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Title Page Echoes of the salpinx: the trumpet in ancient Greek culture. Carolyn Susan Bowyer. Royal Holloway, University of London. MPhil. 1 Declaration of Authorship I Carolyn Susan Bowyer hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: ________________________ 2 Echoes of the salpinx : the trumpet in ancient Greek culture. Abstract The trumpet from the 5th century BC in ancient Greece, the salpinx, has been largely ignored in modern scholarship. My thesis begins with the origins and physical characteristics of the Greek trumpet, comparing trumpets from other ancient cultures. I then analyse the sounds made by the trumpet, and the emotions caused by these sounds, noting the growing sophistication of the language used by Greek authors. In particular, I highlight its distinctively Greek association with the human voice. I discuss the range of signals and instructions given by the trumpet on the battlefield, demonstrating a developing technical vocabulary in Greek historiography. In my final chapter, I examine the role of the trumpet in peacetime, playing its part in athletic competitions, sacrifice, ceremonies, entertainment and ritual. The thesis re-assesses and illustrates the significant and varied roles played by the trumpet in Greek culture. 3 Echoes of the salpinx : the trumpet in ancient Greek culture Title page page 1 Declaration of Authorship page 2 Abstract page 3 Table of Contents pages 4-6 Introduction pages 7-13 Chapter 1: The origins and physical characteristics of the ancient trumpet. 1.0 Introduction pages 14-15 1.1 The sea shell trumpet pages 15-17 1.1.1 Drama and poetry pages 17-20 1.1.2 Visual evidence for the sea shell trumpet pages 20-23 1.2 The Jewish trumpet 1.2.1 Introduction pages 23-24 1.2.2 Visual images pages 24-26 1.2.3 The Old Testament pages 26-31 1.2.4 The New Testament pages 31-33 1.3 The Egyptian trumpet 1.3.1 Introduction pages 33-39 1.3.2 Ancient Greek sources pages 39-41 1.4 The Scandinavian trumpet pages 41-43 1.5 The Gaulish, Paphlagonian and Persian trumpets pages 43-47 1.6 The Etruscan and Roman trumpets 1.6.1 Introduction pages 47-48 1.6.2 Invention myths pages 48-53 1.6.3 Etruscan trumpets in the Greek literary tradition pages 53-54 1.6.4 The Roman trumpets pages 54-61 1.7 The Greek salpinx 1.7.1 Introduction pages 61-63 1.7.2 Athena Salpinx pages 63-66 1.7.3 Vase paintings and statues pages 66-71 1.7.4 The Boston salpinx pages 71-72 1.8 Conclusion pages 72-74 Chapter 2: The language of trumpet sounds and emotions. 2.0 Introduction pages 75-76 2.1 Sounds of the trumpet: from epic poems and tragedy pages 76-94 4 2.2 Sounds of the trumpet: animals, birds, and other noises pages 94-99 2.3 The war cry, the paean, and the salpinx pages 100-107 2.4 Volume and power pages 107-110 2.5 Emotions pages 110-115 2.6 Conclusion pages 115-116 Chapter 3 : The battlefield trumpet: signals, commands, and symbols. 3.0 Introduction pages 117-120 3.1 Signals pages 120-150 3.1.1 Introduction pages 120-125 3.1.2 Signal for attack: land and naval pages 125-132 3.1.3 Signal for retreat pages 132-134 3.1.4 The one that went wrong pages 134-135 3.1.5 Call to arms pages 135-138 3.1.6 The reveille signal pages 138-139 3.1.7 Other army signals pages 139-141 3.1.8 The trumpet signals silence pages 141-142 3.1.9 The official role of the trumpeter pages 142-143 3.1.10 Sparta, the Spartans and the earthquake pages 143-145 3.1.11 Training the army horses with the salpinx pages 145-149 3.1.12 An Athenian trireme named Salpinx pages 149-150 3.2 Sieges pages 150-154 3.3 Echoes of military service in Athens: the salpinx in tragedy and comedy pages 154-164 3.4 The salpinx as a symbol of war pages 164-170 3.5 Shield devices pages 170-172 3.6 The lone trumpeter at the rear of the phalanx pages 172-174 3.7 Conclusion pages 175-176 Chapter 4 : The peacetime trumpet: entertainment, competition, and ritual. 4.0 Introduction pages 177-178 4.1 Festivals and processions pages 178-188 4.1.1 Anthesteria pages 178-182 4.1.2 Heracles pages 182-183 4.1.3 Eleutheria pages 183-185 4.1.4 Demostheneia pages 185-186 4.1.5 Ptolemy of Alexandria pages 187-188 4.2 The Games pages 188-199 4.2.1 An overview pages 188-190 5 4.2.2 The Sacred Truce pages 190-191 4.2.3 The 96th Olympiad in 396 BC pages 191-194 4.2.4 The site at Olympia pages 194-195 4.2.5 The races pages 195-197 4.2.6 The honour of winning – and the prizes pages 197-198 4.2.7 The last day of the games pages 198-199 4.3 Trumpeters and heralds: proclamations and summons pages 200-214 4.3.1 The trumpet and herald competitions pages 200-207 4.3.2 The daily work of trumpeters and heralds pages 207-211 4.3.3 The words spoken by the herald pages 211-213 4.3.4 What did the herald sound like? Pages 213-214 4.4 Inscriptions: names of trumpeters, heralds and their prizes pages 214-233 4.5 Entertainment, ceremony and ritual pages 233-249 4.5.1 The Dionysia at Argos pages 233-237 4.5.2 Sacrifice pages 237-240 4.5.3 Entertainment: wining and dining pages 240-242 4.5.4 The pantomime and dance pages 242-244 4.5.5 Trumpeters by name pages 244-248 4.6 Conclusion pages 248-249 Conclusion pages 250-254 Appendix 1: Glossary pages 255-266 Appendix 2: Ancient sources cited pages 267-271 Abbreviations pages 272-273 Bibliography: Primary sources pages 273-281 Bibliography: Secondary sources pages 282-291 Illustrations pages 292-294 6 Introduction. ‘It is by courtesy that we give attention to the trumpet, as it was not used for musical purposes but only for giving signals, especially for battle and in certain ritual and ceremonial contexts’.1 West’s assertion forms the starting point for my research on the ancient Greek trumpet, the salpinx. His informative book on Greek music and instruments gives a wealth of detail about the kithara and the aulos. He also describes other Greek instruments, but offers very little information about the trumpet. The implication of his words ‘by courtesy’ is, therefore, that his inclusion of the trumpet is almost an afterthought. In my thesis I aim to correct this “negative” attitude towards the instrument. I explore the many aspects of the trumpet that can be found in ancient Greek culture: the physical characteristics of the instrument; the language used in the descriptions of the sounds it made; the emotions caused by these sounds; the variations in the vocabulary used for the signals made by the instrument; the contexts in which it was played, and those who played it. A mass of ancient source material shows that the trumpet was used for signalling on the battlefield. However, I shall demonstrate other uses in Greek culture, and in addition that, even on the battlefield, its uses were more varied than is often believed. Ancient evidence Throughout the thesis I focus on Greek evidence, with some Roman for comparison. My literary sources include historiography, technical treatises and fictional texts. Some difficulties arise in handling some of my ancient source material, because a few writers (for example, Pausanias and Plutarch), appear to base some of their comments simply on hearsay. Despite this, much valuable information can be gleaned about how the trumpet and its sounds were perceived by the Greeks. For the salpinx on the battlefield, the works of Xenophon, Diodorus Siculus, and Polybius are key sources. We may note here, however, that Herodotus never and Thucydides rarely mentions the trumpet. Xenophon indeed developed a sophisticated vocabulary for the description of trumpet signals, which is echoed by Diodorus, Polybius, and several centuries later by Procopius. Josephus, who took part in the Jewish War in 1 West, 1992, 118. 7 the late 1st century AD, provides insight from a mixed Hellenic and Jewish perspective. Dramatists and poets offer varied examples of the use of the salpinx both in peacetime and on the battlefield. Prose biographers and compilers such as Plutarch, Athenaeus, and Pollux add further information regarding the sound of the salpinx. Various material finds provide supporting evidence. Using the Inscriptiones Graecae (IG) I have examined a selection of ancient Greek inscriptions from victors' lists found on stelai, to gain an insight into the background of the trumpeters. I also discuss vase paintings, sculpture, and mosaics where appropriate. Indeed, my original interest in the subject was fuelled by Landels (1999) who described a fragment of pottery found in 1883 at Eleusis, near Athens [Figs.3.3, 3.4]. Where possible I discuss surviving instruments, although these are rare and not always reliable. They include what is thought to be a Greek salpinx, dating from some time between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD [Fig.1.24], and a considerably earlier example of a silver trumpet from the tomb of King Tutankhamun [Fig.1.8].
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  • Calendar of Roman Events

    Calendar of Roman Events

    Introduction Steve Worboys and I began this calendar in 1980 or 1981 when we discovered that the exact dates of many events survive from Roman antiquity, the most famous being the ides of March murder of Caesar. Flipping through a few books on Roman history revealed a handful of dates, and we believed that to fill every day of the year would certainly be impossible. From 1981 until 1989 I kept the calendar, adding dates as I ran across them. In 1989 I typed the list into the computer and we began again to plunder books and journals for dates, this time recording sources. Since then I have worked and reworked the Calendar, revising old entries and adding many, many more. The Roman Calendar The calendar was reformed twice, once by Caesar in 46 BC and later by Augustus in 8 BC. Each of these reforms is described in A. K. Michels’ book The Calendar of the Roman Republic. In an ordinary pre-Julian year, the number of days in each month was as follows: 29 January 31 May 29 September 28 February 29 June 31 October 31 March 31 Quintilis (July) 29 November 29 April 29 Sextilis (August) 29 December. The Romans did not number the days of the months consecutively. They reckoned backwards from three fixed points: The kalends, the nones, and the ides. The kalends is the first day of the month. For months with 31 days the nones fall on the 7th and the ides the 15th. For other months the nones fall on the 5th and the ides on the 13th.