A Study of the Latin Epigraphic Evidence
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THE PRODUCTION OF SHOWS IN THE CITIES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE THE PRODUCTION OF SHOWS IN THE CITIES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE: A STUDY OF THE LATIN EPIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE by GUY CHAMBERLAND, M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Guy Chamberland, March 2001 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2001) McMaster University (Classics) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: The Production ofShows in the Cities of the Roman Empire: A Study ofthe Latin Epigraphic Evidence AUTHOR: Guy Chamberland, B.A. (McGill University), M.A. (University of Ottawa) SUPERVISOR: Professor W.J. Slater NUMBER OF PAGES: vi,329 McMASTER UNtVEiiSITY UBRARl'l ABSTRACT The "games" - scenic representations, chariot races, gladiatorial combats and athletic displays - played a fundamental role in the Roman world. A great deal has been said on the program and cost of such events, on their social function, on the role of the senatorial elite and emperors as providers of games. These issues, however, can be treated almost only with the city of Rome in view; there is very little in the sources that allows for a study along these lines at the level of the several thousands of cities of the Latin part of the Empire. The main reason for this is easy to identify: ancient authors show very little interest for municipal life and institutions. Our documentation on the production of games at the municipal level happens to be almost entirely composed of inscriptions written in a highly formalized language. This material can be deciphered only by bringing together and studying most or all relevant inscription on a given issue. So far, this has been done mostly according to categories of games; one team of scholars, for example, is presently republishing all inscriptions belonging to the world of the amphitheater: honorary inscriptions recording shows, gladiators' epitaphs, dedications of amphitheaters, &c. Though this approach is commendable in many respects, it has the disadvantage of concealing features shared by the games in general. Accordingly, this dissertation studies the games as displays of the benevolence of the wealthy towards their community. Two broad objectives are set forth: to improve our understanding of the language of the inscriptions so far as the games are concerned, and to determine under what circumstances a production of games is worthy of an epigraphic commemoration. The second of these two objectives is justified by the surprisingly small number of about five hundred relevant inscriptions from the Latin part of the Empire over a period of more than five centuries. 111 FOREWORD Some conventions are used in the text and tables. Bold numbers (1, 2, ... 461) refer to the inscriptions in the catalogue at the end of this study. The symbol HS is used for the sestertius, a large bronze coin. Epigraphic conventions are explained in the introduction to the catalogue. Sometimes the material is broken down by period; the abbreviations used are: (R): Republican; (A): Augustan or thereabout; (I): 1st century; (II): 2nd century; &c.; (?): uncertain. Abbreviations for periodicals are those of L 'annie philologique. Abbreviations for ancient sources are those of the Oxford Latin Dictionary; those not to be found there should be obvious enough for easy identification. For the longer and better known inscriptions, abbreviations were preferred to the rather meaningless corpus numbers (thus Aeslt for the so-called aes ltalicense, rather than elL II 6278 = ILS 5163; but excerpts provided in the catalogue are numbered - in this case 4); the list of all such abbreviations will be found together with other abbreviations at the head of the reference section. * * * At this point it is appropriate for me to thank my supervisor, Dr. William J. Slater, for his invaluable help and encouragement throughout the process of writing this dissertation. I have greatly benefited from his thorough knowledge of the Graeco-Roman world. Thanks must also be addressed to Drs. E.W. Haley and C.F. Eilers for their very valuable comments at all stages of my research; to Drs. E. Glanville and G. Moyal who were on the examining committee; and to the external examiner, Dr. Kathleen M. Coleman, whose numerous comments and corrections were invaluable. I wish to thank McMaster University for three consecutive Alvin Irwin Ogilvie Scholarships, the Classics Department for teaching and research assistantships, and the Government of Ontario for an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. I would also like to thank my parents, Raymond and Gemma, my brothers Marcel and Alain, and my in-laws, Maria and Enrico Iulianella, for their support. This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Claudia, and our son, Jeremie. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Descriptive note 11 Abstract 111 Foreword IV Table ofcontents V List oftables VI I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. LVDI 31 III. MVNERA, VENATIONES AND LVSIONES 53 IV. ATHLETIC CONTESTS 81 V. THE LVSVS IVVENVM 93 VI. "NON-TRADITIONAL" DENOMINATIONS 105 VII. VERBS EXPRESSING THE PRODUCTION OF SHOWS 115 VIII. FEATURES SHARED BY ALL KINDS OF SHOWS 127 IX. PRODUCERS AND CAVSAE SPECTACVLORVM 159 X. CONCLUSIONS 221 ANNEX I: INSCRIPTIONS 227 ANNEX II: COMPARATIVE TABLE 309 ANNEX III: INDEX OF PRODUCERS 315 REFERENCES 321 V LIST OF TABLES II. 1 : Ludi known by their official name 32 II.2: Ludi circenses 39 11.3: Ludi scaenici 45 11.4: Ludi not qualified as either circenses or scaenici 46 III. 1 : Munera known by their official name 56 III.2: Events with name of the producer in the genitive 58 III. 3 : Other munera 61 I1I.4: Expressions equivalent to munus 63 III.5: Venationes 70 II1.6: Lusiones 75 IV.1: Athletic contests 83 V.1: The lusus iuuenum 93 VI. 1 : "Non-traditional" denominations 106 VII. 1 : Verbs used to express the production of games 116 VIII. 1 : Dates or occasions when games were produced 128 VIII.2: Duration of events 140 VIII. 3 : Prices of events 146 VIII.4: Average prices of events 151 IX.1: Evidence for statutory games 160 IX.2: The "pro ludis" inscriptions 167 IX.3: Curatores muneris 169 IX.4: Munerarii 182 IX.5: "~b honorem" shows 194 IX.6: "~b dedicationem" shows 196 IX.7: Bequests for shows 200 IX.8: Shows with unknown causae 204 VI I. INTRODUCTION 1. General introduction There are several hundreds of Latin inscriptions which record the production of games (in the sense of "shows" or "spectacles") outside Rome by local magistrates, priests and private benefactors. This material is the subject of this dissertation. In the majority of the inscriptions that are collected in the catalogue at the end of this study, scenic representations, chariot races at the circus, gladiatorial shows, and other categories of games are understood by their providers, and by those to whom they were offered, primarily as gifts of visual entertainment to the community. The religious dimension of ludi, which scholars have studied in some detail, the didactic value attributed by Cicero and others to gladiatorial munera, rarely concerned the decurions or other local notables when they provided for the erection of an honorary or funerary inscription.! This is not to deny these and other issues a role altogether. However, records of gifts of games at the municipal level are almost exclusively found in inscriptions, and it was deemed appropriate that a study of this material should take into account what apparently mattered most to those who erected them. This chapter is largely devoted to justifying this view and discussing its meaning in terms of the subject-matter of the next chapters. A word should first be said about terminology. It is not possible to systematic ally avoid the Latin terms ludi ("games", i.e. scenic representations and races at the circus), munus ("gladiatorial show"),2 uenatio ("hunt" and "display of beasts", often appended to IOn the religious dimension of /udi, cf. e.g. PIGANIOL 1923. On the didactic value of gladiatorial shows, cf. e.g. Cic., ruse. 2.41; Plin., Pan. 33; and, for late imperial evidence, VILLE 1960 pp.304-7. 2The tenn "munus" has several other meanings, on which cf. P. Veyne, RPh 49, 1975, p.89 n.3; cf. also infra n.5S and pp.54-55. 1 2 INTRODUCTION gladiatorial shows), certamen ("contest", often used for athletic displays), and the several other terms which will be introduced and defined in the following chapters. However, "games" and "shows" will be used as much as possible in order not to burden the text with Latin terminology. A fundamental distinction is that between public and private games. Duoviri and aediles, or similar local magistrates, were required by municipal constitutions to organize ludi publici, also known as ludi sollemnes ("solemn ludi"). However, the expression "public games" will be avoided, since munera publica ("public gladiatorial shows"), where they existed, were generally not required constitutionally from magistrates but entrusted to curatores muneris publici. To clearly distinguish constitutionally required games from other games, it was deemed preferable to use the expression "statutory games". Still, the public or private nature of the games will often prove to be fundamental for our purposes, but mostly in terms of the source of funding of the games. 2. Scope of this study Since inscriptions provide almost all our evidence on the editio ("gift, production") of municipal games, this will primarily be an epigraphic study. Literary, iconographic and archaeological sources will be called upon mainly to shed light on the epigraphic record. This issue will be discussed once the chronological, geographical, and thematic scopes of this study have been defined. The chronological limits of this study are conveniently set by the most ancient and recent extant inscriptions. No. 218 from Falerii Novi can be dated generically to the second century B.C.