Table manners: Normal to them, outlandish to you? Vice versa?

Fenestella

Banned
In Ancient Rome, during a meal, gourmands rid themselves of what they had just devoured so they could devour anew -
Seneca: vomunt ut edant, edunt ut vomant (they vomit to eat, they eat to vomit)
Suetonius: μεσσηγυδορποχέστης, ὁ μεσοῦντος τοῦ δείπνου πολλάκις ἀποπατῶν, ὅπως πάλιν ἐμπίμπληται ὁ αὐτός (interprandial pooper, who retires to defecate in the midst of a meal so that he may fill himself up again) -
how come they were accustomed / desensitized to such manners?
Could there be a renaissance of such manners?

In China, to this day, when dining together, each convive repeatedly dips his or her own spoon and chopsticks into the shared containers (platter, pot, etc.), no matter how soupy or saucy the food is.
Could more non-Sinosphere cultures be accustomed / desensitized to such manners?
 
Oh, the old Roman urban legend.

By the way, the Greek verse is from a satyrical poet called Hipponax and Seneca's say is most probably an exaggeration that goes very well with his Stoic philosophy (IIRC there's a Stoic philosopher who wrote an entire book on how you should avoid eating for pleasure).
 
I am not too sure this is relevant, and if it's true.
But our sources tell us about peculiar ancient Celtic (Gaullic) feast cusfom - the best part of the meat was supposed to be given to the best bravest warrior among the present; I don't remember how it was called "the hero's part", or something.

So far nothing extraordinary, but if there had been a lot of brave warriors, and the "hero's meal" was only one (that was the point)...
there might have been disagreements about choosing the bravest warrior.
So, in the very beginning of the feast, the guests might witness a fight, a duel between two pretenders for the "hero's part of the meat".

And ye, I am totally aware that this information might be another myth about "wild wild" barbarious Celts...
 
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