Said of a glutton who gormandises alone. Lucullus was a rich
Roman soldier, noted for his magnificence and self-indulgence.
Sometimes above 1,700 was expended on a single meal, and Horace tells
us he had 5,000 rich purple robes in his house. On one occasion a very
superb supper was prepared, and when asked who were to be his guests
the “rich fool” replied, “Lucullus will sup to-night with Lucullus.”
(B.C. 110-57.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
