At the beginning of each symposium a symposiarch (συμποσίαρχος), or "lord of the common drink", was elected by the participants. He would then assume control of the wine servants, and thus of the degree of wine dilution and how it changed during the party, and the rate of cup refills. The krater and how it was filled and emptied was thus the centerpiece of the symposiarch's authority. An astute symposiarch should be able to diagnose the degree of inebriation of his fellow symposiasts and make sure that the symposium progressed smoothly and without drunken excess.
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Septimius Haddudan was a 3rd-century Palmyrene official, the only known Palmyrene senator other than Odaenathus, and a priest and symposiarch of the god Bel, who is known to have opposed the rule of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra and aided the Roman Empire during their wars against the queen.
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Daley was elected 'Symposiarch' of the Duskers and the seven 'heptarchs' were Lawson, Stevens, Nelson Illingworth, Frank P. Mahony, George Augustine Taylor, Con Lindsay (journalist), and Philp, who drafted the rules. Artists Norman Lindsay and Albert Henry Fullwood were also members. Truth magazine publisher John Norton called them "a band of boozy, bar-bumming bards". The Dawn and Dusk Club was succeeded by the Supper Club, the rules of which were written in Chinese.
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A slave attends to a vomiting symposiast. A symposium would be overseen by a "symposiarch" who would decide how strong the wine for the evening would be, depending on whether serious discussions or sensual indulgence were in the offing. The Greeks and Romans customarily served their wine mixed with water, as the drinking of pure wine was considered a habit of uncivilized peoples. However, there were major differences between the Roman and Greek symposia.
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It had been assumed for a long time that Ulpian of Tyre was a model for Athenaeus' Ulpian in The Deipnosophists -- or The Banquet of the Learned. Athenaeus makes 'Ulpian' out to be a grammarian and philologist, characterised by his customary interjections: "Where does this word occur in writing?". He is represented as a symposiarch and he occupies a couch alone; his death is passed over in silence in Book XV 686c. Scholars today agree that Athenaeus's Ulpian is not the historical Ulpian, but possibly his father.
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In 2003 the society held a constitutional convention that updated the original document, adjusting the organization to suit changes that had happened in the previous 200 years, such as co-education. Nonetheless, the society has retained its traditional forms and rituals almost in their entirety. Philolexian has several officers, the Moderator (de facto president), Scriba, and Censor (emeritus president), as well as other enviable positions, including Herald, Keeper of the Halls, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sergeant-at-Arms, Whip, Minister of Internet Truth, Nomenclaturist-General, Symposiarch, and Literary Czar, editor of the literary journal of the Society. The number of Philolexians is unknown.
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375 BC play Semele or Dionysus, Eubulus has the god of wine Dionysos describe proper and improper drinking: > For sensible men I prepare only three kraters: one for health (which they > drink first), the second for love and pleasure, and the third for sleep. > After the third one is drained, wise men go home. The fourth krater is not > mine any more – it belongs to bad behaviour; the fifth is for shouting; the > sixth is for rudeness and insults; the seventh is for fights; the eighth is > for breaking the furniture; the ninth is for depression; the tenth is for > madness and unconsciousness. In keeping with the Greek virtue of moderation, the symposiarch should have prevented festivities from getting out of hand, but Greek literature and art often indicate that the third-krater limit was not observed.
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