Lavish banquets occurred in ancient Corinth at important occasions, such as the Isthmian Games. Plutarch attended banquets in Corinth, along with other literary and political leaders of the Roman empire. Plutarch observed that during the Isthmian Games, the president of the Games “entertained a great many foreign visitors at once, and several times entertained all the citizens.” (Plutarch, Moralia, 723A). The word citizens means Roman citizens, which did not include low-status Greeks living in Corinth.^ ^.

Banquets in Corinth were probably similar to those in Rome. A particularly extravagant banquet occurred in Rome under Nero in 64 CE:

Tigellinus had been appointed director of the banquet and everything had been provided on a lavish scale. The arrangements made were as follows. In the centre of the lake there had first been lowered the great wooden caskets used for holding wine, and on top of these, planks had been fastened, while round about this platform taverns and booths had been erected. Thus Nero and Tigellinus and their fellow-banqueters occupied the centre, where they held their feast on purple rugs and soft cushions, while all the rest made merry in the taverns. They would also enter the brothels and without let or hindrance have intercourse with any of the women who were seated there, among whom were the most beautiful and distinguished in the city, both slaves and free, courtesans and virgins and married women; and these were not merely of the common people but also of the very noblest families, both girls and grown women. Every man had the privilege of enjoying whichever one he wished, as the women were not allowed to refuse anyone. Consequently, indiscriminate rabble as the throng was, they not only drank greedily but also wantoned riotously; and now a slave would debauch his mistress in the presence of his master, and now a gladiator would debauch a girl of noble family before the eyes of her father.

Dio Cassius, Roman History 62.15. Almost surely “every man” living in Rome at this time did not have the opportunity to participate in this banquet. Persons invited to banquets were persons with high social and political status.