What is "deipnosophistae"

The Deipnosophistae is an early 3rd-century AD Greek work (, Deipnosophistaí, lit. "The Dinner Sophists/Philosophers/Experts") by the Greco- Egyptian author Athenaeus of Naucratis. It is a long work of literary, historical, and antiquarian references set in Rome at a series of banquets held by the protagonist Publius Livius Larensis for an assembly of grammarians, lexicographers, jurists, musicians, and hangers-on. It is sometimes called the oldest surviving cookbook.