Roman entertainments

The architectural form of theatre in Rome has been linked to later, more well-known examples from the 1st century BC to the 3rd Century AD. The theatre of ancient Rome referred to as a period of time in which theatrical practice and performance took place in Rome has been linked back even further to the 4th century BC, following the state's transition from monarchy to republic. Theatre during this era is generally separated into genres of tragedy and comedy, which are represented by a particular style of architecture and stage play, and conveyed to an audience purely as a form of entertainment and control. When it came to the audience, Romans favored entertainment and performance over tragedy and drama, displaying a more modern form of theatre that is still used in contemporary times. 'Spectacle' became an essential part of an everyday Romans expectations when it came to theatre. Some works by Plautus, Terence, and Seneca the Younger that survive to this day, highlight the different aspects of Roman society and culture at the time, including advancements in Roman literature and theatre. Theatre during this period of time would come to represent an important aspect of Roman society during the republican and imperial periods of Rome.

wechseln nach dem 3. Sendschreiben die Reihenfolge! » Hellgrün bezieht sich auf Eigenschaften aus Kapitel 1. » Hellgrün und Dunkelgrün stehen in Beziehung zu Blau, Rosa und Violett. » Nur Smyrna und Philadelphia erhalten kein: "Ich habe wider dich …!"

Die für die ludi und munera errichteten, monumentalen Architekturen waren vor allem in der Späten Republik flexible Multifunktionsbauten, die je nach Bedarf temporär errichtet wurden und äußerst kostspielig waren. Aufstrebende Politiker wollten durch spektakuläre Spiele und Architekturen die Gunst der Wähler für sich gewinnen. Ein besonders prächtiges Theater errichtete bspw. Aemilius Scaurus 58 v. Chr. als kurulischer Ädil, der sich zugleich damit als Triumphator rühmen wollte. Mit dem Pompeius-Theater wird 54 v.Chr. das erste permanente Theater in Rom eröffnet, aber erst unter Augustus traten entscheidende Veränderungen in der Spieleorganisation ein. Zuvor hatten die Ädile und Prätoren, die qua Amt Spiele zu verschiedenen Kultfeiern organisieren mussten, unter der hohen finanziellen Belastung zu leiden. Vor allem nach den Bürgerkriegen ab 44 v.Chr. und dann im Zuge der Proskriptionen gab es keine finanzkräftige Elite mehr in der Stadt, die sich diese Spiele leisten konnte. Zum einen sprang Augustus, wie er es auch in seinen Res Gestae betont, als Finanzier ein, zum anderer verteilte er die Verantwortlichkeiten neu. Fortan sollten nur noch von ihm bestimmte Prätoren Spiele organisieren, die streng reglementiert wurden. Von diesen Regularien war der Prinzeps selbst jedoch ausgenommen, sämtliche Anlässe außerhalb der religiösen Feste, die in der Republik zu Spielen geführt haben, waren fortan nur noch der kaiserlichen Familie vorbehalten. Folglich überschatteten die gestifteten Spiele des ersten Kaisers Roms alle anderen, gleichzeitig brachte dies eine Verantwortung für die dafür genutzten Architekturen mit sich. Da fast ausschließlich nur noch der Kaiser selbst Spiele fortan stiftete, erschien es nur konsequent dafür auch permanente Strukturen zu schaffen und sich damit auf ewig in das Stadtbild einzuschreiben.

From the first century AD onwards public entertainment was used as a common method of political promotion by the local elite in the cities outside of the city of Rome. The graffiti preserved at Pompeii referencing these spectacles promoting politicians illustrate how public entertainment proved to be a valuable method of public exposure for ancient politicians. Inscriptions would be commissioned to record and promote these acts of public generosity. This research examines these inscriptions with the aim to reconstruct individual costs and scale of gladiatorial, beast-hunt, chariot, and theatrical entertainment in the Roman Empire. By taking these individual prices and analysing them in relation to ancient literary evidence it is possible to depict not only the infrastructure of Imperial period entertainment in the Roman Empire, but to also draw conclusions on the individuals responsible for organising these spectacles.

Despite the spectacular new excavations that are currently unfolding in the northern part of the city, the most significant discovery at Pompeii in recent decades was made just over a year ago, outside the main southern city gate, where a large and well-preserved funerary monument was dug up alongside the road that probably connected Pompeii to its harbour. It contained a uniquely long inscription, which, so we knew, was a detailed eulogy for an unnamed individual who had done incredible things for the Pompeian community (the name probably featured somewhere on the monument, but it has not been found back). As of this week, we finally have access to the full latin text, and, in my own rough translation (based on the text and Osanna's Italian translation, it reads something like this: When he got his toga virilis, he gave a banquet for the Pompeian people with 456 triclinia accommodating 15 man each. He gave a gladiatorial munus so lavish and splendid that it could be compared to any splendid colony beyond the city, as he had 416 gladiators in the arena – and as this munus coincided with a price hike in the annona, he fed them for a period of four years. The care for his citizens was dearer to him than his family matters: when a modius of triticum (grain) cost five denarii, he bought, and he offered it to the people for one and a half, and to make sure that his liberality would reach everyone, he personally distributed, through his friends, quantities of bread equivalent to one and a half denarius to the people. For a munus that he gave before the senatusconsultum (in 59 CE?), for all days of the games, he gave beasts of any kind, in a mixed composition. Moreover, when the Caesar (Nero) had ordered to lead away all families to more than two hundred miles from the city, he permitted only him to bring the Pompeians back to their country. Also, when he married his wife, he gave the decuriones fifty nummi, and, for the people, twenty denarii to the augustales and twenty nummi to the pagani. Twice, he gave big games without any burden to the community. Yet when the people recommended, and the ordo unanimously agreed that he would be elected patron of the city, and the duovir brought the issue forward, he personally intervened, saying that he would not be able to bear being the patron of his citizens. The translation needs quite a bit of fine-tuning, and some parts of the Latin text are only partially understandable – but the general message of the eulogy should be clear enough. Yet, what does it mean, and what does it tell us about Pompeii? The inscription is very nicely written, in full sentences and with very few abbreviations – it is almost true prose, compared to the formulaic texts full of standardized abbreviations that dominate our epigraphic record – clearly, we are in the first century CE, when the epigraphic habit is in full development. Some of the phrasing is strange. I am fascinated by the use of the word 'caesar' as sole reference to the emperor, which as far as I know is not common – usually you get an entire range of names and titles – and therefore meaningful; it points to the reality of damnatio memoriae, but in a more subtle way than the excisings that we know from Geta in the third century. Here, the damned emperor has no name, and

The massive increase of land acquisition from military victories during the second century B.C. gave way to the Hellenization of Rome. Because of this expansion of wealth, the Roman ruling class became more exclusive and consequently the triumphal processions transformed from a societal celebration to a more individualized commemoration or even deification of the triumphator. This notion especially becomes apparent in Julius Caesar’s triumph in which he fortifies and elaborates on Pompey’s self-centered additions to the traditional elements of Roman triumphs. Therefore, Caesar, encouraged by Pompey’s reforms and fueled by their rivalry, advances the focus of triumphal processions by increasing the length of celebration days, emphasizing symbolic images that tie to gods, and including additional ludi or games. In this way, he effectively overpowers his longtime competitor, Pompey.

This PhD thesis investigates how political propaganda was carried out via architectural display by Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great in Rome during the mid-first century BC. Only recently have scholars begun to focus on the ideological meaning and importance of monuments in the context of the political struggles of the Late Republic; furthermore, while the figure of Caesar has recently seen re-assessment, the theatre of Pompey and its decorative programme and ideological meaning are still a matter of debate. Since architecture was one of the main media in a Roman politician’s efforts to gain prestige and support, my intention is to understand the political reasons and the propagandistic needs that led these two great figures to the promotion of particular buildings in a specific context. Furthermore, the diachronic development of the ideological content of those monuments is analysed, as well as the target of that content. The results of my research confirm that the political conflict between Caesar and Pompey was very visible in their monumental programmes, and demonstrate that these interventions progressively acquired new meanings in relation to political events and to the shifting balances of power. Finally, new interpretations are presented in connection to the plurality of meanings that a single propagandistic message could acquire according to the cultural education and social status of the groups and individuals for which it was intended.

January. 29 days to 46 BC, 31 days from 45 BC. Jan 1 Kalends 291 BC Dedication of the Temple to Aesculapius on the Tiber Island. There had been a plague in 293 BC, and after the Sibylline Books were consulted, an embassy was sent to Epidaurus to bring the worship of Aesculapius to Rome [FCRR, 55][NTD, 3] 194 BC C. Servilius dedicates a temple to Vediovis on the Tiber Island. L. Furius Purpureo had vowed the temple in 200 BC during a war with the Gauls [FCRR, 56][NTD, 406] • Consuls take office, the senate meets and distributes provinces, 153 BC and after. The date was moved from March 15 so that proconsuls could reach their provinces earlier [RR, 94] [ARC, 221, 366n][FCRR, 52] 104 BC Jugurtha is rendered a trophy in Marius' triumph over Numidia [Lidd, 554][P-Sall, 148] [Keav, 28] 86 BC Marius orders the senator Sex. Licinius to be cast from the Tarpeian Rock. There was no trial [Lidd, 592] 65 BC P. Autronius and P. Sulla, disqualified for electoral corruption, join with Catiline in an unsuccessful plot to murder the consuls L. Aurelius Cotta and L. Manlius Torquatus. They will try again February 5 [P-Cic PS, 83n][P-Sall, 172ed][Gelzer, 39] 63 BC Cicero attacks the agrarian bill of Rullus in his first de lege agraria [Sto, 84][Gelzer, 43n] 57 BC Lentulus Spinther brings up a motion to recall Cicero [Ward, 248][Sto, 192] 49 BC The tribune Curio reads in the senate Caesar's proposal for a mutual Caesar-Pompey disarmament. The consuls refuse to hold a vote [PRP, 129][FGN, 122] -Pompey invites the entire senate home for dinner [PRP, 131] 43 BC Hirtius and Pansa open a debate in senate which lasts four days, Cicero delivers his fifth Philippic [Syme, 167][Jones A, 18][Sto, 300] 42 BC Caesar is recognized by the senate as a god [Huzar, 116] 41 BC Triumph of L. Antonius over the peoples of the Alps [RCS, 220][CIL I, 461] 39 BC L. Marcius Censorinus celebrates a triumph for his victory over Macedonia as he enters the consulship [CIL I, 461][Syme, 222] 33 BC On Octavian's first and last day as consul, he delivers an invective against Antony [Huzar, 200, 205] • Early empire: day of the Vatorum Nuncupatio. See January 3. 7 BC Triumph of Tiberius for his campaigns in Germany [Garz, 562] 12 Dedication of the shrine Fortuna Augusta Stata near the Temple of Tellus [NTD, 157] 69 4th and 22nd legions at Mainz refuse to renew the oath of allegiance to Galba, and smash the emperor's statues [CAW, 237][YOFE, 30][Garz, 199][L-Suet, 217] 112 Inauguration of Trajan's forum and basilica [Carc, 4][Garz, 663] • Dedication by Trajan of a Temple to Fortune, an attempt to consolidate the various guises of the deity [NTD, 155] (Did the sources of the previous event (112) confuse the temple with the forum and basilica?) 138 Tubercular death of Aelius Caesar in Rome [Sear][CAW, 239][Bir MA, 14][Hen, 261][Garz, 438] 193 Pertinax is declared emperor by the senate [CAW, 240][Bir MA, 14][Bir SS, 89] 202 Decennalia celebrations begin for Septimius in Antioch [Bir SS, 141] 248 Philip celebrates a triumph over the Carpi [Wolf, 44] 287 Consular ceremonies for Maximian are disrupted by news of a barbarian raid from the Rhine region [Bar, 7] 363 Libanius delivers his 12th Oration, a panegyric to Julian [L-Lib, ?] 379 Death of Basil, pro-Melitian bishop of Caesarea, at age 49 [Chad, 149][Frend, 634] 385 Augustine delivers a panegyric on Bauto [PLRE] 417 Constantius and a reluctant Galla Placidia marry [PLRE][LRE I, 176][Bury L I, 203] [Wolf, 164] 5 456 Sidonius delivers a panegyric on Anthemius [Wolf, 389n] 468 Sidonius delivers another panegyric on Anthemius [PLRE][Kaegi, 41][Wolf, 492n] Jan 2 IIII Non. 49 BC Two Caesarean tribunes, Antony among them, veto a measure requiring Caesar's disarmament [P-Cic SW, 125n] 69 Vitellius is proclaimed emperor by the legions of lower Germany [Sear][TD 6, 116ed] ([YOFE, 31] and [Garz, 200] say January 3.) 193 Statues of Commodus are overthrown in the Capitol [Bir SS, 91] 423 Aelia Eudocia is proclaimed Augusta the day after her uncle, Asclepiodotus, assumed the consulship [PLRE][Hol, 123][Bury L I, 220] Jan 3 III Non. • Ludi Compitales. This was a moveable feast held sometime between the Saturnalia and January 5. In the time of Cicero it lasted one day. In the late empire it was held January 3-5 [FCRR, 58] 106 BC Birth of Cicero at his grandfather's estate near Arpinum, to Helvia and M. Cicero [Bailey, 2] [Sto, 2][CIL I, 335][LTA, 7ed] 58 BC Four bills of Clodius pass, one allowing for collegia, soon to be used as a front for gangs, and another substituting cheap corn with free corn for the urban masses [Gelzer, 96] ([Sto, 187] says January 4.) 46 BC Several of Caesar's missing troop transports, scattered in a storm off the Bay of Carthage, turn up at Leptis Minor, where Caesar has installed himself for an assault on Hadrumetum (Susa) [Momm IV, 416] 69 All seven Rhine legions proclaim Vitellius emperor [YOFE, 31][Garz, 200] • Day of the Vatorum Nuncupatio, on which vows for the emperor's health were taken by officials and priests. Also, soldiers proclaim their loyalty to the emperor. It was held on January 1 in the early empire [L-HA III, 312ed][YCS VII, 266][CIL I, 334] 193 At the oath of loyalty ceremony to Pertinax, some praetorians grab the senator Triarius Maternus, and "elect" him in camp. He later ran naked to Pertinax's palace, and all was forgiven [Bir SS, 91] 250 For today's Vatorum Nuncupatio, Decius orders sacrifices to be performed to Jupiter at all Roman cities, not just Rome. The order, issued today, took some time to reach the provinces [Frend, 319] 396 Claudian issues a panegyric in honor of Honorius [L-Claud I, xiv] 401 The head of Gainas, a gift from Uldin the Hun to Arcadius, arrives in Constantinople [Wolf, 150] Jan 4 Prid. Non. • Ludi Compitales, day 2. 49 BC Cicero arrives at Rome, but doesn't enter, hoping for a triumph [Gelzer, 191][Bailey, 142] 48 BC Caesar sails for Palaeste from Brundisium with 20,000 soldiers and 600 cavalry to attack Pompey [Bal, 131][Fuller, 210][Momm IV, 380][Gelzer, 223] 46 BC The rest of Caesar's army lands in Africa and begins to march [Gelzer, 265] 43 BC Cicero delivers his sixth Philippic to the populace in the Forum [Huzar, 105][Sto, 307] 122 Cavalryman L. Valerius Noster receives a certificate of discharge [RCS, 522] 304 Arcadius Rufinus 10 becomes urban prefect in Rome, replacing Junius Tiberianus 7 [PLRE] 6 Jan 5 Nones • Last day of the Ludi Compitales. • Dedication date of the shrine of the goddess Vica Pota at the foot of the Velia [FCRR, 60] [NTD, 420] 277 BC Triumph of C. Junius Brutus over the Lucanians and Bruttians [CIL I, 457] 49 BC Caesar arrives at Palaeste, and sends an envoy to Pompey for terms of peace. In the evening Caesar sets out for Oricum [Fuller, 210ff] 117 Lucia Macrina fails in her legal attempt to recover the property of her deceased soldierhusband [RCS, 518] 323 Pappus calculates the longitudes of the sun and moon, as recorded in Books III and V of Theon's Algamest Commentary [GR&B 31, 111] Jan 6 VIII Id. 62 BC Cicero writes to his brother that in the senate house the speaker Appius had to call off a meeting because of the cold [Lanc A, 78][Lanc R, 262] 29 BC Finally, at the end of the civil wars, Octavian enters Rome [RCS I, 307] 168 Aurelius addresses the Praetorians on, of other things, relieving the problem of bachelor soldiers in the guard [Bir MA, 155][Garz, 520] • Nativity of Christ celebrated today in the Eastern part of the Empire [Chad, 259] 341 Dedication of Antioch's new cathedral by Constantius and 97 eastern bishops [Chad, 137] 356 Syrianus, military commander and enemy of Athanasius, enters Alexandria for trouble. See February 7 [PLRE][Frend, 356] 361 Julian attends Epiphany in Vienne, not having yet revealed his paganism [Brow, 109] [P-AM, 209][RIC VIII, 45][Frend, 600] 402 Baptism of Honorius [Hol, 55] 438 Rufius Antonius Agrypnius Volusianus, a senator, former prefect, and frank pagan, dies in Constantinople on a mission from the west to settle the arrangements of the recent wedding. See October 29, 437 [Hol, 183] Jan 7 VII Id. • Third century AD: Day of honorary discharge, enjoyment of privileges granted, salary installments given to soldiers [RCS, 567] 50 BC Cicero leaves Tarsus for the province of Asia to alleviate their debt problems [Bailey, 112] 49 BC Antony and Cassius are told to leave Rome (they head for Gaul), and the senate decrees a state of emergency-Pompey becomes consul sine collega [Bal, 119][PRP, 132][Seag P, 162] [Momm IV, 338][Gelzer, 192][Sto, 253][FGN, 122][Bailey, 143] 43 BC Octavian first assumes the fasces, ceremonially inaugurating his imperium [RCS, 66] [Jones A, 19][YCS VII, 266][CIL I, 312] 41 Caligula terminates his fourth and last consulship, begun January 1 [P-Suet, 161] 193 Pertinax, in a move to mollify the Praetorians, "ratified the concessions that Commodus had made to the soldiers and the veterans" [Bir SS, 91] 312 At a trial in Nicomedia, Maximinus condemns and executes the Christian scholar Lucian of Antioch [C&E, 40, 159][Frend, 494] 328 Constantine re-founds the Bithynian city of Drepanum as Helenopolis, in honor of his mother. Drepanum was Helena's birthplace [Bar, 9n, 77][C&E, 221] Jan 8 VI Id. 364 Simultaneous edicts in Rome on breadmaking: Once a breadmaker, always a breadmaker-no appeals permitted [C Th, 14.3.5-6] 7 Jan 9 V Id. • The AGONALIA, also March 17, May 21, and December 11. The Rex Sacrorum sacrifices a ram in the Regia to appease Janus, according to Ovid [FCRR, 61][NTD, 5, 326] 376 Q. Aurelius Symmachus (Eusebius) 4 delivers speech "pro Trygetio" to the senate [PLRE] 400 Eudoxia proclaims herself Augusta [PLRE][WWW][Hol, 56n][Bury L I, 138] 475 Zeno flees with some Isaurians to Isauria from the capitol as Basiliscus is proclaimed emperor [Sear][Kaegi, 48][PLRE][Bury L I, 391] Jan 10 IIII Id. 70 BC Prosecution is announced against G. Verres, corrupt governor of Sicily. The trial begins August 5 [P-Cic SW, 39n] 49 BC (before daybreak January 11) Caesar crosses...

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the development of entertainment buildings in Ancient Rome, especially in the transitional period from the Late Republic to the Empire. The key question was how and when permanent Entertainment venues emerged, and how they were used as propaganda. Answers to this questions are based on the investigation of literary (primary and secondary), epigraphic and archaeological sources. It turned out that the organisation of entertainment in Rome always contained propagandistic messages. In the Roman Republic, the aristocracy used the organisation of entertainment, as well as providing housing for the spectacles, as political self-advertisement tool to acquire status, influence and prestige. There is evidence for at least three attempts of Roman magistrates that wanted to build permanent theatres in Rome during the second century BC. However, the Senate was able to block these attempts. While the Roman empire grew, and several cities including colonies built permanent theatres, Rome had none until the late first century. When the political and social conditions in Rome changed in the Late Republic, the aspects of propaganda within entertainment changed too. Permanent entertainment venues in Rome were the logical result of a gradual evolution of using entertainment as propaganda. Merely in the Late Republic this gradual evolution was accelerated. Strong magnates as Pompey Magnus and Julius Caesar were able to went a step further in the entertainment propaganda and the amount of permanent entertainment in Rome grew intense. Eventually Augustus and the emperors after him used permanent entertainment buildings as mass-communication tools to convey political, cultural and ideological messages and legitimize their power.