Defining Roman Spectacles
Spectacle, from the Latin word spectaculum, refers generally to a show, a sight, or that which is exposed to public view. The meaning of spectacle can also be extended to include a stageplay or even a place at the theatre.
Verona Amphitheatre. Courtesy of Michael Gwyneth-Jones.
In my working definition of Roman spectacle the following criteria must be present:
- the event must draw an audience;
- the event must be out of the ordinary;
- it must be extravagant in the way it represents a waste of resources;
- the event and/or the place must convey meaning for the audience;
- it must be entertaining (though not everyone present would be entertained).
Gladiator Venator depicted on a brass medaillon, fighting (probably) a wild boar. Courtesy of BS Thurner Hof.
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Some examples of Roman spectacles are: 1. Amphitheatre games [1]: a. the wild animal hunts (venationes) in the morning b. the executions (damnatio) at noon c. the gladiatorial games (munera) in the evening 2. Circus events[2] a. chariot races b. naval battle re-enactments (naumachia) 4. Theatrical performances[3] 5. Religious processions[4] 6. Triumphal processions [5] 7. Limited audience: [6] a. banquets b. poetry readings c. funerals and funerary processions 8. Public spaces[7]: a. gardens b. villas c. display of statues and images |
Circus horse races, mosaic, left part. Museum of Lyon, France. Public domain.
As would be expected, spectacles were not carried out in the same way throughout the Empire. The spectacles one could see in the provinces were somewhat different from the spectacles in Rome, and each province is likely to have had its own features.[13]
Footnotes:
(see Bibliography of Definitions)
[1] On animal hunts: Livy. Roman History. 39.22; On executions at mid-day: Tertullian. Apology. 15.4-6; On gladiatorial games: Livy. Roman History 9.40
[2] Procopius, History of the Wars, I, xxiv, translated by H.B. Dewing (New York: Macmillan, 1914), pp. 219-230. On naumachia: Martial. Spectacles. 24;
[3] Cassius Dio. Roman History. 67.4
[4] Tacitus. Annales. 14.20-21.
[5] Cassius Dio, Roman History 78
[6] Pliny the Younger. Letter to Socius Senecio. Book 1.13
[7] Pliny the Elder. Natural History. 34-35, Vitruvius. On Architecture. 5.1.1-5.3.5, Cicero. Letters to Atticus. 1.4
[8] Jesper Carlsen, "Exemplary Deaths in the Arena: Gladiatorial Fights and the Execution of Criminals": Contextualizing Early Christian Martyrdom, eds. Jakob Engberg, Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen, Anders Klostergaard Petersen. Peter Lang: Frankfurt. 2011. pg 79
[2] Procopius, History of the Wars, I, xxiv, translated by H.B. Dewing (New York: Macmillan, 1914), pp. 219-230. On naumachia: Martial. Spectacles. 24;
[3] Cassius Dio. Roman History. 67.4
[4] Tacitus. Annales. 14.20-21.
[5] Cassius Dio, Roman History 78
[6] Pliny the Younger. Letter to Socius Senecio. Book 1.13
[7] Pliny the Elder. Natural History. 34-35, Vitruvius. On Architecture. 5.1.1-5.3.5, Cicero. Letters to Atticus. 1.4
[8] Jesper Carlsen, "Exemplary Deaths in the Arena: Gladiatorial Fights and the Execution of Criminals": Contextualizing Early Christian Martyrdom, eds. Jakob Engberg, Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen, Anders Klostergaard Petersen. Peter Lang: Frankfurt. 2011. pg 79
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