Rex Bibendi

Origin: At Roman banquets the arbiter bibendi or rex bibendi, the king of drinking, was chosen by dice. He took over the role of the Greek symposiarch and set the mix and the order. Horace mentions the office in his Odes.

Setup: Two dice travel around the table.

How to play:

1. Everyone rolls once, the highest roll becomes king
2. The king rules until someone rolls a double
3. Rolling continues around the table, the king issues an order before each roll

Royal orders (pick one per roll):

• Roll under four and you drink
• Roll over nine and you hand out two sips
• Everyone holding their glass in the left hand drinks

Change of power:

• A double topples the king, the roller takes over at once
• The deposed king takes two sips
• Double six: the new king may set one rule for the rest of the night

Tone: The king speaks in orders and in the third person. Anything else is unworthy of a Roman.