Procillatores, or cup-bearer, an officer whose duty was to fill and present the cup to the king and princes. This charge was known in Egypt, and the ancients transformed Ganymede into a cup-bearer to the gods.
Charlemagne had master cup-bearers. These officers signed royal charters, and kept rank amongst the great officers of state. The head one took the title of Echanson to the king, of master, premier, or great échanson. In the 15th century the échansons exercised their functions only on the coronations, marriages, and entries of kings and queens. Louis XVIII. re-established the office of premier échanson. It was abolished in 1830.
There was, moreover, a class of miserable, obscure, despised slaves, whose useful labours rendered them necessary, and who were treated much the same as beasts of burden. This order of subaltern servants were composed of:—
The lecticarii. They carried the elegant palanquin in which the haughty matron or the noble senator were conveyed to the banqueting-hall.[XXXIII_29]
The stokers (focarii), who cut the wood, lighted, and attended to the fires.[XXXIII_30]
The sweepers (scoparii), whose indefatigable activity kept the apartments and furniture clean.[XXXIII_31]
DESCRIPTION OF [PLATE No. XXVIII.]
No. 1. Procillatores, or Echanson, from a painting at Herculaneum.
No. 2. Triclinium, from a sculpture at Pompeii.