Roman Sport: Terms and Origin

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Roman Sport Terms and Origin
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Games as Entertainment
ludus game play The Latin word can refer to
a religious celebration, especially one including
an athletic event or a dramatic
performance. Ludi Capitolini (Capitoline
Games) ludi scaenici (scenic or theatrical
performance) N.B. The word can also refer to a
school, especially one for gladiators (ludus
gladiatorius). Also an elementary school.
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Important Vocabulary
aedile public works magistrate in charge of
games munus duty, especially responsibility to
the dead gladiatorial show venatio hunting a
wild beast show circus chariot race
track amphitheatre oval building for
gladiatorial games, wild beast shows, etc. arena
the sand (harena) floor of the amphitheatre or
the amphitheatre itself triumph an official
victory celebration for a general gladiator a
sword (gladius) bearer a fighter in the arena
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The Site of Rome
Campus Martius
Sites Important for Sports in Early
Rome Forum Capitoline Hill Campus Martius (Field
of Mars) Circus Maximus
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Map of Rome
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Roman Sport Vs. Greek Sport

• less systematic and regularized
• no Roman Olympic games
• less participatory
• more spectator oriented
• preference for chariot races and gladiatorial
  games

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Occasions for Roman Games
Funerals e.g., funeral games for Aemilius Paulus
Macedonicus, the conquerer of Greece (died 160
B.C.) Military Victories Games provided by M.
Fulvius at Rome in 186 after the Aetolian war
included first Greek style wrestling Religious
Festivals Capitoline Games in honor of Jupiter,
Juno and Minerva
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Games for Political Advancement
Aediles (public works magistrates in charge of
games) spent fortunes on games to get ahead
politically in cursus honorum e.g., Caesars
games in Suetonius, 39
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Etruscan Influence

• tradition of funeral games and gladiatorial
  contests
• palaestra scenes in tombs

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Tomb of the Augurs530-480 B.C
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An Etruscan Funeral Contest?
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(No Transcript)
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Phersu
An Etruscan actor/pantomime/priest English
persona
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Roman Military Triumphs
Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, the conqueror of
Greece Games at Amphipolis after his victory in
the Third Macedonian War Livy 45.32.8-33.6
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Roman Funeral Games
History funeral games for Aemilius Paullus
Macedonicus, the conqueror of Greece (died 160
B.C.) Myth Funeral Games for Anchises in
Vergils Aeneid (19 B.C.)
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Funeral Games for Anchises
Boat Race   Running   Boxing   Archery   E
questrian
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Vergil and Homer


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Boat Race
Cloanthus Scylla Mnestheus Shark Gyas
Chimaera Sergestus Centaur
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Questions about the Boat Race
Why does Gyas fail to win? Why does Sergestus
lose? Why does Cloanthus defeat Mnestheus? How
is the death of an animal connected to this
contest? What are the prizes? How does this
contest prepare the Trojans for war?
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Running
Euryalus Helymus Diores Salius Nisus
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Questions about the Foot Race
Why does Nisus lose? Why does Salius lose? Why
does NISUS love EURYALUS? How is the death of an
animal connected to this contest? How does this
contest prepare the Trojans for war? Compare the
controversy over prizes after this race to the
controversy after the Homeric chariot race.
Aeneas generously awards prizes to Salius,
cheated by a foul (cf. Agamemnon), and to Nisus,
defeated by fortune (cf. Eumelos).
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Boxing
Dares vs. Entellus Youth vs. Age
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Questions about the Boxing Match
Why is no one eager to fight the Trojan
Dares? Why does the old Sicilian ENTELLUS
finally face Dares? ERYX, the local hero/god,
once a prodigious boxer, had been killed in a
bout with Hercules, also known as Alcides
(5.519ff.). Describe the "boxing gloves" of
Eryx. How is the death of an animal connected to
this contest? How does this contest prepare the
Trojans for war?
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FORWARD TO A BOXING MATCH paraphrased by
Garrett W. Theissen
This translation was made to supplement an
adult-class Church School study on Pauls first
Corinthian letter. Therein Paul speaks of himself
under the figure of a fighter who does not "beat
the air." Paul seems to have been a spectator at
some of the Greek and Roman athletic and
gladiatorial events of his day. The cestus, or
weighted boxing glove, was already a thing of
remote antiquity in Pauls day. In contrast to
the modern padded boxing glove, it increased the
lethal tendency of the sport. This often made the
referees decision simpler and fairer the
contestant who remained alive had won! The
practice of celebrating funerals with games,
often sanguinary, was also an ancient pre-Roman
practice. The Dares-Entellus match was staged in
Sicily by Aeneas to honor his father Anchises,
buried there earlier. It was one event among
many. See http//department.monm.edu/history/facu
lty_forum/Theissen_a_boxing_match.htm
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Archery
Hippocoon Mnestheus Eurytion Acestes  
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Questions about the Archery Match
Archery is the seventh Homeric contest, with two
contestants. After drawing the first lot, Teukros
missed the pigeon but hit the string, releasing
the bird (cf. Mnestheus, Vergil's second archer).
Meriones then quickly shot an arrow and pierced
the flying bird (cf. Eurytion, Vergil's third
archer). Homer explicitly tells us that the
archer god Apollo prevented Teukros from hitting
the mark because he neglected to pray, while
Meriones was rewarded for praying (cf. Eurytion,
who prays to his brother's shade before
shooting). Up to this point, Vergil's contest in
archery is similar to Homer's. What prodigious
event in Vergil brings a startling end to the
competition? How is the death of an animal
connected to this contest? How does this contest
prepare the Trojans for war?
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Ludi Troiani (Trojan Games)
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Roman Ludi
Ludi Troiani Ludi Romani (6th cent. B.C.) Ludi
Capitolani (390s B.C.) Ludi Apollinaris (212
B.C.) Ludi Megalenses (204 B.C.) Ludi Taurii
(before 186 B.C.) Ludi Saecularis (17 B.C.)
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Ludi Capitolani
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Ludi Meglaensi
in honor of Cybele (April 4)
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Claudia Quinta
Lambert Lombard (1506 1566)