Transcript Games Introduction

Games at Rome
ludi
Types of Roman Games
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Ludi Circensis (Circus Games) – Chariot
races – est. ca. 616-579 BCE
 Ludi scaenici = Theatrical Performances
 Munus/Munera – Gladiatorial contests –
est. 264 BCE
 Venatio – Wild-Beast Hunt
Circus Maximus – where ludi held
Chariot Race in the Circus Maximus
Colosseum - venue where most
munera were held
Roman Festivals and Entertainments
During the Republican Period
Roman games (ludi) elements of Roman
religious festivals (feriae)
 Acts of thanksgiving to the gods for:
1.Fertility, 2.Victories, 3.Deliverance from
crises, 3.Funerary
 Roman games characterized by spectacles
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Munera and the Sacred
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Origins of gladiatorial games – in a funerary
context – 264 BC
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All games held in a religious context
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341 CE – Desacralization of munera by
Constantius
Tertullian (ca. 150 – 230 CE)
on the Origins of Munera
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“It remains for us to examine the "spectacle" most
noted of all, and in highest favour. It is called a
dutiful service (munus), from its being an office, for it
bears the name of "officium" as well as "munus." The
ancients thought that in this solemnity they rendered
offices to the dead; at a later period, with a cruelty
more refined, they somewhat modified its character.
[2] For formerly, in the belief that the souls of the
departed were appeased by human blood, they were
in the habit of buying captives or slaves of wicked
disposition, and immolating them in their funeral
obsequies. [3] Afterwards they thought good to
throw the veil of pleasure over their iniquity. Those,
therefore, whom they had provided for the combat,
and then trained in arms as best they could, only that
they might learn to die, they, on the funeral day,
killed at the places of sepulture. They alleviated
death by murders.
continued
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[4] Such is the origin of the "Munus." But by
degrees their refinement came up to their
cruelty; for these human wild beasts could not
find pleasure exquisite enough, save in the
spectacle of men torn to pieces by wild beasts.
Offerings to propitiate the dead then were
regarded as belonging to the class of funeral
sacrifices; and these are idolatry: for idolatry, in
fact, is a sort of homage to the departed; the
one as well as the other is a service to dead
men. [5] Moreover, demons have abode in the
images of the dead.” (Tertullian, De Spectaculis,
12.1-5. K.H. Weeber, 2002)
http://www.tertullian.org/anf/anf03/anf0309.htm#P890_350630
The nature of gladiatorial games
munera (munus)
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munus = means duty, tribute, obligation – Not included in
ludi
First gladiatorial combat held in 264 BCE by the sons of D.
Junius Brutus in honor of their dead father (included 3 pairs
of gladiators) in the forum Boarium
Originally paid for by a private individual (editor),
Private individuals could own troops of gladiators – trained by
the lanista (gladiator trainer)
munera increased in frequency, organization, variety, and
scale over time
Examples: 216 BCE (22 pairs of gladiators); 200 BCE (25
pairs); 183 BCE (60 pairs) – By 65 BCE Julius Caesar planned
a show of 320 pairs of gladiators
Numbers and scale a direct consequence of Roman imperial
expansion -
Other occasions for munera
Military Triumphs, granted to victorious
commander who had killed at least 5000
of the enemy
 Ludi magni votivi games vowed to Jupiter
by generals before they set out on a
military campaign
 Regular ludi votivi put on after 82 B.C. in
honour of Sulla, after 46 B.C. in honour of
Julius Caesar = ludi Caesaris
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The gladiators
term from gladius (the sword)
Came from three sources: war captives and other slaves,
criminals (free or slaves), volunteers
 Some prisoners of war or criminal (slave or free)
condemned ad amphitheatrum
 Some volunteers were Roman citizens - frowned upon
 Gladiators suffered from an ambivalent image - seen
both as polluted (infamis) and as rock stars
 Volunteers had to take an oath to be burnt, chained, and
killed by an iron weapon
 Gladiators could survive to eventually win their freedom
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The gladiators
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War-captives often were skilled soldiers
(originally probably the only source)
Vernae – slaves born in captivity also trained as
gladiators
Condemned criminals: a) condemned to die in
the arena; b) condemned to a gladiatorial
school (lesser penalty)
Distinction between those condemned to die in
the arena and professional gladiators
Other professional fighters: bestiarii (beast
fighters); venatores (hunters)
Types of Gladiators
Types of skilled
gladiators often
represented
formidable enemies of
the Romans
 This one wears armor
and weapons of a
Samnite warrior
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www.mediterranees.net/.../Samnis.html
The Venatio
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Venatio = Wild beast hunt
Bestiarius = The beast-hunter
Frequently held during munera
As regular program develops: Venatio in the morning,
Execution of criminals at noon, Gladiatorial combats in
the afternoon
Funded by a private editor – had to arrange for the
capture, transport, and maintenance of the animals
Lucrative for provincials to hunt and capture animals on
large scale to meet Roman demands
Ecological disaster – species of animals wiped out in
many regions of the Mediterranean and beyond
Victorius Bestiarius – 2nd Century
CE
http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/nenning5.jpg
Animal Combats – 3rd Century CE
http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/nenning6.jpg
Executions in the Arena:
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Hierarchy of Execution
Romans Citizens: died a quick death
Criminals of low status and Slaves: suffered a
lingering death
Foreign Enemies = captivi also slow death
Forms: Death by beasts, crucifixion, burning
alive
Survivors of the 2nd Sicilian slave war, captured
by Manius Aquilius in 100 BC were sent to arena
to fight animals – chose their own form of death
Diodorus Siculus 36.10
sacrifice of the slave rebels (1)
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Aquillius was sent against the rebels, and by his
personal valor won a resounding victory over
them…a thousand were still left …Aquillius at
first intended to subdue them by force of arms,
but when later, after an exchange of envoys,
sacrifice
the slave rebels
they surrendered,
heof released
them from
immediate punishment and took them to Rome
to do combat with wild beasts. There, as some
report, they brought their lives to a most
glorious end; for they avoided combat with the
beasts and cut one another down at the public
altar…the final survivor died heroically by his
own hand.
(2)
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Plautius for his skilful and successful
conduct of the war in Britain not only was
praised by Claudius but also obtained an
ovation. In the gladiatorial combats many
persons took part, not only of the foreign
freedmen but also the British captives. He
used up many men in this part of the
spectacle and took pride in the fact. (Dio
Cassius 60.30)
After the capture of Jerusalem
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Fronto put to death all the seditious ones and
the brigands, information being given by them
against each other; he selected the tallest and
most handsome of the youth and reserved them
for the triumph; of the rest, those over
seventeen years of age he sent in chains to the
works in Egypt, while multitutdes were
presented by Titus to the various provinces to
be destroyed in the [arena], by sword [as
gladiators] or by wild beasts. (Josephus, The
Jewish War, 6. 418)
Condemned criminals
In imperial period forms of death for
criminals became more and more
elaborate
 Criminals as source for spectacle
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The “best” criminals were reserved for
games in Rome
Illegal transfers from the provinces?
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“the governor should not, at the whim of the
people, release persons who have been
condemned to the beasts; but if they are of such
strength or skill that they can fittingly be
displayed to the people of Rome [the governor]
should consult with the emperor [about
transferring custody]. The deified Severus and
Antoninus wrote in a rescript that condemned
persons should not be transferred from one
province to another without the emperor’s
permission (Digest 48.19.31)
Condemned criminals
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“The late emperor Hadrian, in a rescript to the Council of Baetica
concerning the punishment of cattle-raiders, wrote as follows…The
terms of the Emperor Hadrian’s rescript would imply that labor in
the mines is the severer punishment [in comparison to being
sentenced to the sword]. Unless, possibly, the Emperor Hadrian
meant by the phrase “punishment of the sword” the gladiatorial
games. There is, however, a distinction between those sentenced to
the sword and those sentenced to the ludus; the former are
dispatched without delay, or at any rate ought to be dispatched
within a year, and this instruction is contained in the Orders. But
those condemned to the ludus are not necessarily dispatched; they
may even, after a time, be restored to freedom, or be discharged
from the obligation of being a gladiator; since after five years, they
may be restored to freedom, while, on the expiration of three years,
they are permitted to receive their discharge (rudis) from the
gladiatorial games. (Collatio Mosaicarum et Romanarum legum
11.7)
Calligula’s approach to cutting costs
of feeding the beasts
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“Having collected wild animals for one of
his shows, Caligula found butcher’s meat
too expensive and decided to feed them
with criminals instead. He paid no
attention to the charge-sheets, but simply
stood in the middle of a colonnade ,
glanced at the prisoners lined up before
him, and gave the orders; “kill every man
between that bald head and the other
over there!” (Suetonius, Caligula 27)
The Function of Ordinary Roman
Sacrifice
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pietas – a combination of duty and affection to the
gods ( also to family members, friends, patrons, etc.)
 Sacrifice demonstrates pietas
 Sacrifice cleanses both both vitium (intended
transgression) and impietas (unintended
transgression)
 Pietas legitimized the right of individuals to govern;
Role of magistrates: to maintain the pax deorum
(peace of the gods)
 pietas as expressed in (expressed in public acts of
sacrificial devotion) of Rome’s magistrates
guaranteed the favor of the gods and therefore the
welfare of the state
Roman Blood Sacrifice
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Roman religious ritual turned on offering the
blood of sacrificial victims in exchange for
goodwill of the gods
Under exceptional circumstances this could
include human victims - devotio
devotio could be a self-sacrifice – a vow made
by a commander before a campaign in return for
a victory.
Three times in the late Republic 228, 216, 113
BCE, Romans buried two Gauls and two Greeks
alive in the Forum Boarium
Execution of Christian martyrs described as
Sacrifice ad munera
Gladiatorial games started as one of the
highest expressions of personal pietas
 The magical qualities of sacrificial blood,
especially human blood, cleansed the state of
both vitium and impietas
 Because impietas could occur unnoticed,
sacrificial blood had to be shed in a prophylactic
way – munera helped in this function
 When ritual sacrifice no longer served a religious
function (by 341 CE) munera discontinued –
the fact that they had to be “de-sacralized in
first place underscores their sacred qualities
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Function of Gladiatorial spectacles
Not just cruelty and bloodlust
 Sacrificial purpose
 Important social functions in a status
conscious society, displaying of social
hierarchy
 Display of boundaries between Insiders
and outsiders
 Display of Rome’s Power and Conquest of
the Uncivilized
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Transformation of Roman Games
From funerary honors to entertainment
 Games came to be expected/demanded
 Increasing variety, scale, and cruelty
 Attempts by individual powerful Roman
individuals to gain control of Games
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From an “Obligation” to the Dead to an
“Obligation” to the People
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There were two things which Murena, in his campaign for the
praetorship, suffered seriously from the lack of, but which were
both of considerable benefit to him when he came to stand for the
consulship. One was games, the expectation of which had been
brought about by certain rumors and by the deliberate suggestion of
his rivals for office…Both of these advantages fortune held back for
him until he stood for the consulship…as for his not having put on
games, a factor which had hampered Murena in his campaign for
the praetorship, this deficiency had been made up for by the
extremely lavish games he had put on in the course of his year as
praetor…It may be that you…attach more weight to the urban vote
than to that of the soldiers. But if so, you can hardly show the same
contempt for the high quality of Murena’s games and the
magnificence of the spectacle, since this was unquestionably of
enormous help to him. Do I need to point out that the people and
the ignorant masses adore games? It is hardly surprising that they
do.” (Cicero, Pro Murena, A. Futrell, 2006)
Games as entertainment
Increasing demand for games resulted:
1.Increasing frequency, 2. Increasing scale,
3.Increasing variety
 Games become all about spectacle
 Events are combined and merged (Theater,
Munera, Venatio, Executions, Athletics,
Triumphs)
 Games celebrated outside of the regular
calendar of games or outside of the funerary
context
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The Cruelty of Games
Seneca, Epistulae Morales, 7. R. Campbell, 1969
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“I happened to go to one of those shows at the time of the lunchhour interlude, expecting there to be some light and witty
entertainment then, some respite for the purpose of affording
people’s eyes a rest from human blood. Far from it. All the earlier
contests were charity in comparison. The nonsense is dispensed
with now: what we have now is murder pure and simple. The
combatants have nothing to protect them; their whole bodies are
exposed to the blows; every thrust they launch gets home. A great
many spectators prefer this to the ordinary matches and even to the
special, popular demand ones. And quite naturally. There are no
helmets and no shields repelling the weapons. What is the point of
armour? Or of skill? All that sort of thing just makes the death
slower in coming. In the morning men are thrown to lions and
bears: but it is the spectators they are thrown to in the lunch hour.
The spectators insist that each on killing his man shall be thrown
against another to be killed in his turn; and the eventual victor is
reserved by them for some other form of butchery; the only exit for
the contestants is death. Fire and steel keep the slaughter going.
And all this happens while the arena is virtually empty.”
Political Aspect of Gladiatorial
shows
Display of importance and wealth of
senatorial families
 122 BCE Gaius Gracchus put on shows for
free for all Romans – became customary
for magistrates aiming for higher office
 used to attract attention and support for
elections to office
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The facilities
Pressure to create specialized facilities to
accommodate the scale and variety of events
 First gladiatorial events held in the Forum
Boarium, Forum Romanum, or the Campus
Martius
 The Amphitheater would become the highest
expression of Roman identity and Roman
imperialism
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Forum Boarium
http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/boarium.jpg
The Amphitheater
Late development
 Came to Rome from Campania
 Earliest amphitheater built in Pompeii in ca. 70
BCE
 First permanent (wooden) amphitheater in
Rome built by Statilius Taurus in 27 BCE
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Game Day
Night before the game = Public banquet for
performers
 Game day begins with the Pompa (procession)
including Lictors, Editor, Performers, Musicians,
Religious Icons
 Venationes = Wild Beast Hunts
 Meridiani = Public Executions
 Munera = Gladiators
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The pompa
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“The “pompa” procession – which comes first, proves in
itself to whom it belongs, with the long line of idols, the
unbroken train of images, the cars and chariots and
conveyances for carrying them, the portable thrones and
garlands and the attributes of the gods. Moreover, how
many sacred rites are observed, how many sacrifices are
offered at the beginning, in the course, and at the end
of the procession, how many religious corporations,
furthermore, how many priesthoods, how many bodies
of magistrates are called upon to march in it – each is
known to the inhabitants of that city where all the
demons have gathered and take up their abode.”
(Tertullian, De Spectaculis, 7.2-3, A. Futrell, 2006)
Foundation Charter for Genetiva Julia
(44 BCE)
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“Let whosoever shall be aediles put on during
their magistracy a gladiatorial spectacle and
theatrical shows in honor of Jupiter, Juno and
Minerva as far as possible over a three day
period for the greater part of the day and one
day of shows in the circus or in the forum in
honor of Venus; and on the said show and
gladiatorial spectacles each of the said
magistrates shall spend of his own money not
less than 2,000 sesterces, and out of public
funds each Aedile shall be allowed to spend
1,000 sesterces. Let a duovir or a prefect oversee
the giving and the attribution of that money.”
(J.C. Edmondson, 2001)
Conclusions
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ambivalent image of the gladiator emerges out of his
status as sacrificial victim and his status as
victimarius (carrying out the sacrifice)
Gladiatorial games increased in scale and importance
under the principate because emperors needed to
legitimize their position
Political legitimacy is a function of one’s
demonstrable ability to maintain the Pax Deorum
Maintaining the Pax Deorum was carried out through
public displays of pietas, the highest expression of
which was public sacrifice