CLST 260 (Games, Gladiators, and Spectacles)
Midterm
February 11, 2015
Instructor: Dr. Siobhán McElduff
TAs: Bethany Brothers, Maude Cotê-Landry
Answer Key
You have 50 minutes for this exam.
This Exam has 11 pages and 3 sections
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Please do not turn this page until you are told to.
2. Write in pen
3. All cell phones and other electronic devices must be switched off and
inaccessible during the exam
4. When you are finished, place this exam sheet inside your exam booklet and
hand them both back
5. If you have questions, please raise your hand
Thrilling bonus questions to while away some time!
1. What is a cameleopard?
Giraffe
2. What magic method for capturing lions did a Gaetulian shepherd discover?
Throwing a cloak over their heads
3. What is the name of the chariot horse that Caligula wanted to make a senator?
Incitatus
4. How large was the snake that Augustus exhibited to the Roman people in the
Comitium?
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50 cubits = 23 metres
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Section I: Short answer section. On this exam paper answer 15 out of the
following 20 questions. If you answer more than 15, we will only mark the
first 15.
1. a. Who was the first person to harness elephants to a chariot in Rome? b. Who
was the first person to harness lions? c. In what period did this happen?
a.
Pompey the Great
b.
Mark Antony
c.
Late Republic (we gave partials points for Republic)
2. Describe the remarkable nature of M. Aemilianus Scaurus’ building (2-3 lines
only please.) How much was its minimum cost?
-
three stories, 360 columns: one story marble, the next glass, and top gilded
boards
3,000 bronze statues; cloth of gold
at least 30 million sesterces
3. In what site for spectacles in Rome is the altar of the god Consus buried?
Circus Maximus
4. What are crupellari and in what province would you find them?
a. heavily armed gladiators
b.
Gaul
(as there are so many gladiators you should be specific when describing types, or
as specific as you can be)
5. a. Which gladiator type fights with a trident and net? b. Which type fights
from a chariot?
a.
retiarius
b.
essedarius
(The eques is on horseback)
6. a. In the Augustan era where did most women sit when attending events at the
theatre or amphitheatre? (Give the Latin name for full points). b. What women
were not legally required to sit there?
a.
maenianum summum in ligneis
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b.
Vestals (if imperial women sat there they had to have special permission
so they are not legally entitled to do so)
7. a. Who built the first stone amphitheatre in Rome? b Under what emperor was
it built?
a.
Statilius Taurus
b.
Augustus
(Probably not a good idea to guess another emperor who ruled decades after
Augustus in these situations)
8. “Here where, the starry Colossus now gazes on the heavens and tall scaffolds
rise in the middle way, the palace of a savage king– a thing to be hated - gleamed
and only a single house stood.”
a. Who is the ‘savage king’ Martial is attacking? b. What was the name of this
‘single house’?
a.
Nero
b.
Domus Aurea (or also Golden House)
9. a. Who or what are the venatores immunes? b. Who or what are the ursarii?
a.
soldiers in the Roman army whose job it was to catch animals
b.
soldiers in the Roman army whose job it was to catch bears.
(For full points here you needed to know that these were military positions and,
in the case of usarii, that they specifically caught bears.)
10. a. What does a lanista do? b. What is their legal status?
a.
gladiatorial trainer/manager
b.
infamis (although we preferred the Latin term we accepted all answers
that showed you knew what this status was; we gave some partial points if you
were approaching the answer)
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11. List three ways that Augustus’ seating legislation radically changed seating
arrangements in the theatre and amphitheatre.
Please note the word radically in the question. Even before Augustus senators
and equestrians had their own seating section: Augustus just enforced this,
and refined it on a more minute scale for all classes.
a.
women no longer sat with their families
b.
separate seating for boys and their teachers
c.
Vestals get their own box
d.
stratified seating among the groupings – senators
e. separation of plebs into those who could afford togas and those who could not
12. Name three of the suburban Roman circuses.
Note the word suburban in this question. As this proved so problematic for
people I accepted the Circus Maxentius, but not even the most broad-minded
person can consider the Circus Maximus as a suburban circus.
a.
Bovillae
b.
Circus of the Arval Brethren
c.
Lorium
d. Antium
13. What sport did Diocles take part in? How much money did he make over the
course of his career?
a.
Chariot racing
b.
35-36 million got you full points; we gave partial points if you came close
14. What are the names of the two gladiators shown on this inscription? What is
unique about this inscription?
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a.
Amazonia b.
Achillea
c.
Only ancient inscription showing female gladiators (please note: we have
other inscriptions referring to female gladiators, but they don’t show images)
15. Give three examples of lavish spectacles that Julius Caesar gave or attempted
to give that were unparalleled or ground-breaking.
a.
Tried to have 300 gladiators at games for his father
b.
Having games for his daughter and far after her death
c.
covering the entire forum in silk awnings
d. creating tunnels under the forum
e. Elephants carrying torches after his triumph
f. first naumachia
h. first to show giraffes in Rome
16. Two types of early gladiators vanish by the 1st century BCE: what are they?
a.
Samnites
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b.
Galli (or Gauls)
17. What part of the ludi circenses is shown on the following image?
Pompa Circensis (we gave full points for answer that showed you knew this was
the parade with the gods before the ludi circenses)
18. Who first held a gladiatorial munus in Rome? When was it held? (Give the
exact date.)
a. Decimus Junius Brutus (we only gave partial points for saying Brutus alone as
there are about 500 of them in Roman history: it’s like saying they were called
John)
b.
264 BCE
19. Give two ways the senate tried to clamp down on or block the growth of
spectacles in the Late Republic. (This could be laws passed or actions aimed at
specific individuals.)
a. Limiting when people could have games so they could not have them right
before they ran for election
b.
clamping down on numbers of gladiators
c.
clamping down on the importation of animals from North Africa
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e. stopping Julius Caesar having 300 gladiators at games to honour his father
20. What remarkable thing happened at the funeral of Felix, the charioteer of the
Reds?
A supporter fell in the fire (or threw themselves in)
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Section II: Ancient images. Write a paragraph for 2 of the 4 images below.
Identify the sport or spectacle depicted on, or connected with, the images you
select, and discuss their importance for understanding Roman spectacles or a
particular spectacle. You may also want to comment on whether an image is a
good overall representation of that sport or spectacle or stresses some
particular aspect of that sport.
Please double-space your answer and say which image you are talking about.
Each paragraph is worth 10 points/section total 20 points.
Image I
-
-
-
clearly related to chariot racing: in this case this is a two horse chariot race
as this is a biga
testifies to the popularity of chariot racing if items of this sort were
generated, especially in bronze, which is an expensive substance and thus
not a cheap item to purchase
light chariot shows the type of chariot used in the race and the dangers of
chariot racing
action pose of the chariot shows the interest in action and is typical of
images of chariot racing (when they don’t go for the victory parade),
which suggests the appeal of the sport
shows the harness around the neck (Roman and Greek horses had to pull
from the neck, not the chest)
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-
-
a great deal of our other images are of four horse chariots or charioteers
standing and holding a single horse; this suggests that perhaps the two
horse chariot race was less impressive or interesting to the audience
was found in Rome (supposedly in the Tiber)
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Image 2
-mosaic from Piazza Armerina (very expensive villa which was once thought to
have belonged to a Roman emperor) in Sicily
- shows animals being captured for and transported to venationes in Rome
- this is only one of many animals being captured: here a tiger is lured by
running away with its young (yes: that is very clearly a tiger)
- focus of this as a heroic and dangerous pursuit, but reality most of these type of
animals would have been captured in pits and quite a few of them would have
been immature and taken from their mothers too young and died in transit
- thus not a great representation of the reality of capturing animals but of the way
that Romans wanted to imagine it happening (there were extra points for
bringing up Pliny the Elder here)
- aristocrats surrounded themselves with these images suggesting their
investment in these spectacles either as editores or as spectators: this compares to
the disdainful tone of some of our literary sources, and shows us that we can’t
rely on texts alone to understand the appeal of the games, including the
venationes
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Image 3.
-
-
-
mosaic (mosaics are expensive and usually found in private houses of
some wealth; paintings are also expensive – these are not mass produced
items)
the bout is retarius vs secutor and shows their equipment and styles of
fighting
shows the summa rudis, the referee for the bout, with his staff
the theta shows the death of Astyanax
narrative nature of the image, but focus on the action and the gory
denouement (in common with other images of gladiators)
expensive –shows the appeal of these images among the classes
deceptive in some part because we know that most gladiators did not die
in the arena, despite the focus of these images on the death of one of the
combatants
in fact killing gladiators at one point could only be done with imperial
permission, so it was a big deal – perhaps why someone commemorated it
in this mosaic (it is clearly a record of an actual match, given the names) –
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possibly it costs so much money to have a gladiator killed that you want a
record of it
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Image 4.
-
-
mosaic (hence expensive)
shows the charioteers from all four factions (red, green, blue, white)
notice that they wear very little – no protection and their sex appeal is part
of the whole package and shows the danger and appeal of the sport
small horses typical of ancient horses
stereotyped pose (which is reflected in other images of charioteers with
single horses) suggests this was a standard way to represented all four
factions if you did not want an action image of them racing in the Circus
Maximus or other circus
not a good representation of the sport because although it is typical to
show all four factions in these images, people clearly devoutly supported
one faction. This suggests that the Romans, despite their fan mania,
related to the factions in a very different way than we do
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Section III. Ancient Texts. Write a paragraph for 2 of the 4 images below.
In your answer identify the author of each of the following texts (and the sport
or spectacle, if relevant). Then, on the exam booklet provided, write a short
paragraph discussing what that text tells us about some facet of ancient
spectacle and what limitations it may have as a source.
Please double-space your answers and say which texts you are writing on.
Each paragraph is worth 10 points/section total 20 points.
Text I
Tragic Victory; shatter your Idumaean palms. Favour, strike your bare chest
with wild blows. Honour, change your clothing. Sad Glory, cast your crowned
locks as a gift for the unjust funeral pyre. Alas for the shame of it! Scorpus,
cheated and cut down in your youth and so quickly yoking the horses of
death. Your wheels always hastened the race – but why was the finishing line
of your life so close?
-
-
-
Martial: chariot racing
testifies to the celebrity of these charioteers – Scorpus has three poems
on him by Martial
appeal of poetry on this subject shows the appeal of charioteers across a
number of social classes and that texts dismissing the appeal of chariot
racing among the elite in particular don’t show the full story
riskiness of the sport is clear: Scorpus (as we know from elsewhere)
died at 26 or 27 – though that was still at least a 10 year career
dates from the Flavianic period: Martial wrote under Domitian, who
added new factions to the circus – perhaps a peak time for chariot
racing?
Notice that Martial calls on the gods to mourn this infamis charioteer:
shows the disjuncture between charioteer celebrity and legal status
this is not about Felix!
Text II
I have spent the past few days among my papers with the most pleasing serenity
you could dream of. You will ask how that can be possible in the middle of
Rome? Why, the Ludi Circenses were taking place, a form of entertainment which
does not appeal to me at all. The games have no novelty, no variety, nothing, in
short, anyone would want to see again. This makes me even more astonished
that so many thousands of grown men should be repeatedly possessed with a
childish passion to look at galloping horses and men standing upright in their
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chariots. If, indeed, they were attracted by the swiftness of the horses or the skill
of the men, we could account for such passions. But it is actually a scrap of cloth
they favour, a scrap of cloth that captivates them. And if during the running the
racers were to exchange colours, their supporters would change sides, and
instantly abandon the very drivers and horses whom they were just before
recognizing from afar, and loudly cheering by name. And that is the level of
favour, of weighty influence, that one cheap tunic has with not only the common
crowd who are more worthless than the tunics they wear, but with certain
important people!
-
-
Pliny the Younger: chariot racing
shows the factionalism in chariot racing and its mass appeal
Pliny’s attitude is not very representative of most people’s, and should not
be taken as typical of aristocrats, especially as we know about so many
emperors hung around with charioteers and wanted to race chariots
Mass appeal of the sport is such that almost the entire city is at the ludi:
why then is Pliny so keen on being different? Is this an elite pose?
We also know from a number of inscriptions that people did follow
gladiators from faction to faction, so Pliny’s perspective is not very
accurate in that regard about the fans
Text III
Around the same date, a trivial incident led to a serious riot between the
inhabitants of the colonies of Nuceria and Pompeii, at a gladiatorial show
given by Livineius Regulus, whose expulsion from the Senate I have
mentioned. During an exchange of insults, typical of the touchiness of country
towns, they turned to abuse, then to stones, and finally to swords; the people
of Pompeii, where the show was being exhibited, won. As a result, many of
the Nucerians were carried maimed and wounded to the capital, while a very
large number mourned the deaths of children or of parents. The inquiry into
the affair was delegated by the emperor to the Senate and by the Senate to the
consuls. When the case was presented once more to the Senate, the Pompeians
as a community were banned from holding any similar assembly for ten years,
and the associations which they had formed illegally were dissolved.
Livineius and the others behind the outbreak were exiled.
-
-
Tacitus: gladiatorial munera; historian 1st century CE
only riot at a munus (that we know of): most likely the lack of serious
factions and the fact that the crown had a direct role in the outcome of the
match (they voted on who go mission) probably had an impact on the
result of the games
event took place in 59 CE and may have had nothing to do with the games
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-
-
there were tensions between these colonies from long ago and had to do
with competing statuses as colonies of Rome
this is a very serious punishment that was handed out to them – losing
games for this long usually indicates that there is something else (potential
treason or issues with the emperor) behind the punishment
very clearly not about Nika given that Tacitus says this is about a
gladiatorial munus and also lived some 300 years before those riots. 
Text IV
We still have to examine the most famed and popular spectacle: it is called munus
from being an officium, for munus and officium are synonyms. People in the past
thought they were performing a duty to the dead with this form of spectacle after
they moderated its nature with a more refined form of cruelty. Long ago, since
they believed that the souls of the dead are appeased by human blood, they
purchased captives or slaves of poor quality and sacrificed them at funerals.
Afterwards, they preferred to disguise this unholy practice by making it
something to enjoy. Thus, after they trained the people they had obtained these
ways to wield the weapons they had as best they could (training them to learn
how to die!), they then exposed them to death at the tombs on the day appointed
for sacrifices in honor of the dead. And so it was that they consoled themselves
with murder. That is the origin of the gladiatorial munus.
- this went wrong for most people the moment they did not know it was by a
Christan – despite the fact that this was the first reading in the reader. I think we
should not delve into the disasters that ensued when people did not realize that.
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