The Ludi Apollinares were solemn games ( ludi ) held annually by the ancient Romans in honor of the god Apollo. The tradition goes that at the first celebration hereof, they were suddenly invaded by the enemy, and obliged to take to their arms. A cloud of darts and arrows fell upon their enemies, and the Romans soon returned victorious to their sports.
The games were established after inspecting a collection of prophecies, the Carmina Marciana. [2] One of several seers (vates) responsible for these predictions was Marcius. [3] The games were organized in accordance with the Oracles of Marcius, which had predicted the disaster at Cannae (the defeat of the Romans by Hannibal) [4]
The prophecies dictated that the Romans should use Greek ritual to honor Diana and Latona, and that they should help contribute to the costs of the games, according to their means. The Sibylline Books were also consulted and confirmed this prophecy. [2] [5] This occurred at the height of the Second Punic War, when Hannibal was invading northern Italy. As in other times, the games were used to allay the public’s fears and distract them from Hannibal’s invasion. [6]
The games were held in the Circus Maximus, with equestrian games as well as stage performances, including praetextae , a category of Roman drama. [7] Ennius (239–169 BC) had Thyestes performed as part of this festival in 169 BC. [2] [8] The Ludi Apollinares received less funding from the Roman government than other games/festivals such as the Ludi Romani or Ludi Plebeii , because it was shorter and had only one day of races. [9]
The Ludi Apollinares were games which were first organized in 212 BC, when C. Sulla was praetor. [10] Initially a vow was made to hold them only once. [2] There is some discussion as to who officially made them annual games.
One version of events proposes that L. Varus, the praetor urbanus at the time, renewed this vow and celebrated them again in 210 BC. [2] They were made an annual festival by a law in 208 BC by L. Varus, who was then curule aedile . [11] A severe plague in 208 BC may have prompted the Senate to make them permanent, in honor of Apollo, who they regarded as a god of healing. [12] From this day on, they were celebrated on 13 July and eventually grew to last 8 or 9 days. [2] [6]
However, Livy suggests that it was C. Calpurnius Piso, not L. Varus, who made the games permanent as praetor in 211 BC. "The Games of Apollo had been exhibited the previous year, and when the question of their repetition the next year was moved by the praetor Calpurnius, the senate passed a decree that they should be observed for all time." [13] He continues, “…Such is the origin of the Apollinarian Games, which were instituted for the cause of victory and not, as is generally thought, in the interests of the public health.” [5]
Festivals in ancient Rome were a very important part in Roman religious life during both the Republican and Imperial eras, and one of the primary features of the Roman calendar. Feriae were either public (publicae) or private (privatae). State holidays were celebrated by the Roman people and received public funding. Games (ludi), such as the Ludi Apollinares, were not technically feriae, but the days on which they were celebrated were dies festi, holidays in the modern sense of days off work. Although feriae were paid for by the state, ludi were often funded by wealthy individuals. Feriae privatae were holidays celebrated in honor of private individuals or by families. This article deals only with public holidays, including rites celebrated by the state priests of Rome at temples, as well as celebrations by neighborhoods, families, and friends held simultaneously throughout Rome.
The gens Baebia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus, in 182 BC. During the later Republic, the Baebii were frequently connected with the patrician family of the Aemilii.
The Sibylline Books were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameter verses, that, according to tradition, were purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Roman Republic and the Empire.
The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Licinius Calvus Stolo, who, as tribune of the plebs from 376 to 367 BC, prevented the election of any of the annual magistrates, until the patricians acquiesced to the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia, or Licinian Rogations. This law, named for Licinius and his colleague, Lucius Sextius, opened the consulship for the first time to the plebeians. Licinius himself was subsequently elected consul in 364 and 361 BC, and from this time, the Licinii became one of the most illustrious gentes in the Republic.
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The gens Calpurnia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which first appears in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Calpurnius Piso in 180 BC, but from this time their consulships were very frequent, and the family of the Pisones became one of the most illustrious in the Roman state. Two important pieces of Republican legislation, the lex Calpurnia of 149 BC and lex Acilia Calpurnia of 67 BC were passed by members of the gens.
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Licinia is the name used by ancient Roman women of the gens Licinia.
The Megalesia, Megalensia, or Megalenses Ludi was a festival celebrated in Ancient Rome from April 4 to April 10, in honour of Cybele, known to Romans as Magna Mater. The name of the festival derives from Greek Megale (μϵγάλη), meaning "Great". Ludi were the games or entertainments associated with religious festivals.
Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi was a Roman politician and historian. He created the first permanent jury court in Rome to try cases related to provincial corruption during his plebeian tribunate in 146 BC. He also fought, not entirely successfully, in the First Servile War. He was consul in 133 BC and censor in 120 BC.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Ludi Apollinares". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.