Most Expensive Dinner In The World

Most Expensive Dinner In The World

In an effort to dissuade Rome from conquering Egypt, Cleopatra once wagered Marc Antony that she could give the most expensive dinner in history. General Antony took the bet. The Roman general reclined as the queen sat with an empty plate and a goblet of vinegar in front of her. She crushed one large pearl from a pair of pearl earrings, dissolved it in the liquid, then drank it down. Dumbfounded, Marc Antony declined his dinner – the matching pearl – and conceded that she had won the wager. Pliny, the world’s first gemologist, writes in his famous Natural History that the two pearls were worth an estimated 60 million sesterces, or 1,875,000 ounces of fine silver. That would be $45,000,000, with today’s price of silver at $12.40 an ounce.