LEGITE ME MORTUUM: READING THE CENA TRIMALCHIONIS AS A ROMAN FUNERAL by STEWART CHANDLER TARVIN (Under the Direction of T. Keith Dix) ABSTRACT This thesis addresses the problem of interpreting the Cena Trimalchionis episode in Petronius‘ Satyrica. It offers a reading strategy to interpret the entire Cena through the context of Roman funeral rituals and funeral games. INDEX WORDS: Cena Trimalchionis, death in literature, freedmen, funeral rites and ceremonies, Latin literature, munera, Petronius, Roman novel, Roman social history, Satyrica LEGITE ME MORTUUM: READING THE CENA TRIMALCHIONIS AS A ROMAN FUNERAL by STEWART CHANDLER TARVIN BA, The University of Georgia, 2005 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2011 © 2011 Stewart Chandler Tarvin All Rights Reserved LEGITE ME MORTUUM: READING THE CENA TRIMALCHIONIS AS A ROMAN FUNERAL by STEWART CHANDLER TARVIN Major Professor: T. Keith Dix Committee: Erika T. Hermanowicz Naomi J. Norman Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2011 To my past, present, and future students: you are monuments more lasting than bronze iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2 COMMENTARY ...........................................................................................................9 3 ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................27 4 CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................48 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................55 APPENDIX ...............................................................................................................................59 v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis will focus on death ritual and spectacle entertainment in Petronius‘ Cena Trimalchionis. It will provide readers with a detailed commentary on spectacles in the Cena as well as an analysis of and reading strategy for this complex text. In the Cena (Satyrica 26-78), Encolpius (Petronius‘ first-person narrator), Ascyltos, and Giton attend a dinner party hosted by Trimalchio, a wealthy freedman, as umbrae (shadows) of Agamemnon. As Encolpius recounts his experience at the Cena, it becomes clear that he does not understand much of what happens. For example, why are elements of gladiatorial combat or theatrical entertainment part of a dinner party? This thesis explains most of these spectacles as munera (gifts in honor of the dead), which belong to two major categories: ludi scaenici (theatrical shows) and ludi funebres (athletic competitions, chariot races, or gladiatorial shows). Therefore, we can view the entire Cena as a funeral— a celebration of Trimalchio‘s life as a freedman and an anticipation of his death. Most scholars begin discussion of the Satyrica with the identity of Petronius and the state of the text.1 This thesis accepts the identification of the author Petronius Arbiter as the historical personality whom Tacitus names as Nero‘s arbiter elegantiae (judge of good taste).2 As Caroline Vout notes, this identification narrows the date of publication, and it allows us to narrow our 1 See, for instance, these introductions: Jonathan Prag and Ian Repath, Petronius: A Handbook (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 5-10; Victoria Rimell, ―Letting the Page Run On: Poetics, Rhetoric, and Noise in the Satyrica‖ in Petronius: A Handbook ed. Jonathan Prag and Ian Repath (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 1- 9; Edward Courtney, A Companion to Petronius (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 5-11; Gareth Schmeling, ―Petronius and the Satyrica‖ in Latin Fiction: The Latin Novel in Context ed. Heinz Hofmann (London: Routledge, 1999), 23-28; Niall Slater, Reading Petronius (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990), 7-14. 2 Tac. Ann. 16.18: dein revolutus ad vitia seu vitiorum imitatione inter paucos familiarium Neroni adsumptus est, elegantiae arbiter, dum nihil amoenum et molle adfluentia putat, nisi quod ei Petronius adprobavisset. 1 discussion to spectacula popular either during Nero‘s reign (54-68 CE) or before.3 Such a publication date by an author so closely acquainted with Nero‘s court permits and encourages comparison between Petronius‘ Trimalchio and Nero himself. Although the text of the Satyrica comes to us in a fragmented state, the Cena is the most nearly complete and continuous episode. This does not completely eliminate textual issues, but the continuity helps protect the sense of a plot.4 Likewise, this thesis does not dispute or debate what scholars have shown about the Satyrica‘s status as a novel (although this term is anachronistic), but it encourages the view that Petronius blended features from several genres to craft the Satyrica.5 Finally, this thesis challenges the perception that modern readers cannot interpret the Cena. This thesis focuses on a variety of staged episodes which resemble public entertainment or spectacles. The verb spectare (to look at, watch) lies at the root of the Latin word spectaculum. Therefore, spectaculum means ―sight, spectacle.‖6 Encolpius describes Trimalchio‘s ballgame at the baths as a spectaculum: nec tam pueri nos, quamquam erat operae pretium, ad spectaculum duxerant, quam ipse pater familiae, qui soleatus pila prasina exercebatur, ―it was not so much the boys that led us to this sight (although they were top quality!) as the master himself who, in sandals, was exercising with a green ball‖ (27). Petronius also puts the Greek loan word acroama (an item in an entertainment) into Encolpius‘ mouth at the end of the Cena: Ibat res ad summam nauseam, cum Trimalchio ebrietate turpissima gravis novum acroama cornicines, in triclinium iussit adduci (78). This supports the notion that 3 Caroline Vout, ―The Satyrica and Neronian Culture‖ (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 101: ―When betting on the date of the Satyrica, the smart money is on late in the reign of Nero.‖ 4 John Bodel offers a counterpoint, arguing that focusing on the Cena obscures our view of the rest of the Satyrica, ―battered‖ as this text may be: ―The Cena Trimalchionis‖ in Latin Fiction: The Latin Novel in Context ed. Heinz Hofman (London: Routledge, 1999), 38. 5 The work blends elements of poetry and prose (prosimetrum) and contains elements of Greek prose fiction and Roman satire. Niall Slater (1990), 20-23, compares this to modern expectations for a novel and for a cookbook: ―a recipe in a cookbook is expected, but one in a novel is an interesting surprise.‖ 6 OLD spectaculum, 1. 2 Encolpius recognizes Trimalchio‘s staging of events within the Cena. The diversity of spectacula in the historical record ranges from Trimalchio‘s ballgame to Augustus‘ mock naval battles and gladiatorial games.7 The Romans also used spectaculum to refer to the seating area or the venues themselves. The dedicatory inscription on the Pompeian amphitheater calls it a spectacula.8 I use the word ―spectacle‖ in this thesis to describe a broad range of entertainment. In the sense of ―something worth viewing,‖ not all spectacles were state-sponsored public entertainment. The funerals of prominent Romans incorporated long-standing traditions and pageantry to create impressive spectacles.9 Richard Beacham begins his investigation of spectacle entertainment with the statement: ―We do not know what we are talking about.‖ This statement reflects the difficulty of summarizing the abundance of material on spectacles and their changeable nature throughout the Roman world.10 Free entertainment available to Romans was both varied and frequent. Chariot races and stage shows accompanied religious festivals; these ludi (games) were numerous and supposed to honor the gods. Beacham estimates between fifty and seventy-five religious holidays per year during the first century BCE and Paul Veyne reckons that Romans enjoyed three months of holidays under Tiberius and four months by the end of the second century CE.11 During the republic, magistrates saw to financing and organizing theatrical performances, chariot races, and beast hunts (venationes) both as part of their official duties and in order to further their 7 Aug. Mon. Anc. 4.43; Suet. Aug 44.1 8 CIL 10.852; the inscription reflects the duty of magistrates to organize public entertainment. Vit. 5.6.2 calls the seating area of the theater, which are divided into wedges (cunei), the spectacula: Cunei spectaculorum in theatro ita dividantur, uti anguli trigonorum, qui currunt circum curvaturam circinationis, dirigant ascensus scalasque inter cuneos ad primam praecinctionem; supra autem alternis itineribus superiores cunei medii dirigantur. 9 Richard Beacham, Spectacle Entertainments of Early Imperial Rome (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 17: ―rites attending the deaths of prominent citizens could be transformed into spectacular public shows not only through the gladiatorial entertainments that were associated with them, but also by the capacity of the funeral itself for suggestive splendor.‖ 10 Beacham, 1 11 Beacham, 2; Paul Veyne, Bread and Circuses: Historical Sociology and Political Pluralism, transl. Brian Pearce (New York: Penguin, 1990), 399. 3 political careers.12 Romans did not originally associate