Antipas, benefactor of cities of the empire and student of great literature;
To the most excellent Calpurnius, nobleman of Ephesus and protector of the library of Theophilus;
Greetings.
Rufinus was pleased to hear of your intention to attend the first gladiatorial contests that he will sponsor this year in Pergamum. Your presence will honor us. Your views about the necessity of promoting intercity harmony among the elite are especially appropriate and fall well within Rufinus’s expectations for the day. I am certain that your astute influence will be felt within the amphitheater.
I have noted, honorable friend, your hesitation about gladiatorial combats in general. I am aware of similar concerns offered by some philosophers, many of whom the emperor Domitian has now banished from Rome. They denounce gladiatorial contests as a profane practice that brings infamy and shame upon our society, eroding the character of our citizens and degrading our humanity.
Those are important views to keep in mind lest we become bestial in our thirst for blood, like the roguish barbarians who threaten the extremities of our great empire. We should not be dominated by an interest in bloodletting, as they are. But it seems to me that philosophers who hold critical views of the competitions do not give enough credence to the fact that many of the victims at gladiatorial games are themselves representatives of the underbelly of society: highway robbers, butchering murderers, treasonous villains, escaped slaves, and foreign prisoners of war. These people are deserving of their end. Moreover, to die in the contests gives them the chance to meet their deaths in a heroic fashion, bringing some honor to their shamed name. And as long as they survive the contests, they are provided with food and lodging at their master’s expense. Some gladiatorial survivors even become objects of adulation and affection among the women, and great gladiators occasionally find their reward in being granted freedom. So the gladiators themselves can benefit from their profession in a number of ways.
So too can the spectators. The competitions provide ample entertainment for our citizens, including the peasantry, who otherwise have very little to enjoy or look forward to. It is only the specter of public shows of one sort or another that breaks the monotony of their relentless concerns about grain supplies and economic hardship. Moreover, the gladiators exemplify for the spectators the noble attributes of Rome herself: courageous bravery, dogged endurance, and overpowering might. The wild-beast hunts in a gladiatorial event parade a host of exotic creatures drawn from all over the empire, highlighting the empire’s magnificence and reinforcing the narratives on which our society is founded—the triumph of virtuous and orderly civilization over the forces of lawless barbarism and primeval chaos. Now that Rome has mightily established stability and peace throughout the world, the savage desire to conquer that lies within the soul of humanity is temporarily assuaged in the extravagant gladiatorial displays of unrelenting power and force. Were it not for the gladiatorial contests, the savagery of the barbarians might again rise up to engulf societal harmony.
In my view, then, gladiatorial games bring benefits to society that far outweigh any of their more unattractive aspects. Of course, when judged from one angle, gladiatorial combat may appear distasteful, but there are other angles that place it in a far more acceptable light. It is my hope that you will be able to enjoy the gladiatorial contests by considering them in that light.
My primary purpose in writing again to you is not to burden you with arguments about the merits of the contests, for it would be presumptuous of me to think that you are unaware of them. Instead, I write with a personal request. Although I am now a man of leisure, I remain proud of my academic prowess and continue to acquire the same amount of pleasure from reading and study as I do from entertainment and sport. Euphemos, my host, has recounted to me the magnificence of your personal library, a treasure of repute from Macedonian Philippi to Egyptian Alexandria. I am currently in pursuit of the Alexandrian edition of Homer. Both his Iliad and his Odyssey are preeminent classics of the Hellenistic storytellers, and I have an interest in studying sections of the Alexandrian edition of Homer in particular. The splendid library here in the Pergamene temple of Athena holds an edition of Homer established by the Pergamene librarian Crates, but this edition appears to be different from the edition I studied years ago with an Egyptian philosopher while living in Caesarea. I have made arrangements with new friends here in Pergamum to spend some weekly leisure time comparing the two editions. I am hopeful that your magnificent library might hold an Alexandrian edition of Homer and that I might gain access to that edition (or perhaps to sections of it) by your kindness. Stachys, my servant, will deliver my donation for your efforts in this regard and as a guarantee for the safe return of your manuscripts of Homer by the time the rains end in the spring.
Euphemos himself had intended to write you regarding this matter, but I preferred to do so myself, since I am relatively new to Pergamum and need every opportunity to establish myself with men of honor in the region. While a businessman, I owned extensive tracts of land in the rural regions of Galilee, where I maintained and augmented the fortune of my long-established lineage. Although most of my landholdings were in Galilee, I spent most of my life as a respected citizen in the magnificent cities of Tyre and then Caesarea Maritima, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I have maintained my honorable status through civic benefaction in these cities, including the installation of ornate pavements, fountains, baths, and statues.
My desire to enjoy the leisure of study in my advanced years has brought me to Pergamum. Fifteen years ago, I read the first few volumes of Pliny’s newly published Historia Naturalis. Since then, I have remembered his description of Pergamum as “by far the most distinguished city in Asia” [Hist. Nat. 5.30]. And so, now that I have the opportunity, I have come to enjoy the pleasures of this distinguished city—“the citadel”1 in the heartland of imperial Asia. I have been impressed by Pergamum’s remarkable position, seated at the top of a conical outcrop high above the surrounding valley. To match its impressive location, it is composed of the most spectacular sacred and royal buildings, not least the great altar of Zeus, whom we now know as Jupiter. The gods are worshiped in abundance here, including of course the divine emperor Domitian and the savior Asclepius, the god who heals us from our afflictions.
Another attraction of this fine city is its exceptional collection of books. From my previous travels, I have gained extensive knowledge of many of the empire’s libraries, and I imagine only the libraries in Athens and Alexandria to rival the Pergamene collections. There are also many book collectors in this city with a variety of literary artifacts. So my enjoyment of life here in Pergamum will be enhanced by the luxury of contemplation on the higher things of life. Already I have engaged in profitable discussion of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides with some local connoisseurs of the literary classics, and I look forward in the future to studying a good number of historical texts. At present, however, the Homeric collection is of primary interest. If you were able to send me an Alexandrian version of the master’s works, I would be significantly in your debt.
I (along with my servants) will continue to be resident in the house of Euphemos for the foreseeable future, by his kindness. If this request is in keeping with your pleasure, your copy of Homer will also become a resident at good Euphemos’s house.
May the gods be gracious to you and your household.