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The Roman Games Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History The Roman Games Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History This series presents readers with new translations of the raw material of ancient history. It provides direct access to the ancient world, from wars and power politics to daily life and entertainment, allowing readers to discover the extraordinary diversity of ancient societies. Published The Ancient Near East Edited by Mark W. Chavalas The Roman Games Alison Futrell Alexander the Great Waldemar Heckel and J. C. Yardley The Hellenistic Period Roger Bagnall and Peter Derow The Roman Games A Sourcebook Alison Futrell © 2006 by Alison Futrell BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148–5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Alison Futrell to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Futrell, Alison, 1962– The Roman games : a sourcebook / Alison Futrell. p. cm. — (Blackwell sourcebooks in ancient history) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1568-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-1568-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1569-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-4051-1569-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Games—Rome—History. 2. Games—Social aspects—Rome. 3. Amphitheaters—Rome. 4. Rome—Social life and customs. I. Title. II. Series. GV31.F88 2006 796′.0937′6—dc22 2005013068 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10/13pt Stone Serif by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com Contents Illustrations viii Preface ix Acknowledgments xi 1 The Politics of the Arena 1 Origin and Growth of Games 1 Games and the Roman state 2 Origins of gladiatorial combat 4 Origins of wild animal shows 7 Roman spectacle overseas 8 Spectacle and Roman Politics 11 Politics and shows 11 Costs 14 Control 18 Violence 22 Shows as political assembly 24 Imperial Spectacle 29 Ordinary spectacle 30 The emperor and the arena 33 The emperor and political spectacle 36 Gladiators outside Rome 43 2 The Venue 52 Republican Arenas 53 Temporary structures in Rome 57 vi CONTENTS Amphitheaters 59 Disaster and control 61 The Colosseum 62 Military amphitheaters 66 Special features 67 Circuses 67 Features of the Circus Maximus 73 Circus as cosmos 76 Naumachiae 77 Stratification and Seating 80 3 A Day at the Games 84 Preparation and Pompa 84 Venationes 89 Meridiani 89 Munera 94 The armatures 95 The combats 99 Good Spectacles vs. Bad Spectacles 103 The Other Show: Audiences at the Games 104 Dangerous games 107 Special treats 110 Food, spectacular food 111 Sparsiones 111 Inaugural Games at the Flavian Amphitheater 113 Commodus’ Games 115 Tainted by the Crowd 117 4 The Life of the Gladiator 120 Where Did Gladiators Come From? 120 Prisoners of war 121 Condemned criminals 122 Slave gladiators and the Spartacan war 125 Gladiators and status 130 Free gladiators 132 Choosing gladiatorial status 134 Glory 135 Life in the Ludi 138 CONTENTS vii Death or Survival 143 Sexy Gladiators 146 Death and Choice 147 Gladiator Familiae 148 Female Performers: Gladiatrices and Ludia 153 Crimes of Status: Elites in the Arena 156 Imperial Gladiators 158 5 Christians and the Arena 160 Rome and the Christians: The Official Relationship 160 The Neronian persecution 161 Trajan’s policy 163 Christian Denunciation of the Arena 165 The Arena and Christian Identity 169 Martyr Acts 172 Christian Rome and the Arena 186 6 Chariot Races and Water Shows 189 Chariot Races 189 The events 191 Charioteers 198 The horses 205 The colors 207 Circus fans 210 Emperors as fans 213 Fan clubs and unrest 213 The Nika revolt 215 Water Shows 218 Timeline of Roman History 222 Glossary of Terms and Names 229 Notes 232 Suggestions for Further Reading 245 Index 248 Illustrations 1.1 Magerius mosaic 50 2.1 Pompeii, interior of amphitheater 60 2.2 Tomb of Haterii relief 64 2.3 Colosseum vaulting 64 2.4 Colosseum arena 64 2.5 Puteoli, arena of amphitheater 65 2.6 Circus Maximus: view from Palatine 68 2.7 Model of Rome with Colosseum, Circus 71 2.8 Relief with Circus Maximus 72 2.9 Gallo-Roman mosaic of circus race 75 2.10 Circus beaker with race and acclamations 75 2.11 Colosseum, preserved seating 82 3.1 Mosaic from El Djem, of gladiatorial banquet 86 3.2 Grave relief of munera from Pompeii 87 3.3 Sollertiana Domus mosaic of execution 90 3.4 Thraex relief from Bologna 97 3.5 Relief from Scaurus’ tomb at Pompeii 97 3.6 Mosaic of Astyanax vs. Kalendio combat from Madrid 98 3.7 Mosaic of combats from Verona 99 3.8 Graffito from Pompeii with Attilius and Felix 100 3.9 Symmachius mosaic from Madrid 102 3.10 Fresco of riot at Pompeii 109 4.1 Baths of Caracalla, portraits of spectacle stars 136 4.2 Pompeii, barracks of gladiators 143 4.3 Tomb monument of Danaos 152 6.1 Mosaic with charioteers of four colors 192 6.2 Mosaic with Polydus the charioteer 201 6.3 Lamp with acclaim of horse 205 Preface The roar of the crowd, the screams of animals and victims, the smell of blood, sweat, and perfume, the flash of weapons within the last frantic, fatal movements, the colors of the charioteers glimpsed through the dust and jostling crowd as the horses round the last turn. Given the heady sensualism embedded in the original phenomenon, it is not surprising that Roman spectacle holds a prominent position in the modern imagination, becoming a site of contemporary social and political meaning. The bloody enter- tainments of imperial Rome are like the stereotypically luxurious bath-houses, the banquets, and the orgies, all central to the popular perception of Rome as a civilization devoted to sophisticated luxury, to personal pleasures, a civilization doomed by its decadence. It is true that the Roman world devoted an overwhelming amount of time, energy, money, and attention to spectacle, with politicians bankrupting themselves to provide games, towns giving over huge amounts of public space and public funds for the construction of venues. But this was hardly a matter of officially sanctioned hedonism, pure and simple. The games carried a complex nexus of interlocking meanings in imperial Rome; the organization, production, and presentation of these performances articulated social, political and cultural meaning and provided substance and setting for the playing out of Roman values. This book considers Roman spectacle from the perspectives of those who created, used, experi- enced, enjoyed, hated, respected, condemned, and found themselves in the games as an active, living institution. Rather than trying to extract The One True Meaning of the games, I have attempted to present Roman spectacle as multiple complicated experiences that touched different individuals and groups in different ways. The ancient resources assembled here are of many different types. Typically, literary texts favor the viewpoint of the wealthy elite, those who produced and read this kind of material. Inscriptions in stone and high-quality artistic representations also tend to reflect upper-class expectations, as it required a x PREFACE certain financial status to pay for such items. The wealthy elite did not speak with one voice, however, as a range of agendas, regional backgrounds, and changes over time flavor the evidence. Graffiti and curse tablets are more ephemeral media and hint at motivations driving non-elites in the Mediterranean. The lived experience of performers leaks out in dribbles from fairly limited material, represented mostly in epitaphs and the Christian martyr acts. The interests of editores, imperial and otherwise, can be found in law codes and painted notices for games; these different texts spoke to different target audiences, however; the one offering practical precedents for administrators and the other celebrating a gathering of a specific social network, met for the purposes of exchanging honor and pleasure. The editorial introductions for each source attempt to locate the material in the ancient context, drawing out the distinctive points of emphasis and purpose. The original inspiration for this collection came from Thomas N. Habinek, who organized a graduate seminar on the arena at UC Berkeley in the spring semester of 1991. The participants in the course provided much stimulating discussion and provocative perspectives. My gratitude to then fellow-students Martha Jenks, Haley Way, Judy Gaughan, Matt Roller, Eric Gunderson, John Harding, Trevor Murphy, and Mark Ryerson, and to Tom Habinek, whose discussions of the project in the years since have greatly influenced its ultimate framework and emphasis. The final manuscript owes much to the diligence and care of my two research assistants, Cynthia Ann Gonzales and Julia Hudson-Richards; Julia’s help with the tedious minutiae is particularly appreciated, as is her wit. Thanks also to Jodie Kreider, who made me stop fiddling at a key moment.
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