Midrash su Ester 1:5

(Fol. 12) When he showed the riches and the glory of his kingdom, etc. R. Jose, the son of R. Chanina, said: "You can infer from this that Ahasuerus attired himself in the priestly garments and stood with his guest, for it is written here, And the glory of his greatness, and it is written [concerning the priestly garments] (Ex. 28, 2) For glory and ornament." (Est. 1, 5) And when these days were completed. Rab and Samuel differ on this point. One said that he was a wise king, and the other, that he was a foolish king. The reason for the statement that he was a wise king, can be derived from the fact that he had made the feast first for the remote subjects, because for his townsmen he could make it at any time; and the other said he was a fool, for he should have made it first for his townsmen, so that should the others rebel, they at least would defend him.

Rabbi Ḥiyya had a gentile friend in Ashna, who prepared a feast for him, during which he served him everything that had been created in the six days of Creation. He said to him: ‘What is your God going to prepare for you in the future that is more than this?’ He said to him: “Your feast has a limit; however, the feast that our God is going to prepare for the righteous in the future has no limit, as it is written: “No eye has seen, besides You, God, what will be done for one who awaits Him”’ (Isaiah 64:3).
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai had a friend who lived near his residence in Tyre. One time he came to him and he heard his servant saying to him: ‘What are we eating today, [thin] lentil soup or [thick] lentil stew?’ He said to him: ‘Lentil soup.’ He began speaking to him [the servant], and he [the friend] sensed him [that Rabbi Shimon overheard the conversation]. He sent and told the members of his household: ‘Set for me all these fine vessels.’ He said [to Rabbi Shimon]: ‘Will the Rabbi agree to drink with us today?’ He [Rabbi Shimon] said: ‘Yes.’ When he entered the house, he saw the fine vessels and wondered; he said to him: ‘Does a person who has all these possessions eat lentil soup?’ He said to him: ‘Rabbi, you, your Torah accords you honor; however, we, were it not for our belongings, there would be no person who would honor us.’
Bar Yoḥani sought to make a feast for the prominent people of Rome. Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei was there; he said: Let us consult with the resident of our city [Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei]. He came to him and said to him: ‘If you wish to invite twenty, prepare for twenty-five. And if you wish to invite twenty-five, prepare for thirty.’ He went and prepared for twenty-four and invited twenty-five. It was found that there was a portion missing from before one of them; one said it was a kindas [an edible thistle], and one said it was unripe dates.⁶Both of these are particularly inexpensive, low-quality foods. He brought gold and placed it before him [the guest who had not received his portion]. He took it and cast it in his face; he said to him: ‘Do I eat gold; do I need your gold?’
He [Bar Yoḥani] came before Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei and related the incident to him. He said to him: ‘By your life, Rabbi, I shouldn’t have related it to you, as I did not do what you told me. For this reason I told you – to determine whether the Holy One blessed be He revealed to you [only] the intricacies of Torah, or perhaps the intricacies of feasts as well.’ He said to him: ‘Yes, even the intricacies of feasts He revealed to us.’ He said to him: ‘From where do you know this?’ He said to him; ‘From David, as it is written: “Avner came to David, to Hebron, and with him were twenty men. And David made for Avner, and for the men who were with him, a feast” (II Samuel 3:20). He made a feast is not written here, but rather: “for the men who were with him a feast.”’⁷He made the feast for all the men who might come with Avner. Here [at Aḥashverosh’s banquet], however, the last day was like the first day [and no one lacked for anything].
“Upon the completion of those days, the king made for all the people who were present in the Shushan citadel, great and small, a banquet for seven days, in the courtyard of the garden of the king's palace” (Esther 1:5).

“Upon the completion of [uvimlot] those days” – it is written uvimlot [plene, with the extra vav],⁸It is not clear if this is merely a textual note or somehow related to the following dispute between Rav and Shmuel. “the king made for all the people who were present…a banquet for seven days.” Rav and Shmuel: One said: Seven, besides the one hundred and eighty. And Shmuel said: Seven, included in the one hundred and eighty. Rabbi Simon said: This Shushan citadel was like a royal court,⁹Alternatively, the Hebrew word komititon, which comes from the Latin commesatio, meaning a drunken revel. stocked with food and drink. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: The great men of the generation were there and they fled.¹⁰The Jewish dignitaries fled because they heard that the king was displaying the Temple vessels and demeaning them. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Atal said: Jews were there at that feast. That wicked one [Aḥashverosh] said to them: ‘Is your God capable of preparing more than this for you?’ They said to him: ‘“No eye has seen, besides You, God, what will be done for one who awaits Him” (Isaiah 64:3). Were He to make a feast like this for us, we would say to Him: We already ate this at the table of Aḥashverosh.’