villas. The interior organisation of these rooms and their dimensions vary considerably : some are so small that it is difficult to believe that they could have been used as dining rooms. The decorative refinement of some of the apse pavements seems to confirm that, on certain occasions, they could be free of all furniture. These rooms should be interpreted then as multi-purpose reception halls, their complex architectural form essentially serving to mark the high social status of the owner.
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