Museum of Antiquity Part 8

At first, however, they contended only with staves, called _rudes_, or with blunted weapons; but when warmed and inspirited by the pretense of battle, they changed their weapons, and advanced at the sound of trumpets to the real strife. The conquered looked to the people or to the emperor for life; his antagonist had no power to grant or to refuse it; but if the spectators were dissatisfied and gave the signal of death, he was obliged to become the executioner of their will. This signal was the turning down the thumbs; as is well known. If any showed signs of fear, their death was certain; if on the other hand they waited the fatal stroke with intrepidity, the people generally relented. But fear and want of spirit were of very rare occurrence, insomuch that Cicero more than once proposed the principle of honor which actuated gladiators as an admirable model of constancy and courage, by which he intended to animate himself and others to suffer everything in defence of the commonwealth.

The bodies of the slain were dragged with a hook or on a cart through a gate called Libitinensis, the Gate of Death. The victor was rewarded with a sum of money, contributed by the spectators or bestowed from the treasury, or a palm-branch, or a garland of palm ornamented with colored ribbons--ensigns of frequent occurrence in ancient monuments.

Those who survived three years were released from this service, and sometimes one who had given great satisfaction was enfranchised on the spot. This was done by presenting the staff (_rudis_) which was used in preluding to the combat; on receiving which, the gladiator, if a freeman, recovered his liberty; if a slave, he was not made free, but was released from the obligation of venturing his life any further in the arena.

Gladiators were divided, according to the fashion of their armor and offensive weapons, into cla.s.ses, known by the names of Thrax, Samnis, Myrmillo, and many others, of which a mere catalogue would be tedious, and it would be the work of a treatise to ascertain and describe their distinctive marks.

Another group consists of four figures. Two are _secutores_, followers, the other two, _retiarii_, net men, armed only with a trident and net, with which they endeavored to entangle their adversary, and then dispatch him. These cla.s.ses, like the Thrax and Myrmillo, were usual antagonists, and had their name from the secutor following the retiarius, who eluded the pursuit until he found an opportunity to throw his net to advantage. Nepimus, one of the latter, five times victorious, has fought against one of the former, whose name is lost, but who had triumphed six times in different combats. He has been less fortunate in this battle. Nepimus has struck him in the leg, the thigh, and the left arm; his blood runs, and in vain he implores mercy from the spectators. As the trident with which Nepimus is armed is not a weapon calculated to inflict speedy and certain death, the secutor Hyppolitus performs this last office to his comrade. The condemned wretch bends the knee, presents his throat to the sword, and throws himself forward to meet the blow, while Nepimus, his conqueror, pushes him, and seems to insult the last moments of his victim. In the distance is the retiarius, who must fight Hyppolitus in his turn. The secutores have a very plain helmet, that their adversary may have little or no opportunity of pulling it off with the net or trident; the right arm is clothed in armor, the left bore a _clypeus_, or large round shield; a sandal tied with narrow bands forms the covering for their feet. They wear no body armor, no covering but a cloth round the waist, for by their lightness and activity alone could they hope to avoid death and gain the victory. The retiarii have the head bare, except a fillet bound round the hair; they have no shield, but the left side is covered with a demi-cuiara.s.s, and the left arm protected in the usual manner, except that the shoulder-piece is very high. They wear the caliga, or low boot common to the Roman soldiery, and bear the trident; but the net with which they endeavored to envelop their adversaries is nowhere visible. This bas-relief is terminated by the combat between a light-armed gladiator and a Samnite. This last beseeches the spectators to save him, but it appears from the action of the princ.i.p.al figure that this is not granted. The conqueror looks towards the steps of the amphitheatre; he has seen the fatal signal, and in reply prepares himself to strike.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ASKING PARDON.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: NOT GRANTED.]

Between the pilasters of the door the frieze is continued. Two combats are represented. In the first a Samnite has been conquered by a Myrmillo. This last wishes to become his comrade's executioner without waiting the answer from the people, to whom the vanquished has appealed; but the _lanista_ checks his arm, from which it would seem that the Samnite obtained pardon.

Another pair exhibits a similar combat, in which the Myrmillo falls stabbed to death. The wounds, the blood, and the inside of the bucklers are painted of a very bright red color. The swords, with the exception of that of Hyppolitus, are omitted; it is possible that it was intended to make them of metal.

The bas-reliefs const.i.tuting the lower frieze are devoted to the chase and to combats between men and animals. In the upper part are hares pursued by a dog; beyond is a wounded stag pursued by dogs, to whom he is about to become the prey; below, a wild boar is seized by an enormous dog, which has already caused his blood to flow.

In the middle of the composition a _bestiarius_ has transfixed a bear with a stroke of his lance. This person wears a kind of short hunting boot, and is clothed as well as his comrade in a light tunic without sleeves, bound round the hips, and called _subucula_. It was the dress of the common people, as we learn from the sculptures on Trajan's column. The companion of this man has transfixed a bull, which flies, carrying with him the heavy lance with which he is wounded. He turns his head toward his a.s.sailant, and seems to wish to return to the attack; the man by his gestures appears astonished, beholding himself disarmed and at the mercy of the animal, whom he thought mortally stricken. Pliny (lib. viii. cap. 45) speaks of the ferocity shown by bulls in these combats, and of having seen them, when stretched for dead on the arena, lift themselves up and renew the combat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMBATS WITH BEASTS.]

Another sort of amphitheatrical amus.e.m.e.nts consisted in witnessing the death of persons under sentence of the law, either by the hands of the executioner, or by being exposed to the fury of savage animals. The early Christians were especially subjected to this species of cruelty.

Nero availed himself of the prejudice against them to turn aside popular indignation after the great conflagration of Rome, which is commonly ascribed to his own wanton love of mischief; and we learn from Tertullian, that, after great public misfortunes, the cry of the populace was, "To the lions with the Christians."

The Coliseum now owes its preservation to the Christian blood so profusely shed within its walls. After serving during ages as a quarry of hewn stone for the use of all whose station and power ent.i.tled them to a share in public plunder, it was at last secured from further injury by Pope Benedict XIV., who consecrated the building about the middle of the last century, and placed it under the protection of the martyrs, who had there borne testimony with their blood to the sincerity of their belief.

There is nothing in the amphitheatre of Pompeii at variance with the general description of this cla.s.s of buildings, and our notice of it will therefore necessarily be short. (See page 121.) Its form, as usual, is oval: the extreme length, from outside to outside of the exterior arcade, is 430 feet, its greatest breadth is 335 feet. The spectators gained admission by tickets, which had numbers or marks on them, corresponding with similar signs on the arches through which they entered. Those who were ent.i.tled to occupy the lower ranges of seats pa.s.sed through the perforated arcades of the lower order; those whose place was in the upper portion of the cavea ascended by staircases between the seats and the outer wall of the building. From hence the women again ascended to the upper tier, which was divided into boxes, and appropriated to them.

The construction consists for the most part of the rough masonry called _opus incertum_, with quoins of squared stone, and some trifling restorations of rubble. This rude ma.s.s was probably once covered with a more sumptuous facing of hewn stone: but there are now no other traces of it than a few of the key-stones, on one of which a chariot and two horses is sculptured, on another a head; besides which there are a few stars on the wedge-stones.

At each end of the ellipse were entrances into the arena for the combatants, through which the dead bodies were dragged out into the spoliarium. These were also the princ.i.p.al approaches to the lower ranges of seats, occupied by the senators, magistrates, and knights, by means of corridors to the right and left which ran round the arena.

The ends of these pa.s.sages were secured by metal gratings against the intrusion of wild beasts. In the northern one are nine places for pedestals to form a line of separation, dividing the entrance into two parts of unequal breadth. The seats are elevated above the arena upon a high podium or parapet, upon which, when the building was first opened, there remained several inscriptions, containing the names of duumvirs who had presided upon different occasions. There were also paintings in fresco, one representing a tigress fighting with a wild boar; another, a stag chased by a lioness; another, a battle between a bull and bear. Other subjects comprised candelabra, a distribution of palms among the gladiators, winged genii, minstrels, and musicians; but all disappeared soon after their exposure to the atmosphere. The amphitheatre comprises twenty-four rows of seats, and about 20,000 feet of sitting-room.

It may be observed that the arena of the amphitheatre of Pompeii appears to be formed of the natural surface of the earth, and has none of those vast substructions observable at Pozzuoli and Capua. It does not, therefore, appear capable of being turned into a Naumachia, nor indeed would it have been easy to find there water enough for such a purpose.

In the Roman theatre the construction of the orchestra and stage was different from that of the Greeks. By the construction peculiar to the Roman theatre, the stage was brought nearer to the audience (the arc not exceeding a semi-circle), and made considerably deeper than in the Greek theatre. The length of the stage was twice the diameter of the orchestra. The Roman orchestra contained no thymele. The back of the stage, or proscenium, was adorned with niches, and columns, and friezes of great richness, as may be seen in some of the theatres of Asia Minor, and in the larger theatre at Pompeii, which belong to the Roman period.

On the whole, however, the construction of a Roman theatre resembled that of a Greek one. The Senate, and other distinguished persons, occupied circular ranges of seats within the orchestra; the praetor had a somewhat higher seat. The s.p.a.ce between the orchestra and the first praecinctio, usually consisting of fourteen seats, was reserved for the equestrian order, tribunes, etc. Above them were the seats of the plebeians. Soldiers were separated from the citizens. Women were appointed by Augustus to sit in the portico, which encompa.s.sed the whole. Behind the scenes were the postscenium, or retiring-room, and porticoes, to which, in case of sudden showers, the people retreated from the theatre.

The earliest theatres at Rome were temporary buildings of wood. A magnificent wooden theatre, built by M. aemilius Scaurus, in his edileship, B.C. 58, is described by Pliny. In 55 B.C., Cn. Pompey built the first stone theatre at Rome, near the Campus Martius. A temple of Venus Victrix, to whom he dedicated the whole building, was erected at the highest part of the cavea.

The next permanent theatre was built by Augustus, and named after his favorite, the young Marcellus, son of his sister Octavia. Vitruvius is generally reported to have been the architect of this building, which would contain 30,000 persons. The audience part was a semi-circle 410 feet in diameter. Twelve arches of its external wall still remain.

From marks still visible in the large theatre at Pompeii, the place reserved for each spectator was about 13 inches. This theatre contained 5,000. The theatre of Pompeii, at Rome, contained 40,000.

The theatre of Scaurus is said to have contained 80,000. The Romans surpa.s.sed the Greeks in the grandeur and magnificence of these buildings. They built them in almost all their towns. Remains of them are found in almost every country where the Romans carried their rule.

One of the most striking Roman provincial theatres is that of Orange, in the south of France.

Odeum was a building intended for the recitations of rhapsodists and the performances of citharaedists, before the theatre was in existence.

In its general form and arrangements the odeum was very similar to the theatre. There were, however, some characteristic differences. The odeum was much smaller than the theatre, and it was roofed over. The ancient and original Odeum of Athens in the Agora was probably erected in the time of Hipparchus, who, according to Plato, first introduced at Athens the poems of Homer, and caused rhapsodists to recite them during the Panathenaea. There were two others in Athens--the Odeum of Pericles, and that of Herodes Atticus. The Odeum of Pericles was built in imitation of the tent of Xerxes. It was burnt by Sylla, but was restored in exact imitation of the original building. It lay at the east side of the theatre of Dionysus. The Odeum of Herodes Atticus was built by him in memory of his departed wife Regilla, whose name it commonly bore. It lies under the southwest angle of the Acropolis. Its greatest diameter within the walls was 240 feet, and it is calculated to have held about 8,000 persons. There were odea in several of the towns of Greece, in Corinth, Patrae, and at Smyrna, Ephesus and other places of Asia Minor. There were odea also in Rome; one was built by Domitian, and a second by Trajan. There are ruins of an Odeum in the villa of Adrian, at Tivoli and at Pompeii.

Remains of amphitheatres are found in several cities of Etruria. The amphitheatre of Sutri is considered to be peculiarly Etruscan in its mode of construction. It is cut out of the tufa rock, and was no doubt used by that people for festal representations long before Rome attempted anything of the kind. The Romans copied these edifices from the Etruscans. We have historical evidence, also, that gladiatorial combats had an Etruscan origin, and were borrowed by the Romans.

Amphitheatres were peculiar to the Romans. The gladiatorial shows, and the chase and combats of wild beasts with which the amphitheatre is always connected, were at first given in the circus. Its unsuitableness for such sports determined Julius Caesar, in his dictatorship, to construct a wooden theatre in the Campus Martius, built especially for hunting. Caius Scribonius Curio built the first amphitheatre, for the celebration of his father's funeral games. It was composed of two theatres of wood, placed on pivots, so that they could be turned round, spectators and all, and placed face to face, thus forming a double theatre, or amphitheatre, which ending suggested its elliptical shape. Statilius Taurus, the friend of Augustus, B.C.

30, erected a more durable amphitheatre, partly of stone and partly of wood, in the Campus Martius. Others were afterwards built by Caligula and Nero. The amphitheatre of Nero was of wood, and in the Campus Martius.

The a.s.sembled people in a crowded theatre must have been an imposing spectacle, in which the gorgeous colors of the dresses were blended with the azure of a southern sky. No antique rendering of this subject remains. The spectators began to a.s.semble at early dawn, for each wished to secure a good seat, after paying his entrance fee. This, not exceeding two oboloi, was payable to the builder or manager of the theatre. After the erection of stone theatres at Athens, this entrance fee was paid for the poorer cla.s.ses by Government, and formed, indeed, one of the heaviest items of the budget. For not only at the Dionysian ceremonies, but on many other festive occasions, the people clamored for free admission, confirmed in their demands by the demagogues.

Frequently the money reserved for the emergency of a war had to be spent for this purpose. The seats in a theatre were, of course, not all equally good, and their prices varied accordingly. The police of the theatre had to take care that everybody took his seat in the row marked on his ticket. Most of the spectators were men. In older times women were allowed only to attend at tragedies, the coa.r.s.e jokes of the comedy being deemed unfit for the ears of Athenian ladies. Only hetairai made an exception to this rule. It is almost certain that the seats of men and women were separate. Boys were allowed to witness both tragedies and comedies. Whether slaves were admitted amongst the spectators seems doubtful. As pedagogues were not allowed to enter the schoolroom, it seems likely that they had also to leave the theatre after having shown their young masters to their seats. Neither were the slaves carrying the cushions for their masters' seats admitted amongst the spectators. It is, however, possible that when the seats became to be for sale, certain cla.s.ses of slaves were allowed to visit the theatre. Favorite poets and actors were rewarded with applause and flowers; while bad performers had to submit to whistling, and, possibly, other worse signs of public indignation.

Greek audiences resembled those of southern Europe at the present day in the vivacity of their demonstrations, which were even extended to public characters amongst the spectators on their clearing the theatre.

Vitruvius has given some minute directions, strongly ill.u.s.trative of the importance of the subject, for choosing a proper situation for a theatre. "When the Forum is finished, a healthy situation must be sought for, wherein the theatre may be erected to exhibit sports on the festival days of the immortal G.o.ds. For the spectators are detained in their seats by the entertainment of the games, and remaining quiet for a long time, their pores are opened, and imbibe the draughts of air, which, if they come from marshy or otherwise unhealthy places, will pour injurious humors into the body. Neither must it front the south; for when the sun fills the concavity, the inclosed air, unable to escape or circulate, is heated, and then extracts and dries up the juices of the body. It is also to be carefully observed that the place be not unfitted to transmit sound, but one in which the voice may expand as clearly as possible."

The ancient scene was not, like that of the modern stage, capable of being shifted. It consisted of a solid building (_scena stabilis_), representing the facade of a royal palace, and adorned with the richest architectural ornaments. It was built of stone, or brick cased with marble, and had three doors, of which the middle one, called _porta regia_, larger and handsomer than the others, was supposed to form the entrance to the palace. This was used only in the representation of tragedies, and then only by the princ.i.p.al personages of the drama. The door in the right wing was appropriated to inferior personages, and that on the left to foreigners or persons coming from abroad. In our plan, the five angles of the triangles not yet disposed of determine the disposition of the scene. Opposite the centre one are the regal doors; on each side are those by which the secondary characters entered. Behind the scene, as in the Greek theatre, there were apartments for the actors to retire into; and under it were vaults or cellars, which, as in the modern stage, served for the entrance of ghosts, or the appliance of any needful machinery. The _proscenium_, or s.p.a.ce between the orchestra and the scene, answering to our stage, though deeper than the Greek, was of no great depth, which was not required for the performance of ancient dramas, in which only a few personages appeared on the stage at once. Besides, in the absence of any roof, the voice of the performers would have been lost if the stage had been too deep. That of Pompeii is only about twenty-one feet broad, though its length is one hundred and nine.

Along the front of the stage, and between it and the orchestra, runs a tolerably deep linear opening, the receptacle for the _aulaeum_, or curtain, the fashion of which was just the reverse of ours, as it had to be depressed instead of elevated when the play began. This operation, performed by machinery of which we have no clear account, was called _aulaeum premere_, as in the well-known line of Horace:[19]

Quatuor aut plures aulaea premuntur in horas.

It should, however, be mentioned that the ancients seem also to have had movable scenery (_scena ductilis_), to alter the appearance of the permanent scene when required. This must have consisted of painted board or canvas.

Another method of illusion was by the use of masks. These were rendered necessary by the vastness of the ancient theatres, and the custom of performing in the open air.

In the eastern portico of the Triangular Forum are four entrances to different parts of the greater theatre. The first two, as you enter, lead into a large circular corridor surrounding the whole cavea; the third opens on an area behind the scene, from which there is a communication with the orchestra and privileged seats; the fourth led down a long flight of steps, at the bottom of which you turn, on the right, into the soldiers' quarter, on the left, into the area already mentioned. The corridor is arched over. It has two other entrances, one by a large pa.s.sage from the east side, another from a smaller pa.s.sage on the north. Six inner doors, called vomitoria, opened on an equal number of stair-cases which ran down to the first praecinctio.

The theatre is formed upon the slope of a hill, the corridor being the highest part, so that the audience upon entering descended at once to their seats, and the vast staircases, which conducted to the upper seats of the theatres and amphitheatres at Rome, were saved. By the side of the first entrance is a staircase which led up to the women's gallery above the corridor; here the seats were part.i.tioned into compartments, like our boxes. The benches were about one foot three inches high and two feet four inches wide. One foot three inches and a half was allowed to each spectator, as may be ascertained in one part, where the divisions are marked off and numbered. There is s.p.a.ce to contain about five thousand persons. Here the middle cla.s.ses sat, usually upon cushions which they brought with them; the men of rank sat in the orchestra below, on chairs of state carried thither by their slaves. Flanking the orchestra, and elevated considerably above it, are observable two divisions, appropriated, one perhaps to the pro-consul, or duumvirs and their officers, the other to the vestal virgins, or to the use of the person who gave the entertainments. This is the more likely, because in the smaller theatre, where these boxes, if we may call them so, are also found, they have a communication with the stage.

This theatre appears to have been entirely covered with marble; the benches of the cavea were of marble, the orchestra was of marble, the scene with all its ornaments was also of marble; and yet of this profusion of marble only a few fragments remain.

It appears, from an inscription found in it, to have been erected, or much improved, by one Holconius Rufus. Upon the first step of the orchestra was another inscription, composed of bronze letters let into the marble. The metal has been carried away, but the cavities in the marble still remain. They were placed so as partly to encompa.s.s a statue, and run thus:

M. HOLCONIO. M. F. RVFO. II. V.I.D. QVINQVIENS. ITER.

QVINQ. TRIB. MIL. A. P. FLAMEN. AVG.

PATR. COLON. D.D.

signifying, that the colony dedicated this to its patron, M. Holconius Rufus, son of Marcus: then follow his t.i.tles. In the middle of this inscription is a vacant s.p.a.ce, where probably stood the statue of Holconius, as the cramps, by which something was fastened, still remain. Or possibly it may have been an altar, as it was the custom among the ancients to sacrifice to Bacchus in the theatre.

[Page Decoration]

[Page Decoration]

ROMAN BATHS.

After the excavations at Pompeii had been carried on to a considerable extent, it was matter of surprise that no public baths were discovered, particularly as they were sure almost to be placed in the most frequented situation, and therefore probably somewhere close to the Forum. The wonder was increased by the small number of baths found in private houses. That public baths existed, was long ago ascertained from an inscription discovered in 1749, purporting that one Januarius, an enfranchised slave, supplied the baths of Marcus Cra.s.sus Frugi with water, both fresh and salt. At length an excavation in the vicinity of the Forum brought to light a suite of public baths, admirably arranged, s.p.a.cious, highly decorated, and superior to any even in the most considerable of our modern cities. They are fortunately in good preservation, and throw much light on what the ancients, and especially Vitruvius, have written on the subject.

Inscription in the Court of the Baths.

DEDICATIONE. THERMARUM. MUNERIS. CNaeI.

ALLEI. NIGIDII. MAII. VENATIO. ATHLETae.

SPARSIONES. VELA. ERUNT. MAIO.

PRINCIPI. COLONIae. FELICITER.