Cleopatra’s Party in Honor of Marc Antony (c. 41 BCE)
Queen Cleopatra held one of the history’s most romantically scandalous parties in honor of Marc Antony. Roman historian Pliny tells of Cleopatra hosting a banquet to show extravagant wealth and complete disregard for valuables. Cleopatra bet Marc Antony she could spend 10 million sesterces during one meal. She took one of her pearl earrings, which Pliny described as “the largest in the whole of history” worth roughly the ten million sesterces she had bet Antony.
Cleopatra dropped this treasure in a glass of vinegar. The pearl dissolved, and she drank it. Montclair State University classicists experimented with the vinegar-and-pearl cocktail to test the story. The pearl would have taken some time to dissolve, roughly 24 to 36 hours. It is feasible, although unappetizing. The one gram pearl in the experiment left a sludge in the vinegar. The story is possible, although unappetizing, and Cleopatra could have won such a bet.
