Classics Quotes

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Forit was neither every kind of fame nor fame from every source that he courted,as Philip did, who plumed himself like a sophist on the power of his oratory, andtook care to have the victories of his chariots at Olympia engraved upon hiscoins; nay, when those about him inquired whether he would be willing tocontend in the foot-race at the Olympic games, since he was swift of foot,‘Yes,’ said he, ‘if I could have kings as my competitors.’ (4.5)Then, going up to Ilium (Troy), he sacrificed toAthena and poured libations to the heroes. Furthermore, the gravestone ofAchilles he anointed with oil, ran a race by it with his companions, naked, asis the custom, and then crowned it with garlands, pronouncing the hero happy inhaving a faithful friend while he lived, and after death, a great herald of hisfame (i.e.Homer). (15.4)

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Plutarch Life of Alexander

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“Sothe Romans made use of the spendid armor of their enemies to do honor to thegods; thile the Campanans, in consequence of their pride and hatred of theSamnites, equipped after this fashion the gladiators who furnished thementertainment at their feasts, and bestowed on them the name of Samnites.”

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Livy, The History of Rome; Roman Initial Reaction to Gladiators, first seen in 308BCE

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“Forin time long past, in accordance with the belief that the souls of the-dead arepropitiated by human blood, they used to purchase captives or slaves ofinferior ability and to sacrifice them at funerals.Afterwards,they preferred to disguise this ungodly usage by making it a pleasure. So,after the persons thus procured had been trained--for the sole purpose oflearning how to be killed!-- in the use of such arms as they then had and asbest as they could wield, they then exposed them to death at the tombs on theday appointed for sacrifices in honor of the dead. Thus they found consolationfor death in murder.”

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TertulianOn Spectacles, Gladiators and Human Sacrifice (308 BCE)

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FirstTarquinius waged war on the Latins and captured the town of Apiolae. Because hebrought back more plunder than expected from what seemed like a small war, heput on more extravagant ludi than previous kings had done. It was then that theplace now called the Circus Maximus was marked out. There were separatesections of seats for senators and knights to watch from, with benches onsupports as much as 12 feet from the ground. There were horse races and boxersbrought in from Etruria. These games are still held annually, and called theLudi Romani or the Great Ludi.

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Livy, The History of Rome; Great Ludi/Circus Maximus

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“Theordered that armor and weapons should be made ready, and took down temples andporticoes of ancient spoils of enemies. The levy wore a strange appearance, forowing to the sacarcity of free men and the need of the hour, they bought, withmoney from the treasury 8,000young and stalwart slaves and armed then, but asked them first if they werewilling to serve. They preferred the slaves for soldiers, though they mighthave redeemed the prisoners of war at less expense.”

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Livy, Ideology of Slave Warriors; 216BCE battle of Cannae

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“Buteven those who have triumphs, and who on that account keep the generals of theenemy alive a longer time, in order that, while they are led in triumph, theRoman people may enjoy an ennobling spectacle, and a splendid fruit of victory;nevertheless, when they begin to turn their chariot from the forum towards theCapitol, order them to be taken back to prison, and the same day brings to theconquerors the end of their authority, and to the conquered the end of theirlives.”

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Cicero; the captives and spectacles of conquest (triumphant)

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Theinsurrection of the gladiators and their devastation of Italy, which isgenerally called the war of Spartacus,1 had its origin as follows. Acertain Lentulus Batiatus had a school of gladiators at Capua, most of whomwere Gauls and Thracians. Through no misconduct of theirs, but owing to theinjustice of their owner, they were kept in close confinement and reservedfor gladiatorial combats.Twohundred of these planned to make their escape, and when information was laidagainst them, those who got wind of it and succeeded in getting away,seventy-eight in number, seized cleavers and spits from some kitchen andsallied out. On the road they fell in with wagons conveying gladiators' weaponsto another city; these they plundered and armed themselves. Then they took up astrong position and elected three leaders. The first of these wasSpartacus, a Thracian of Nomadic stock, possessed not only of great courage andstrength, but also in sagacity and culture superior to his fortune, and moreHellenic than Thracian.

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Plutarch, Life ofCrassus; Gladiator rebellion of 73BCE, led by Spartacus, ended in 71BCE with 6000 gladiators being hung; "Spartacus was more Hellenic than Thracian"

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“Thelast day was that of the elephants, and on that day the mob and crowd wasgreatly impressed, but manifested no pleasure. Indeed, the result was a certaincompassion (misericordia) and a kind of feeling that the huge beast has afellowship with the human race.”

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Cicero, Letter to Marcus Marius; Beast hunts of Pompey 55BCE (stone theatre)

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"ButPompey's elephants, when they had lost all hope of escape, tried to gain thecompassion of the crowd by indescribable gestures of entreaty, deploring theirfate with a sort of wailing, so much to the distress of the public that theyforgot the general and his munificence carefully devised for their honor, andbursting into tears rose in a body and invoked curses on the head of Pompey forwhich he soon afterwards paid the penalty.”

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Pliny, Natural Histories; Pompey beast hunts 55BCE

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“Inthe number, variety, and magnificence of his public spectacles, he surpassedall former example. Four and-twenty times, he says, he treated the people withgames upon his own account, and three-and-twenty times for such magistrates aswere either absent, or not able to afford the expense.”

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Suetonius, Divine Augustus; gained popularity and popularity through spectacles (changed munera made them imperial, government funded rather than private)Gained power in 31BCEgained title Augustus 27BCE

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“Augustuscorrected the confusion and disorder with which the spectators took their seatsat the public games, after an affront which was offered to a senator atPuteoli, for whom, in a crowded theatre, no one would make room. He thereforeprocured a decree of the senate, that in all public spectacles of any sort, andin any place whatever, the first tier of benches should be left empty for theaccommodation of senators. He would not even permit the ambassadors of freenations, nor of those which were allies of Rome, to sit in the orchestra;having found that some freed slaves had been sent under that character.”“Heseparated the soldiery from the rest of the people, and assigned to marriedplebeians their particular rows of seats. To the boys he assigned their ownbenches, and to their tutors the seats which were nearest it; ….. none clothedin black should sit in the centre of the circle.1 Nor would he allowany women to witness the combats of the gladiators, except from the upper partof the theatre, although they formerly used to take their places promiscuouslywith the rest of the spectators.”

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Suetonius, Divine Augustus; social ratification, made order in seating

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Ata gladiatorial munus, when the sun was blazing and the awnings had been putout, he would sometimes insist that they be taken off, and forbid anyone toleave. He would exhibit the cheapest, second-rate beasts and gladiators grownold and sick. He would make men with physical disabilities fight, even if theywere respectable, free citizens. And sometimes he would close the granaries andannounce that the people would starve.

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Suetonius, Caligula; power and cruelty of Caligula

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“Thatno memory or the least monument might remain of any other victor in the sacred Greciangames, he ordered all their statues and pictures to be pulled down, draggedaway with hooks, and thrown into the common sewers. He drove the chariot withvarious numbers of horses, and at the Olympic games with no fewer than ten;though, in a poem of his, he had reflected upon Mithridates for thatinnovation. Being thrown out of his chariot, he was again replaced, but couldnot retain his seat, and was obliged to give it up, before he reached the goal,but was crowned notwithstanding.”“Butabove all he was carried away by a craze for popularity and he was jealous ofall who in any way stirred the feeling of the mob. It was the general beliefthat after his victories on the stage he would at the next lustrum [i.e.,Olympic Games] have competed with the athletes at Olympia; for he practiced wrestlingconstantly, and all over Greece he had always viewed the gymnastic contestsafter the fashion of the judges, sitting on the ground in the stadium; and ifany pair of contestants withdrew too far from their positions, he would forcethem forward with his own hand. since he was acclaimed the equal of Apollo inmusic and of the sun in driving a chariot, he had planned to emulate theexploits of Hercules as well; and they say that a lion had been speciallytrained for him to kill naked in the arena of the amphitheatre for all thepeople, with a club or by the clasp of his arms.”

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Suetonius, Nero; participated in Olympic games to improve Roman relations with Greece.

65/67 CE winner in chariot race

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“Nowthat no one buys our votes, the public has long since cast off its cares; thepeople that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions and all else, nowmeddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things----Bread and Games!”

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Juvenal; Games were very important in gaining popularity, so was distribution of food (bread)

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“TheEmperor Trajan knew that the Roman people are held in control principally bytwo things– free grain and shows– that political support depends as much on theentertainments as on matters of serious import, that…neglect of theentertainments brings damning unpopularity, that gifts are less eagerly andardently longed for than shows, and finally, that gifts placate only the commonpeople on the grain dole, singly and individually, but shows placate everyone.”

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Marcus CorneliusFronto; Games were very important in gaining popularity, so was distribution of food (bread)

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“Nowthe enemy, pursuing you recklessly…comes boldly across the course to ram yourwheel. His horses crumple. The shameless mob of their legs goes in the wheelsand breaks the spokes one after another, until the center of the wheel is fullof cracking sounds and the rim stops the flyting feet. He himself falls fromthe collapsing chariot, making a massive mountain of ruin, and staining hisfallen face with blood.”

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ApollonarisSidonius, Mahoney; Violence of the circus games

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“LetVictory in sadness break her Idumaean palms; O Favour, strike your barebreast with unsparing hand. Let Honour change her garb for that of mourning;and make your crowned locks, O disconsolate Glory, an offering to the cruelflames. Oh! sad misfortune! that you, Scorpus, should be cut off in the flowerof your youth, and be called so prematurely to harness the dusky steeds ofPluto. The chariot-race was always shortened by your rapid driving; but O whyshould your own race have been so speedily run?”ORome, I am Scorpus, the glory of your noisy circus, the object of yourapplause, your short-lived favourite. The envious Lachesis, when she cut me offin my twenty-seventh year, accounted me, in judging by the number of myvictories, to be an old man.”

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Martial,Epigram; Praise of scorpus

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Letbarbarous Memphis stop talking about the miracle of the pyramids;Assyriantoil is not to vaunt Babylonandthe soft Ionians are not to garner praise for Trivia’s temple;letthe altar of many horns say nothing about Delos,anddo not let the Carians lavish extravagant praise on theMausoleumsuspended in empty air and exalt it to the stars.Alllabour yields to Caesar’s amphitheatre:Famewill tell of one work instead of them all.

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Martial, Spectacles; praise of the Flavian amphitheatre (colosseum)

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Andnothing is so damaging to good morals as to hang around at some spectacle.There through pleasure, vice sneaks in more easily. I come back more greedy, moredesirous of honour, more dissolute, even more unfeeling and cruel, because Ihave been among people. By chance I happened to be at the spectacle atnoontime, expecting some witty entertainment and relaxation, to rest men’s eyesfrom the gore. It was the opposite. Whatever fighting there was before wascomparative mercy. Now there was pure murder, no more fooling around. …Manypeople prefer this to the ordinary pairs and the fighters. Why wouldn’t they?No helmet or shield pushes the sword away. Where is the defence? Where is theskill? These things are just to delay death. Inthe morning men are thrown to lions and bears, at noontime to the audience. “

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Seneca, Letter; criticism of Roman violence

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TheCircensian Games were taking place; a kind of entertainment for which I havenot the least taste. They have no novelty, no variety, nothing, in short, onewould wish to see twice. I am the more astonished that so many thousands ofgrown men should be possessed again and again with a childish passion to lookat galloping horses, and men standing upright in their chariots. If, indeed,they were attracted by the swiftness of the horses or the skill of the men, onecould account for this enthusiasm. But in fact it is a bit of cloth they favour,a bit of cloth that captivates them. And if during the running the racers wereto exchange colours, their partisans would change sides, and instantly forsakethe very drivers and horses whom they were just before recognizing from afar,and clamorously saluting by name.

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Pliny, the younger; cheering for "clothing" (factions" fanatics

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Scorpus

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Won 2000+ races, Green team, died young

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Gaius Apuleius Diocles

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Played on multiple teams, first billion dollar athlete, made 36 million sestertii

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Sine Missione

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"without release" Augustus banned this type of combat

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2nd Triumvirate

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Mark Antony, Octavian, Lepidus; introduced to restore order when Julius Caesar was assassinated.

In 27 CE when Octavian was pronounced Augustus, the senate was still present but had no power.

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Julius Caesar crosses rubicon

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46 BCE

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Beast hunts become part of circus games

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169 BCE

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Pompey's Great Triumphant

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61 BCe

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Sullas Olympic Games in Rome

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80 BCE

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Battle of Cannae

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216 BCE; slave warrior ideology

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First Recorded Roman Gladiator combat

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264 BCE

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Alexander the Great (III) pronounced "son of god"

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308 BCE by oracle of Amun-Zeus; worshipped while still living.