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Allori's The Banquet of Syphax is located on the long wall of the Salone containing Franciabigio's The Return of Cicero to Rome. Allori placed the event in a large columned hall that opens up onto a landscape. He perhaps found his inspiration in Venetian painting, in particular, Paolo Veronese's depictions of banquets.
Syphax was a king of the ancient Numidian tribe Masaesyli of western Numidia during the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. His story is told in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita (written c. 27-25 BC). In his twenty-eighth book Livy records that Scipio, coming from Carthage, was surprised to encounter Hasdrubal, who had retreated from Spain before the Romans, at the court of the Numidian prince Syphax. Their host was flattered that both combatants had sought his support. He invited Scipio and Hasdrubal to share a meal, where the scene that Allori depicted took place. The two bitter enemies took their meal on the same triclinium.
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