Mens sana in corpore sano Sound mind in a sound body Leisure and
Entertainment Slide 2 Leisure & Entertainment
BanquetsBathingGamblingTheatres Spectacles In the Amphitheatre
Developing the body & Playing Sport Slide 3 ROME- Founded on
Blood "we are dealing here, not with individual sadistic
psychopathology, but with a deep cultural difference. ( Keith
Hopkins) Attending gladiatorial contests in the amphitheater was an
essential part of being a Roman. Rome was a warrior state that had
achieved its large empire by military violence In such a cultural
climate it is not surprising that gladiatorial games were immensely
popular and a characteristic symbol of Roman culture for almost
seven centuries. It may be no accident that the most dramatic
increase in the popularity of gladiatorial games occurred during
the first two centuries AD, when the Augustan peace throughout the
empire provided little opportunity for citizens to participate in
real warfare. If there were not enough real warfare to satisfy
Roman tastes, then counterfeit warfare would have to do. Hopkins
calls the amphitheater "artificial battlefields" where the Romans
created battlefield conditions for public amusement Slide 4
Leisure, Otium God knows, my Martial, if we two could be To enjoy
our days set wholly free; To the true life together bend our mind,
And take a furlough from the falser kind. No rich saloon, nor
palace of the great, Nor suit at law should trouble our estate; On
no vainglorious statues should we look, But of a walk, a talk, a
little book, Baths, wells and meads, and the veranda shade, The
abundance of graffiti, inscriptions, mozaics and public buildings
which refer to leisure pastimes and entertainment suggest that the
inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum were enthusiastic
supporters, spectators and participaters in such activities. Slide
5 Let the games begin! Games could be given to commemorate specific
occassions, honour a particular god such as Apollo, or promote the
welfare of the Imperial Games Slide 6 Amphitheatre/Palaestra
Complex Amphitheatre literally meant double theatre Arena meant
sand, used to soak up the blood Slide 7 The Amphitheatre;
Spectacula The earliest stone amphitheater was built in Pompeii
about 70 BC and is oval in shape, with steeply tiered seats around
the circumference. The soil excavated for the arena was banked to
form the seating, stabilized on the south and east by the town
walls. Those veteran colonists seated in the podium nearest the
arena, the social prestige of which was emphasized by it being
separated by a low wall, would have entered through four vaulted
passageways at ground level. Others would have climbed stairways to
reach the upper terraces. Unlike the Colosseum, which was
constructed more than a century and a half later, there is no
subterranean structure beneath the arena. The dedicatory
inscription refers to the amphitheater as spectacula; the term
amphitheatrum came into common use only at the time of Augustus.
Slide 8 Reading in to an Inscription Caius Quintus Valgus, son of
Caius and Marcus Porcius, son of Marcus, in their capacity as
quinquennial duumviri, to demonstrate the honour of the colony,
erected this sports complex at their own expense and donated it to
the colonists for their perpetual use. It has been suggested that
the construction of the amphitheatre and its dedication, built
after the settlement of veterans in the area, somehow served to
emphasize the status of colony and remind Pompeians of their new
status with Rome..J Berry Slide 9 Defining Social Status Ima Cavea
Lower seating area of 5 steps reserved for the dignitaries Medea
Cavea Middle seating area of 12 steps Summa Cavea Upper area with
18 steps where women sat It was made from local stone and featured
a parapet that separated the seats from the arena and was decorated
with frescoes Slide 10 The Gladiators Cometh Slide 11 Inscriptions
Aulus Clodius Flaccus ( duumvirat the games of Apollo in the forum
a procession, bulls, bull fighters and their fleet footed helpers,
and boxers fighting in bands; on the next day in the Amphitheatre
he presented 3o pairs of athletes and 5 pairs of gladiators and
with his colleague he presented 35 pairs of gladiators and a hunt
with bulls, bullfighters, boars, bears and other hunt variations.
Slide 12 Celadus the Thracian, three times victor and three times
crowned, adored by young girls The drawings and graffiti of Pompeii
(as elsewhere), and depictions on small objects, allow us to define
several types of gladiators. J. provides useful details for
classification according to their gear and combat style (pp. 7-17):
provocator, samnites, secutor, hoplomachus, murmillo, retiarius,
eques, essedarius, dimachaerus, and veles. The venatores and
bestiarii formed a separate category. The most common type
represented in the inscriptions at Pompeii was the Thracian, with
his elegant armor, comprising of a small, strongly convex, squarish
shield (parmula), an armband (manica) on the right arm, and two
high leggings, often decorated up to the knee. His sword (sica) was
short, either curved, or angled, and his helmet was topped with a
tall crest, decorated with feathers and a relief of a griffin's
head. One of the Thracians, Celadus, became a sex symbol; he was
known as the "heartthrob of the girls" Slide 13 Contrary to the
common opinion, held also by the author, that the amphitheater was
first invented in Campania.Welch has suggested that temporary
wooden amphitheaters, dismantled after each event, were first built
in the Forum Romanum, whence they reached Campania, where the first
stone structure was built The cavea was divided into zones, and
reflected the social hierarchy of Roman society. The lex Iulia
Theatralis reserved the first row of seats in the entertainment
section of the cavea, for senators and separated the soldiers from
the rest, even though it had been once customary for men and women
to sit together at the shows Despite the excellence of the facility
various shows were still being performed in the Augustan era. Slide
14 The Pompeian Brawl- Tacitus AD 59 Painting from the House of
Actius Anicetus About the same time a trifling beginning led to
frightening bloodshed between the inhabitants of Nuceria and
Pompeii, at a gladiatorial show exhibited by Livineius Regulus, who
had been, as I have related, expelled from the Senate. With the
unruly spirit of townsfolk, they began with abusive language of
each other; then they took up stones and at last weapons, the
advantage resting with the populace of Pompeii, where the show was
being exhibited. And so there were brought to Rome a number of the
people of Nuceria, with their bodies mutilated by wounds, and many
lamented the deaths of children or of parents. The emperor
entrusted the trial of the case to the Senate, and the Senate to
the consuls, and then again the matter being referred back to the
Senators, the inhabitants of Pompeii were forbidden to have any
such public gathering for ten years, and all associations they had
formed in defiance of the laws were dissolved. Livienius and the
others who had excited the disturbance, were punished with exile
Slide 15 The Palaestra Every Roman town had an open sports ground.
The Large Palaestra was 107x 141 metres rectangle with enclosed
walls. In the centre was a large swimming pool. The Herculaneum
Palaestra occupied a whole block and had an impressive swimming
pool with fountain. In and around these, activities like athletics,
wrestling, javelin, discus throwing took place Both men and women
could participate in events. Athletics played a major role in the
Roman culture, recreation,military training, fitness,competition
and education Slide 16 Palaestra of Pompeii It was created during
the Augustan period, one of the projects of imperial propaganda
which led to the founding of the collegia iuvenum, organizations of
young people whose prime scope have been that of furthering sports
but whose secondary scope was that of providing an atmosphere of
adhesion to the principles of the new political ideology in which
the future citizens would be formed. The palaestra of the Iuventus
Pompeiana occupies a vast area, 141 x 137 meter, and consists of a
central space for gymnastic exercises, surrounded by a tall
perimeter wall with ten monumental entrance gateways. Inside, on
three sides, runs a portico of 118 columns in brick covered with
stucco. Originally there were two rows of plane trees, of which the
impression of the roots still exist. At the centre of the courtyard
was a large swimming pool from one m. to two m. in depth. A room
preceded by two columns off the south-west side, with the base for
a statue near the back wall. This was probably the space dedicated
to the cult of Augustus, patron of the collegia. A large latrine
was on the southeast side. The Palaestra had been heavily damaged
in the earthquake of A.D. 62 and was still being restored when the
eruption of A.D. 79 took place. Slide 17 Exercising near the
Palaestra in Herculaneum Slide 18 Slide 19 Slide 20 Earthquake
Damage These barracks were damaged by the earthquake of AD 62 and
the gladiators transferred to the quadriporticus of the theater,
which was converted into a training school (ludus). It was here
that were found much of the armor discovered at Pompeii, including
helmets, greaves, belts, and the shoulder piece worn by the
retiarius, some of which were stamped NER or NER.AUG, indicating
that the belonged to the Neroniani, gladiators from the imperial
school at nearby Capua, to which Nero had given his name. Here,
too, was found the skeletons of a lady adorned with jewels and that
of her gladiator lover. As poignantly, there also was a graffito
scratched on the wall of the dining hall (which could hold no more
than two hundred men): "The philosopher Annaeus Senecas [sic] is
the only Roman writer to condemn the bloody games." Slide 21
Quadroporticus becomes the barracks Slide 22 Gladiators Barracks In
the primitive gladiators' barracks (ludus), comprising a large
courtyard surrounded by a peristyle, between 15 and 20 gladiators
of all types, both free and freed, lived. More than 100 different
graffiti made by gladiators were found on the columns of the
peristyle. The quadriporticus in the rear of the theater was
converted after the earthquake of 62 CE to a large ludus
gladiatorum. The conversion was perhaps due to damage to the
earlier ludus from the earthquake; also, the ever-growing number of
gladiators involved in the games during Nero's reign made a larger
building necessary. The living quarters all around the courtyard
were small separate rooms of 10-15 sq m, laid out on two levels
with a wooden gallery, each accommodating 2-3 gladiators, who seem
to have slept on straw mattresses, not on beds. There were also a
kitchen, a dining room, and storerooms. The gladiators were free to
come and go from the barracks and to receive guests there. A
bejeweled female skeleton found in one of the cells seems to have
been one of the guests who found her death when Vesuvius erupted.
Some seem to have lived there with their families Slide 23
Attending the Theatre Theatre and Roman culture had an ambivalent
relationship. On the one hand Greek classic tragedies, religion and
architecture were admired, studied and imitated. Cicero the great
orator even declared that much could be learned about rhetoric from
actors. Actors however were considered lower class and had no
voting rights Through the whole of Greece it was accounted a great
glory to be proclaimed a conqueror at Olympia; while to appear upon
the stage, and become a spectacle to the public,was a dishonour to
no one in that nation; but all these practices are, with us, deemed
partly infamous, partly mean, and at variance with respectability.
Cornelius Nepos Slide 24 Significance of Theatre The evident
popularity of theatre in Pompeii and Herculaneum may reflect not
only the strong Greek heritage in the evolution of the two cities,
but also the multicultural society that had developed. Slide 25
Attending the Theatre Tragedies, Comedies, Poems An Inscriptian in
the House of Menander which gave it its name; Menander was the
first to write comedy in 4 acts. The Large Theatre was extended
during the Augustan period by the Holconii. They created 2
privileged seating areas or boxes over the covered corridors,
creating a new upper section. Slide 26 LARGE THEATRE
(VIII,7,20-21,27,30) Built in the 2nd century BC, this theatre
takes advantage of the natural slope of the land to create the
tiers of seats (cavea), in a horseshoe shape divided into three
zones, of which the lower (ima cavea), covered with marble, was
reserved for the decurions and important citizens. The ring
corridor supporting the upper tiers, and the 'balconies' above the
side entrances, were added during the Augustan period: thus the
theatre could hold approximately 5,000 spectators. The stage and
opus latericium backdrop decorated with marbles and statues date
from the restoration in 62 AD, after the earthquake. The works
performed here quite likely included the Atellanae (popular farces
in the Oscan language), the plays of Plautus and Terentius, mimes
and pantomimes (with dancing and music The large theatre was
uncovered although there is evidence that an awning was sometimes
erected. Slide 27 Evidence of Popularity Both theatres were Greek
in design and hosted performances of Greek tragedies, comedies and
Farce Mozaics and frescoes like the one shown here were found in
various houses including the House of the Tragic Poet and the Villa
of Cicero Theatre masks were also found and there is a plentiful
supply of graffiti concerning actors Paris a pearl of the stage
Comrades of the Paris Club Slide 28 Theatre masks found in Pompeii
Troups of performers went on tour to different towns in Campania;
Actius Anicetus and his troupe of actors inspired a number of
graffiti, recorded in Pompeii and Herculaneum Actius, master of
stage performers Slide 29 Herculaneum Theatre Built in the Time of
Augustus The only theatre to be currently excavated is still
underground. It appears to have been free standing two storey
portico, seating approximately 2,500 people. It was very different
in its design to the theatres of Pompeii Buried under 60-90 ft of
rock, the theatre was first discovered in 1790 and was quickly
plundered by princes and kings Theatre exits were called vomitoria
because their function was to disgorge spectators when the show was
over. There were 7 exits in this theatre Slide 30 Small Theatre-
Odeon The small theatre was a covered theatre holding about 1,500
people and mainly used for more serious and intimate performances
of musical concerts, poetry readings and mime Although women didnt
play a large part in performances it is thought that they
participated in mime and pantomime. There is graffiti about an
actress called Histrionica Rotica which could support this theory
Slide 31 The Odeon SMALL THEATRE (VIII,7,17-20) This small theatre,
perhaps used for musical performances and poetry readings, was
built in the early years of the Sullan colony (around 80 BC).
According to inscriptions found here, it had a roof to ensure
excellent acoustics: this rested on outer walls that bordered the
tiers of seats (cavea), decorated with sculpted telamons: the lower
part (ima cavea) has low, wide seating steps (bisellia) reserved
for the decurions; a balustrade decorated with winged gryphon paws
distinguishes it from the media cavea. Slide 32 Poets Although both
Greek and Roman poetry would be performed it is thought that the
only local poet to perform was the love elegies of Tiburtinus There
is considerable debate over the naming of this particular house.
Its original name of Loreius Tiburtinus was derived from electoral
advertisements of sorts etched in the outer faade, some saying
"Vote for Loreius" and others "Vote for Tiburtinus." In fact, the
last known owner of the house was a man named Octavius Quartio,
whose bronze seal was found inside the house during excavation.
Some historians choose to refer to the house as the House of
Octavius Quartio. Slide 33 Musical Instruments- Naples Museum Slide
34 Gambling Dice, Cock fighting, Bones At Nuceria, I won 8552
denarii by gaming---fair play! Set out the wine and dice. To hell
with him who cares for the morrow These activities were often
associated with taverns and bars Slide 35 VI.14.36 (Bar of
Salvius); 3494: In one bar, a picture depicts two men playing dice.
One shouts, Six! while his opponent holds up two fingers and says,
No, thats not a three; its a two. By the door of the bar, another
picture shows a short man driving a group of men out. Above his
head are the words, Go on, get out of here! You have been
fighting!
