Editing Trimalchio (section)

{{Short description|Fictional character in the Satyricon}}
[[File:Trimalchio's dinner (IA cu31924001786981).pdf|thumb|Translated by [[Harry Thurston Peck]]]]
'''Trimalchio''' is a character in the 1st-century AD [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] work of fiction ''[[Satyricon]]'' by [[Petronius]]. He features as the ostentatious, nouveau-riche host in the section titled the "Cēna Trīmalchiōnis" (The Banquet of Trimalchio, often translated as "Dinner with Trimalchio"). Trimalchio is an arrogant [[Freedman|former slave]] who has become quite wealthy as a wine merchant.<ref name="Bagnani54" /> The name "Trimalchio" is formed from the Greek prefix τρις and the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] מלך ([[King of Kings#Judaism|melech]]) in its occidental form Malchio or Malchus.<ref name="Bagnani54">{{cite journal |last=Bagnani |first=Gilbert |year=1954 |title=Trimalchio |journal=[[Phoenix (classics journal)|Phoenix]] |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=88–89 |doi=10.2307/1086404 |jstor=1086404}}</ref> The fundamental meaning of the root is "King", and the name "Trimalchio" would thus mean "Thrice King" or "greatest King".<ref name=Bagnani54/>