Throwing Toga Party Fit for an Emperor

“Move over St. Patrick and make way for Caesar.” That’s the come-on from a marketing group promoting a party kit containing invitations, envelopes, menu inserts, place cards, decorating and costume ideas and recipes for celebrating the demise of Julius Caesar on the fateful Ides of March in 44 BC. (Is this a new trend?)

Good idea, actually.

And why not? The party lends itself to “murderous” good fun and frolic with great costuming, good food and plenty of opportunity for guests to show off as nothing does. You can re-create the historic event by assigning your own cast of characters to the guests. But first decide who, among the characters, you, the hosts, will be. Caesar and his intuitive wife, Calpurnia? Brutus? Mark Antony and his great love Cleopatra, perhaps?

Remember that Caesar’s favorite color was purple, the color worn on the fateful March day. You will, of course, ask senators and their companions (your guests) to come dressed properly in their togas, sandals, daggers and basil wreathes, and also to be prepared to speak--or perform--in honor of the great Caesar. (A roast would be fun.)

A Toast to the Gladiators

You may want to add a few Roman centurions carrying shields to protect Emperor Caesar as he enters the senate before the speeches (and toasts), and before the dastardly deed is done. Coerce a few gladiators from among the guests into the act with a performance of arm-wrestling, lion fighting (a balloon configuration or pinata) or some such silly game.

Party Rites, the Easthampton, Mass., company promoting this and other clever party kits by mail, suggests a game that tests table-side trivia memory with questions such as “How many soldiers are in a Roman Legion?” and “How old was Cleopatra when she and Caesar became lovers?” But you probably can do much better.

Party Rites suggests a Roman meal--chicken with rosemary, pasta and a chocolate cake “you’d kill for.” How about a truly Roman feast in red, beginning with red leaf lettuce salad (raddichio, bronze lettuce, red roasted peppers and tomatoes), followed by beet pasta (at most supermarkets or pasta specialty stores) topped with creamy sauce colored with red pepper puree. Veal roast, venison or pork roast can be covered with tomato sauce. Carrots, turnips and beets can be cooked together to produce a blood-red tint.

Wine From an Urn

For the dessert, raspberry gelati with assorted red and blue berries, and of course, wine--red only--throughout the meal, preferably poured from an urn, the way the Romanesque waitresses do at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

To create an ambiance of Roman intrigue, the party experts suggest taking a cue from the Romans who dined in a reclining position. Use pillows and coffee tables spilling with centerpieces of fresh fruit (including lots of grapes). Or you can keep decor simple and sparse, using heavy muslin sheets to cover the table, decorated perhaps with basil wreathes sprayed black.

Remember when you send out the invitations to include a few well-placed droplets of red ink along with the standard question, “Et tu? “ and the warning “Beware the Ides of March” if guests don’t show up.