Petronius (Loeb)

But Ganymede is the sole character in Petronius's novel who brings to light the reverse side of Trimalchio's splendor. A system of local government that showers honors upon vulgarity—and allows Trimalchio his bath, his improved sanitation, his host of servants, and his house with so many doors that no guest may enter and leave by the same one—is invariably true to its nature in leaving poor men to die in the streets. The very existence of poverty becomes dim for Trimalchio, almost unreal, so that he can jest at Agamemnon for choosing the eternal quarrel of rich and poor as the theme for a speech.

Between the rich and poor in Cumae, the only link is commerce in vice. Trimalchio finds Fortunata, a chorus girl, standing for sale in the open market and calls her up to be the partner of his sterile, meaningless prodigality. She has learned all the painful lessons of the slums; she will not grace Trimalchio's table until dinner is over and she has seen the plate safely collected from the guests and the leftovers apportioned to the slaves. She knows the sting of jealousy and the solace of intoxication or tears; normally she rules him, just as Petruchio ruled Katharine A reference to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew., with loud assertions and tempests of words. The only other woman present at the dinner, Scintilla, the wife of Trimalchio's friend Habinnas (a monumental mason), is drunker and more unseemly, leaving behind a less sharp impression of character.

Trimalchio's dinner breaks up with a false alarm of fire, and the infamous heroes of the story escape from Agamemnon. Trimalchio vanishes, and with his loss, the story becomes fragmentary once more.