epulo

The (Latin for "feasters"; sing. epulo) arranged feasts and public banquets at festivals and games (ludi). They constituted one of the four great religious corporations (quattuor amplissima collegia) of ancient Roman priests. Establishment and influence The college was founded in 196 BC due to a law passed by Gaius Licinius Lucullus. The need for such a college arose as the increasingly elaborate festivals required experts to oversee their organization. They were tasked with attending and managing banquets known as epulum which were dedicated to the gods. One major epulum was the epulum jovis which was dedicated to Jupiter. Previously these banquets were managed by the pontiffs. There were four great religious corporations (quattuor amplissima collegia) of ancient Roman priests; the two most important were the College of Pontiffs and the college of augurs; the fourth was the quindecimviri sacris faciundis. The third college was the epulones; their duties to arrange the feasts and public banquets for festivals and games (ludi) had originally been carried out by the pontiffs.