Leisure and Entertainment “Mens sana in corpore sano” Sound mind in a sound body

Entertainment Leisure & Banquets Bathing Gambling Theatres Amphitheatre Spectacles In the Developing the body Playing Sport &

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

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.

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

Amphitheatre/Palaestra Complex Amphitheatre literally meant double theatre Arena meant sand, used to soak up the blood

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.

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

Defining Social Status Summa Cavea Upper area with 18 steps where women sat Medea Cavea Middle seating area of 12 steps Ima Cavea Lower seating area of 5 steps reserved for the dignitaries It was made from local stone and featured a parapet that separated the seats from the arena and was decorated with frescoes

The Gladiators Cometh

Inscriptions “Aulus Clodius Flaccus ( duumvir…at 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.”

“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"

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.

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

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

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.

Exercising near the Palaestra in Herculaneum

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."

Quadroporticus becomes the barracks

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

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

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.

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.

The large theatre was uncovered although there is evidence that an awning was sometimes erected. 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

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”

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”

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

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 didn’t 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

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.

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 façade, 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.

Musical Instruments- Naples Museum

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

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, that’s not a ‘three’; it’s 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!