Unless otherwise noted, all translations of Greek and Latin sources in this work are taken from the Loeb Classical Library.
Chapter One
1. Nicolaus of Damascus, Athletics, 4.153: Wiedemann (1995), p. 30.
2. Livy 9.40.17: Silius Italicus 11.51: Wiedemann (1995), pp. 30–31: Dodge (2011), pp. 27–29.
3. Dodge (2011), pp. 28–29. Consuls from the Junii family are known to have earlier campaigned in both northern Italy and Campania. It is, however, impossible to determine with certainty whether the family’s past history in one of these areas influenced the decision of the later Junii to stage the first gladiatorial contest in 264 BCE: see Kyle (1998), p. 46, 65, n. 70.
4. Wiedemann (1995), p. 6: Dodge (2011) p. 29.
5. Ville (1981), pp. 43–44: Terence, Hecyra, Prologue 31.
6. Dodge (2011), p. 29.
7. Toynbee (1996), p. 16: Anderson (1985), pp. 78–79. The earlier pharaohs, it should be noted, had established their own royal game preserves in Egypt centuries before Alexander conquered it.
8. Bertrandy (1987) 213.
9. Jennison (1937), p. 135.
10. Rice (1983) passim: Shelton (2007), pp. 112–16.
11. Pliny, Natural History, 8.6: Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 13.3.
12. Livy 39.22.2.
13. Cassiodorus, Variae, 5.42.2–4: Barnish (1992), p. 91.
14. Isocrates, Antidosis, 213.
15. Anderson (1985), pp. 84–85.
16. Futrell (1997), pp. 15–16: Weege (1909), p. 135.
17. Kyle (1998), pp. 42–43. It should be noted for future reference that the same term in Latin (ludus) could refer both to a religious festival (e.g. the Ludi Florales) and, later, a gladiatorial training school.
18. Kyle (1998), pp. 47–49.
19. Livy 40.44.8–12.
20. Pliny, 8.24: Beacham (1999), p. 12: Bertrandy (1987), p. 212.
21. Ville (1981) 94–95, 97–99: Shelton (1999) 233–34: Deniaux (2000) 1302. Other magistrates, such as praetors and consuls, are also periodically recorded as having staged munera in Rome, but such events were far less common than the events staged by aediles.
22. Plautus, Poenulus, 1011–12: Livy 44.18.8: Aurelius Victor, On Illustrious Men, 66. 1–2: Ville (1981), p. 57.
23. Plutarch, Life of Sulla, 5.
24. Livy, Periochae, 51.22–24: Valerius Maximus 2.7.13–14: Edmondson (1999), p-. 78–80.
25. Pliny, Natural History, 8.7.20: Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 13.6: Athenaeus 5.194C.
26. Welch (2009), p. 81–82.
27. Seneca, Moral Epistles, 70. For Seneca’s view on the immoral behaviour of crowds, see Moral Epistles, 7.
28. Plutarch, On the Cleverness of Animals, 959C: Most (1992), p-. 403–05.
29. Pliny, 8.6.
30. Sallust, Jugurthine War, 26.
31. Plautus, Poenulus, 1011–12.
32. Livy 44.18.8: Jennison (1937), p. 45.
33. Deniaux (2000), p-. 1306–07.
34. Plutarch, Life of Sulla, 5: Deniaux (2000), p. 1300.
35. Pliny, Natural History, 8.7; 8.20: Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 13.6: Athenaeus 5. 194C: Deniaux (2000), p. 1300; MacKinnon (2006), p. 143. When Sulla finally did achieve the praetorship in 93 BC, he staged a venatio for which he procured both lions and Mauretanian hunters from King Bocchus.
36. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 8.8.10.
37. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 8.9.3. The Latin term pantherae used in this letter, which technically could refer to a few different species of spotted feline, is commonly taken by scholars in this instance to denote leopards: see Jennison (1937), p. 137.
38. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 2.11.2.
39. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 2.11.2: Letters to Atticus, 5.21; 6.1.
40. Livy 28.21.2–3: Ville (1981), p. 47.
41. Ville (1981), p. 47.
42. Appian, Civil Wars, 116–20: Mackay (2009), p-. 203–05.
43. Welch (2009), p. 34–35.
44. Harris (1972), p. 185–86: Kyle (1998), p. 42–43: Coleman (1990), p. 52.
45. Plautus, Persa, 197–98. It is interesting to note that, at this relatively early date, the Romans did not yet have a specific term for ostriches. Here, Plautus uses the phrase marinus passer (‘sea sparrow’), a euphemism which apparently arose because the Romans brought these birds across the Mediterranean from North Africa: see Arnott (2012), p. 229.
46. Welch (2009), p. 76–77.
47. Welch (2009), p. 59–65.
48. Welch (2009), p. 49–54.
49. Ville (1981), p. 49.
50. Livy 41.20.
51. Polybius 30.25–26. Polybius notes that 250 pairs of gladiators participated in Antiochus’ festival. The text is not explicit, but it is certainly plausible that they were provided by gladiatorial ludi operating in Italy.
52. Cicero, Against Vatinius, 37; For Sestius, 133: Kaster (2006), p. 375.
53. Cicero, For Sestius, 135: Kaster (2006), p-. 376–77.
54. Pliny, Natural History, 8.7.20–21. It is certainly plausible that Scaurus, who had served as Pompey’s quaestor from 65 to 59 BC, was able to use some of these same contacts to procure animals for his own spectacle in 56 BC.
55. It is not absolutely clear whether or not the rhinoceros in question was Asian or African: see Coleman (2006), p-. 102–03.
56. Merten (1991) 140–42: Ville (1981) 348, n. 10: Shelton (1999) 245–46, 249–50.
57. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 7.1.3: Shelton (2004), p. 374–78. Pompey appears to have had a run of bad luck when it came to elephants. In 80 BC, as part of the triumphal celebrations for his recent victories in North Africa, Pompey had attempted to enter Rome on an elephant-drawn chariot. Much to his embarrassment, however, the elephant team was too large to fit through the gates of the city: see Pliny, Natural History, 8.2: Plutarch, Life of Pompey, 14.4.
58. Pliny, Natural History, 33.16.53: Kyle (2007), p. 287: Ville (1981), p. 60.
59. Kyle (2007), p. 287. As we have seen, the Senate had passed somewhat similar legislation over a century earlier, in the wake of Nobilior’s venatio, to limit the political acclaim an individual magistrate could gain through the staging of animal spectacles.
60. Suetonius, Life of Julius, 75.3.
61. cf. Suetonius, Life of Julius, 11.1–2.
62. Dio 43.23.5: Suetonius, Life of Caesar, 39.1: Levick (1983), p-. 105–06.
63. Pliny, Natural History, 8.7: Suetonius, Life of Caesar, 39: Dionysius 3.68.1–4: Golvin (1988), p. 50: Platner and Ashby (1929), p. 115: Scobie (1988), p. 211. Evidently, Caesar’s elephants were given more of a fighting chance on this occasion than Pompey’s elephants in 55 BC, since we hear of no spectator displeasure associated with the later spectacle.
64. Welch (2009), p. 38–42.
65. Kyle (2007), p. 288: Coleman (1993), p. 50.
66. Pliny, Natural History, 8.70: Jennison (1937), p. 59.
Chapter 2
1. Dio 43.22.4
2. Jennison (1937), p. 177.
3. Octavian, the political leader later known as Augustus, did not actually receive that title until 27 BC. For sake of convenience, however, I refer to him as Augustus throughout this work.
4. Res Gestae, 22.
5. Dio 54.1.3–4: Wiedemann (1995), p. 8, 48, n. 16: Galsterer (1981), p-. 415–16: Robinson (1994), p. 169. Imperial magistrates, such as the aediles, continued to periodically stage various munera (with imperial permission), particularly in the early Empire when Republican traditions were still familiar to many citizens.
6. Scobie (1988), p. 195: Ville (1981), p-. 123–26: Wiedemann (1995), p-. 11–12.
7. Ville (1981), p-. 126–27.
8. Strabo 6.273: Coleman (1990), p-. 53–54.
9. Ville (1981), p. 99–100: 108–09. A similar spectacle, featuring both single and mass gladiatorial combat, was staged in honour of the deceased Agrippa in 7 BC: see Ville (1981), p. 103–04.
10. Jaczynowska (1978), p-. 48–53: Ville (1981), p-. 216–20, 269–70. As we shall later discuss, the participation of aristocratic iuvenes in such events was not limited to Rome alone, but is also attested in other cities of the Empire.
11. Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 43: Levick (1983), p-. 106–07.
12. Dio 51.23.1: Welch (2009), p. 108–26.
13. Suetonius, Life of Nero, 4.3: Ville (1981), p. 101.
14. Ville (1981), p. 110.
15. Ville (1981), p-. 110–11.
16. Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 43.11.
17. Ville (1981), p-. 104–05.
18. Res Gestae, 23: Coleman (1993), p-. 51–54. It should be noted that Augustan propaganda following the battle of Actium emphasized it as a victory over a foreign enemy, rather than a victory over a fellow Roman.
19. Levick (1983), pp. 107–08.
20. Allsen (2006), passim.
21. Anthologia Graeca 7.626: Allsen (2006), p. 169.
22. Suetonius, Life of Tiberius, 47.1: Ville (1981), p. 129.
23. Tacitus, Annals, 1.76: Dio 57.14.3: Levick (1983), passim: Coleman (2000), p. 497.
24. Tacitus, Annals, 4.62–63: Suetonius (Life of Tiberius, 40) claims that over 20,000 were killed at Fidenae. Dio [58.1.1] appears to be alluding to the same event when he states that Tiberius’ decision to ban hunting spectacles in the capital led some unspecified entrepreneurs to exhibit such events in wooden theatres outside of the city which subsequently collapsed.
25. Dio 59.5.2.
26. Dio 59.2.6: Suetonius,Life of Caligula, 37.3.
27. Dio 59.10.5: Suetonius, Life of Caligula, 21: Ville (1981), p. 133.
28. Dio 59.14.1–4: Ville (1981), pp. 164–65.
29. Dio 59.7: Ville (1981), p. 130.
30. Dio 59.8.3: Suetonius, Life of Caligula, 27.2: Ville (1981) 130–31.
31. Dio 10.1–4: Suetonius, Life of Caligula, 27.9: Ville (1981), pp. 131–32. In the case of the latter equestrian condemned to the arena, Suetonius and Dio give differing accounts of what seems to be the same individual. Dio states that the individual in question, after having successfully fought as a gladiator, was hauled off and executed nonetheless, while Suetonius claims that he was forced to fight wild animals. As a result of loudly protesting his innocence, the condemned man was briefly removed from the arena and had his tongue cut out on Caligula’s orders, before being returned to the arena floor.
32. Dio 59.13.8–9: Ville (1981), p. 132.
33. Suetonius, Life of Caligula, 26.5; 27.1.
34. Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 21.4: Ville (1981) 136.
35. Ville (1981), p. 134.
36. Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 24.2: Dio 60.5.6.Ville [(1981), p. 165] suggests that this measure was implemented both to spare the praetors from any financial difficulties which this obligation might cause, and to prevent any political one-upmanship between praetors staging the munera. At a much later date, these praetorian games were reestablished by Constantine: Jones (1992) 537; Ville (1981) 390–91.
37. Dio 60.13.1–4.
38. Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 21.3: Dio 60.7.4; 13.5.
39. Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 21.3–4: Dio 60.17.9: Ville (1981), p. 135.
40. Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 21.6: Coleman (1993), p. 49.
41. Tacitus, Annals, 12.56: Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 21.6: Dio 61.33.3–4: Coleman (1993), p. 56.
42. Ibid. A common misconception is that the proclamation of the condemned criminals to Claudius on this occasion was commonly repeated by gladiators to the assembled spectators at other munera. This is, however, the only recorded instance of this proclamation prior to a spectacle.
43. Tacitus, Annals, 13.5.1–2; 13.31.4–5:Ville (1981), pp. 166–68: Balsdon (1969), p. 304.
44. Dio 61.9.1.
45. Calpurnius Siculus, Eclogues, 7.
46. Dio 61.9.5: Suetonius, Life of Nero, 12.1: Ville (1981), pp. 138–39.
47. Calpurnius Siculus, Eclogues, 7.
48. Coleman (1993), pp. 56–58: Ville (1981), pp. 141–42.
49. Tacitus, Annals, 14.14; 15.32: Dio 62.17.2–5: Ville (1981), pp. 139–40.
50. Tacitus, Annals, 15.37: Dio 62.15: Coleman (1993), p. 51: Ville (1981), pp. 140–41.
51. Tacitus, Annals, 15. 38–44.
52. Ville (1981), p. 143.
53. Anthologia Palatina 11.184: Coleman (1990), pp. 60–61.
54. Dio 65.15.2.
55. Welch (2009), p. 147–61: Mann (2013), p. 67–68. The name ‘Colosseum’ was first used for the amphitheatre in the Middle Ages; in antiquity, it was known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. For the sake of convenience, however, I will refer to it throughout by its better-known name.
56. Welch (2009), pp. 130–41: Hönle and Henze (1981), pp. 128–29: Bomgardner (2000), pp. 146–51.
57. Suetonius, Life of Titus, 7.3: Dio 66.25: cf. Martial, On the Spectacles, 6.
58. Coleman (1993), pp. 58–60.
59. Dio 66.25.2–3: Coleman (1993), pp. 60–62, 65.
60. Martial, On the Spectacles, 28: Coleman (1993), pp. 62–65.
61. Martial, On the Spectacles, 34: Coleman (1993), pp. 65–66.
62. Dio 66.25.3–4: Suetonius, Life of Titus, 7.3: Coleman (1993), pp. 65–66.
63. Coleman (1993), 67.
64. Wistrand (1992), pp. 20–21: Coleman (1993), pp. 68–74: Allsen (2006), pp. 147–48.
65. Martial, On the Spectacles, 10; 24–25: Although many of the poems in On the Spectacles commemorate the inaugural games of the Colosseum, it is unclear in other instances if particular events described by Martial were staged by Titus or by his brother and successor Domitian: see Coleman (2006), pp. xlv–lxiv.
66. Martial, On the Spectacles, 6.
67. Clement, Letter to the Corinthians, 1.5–6: Apuleius, Metamorphoses, 10.29.34: Coleman (1990), p. 64: Wiedemann (1995), pp. 88–89.
68. Shaw (1993), pp. 8–9; 16–19.
69. Livy 1.12: Martial 1.21; 8.30; 10.25: Ville (1981), p. 154. Ville suggests that this particular re-enactment may have been performed on multiple occasions, with more than one criminal, of course, playing the role of Scaevola.
70. Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 4.1.
71. Martial, On the Spectacles, 11: cf. On the Spectacles, 26; Martial 14.53. The date of this spectacle is not certain, but it appears to have been staged in 84 or 85: see Ville (1981), p. 149.
72. Desanges (1978), pp. 201–08: Coleman (2006), pp. liv–lvi.
73. Desanges (1978), pp. 323–25: Coleman (2006), pp. 268–69: Pliny, Natural History, 6.68; 6.188: Seneca, Natural Questions, 6.8, 3–4. Members of the Praetorian Guard are also said to have participated in an expedition during the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211) to capture zebras from unnamed islands in the Red Sea: see Dio 76.14.3.
74. Desanges (1978), pp. 210–13: Birley (1972), pp. 31–35.
75. Ptolemy 1.8.4; 4.8.2: Desanges (1978), pp. 197–201: Desanges (1964), pp. 713–14; 722–25.
76. Martial 1.14: Ville (1981), pp. 149–50: cf. Martial 1.6;22;48;51;60;104.
77. Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 4.1–2: Coleman (1993), pp. 54–55:Ville (1981), pp. 150–54.
78. Statius, Silvae, 1.6.53–61. Cf. Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 4.1: Dio 67.8.4: Ville (1981), pp. 150–54.
79. Juvenal, Satires, 6. 252–53.
80. Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 4.1. As previously noted, Claudius had made the quaestors responsible for producing ten days of munera every year by a law which was passed in 47 AD. This obligation, however, had been subsequently removed from the quaestors by Nero.
81. Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 4.4: Ville (1981), p. 159.
82. Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 4; 10.1: Dio 67.4.4. We shall discuss the different types of gladiators in a subsequent chapter.
83. Dio 67.14.3: Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 19.
84. Dio 67.4.5: Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 23.1.
85. Dio 68.2.3. Nerva also ordered repairs to the Colosseum during his brief reign [CIL VI, 37137], which suggests that he had no objection to the spectacles per se, just the enormous cost of staging them too frequently as Domitian had done.
86. AE (1933), n. 30: Dio 68.10; 68.15: Merten (1991), p. 143. Later notable events staged by Trajan included the munera put on to celebrate the dedication of a lavish new bathing complex for the capital in 109: cf. Fora (1996), pp. 37–42, nos. 9–10.
87. CIL 14.4546: SHA, Life of Hadrian, 7.12; 19: Fora (1996), pp. 42–43, n. 11.
88. Digest 48.8.11.1–2: SHA, Life of Hadrian, 14.11; 17.12; 18.8–9: Wiedemann (1995), pp. 76–77. As Wiedemann states, one probable purpose of such legislation was to limit control over capital sentences to the emperor and his officials.
89. Dio 69.8; 69.10: SHA, Life of Hadrian, 20.12–13; 26.
90. Suetonius, Life of Titus, 7.3; Life of Domitian, 4.4; Life of Caligula, 26.5: Wistrand (1992), pp. 24–25.
91. SHA, Life of Antoninus Pius, 10.9.
92. CIL 6.33990: Sabbatini Tumolesi (1988), pp. 87–88: Merten (1991), p. 143: Aymard (1951), pp. 186–89: Jennison (1937), pp. 84–85.
93. SHA, Life of Antoninus Pius, 8.2; 12.3.
94. SHA, Life of Marcus Aurelius, 4.8; 8.12; 17.7: SHA, Life of Lucius Verus, 6.9–7.1; 10.8: Dio 72.28. Dio alleges that Marcus Aurelius was so averse to bloodshed that he made gladiators fight with blunt (and non-lethal) weapons during his reign. It is doubtful, however, that this was really done on a regular basis. One presumes that most Roman spectators would have found such displays quite boring in comparison to regular gladiatorial events.
95. CIL 2. 6278: SHA, Life of Marcus Aurelius, 27.6: Carter (2003), passim.
96. Carter (2003), pp. 85–87.
97. Dio 73.16.3.
98. Dio 73.17.3; 73.19.2: Herodian 1.15.8; p. 99, n. 3.
99. Dio 73.10; 73.18–19; 73.20.3: Herodian 1.15.1–6: SHA, Life of Commodus, 12.12: Ammianus Marcellinus 31.10.18–19.
100. Herodian 1.15.5: Dio 73.21.1–2.
101. Dio 73.22: Herodian 1.16–17.
102. Herodian 1.15.7.
103. Wiedemann (1995), p. 18, 49, n. 45.
Chapter 3
1. Bomgardner (2000), p. 56. A second type of arena spectacle, the munus assiforanum, in which the editor attempted to make a profit by charging admission to the spectators, is also mentioned in the extant sources, although far less commonly than the regular munera staged by municipal officials and the like. Any gain to be made in terms of the latter events, of course, involved political popularity rather than financial profit.
2. Bomgardner (2000), pp. 208–10. It is notoriously difficult to convert ancient monetary amounts into modern currency, so the figures listed give no more than an approximate cost of the spectacles in question.
3. Ritti (1998), p. 448, 485–86: Coleman (2005), p. 2.
4. Roueché (1993), pp. 61–64: Coleman (2005), p. 4: Evangelisti (2011), pp. 32–34, n. 9.
5. CIL 14. 3663.
6. Pliny, Letters, 6.34.
7. Anthologia Palatina, 7.626: Rosenblum (1961), p. 147: Bomgardner (1992), pp. 162–64. Although the career of Luxorius took place after North Africa was lost to the Roman Empire, he was writing at a time when Roman-style spectacles were still being staged in the region by the subsequent Vandal administration.
8. Julian, Epistles, 28.
9. Spawforth (1994), pp. 211–28.
10. CIL IX.2237: Buonocore (1992), pp. 52–54, n. 28.
11. Robert (1971), pp. 81–82, n. 15; pp. 159–60, n. 133; p. 313: Buonocore (1992), pp. 81–83, n. 53.
12. Carter (2003), pp. 86–88.
13. Tacitus, Annals, 13.49.1.
14. By the later Empire, noxii became an even more valuable commodity, as gladiatorial contests became more and more expensive and infrequent. Legislation from the third century, in fact, specifically instructs provincial governors to reserve especially belligerent condemned criminals for the imperial spectacles in Rome: see MacMullen (1990), p. 206–07.
15. CIL X.6012: CIL XI.6357: Gregori (1989), pp. 34–35, n. 15: Robert (1971), p. 118, n. 63; pp. 274–75.
16. CIL 11.4580: Gregori (1989), pp. 52–53, n. 33. Examples of local notables holding a variety of political and religious offices within their respective communities are certainly not limited to Victorinus in Carsulae: for a very similar case, see e.g. CIL 11. 4371: Gregori (1989), pp. 51–52, n. 31.
17. CIL 12.533: Vismara (2000), pp. 51–52, n. 31: Courtney (1995), p. 327: Carabia (1985), p. 124–25.
18. Dunbabin (1978), pp. 71–72.
19. Tacitus, Annals, 14.17: Jacobelli (2003), p. 72, 106.
20. Dunbabin (1978), p. 66: Dunbabin (1999), pp. 119–21.
21. Wiedemann (1995), pp. 16–17.
22. Dunbabin (1978), pp. 67–68. Much of our present knowledge of the North African hunting-corporations is due to the pioneering work of the Tunisian scholar Azedine Beschaouch, who, over the course of decades, wrote a series of very important articles on the artistic and epigraphic evidence for these groups.
23. The translation is largely based on that of Wiedemann (1995), p. 17 and Veyne (1987), p. 111.
24. Beschaouch (1987), pp. 679–80.
25. Beschaouch (1966), pp. 156–57: Beschaouch (1979), p. 418: Salomonson (1960), pp. 27–28: Dunbabin (1978), p. 78.
26. Salomonson (1960), pp. 49–53: Dunbabin (1978), pp 78–83.
27. Dunbabin (1978), pp. 82–84.
28. Beschaouch (1966), pp. 151–57: Beschaouch (1977), passim: Beschaouch (2006), pp. 1405–10.
29. Kehoe (1988), pp. 151–52: Mattingly (1997), p. 130.
30. Beschaouch (1977), pp. 496–500: Dunbabin (1978), p. 74, 272; Pl. XXIV, n. 59: CIL 8.2392; 8.7049: Kehoe (1988), p. 201.
31. Libanius, Orations, 33, 21.
32. Oppian, Halieutica, 2. 350–54: Jennison (1937), pp. 154–56: Scobie (1988), pp. 209–10: Ville (1981), pp. 385–86: Loisel (1912), p. 118. Exhibitions in the fora of various towns and cities continued into the later Empire, although they were naturally overshadowed by the larger and more elaborate spectacles staged in the amphitheatres. It should also be noted, of course, that the latter structures found in smaller centres like Pompeii did not possess the amenities of larger edifices like the Colosseum: in lieu of animal cages and pens in an amphitheatre’s basement, for example, the caged animals would usually be brought into an amphitheatre just before a given show was set to commence, and be released onto the arena floor through openings in the podium wall.
33. Gabucci (2001), pp. 42–45: Gebhard (1975), pp. 46–55.
34. Welch (2009), pp. 178–83: Capps Jr. (1949), pp. 65–67: Gebhard (1975), pp. 61–63: Bieber (1961), pp. 219–20.
35. Welch (1998), pp. 123–30, 137.
Chapter 4
1. Ovid, The Art of Love, 1.135–70: Jacobelli (2003), p. 25: Mann (2013), p. 20.
2. Bomgardner (2000), pp. 17–18: Welch (2009), p. 159.
3. Plass (1995), pp. 25–28.
4. Thompson (2002), p. 31.
5. Augustine, Confessions, 6.8.
6. Wistrand (1992), pp. 11–19.
7. Seneca, Moral Epistles, 74.7: Herodian 5.6.9: Merten (1991), pp. 161–62: Kyle (1995), pp. 202–03.
8. Tertullian, Apology, 9.11: Kyle (1995), pp. 188–89, 199–200: MacKinnon (2006), pp. 154–56: De Grossi Mazzorin (1993), p. 309, 312–14.
9. Garnsey (1968), p. 157: Thompson (2002), pp. 36–37.
10. MacMullen (1990), pp. 205–06: Musurillo (2000), pp. 75–9.
11. Coleman (1990), p. 57: Robinson (1994), p. 168.
12. Carter (2003), pp. 86–8: Oliver and Palmer (1955), pp. 324–43: MacMullen (1990), pp. 206–07: Hopkins (1983), p. 10.
13. Juvenal, Satires, 3.36: cf. Wiedemann (1995), p. 95.
14. Kyle (1998), pp. 131–3: Wiedemann (1995), pp. 68–97.
15. Ville (1981), pp. 228–46: Wiedemann (1995), p. 106.
16. Wiedemann (1995), pp. 105–06. Private slave-owners are also known to have sold their own unruly slaves to be killed by the beasts in the arena, but like the private sale of slaves ad ludos, this practice was banned by imperial legislation in the second century. The fact, however, that the emperor Constantine issued a rescript against this practice in the early fourth century suggests that there were still some slave owners trying to have their slaves condemned ad bestias over a century later: see Theodosian Code 9.12.1; Wiedemann (1995), pp. 76–77. Given the evident popularity of public executions as an arena spectacle in the later Empire, it is not surprising that some overly greedy slave owners might be tempted to resort to such a practice.
17. E.g. Robert (1971), pp. 87–90, n. 25; 328: Wiedemann (1995), pp. 107–08.
18. Petronius, Satyricon, 117.5.
19. Potter (1996), pp. 130–31: Wiedemann (1995), pp. 28–9, 105: Dodge (2011), p. 30.
20. Cicero, Against Vatinius, 17.40; Letters to Quintus, 2.4.5; For Sestius, 84–85: Ville (1981), pp. 270–71, 292–93: Wiedemann (1995), p. 123.
21. Wiedemann (1995), p. 122.
22. CIL 5.563: Mahoney (2001), pp. 22–23, 68–69.
23. CIL 4. 1179: Jacobelli (2003), p. 47.
24. Jacobelli (2003), pp. 51–52.
25. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 37–39.
26. Bomgardner (1984), p. 88: Tremel (2004), pp. 79–80, 224–29, nos. 96–97.
27. Tremel (2004), p. 80, 221, n. 93.
28. Martial, On the Spectacles, 23, 31: Coleman (2006), pp. 169–73, 218–34.
29. Martial, On the Spectacles, 32: Coleman (2006), pp. 235–43.
30. Martial, On the Spectacles, 17: Coleman (2006), pp. 140–47.
31. Rosenblum (1961), p. 151, n. 67.
32. Rosenblum (1961) pp. 151–53, n. 68.
33. Dio 72.29: Toynbee (1996), p. 31.
34. Martial, Epigrams, 13.98–100. Rigging an animal combat to (hopefully) ensure a given outcome is not unheard of in other cultures with a tradition of such events. Combats between tigers and elephants in southeast Asia, for example, were routinely set up so that the elephant, emblematic of royal authority, would win the struggle: see Allsen (2006), pp. 157–58.
35. Statius, Silvae, 2.5.
36. Martial, On the Spectacles, 8: Coleman (2006) 78–81.
37. Coleman (2000), passim.
38. Dio 76.16.1: Coleman (2000), pp. 497–98.
39. Juvenal, Satires, 6. 107–12.
40. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 132.
41. Jacobelli (2003), p. 48–49.
42. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 133.
43. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 133.
44. Dio 59.2.6; 73.192: Suetonius, Life of Caligula, 37.3: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 128.
45. Livy 9.40: Dodge (2011), p. 31: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 37.
46. Dodge (2011), p. 31: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 37, 51–52.
47. Dodge (2011), p. 31: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 37.
48. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 48–55.
49. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 51–57.
50. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 59–63.
51. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 37: Dodge (2011), p. 33.
52. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 57–58: Dodge (2011), 33.
53. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 63.
54. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 63: Junkelmann (2000), p. 127.
55. Junkelmann (2000), pp. 110–12.
56. Gregori (1989), pp. 59–62, nos. 41–42.
57. Robert (1971), pp. 132–33, n. 81.
58. Coarelli (2001), p. 161, 173.
59. Loisel (1912), pp. 130–31: Robert (1949), pp. 127–28: Robert (1971), p. 324: Gregori (1989), p. 73, n. 56.
60. Pliny, Natural History, 8.54: Robert (1971), pp. 90–92, 201, 205, 325: Lehmann (1990), p. 143.
61. Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 33.53: Wiedemann (1995), p. 14. One wonders if the noxii referred to by Pliny were not actually criminals condemned ad bestias (who appear to have been given no equipment whatsoever), but rather criminals condemned to the arena (ad ludos) who, as mentioned previously, were at least given a fighting chance of survival.
62. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 35–45.
63. Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 64–65.
64. Symmachus, Letters, 2.77: Ville (1981), p. 408: Kockel (1983), pp. 75–85, pl. 20: Jacobelli (2003), p. 25.
65. Pliny, Natural History, 8.29: Keller (1913), Vol. 1, pp. 384–85; Vol. 2, p. 267: Coleman (2006), p. 103.
66. Martial, On the Spectacles, 26: Coleman (2006), pp. 186–94.
67. Pliny, Natural History, 8.2: Aelian, On the Nature of Animals, 2.11: Martial, Epigrams, 1.6; 1.14; 1.22; 1.44; 1.48; 1.51; 1.60; 1.104: Libanius, Orations, 46.14: SHA, Life of Carus, 19.2: Toynbee (2006), pp. 39–49; 57–58; 108: Coleman (2006), p. 156–57: Merten (1991), p. 167. Other animals which performed tricks in the arena, at least on occasion, included monkeys, bears, and dogs.
68. Carter (2006/07), pp. 102–04. The term rudis was also used to refer to the wooden sword used in gladiatorial training.
69. Carter (2006/07), pp. 102–06.
70. Robert (1971), pp. 130–31, n. 79: Carter (2006/07), pp. 106–12.
71. Gómez-Pantoja (2009), p. 92–94, n. 19: Wiedemann (1995), p. 122: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 69.
72. Tertullian, On the Spectacles, 12.
73. Bomgardner (2000), p. 46, 137.
74. Tertullian, Ad Nationes, 1.10. 47; Apology, 15.5: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 68.
Chapter 5
1. Carter (2006/07), pp. 100–01.
2. Buonocore (1992), pp. 27–28, n. 4.
3. E.g. Gregori (1989), pp. 57–8, n. 37: Gómez-Pantoja (2009), pp. 91–92, n. 18: Sabbatini Tumolesi (1988), pp. 60–65, n. 54–61: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), pp. 32–33.
4. Evangelisti (2011), p. 60, n. 29: Mann (2013), pp. 53–54: Köhne and Ewigleben (2000), p. 66.
5. Jacobelli (2003), pp. 65–66.
6. Jacobelli (2003), pp. 66–67.
7. Bomgardner (2000), p. 55, 238, n. 69.
8. CIL 5. 8659: Gregori (1989), pp. 20–21, n. 2: Wiedemann (1995), pp. 170–71.
9. Ville (1981), pp. 282–83: Dodge (2011), p. 36.
10. Suetonius, Life of Caligula, 27.4: Gabucci (2001), p. 54: Buonocore (1992), p. 28.
11. Sabbatini Tumolesi (1988), pp. 39–40, 127–28: Gabucci (2001), p. 54.
12. Dodge (2011), p. 36: Gabucci (2001), p. 134: Bomgardner (2000), p. 22.
13. Golvin (1988), p. 150, n. 435: Rea (2001), pp. 273–74.
14. Buonocore (1992), p. 26, n. 3: Fora (1996), pp. 30–32.
15. Fora (1996), pp. 33–34, n. 5: Sabbatini Tumolesi (1988), p. 128: Buonocore (1992), p. 26: Gabucci (2001), p. 54.
16. Sabbatini Tumolesi (1988), pp. 37–42, n. 28–35.
17. Libanius, Letters, 1399–1400: Symmachus, Letters, 4.7; 5.56; 5.82; 6.33; 7.48; 7.82; 7.97; 7.106.
18. Libanius, Letters, 217, 586–87, 599, 1118, 1131, 1399, 1400: Symmachus, Letters, 2.76; 4.7; 4.8; 4.12; 5.59; 5.62; 5.65: Beltrán Rizzo (2003), pp. 57–58.
19. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 8.9.3.
20. Libanius, Letters, 217. Were the ‘expert huntsmen’ referred to by Libanius perhaps similar to groups like the Telegenii in North Africa?
21. Libanius, Letters, 217–18: Symmachus, Letters, 2.46; 7.122: Jennison (1937), p. 96. Symmachus was also forced to obtain imperial permission to use the Colosseum, and to flood it for some sort of aquatic spectacle, presumably involving the crocodiles which are also mentioned in his correspondence: see Symmachus, Letters, 4.8; 6.33; 6.43; 9.151: Jennison (1937), p. 97.
22. Egger (1967), pp. 19–24.
23. Egger (1966), pp. 615–23.
24. Julius Africanus, Cestes, 14: Vegetius, 1.7: Marrou (1978), pp. 273–74.
25. Velkov and Alexandrov (1988), p. 272.
26. Velkov and Alexandrov (1988), pp. 271–75.
27. CIL 8. 21567: Schulten (1925), p. 1497: Picard (1944), pp. 58–60: Von Petrokovits (1960), p. 241.
28. CIL 13. 12048: Devijver (1992), p. 143: Vismara (2000), pp. 83–84, n. 48.
29. CIL 3. 7449:Velkov and Alexandrov (1988), pp. 273–74: Watson (1993), pp. 75-77.
30. Julius Africanus, Cestes, 14: Marrou (1978), pp. 273–74: Egger (1967), p. 20: Kießling (1960), n. 9272: Davies (1989), pp. 155–56.
31. CIL 13. 5243; 8639: Vismara (2000), pp. 85–87, n. 50, 52. Since the latter inscription doesn’t explicitly mention any military units, we cannot be absolutely certain that the ursarii mentioned in it were soldiers. It was found, however, in relatively close proximity to the site of a Roman fort, which in my opinion makes a military identification, as opposed to a civilian one, more likely.
32. Ammianus Marcellinus, 23.5.7: Welles (1959), p. 41: Rostovtzeff (1952), pp. 48– 49: Davies (1989), pp. 44, 170.
33. Wilson (1983), pp. 24, 97–98.
34. Marrou (1978), pp. 281–84: Merten (1991), pp. 144–45.
35. Krebs (1965), pp. 96–97.
36. Bertrandy (1987), p. 228: Toynbee (1996), pp. 52–53: Becatti (1953), pp. 69–70, 76–77, nos. 95 and 109.
37. Theodosian Code, 15.11.2: Pharr (1969), p. 436.
38. Jennison (1937), p. 141, 152: Bomgardner (2000), p. 213: Millar (1993), p. 243.
39. CIL 13. 8174: Velkov and Alexandrov (1988), pp. 271–75: Davies (1989), p. 286, n. 43: Jennison (1937), p. 141: Ternes (1986), p. 235.
40. CIL 6. 130: For one of the Praetorian veterinarians, see e.g. ILS 9071.
41. Procopius, Gothic War, 1. 22–23: Jennison (1937), p. 175: Lanciani (1990), pp. 277–78. Unfortunately, none of the wall-paintings in question survive to the present day: all we possess are copies made after their discovery.
42. Varro, On Agriculture, 3.13: Bertrandy (1987), pp. 223–26: Loisel (1912), p. 102.
43. Juvenal, Satires, 12. 102–07.
44. CIL 6. 8583: Herodian 2.11.9: Sabbatini Tumolesi (1988), pp. 24–25, n. 8: Rudd (1991), p. 110.
45. AE (1971), n. 68: CIL 6. 10208; 10209: Sabbatini Tumolesi (1988), pp. 24–26, nos. 9–10: Fora (1996), p. 29: Bertrandy (1987), pp. 231–32.
46. Strabo 17.1.44: Blunt (1976), p. 108.
47. Apuleius, Metamorphoses, 4.14.
48. Symmachus, Letters, 2.76; 5.56; 6.43.
49. Suetonius, Caligula, 27.1: Ammianus Marcellinus 19.6.4: Allsen (2006), p. 93.
50. Aelian, On the Nature of Animals, 2.11: Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 8.29: Varro, On Agriculture, 3.12.1: Columella, On Agriculture, 7.2.4–5: Toynbee (1996), p. 47, 238: Jennison (1937), pp. 115–16.
Chapter Six
1. SHA, Three Gordians, 3.5–8.
2. Wiedemann (1995), p. 13.
3. Dio 77.1: Pighi (1965), p. 161: Toynbee (1996), p. 18: Coleman (1996), p. 54: Humphrey (1986), pp. 115–16. The collapsing ship venatio appears to have been staged in the Circus Maximus simply because the floor of the Colosseum was not large enough to accommodate this particular spectacle. Dio states that the corocatta (hyena?) brought to Rome for Severus’ celebrations was the first such animal ever seen in the city, but as already noted, the SHA claims that one had already appeared in Rome during the reign of Antoninus Pius.
4. Dio 78.6.2; 78.17.4.
5. Dio 78.10: Herodian 4.11.9: SHA, Life of Caracalla, 5.9. Presumably, if and when Caracalla slew animals as part of a spectacle, he employed at least some of the same safety precautions earlier used by Commodus. According to Dio (79.7.2–3), the emperor’s passion for lions in particular was such that he even kept a number of them as pets. Dio also records (79.21.3–5) that a certain noble by the name of Lucius Priscillianus partly owed his rise in power and prestige under Caracalla to the fact that he, like the emperor, killed various wild animals in public. Priscillianus’ evident skill suggests that he did not take up combat with wild animals solely as a means to impress Caracalla, but was rather a genuine enthusiast of the sport.
6. Dio 79.7.2.
7. SHA, Life of Elagabalus, 23.1.
8. Dio 80.9.1–2. According to the same author (77.7.5), the previous record for the most tigers slain in a single venatio was ten, achieved during the reign of Caracalla.
9. SHA, Life of Elagabalus, 25: Gabucci (2001), 175–76. Elagabalus began the repair of the Colosseum during his reign, but this monumental project was not completed until the reign of Gordian III (238–44), over twenty years after the fire.
10. Bomgardner (2000), 200.
11. SHA, Life of Elagabalus, 21.1; 25.1; 28. 1–3.
12. Herodian 7.11: SHA, Life of Aurelian, 33; 34.6. Presumably, however, most of the gladiators and animals which participated in the procession also participated in the subsequent spectacles.
13. SHA, The Three Gordians, 33.1.
14. SHA, Life of Probus, 19.2–4.
15. SHA, Life of Probus, 19.5–8.
16. SHA, Life of Carus, 19.
17. Ammianus Marcellinus 29.3.9. Valentinian’s unusual choice of pets would be in keeping with his savage temper and periodic cruelty as described elsewhere in Ammianus’ work.
18. Sozomen 7.25.10–12: Ammianus Marcellinus 31.10.19: Philostorgios 11.1: Ambrose, On the Death of Valentinian II, 15: Jennison (1937) 136.
19. Ammianus Marcellinus 24.5.2: Zosimus 3.23: Allsen (2006) 37–38; 139: Lavin (1963) 276–77.
20. Allsen (2006) 40–41: Cameron (1993) 42: Jones (1992) 40; 126–27.
21. Sozomen’s account of Gratian (7.25.10–12) indeed suggests that such private exhibitions were commonplace by the late fourth century.
22. Tertullian, On the Spectacles, 21.
23. Ville (1960) 294–96. We have already had occasion to mention the well-known anecdote of Augustine’s friend Alypius, and the moral degradation he suffered as a result of the munera.
24. Salvian, On the Governance of God, 6.2.10: Kyle (1998) 185.
25. Roueché (1993) 77–78: Kyle (1998) 184–86: Epplett (2004) passim.
26. Theodosian Code 9.18.1; 15.12: Panegyric of Constantine 12.3: Pharr (1969) 436: Nixon and Rodgers (1994) 235: Bomgardner (2000) 206.
27. Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History, 5.26: Ville (1960) 326–31: Bomgardner (2000) 206–07; 257, n. 47: Wiedemann (1995) 158.
28. MacMullen (1990) 147.
29. Ville (1960) 333: Wiedemann (1995) 159. As Bomgardner [(2000) 206] notes, the fact that the bishop of Apamea in Syria, Marcellus, employed gladiators and other troops to attack pagan temples in the late fourth century clearly indicates that such performers still existed at that time in the eastern Empire. The fact that they were available to be hired as de facto mercenaries, however, may suggest that the gladiatorial munera themselves were no longer being actively staged in the region at that time.
30. John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians, 12.10: Chambers (1969) 69.
31. Kyle (1998) 184–86.
32. Genesis 1.26: Wiedemann (1995) 154–55: Dinzelbacher (2000) 266–67: Grant (1999) 6–7: Gilhus (2006) 169–70.
33. Ville (1960) 324–25.
34. Libanius, Letters, 1399: Bradbury (2004) 73–74.
35. Prudentius, Against Symmachus, 2.1126–29: Ville (1960) 295.
36. Sperber (1974) 105: Harl (1996) 149–54: Mattingly (1927) 227–28: Jones (1992) 1017–18. The denarius was the greatly debased silver coin of the period, while the solidus was a gold coin introduced by Diocletian as part of his currency reforms.
37. Libanius, Letters, 218, 544, 1399–1400: Liebeschuetz (1959) 122; (1972) 141–42, 157.
38. Ammianus Marcellinus 22.15.24: Shaw (1981) 387: MacKinnon (2006) 151–54: Hughes (1996) 106: Bertrandy (1987) 227: Scullard (1974) 233–35, 252.
39. SHA, The Three Gordians, 33.1. I consider the statement that Philip slew ‘various animals without number’ to be something of a passing comment just to emphasize to the reader how massive Philip’s venationes really were (allegedly!). The higher number of animals and performers listed by the SHA for the spectacles of Aurelian and Probus later in the third century, if not entirely an invention of the author, may be explained by the fact that the Empire was on somewhat sounder footing at this time than it had been during the reign of Philip, and that both Probus and Aurelian had waged successful campaigns on the frontiers of the Empire which perhaps allowed them to bring back considerable numbers of prisoners and animals which could later be used in various spectacles.
40. SHA, Life of Carus, 19.2: Merten (1991) 169.
41. By the late Empire, arena spectacles, apart from those staged by the emperor himself, were most commonly staged as part of consular games: see Ward-Perkins (1984) 115–16.
42. It was not uncommon, particularly in late antiquity, for authors to use the term venatio to refer to any type of animal spectacle, whether or not the event in questions actually involved the killing of animals.
43. Cassiodorus, Variae, 5.42.1: Barnish (1992) 90.
44. Cassiodorus, Variae, 5.42.6: Prudentius, On the Origin of Sin, 369–70.
45. Cassiodorus, Variae, 5.42.7: Barnish (1992) 92: Merten (1991) 173.
46. Golvin (1988) 319–20.
47. CIL 10. 1074: Bachielli (1990) 769–72: Volbach (1976) 33–34, n. 11.
48. Volbach (1976) 33–34, n. 11; 35–36, n. 17. It should be noted that many depictions of animal spectacles from late antiquity, such as the Areobindus diptych, feature bears as the principal opponents of the human performers. This is not surprising, given the fact that exotic animals were no longer as readily available as they had once been, and bears were relatively common in Europe, the Near East, and North Africa, and therefore less expensive.
49. Theodosian Code 15.11.1: Aelian, On the Nature of Animals, 10.1: Jennison (1937) 141: Orth (1914) 563–64: Ville (1981) 351, n. 22. A letter written by Stilicho in 400 [Letters, 4.12] thanks the current emperor Honorius for providing leopards to his son’s spectacle in Rome, which certainly suggests that these animals were currently under strict imperial control as well.
50. Code of Justinian, 3.12.9; Novels 105.2: Wiedemann (1995) 153–54, 157–58: Ville (1960) 318–19.
Conclusion
1. Jiménéz Sánchez (2003) 112: Bedini (1997) 117–19. Not surprisingly, many scholars have argued that modern day bullfights are ultimately descended from the Roman venationes. This opinion, however, is not universally accepted, and it is beyond the scope of the present study to analyze this scholarly dispute in greater detail.
2. Friedländer (1968)Vol. 2; 65: Pearson (1973) 120–22: Weeber (1994) 28–29: Blunt (1976) 107–10.