Pompa circensis

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The presiding magistrate at the pompa circensis rode in a two-horse chariot; behind him are the young nobiles who led the parade on horseback (4th-century opus sectile from the Basilica of Junius Bassus) Pannello parietale in opus sectile con console su biga e quattro cavalieri, dalla basilica di giunio basso, prima meta del IV sec, 01.JPG
The presiding magistrate at the pompa circensis rode in a two-horse chariot; behind him are the young nobiles who led the parade on horseback (4th-century opus sectile from the Basilica of Junius Bassus)

In ancient Rome, the pompa circensis ("circus parade") was the procession that preceded the official games (ludi) held in the circus as part of religious festivals and other occasions.

Ancient Rome History of Rome from the 8th-century BC to the 5th-century

In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. The civilization began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, conventionally founded in 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, though still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.

Procession organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner

A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner.

<i>Ludi</i> recurring sporting event in the ancient Rome

Ludi were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people . Ludi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also presented as part of the cult of state.

Contents

Description

The most detailed description of the pompa circensis during the Republican era is given by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, based on eyewitness observation and the historian Fabius Pictor, [2] who says he is describing the original Ludi Romani ; Fabius may, however, have been more influenced by what he saw in the pompa of the Saecular Games in 249 BC. The procession was led by boys of the nobility (nobiles) riding on horseback, followed by boys on foot who were future infantrymen. Next came the charioteers and athletes who would compete in the games. [3]

Roman Republic Period of ancient Roman civilization (509–27 BC)

The Roman Republic was the era of classical Roman civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom, traditionally dated to 509 BC, and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire. It was during this period that Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Greek historian

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Atticistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.

Roman historiography is indebted to the Greeks, who invented the form. The Romans had great models to base their works upon, such as Herodotus and Thucydides. Roman historiographical forms are different from the Greek ones however, and voice very Roman concerns. Unlike the Greeks, Roman historiography did not start out with an oral historical tradition. The Roman style of history was based on the way that the Annals of the Pontifex Maximus, or the Annales Maximi, were recorded. The Annales Maximi include a wide array of information, including religious documents, names of consuls, deaths of priests, and various disasters throughout history. Also part of the Annales Maximi are the White Tablets, or the "Tabulae Albatae", which consist of information on the origin of the republic.

Troops of dancers followed to musical accompaniment performed on auloi , a type of woodwind instrument, and the lyre. The dancers were divided into age classes, men, youths, and children. Wearing purple tunics, they wielded swords and short spears in war dances similar to the Cretan pyrrhics. The adult dancers also wore bronze helmets [4] with "conspicuous crests and wings." [5]

Music of ancient Rome

The music of ancient Rome was a part of Roman culture from earliest times. Music was customary at funerals, and the tibia, a woodwind instrument, was played at sacrifices to ward off ill influences. Song (carmen) was an integral part of almost every social occasion. The Secular Ode of Horace, for instance, was commissioned by Augustus and performed by a mixed children's choir at the Secular Games in 17 BC. Under the influence of ancient Greek theory, music was thought to reflect the orderliness of the cosmos, and was associated particularly with mathematics and knowledge.

Aulos ancient Greek wind musical instrument, similar to a flute

An aulos or tibia (Latin) was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.

Lyre string instrument from Greek classical antiquity

The lyre is a string instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later periods. The lyre is similar in appearance to a small harp but with distinct differences. In organology, lyres are defined as "yoke lutes", being lutes in which the strings are attached to a yoke that lies in the same plane as the sound-table and consists of two arms and a cross-bar.

A chorus dressed as satyrs and sileni followed the armed dancers and mocked them. They were costumed in woolly tunics, garlands of different kinds of flowers, and goatskin loincloths, with their hair standing out on their heads in tufts. [6] The appearance of satyristai at the original Ludi Romani is the earliest known reference to satyrs in Roman culture. [7] Although Dionysius suggests that both the war dances and the Bacchic dancing were in imitation of the Greeks, the armed dances had a Roman precedent in the Salian priests, who danced with sword and shield, and the role of the satyrs seems based on Etruscan custom. [8]

Satyr bawdy male nature spirits in Greek mythology with horse-like tails and ears and permanent erections

In Greek mythology, a satyr, also known as a silenos, is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. Early artistic representations sometimes include horse-like legs, but, by the sixth century BC, they were more often represented with human legs. Comically hideous, they have mane-like hair, bestial faces, and snub noses and are always shown naked. Satyrs were characterized by their ribaldry and were known as lovers of wine, music, dancing, and women. They were companions of the god Dionysus and were believed to inhabit remote locales, such as woodlands, mountains, and pastures. They often attempted to seduce or rape nymphs and mortal women alike, usually with little success. They are sometimes shown masturbating or engaging in bestiality.

Silenus Ancient Greek mythological figure

In Greek mythology, Silenus was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus. He is typically older than the satyrs of the Dionysian retinue (thiasos), and sometimes considerably older, in which case he may be referred to as a Papposilenus. The plural sileni refers to the mythological figure as a type that is sometimes thought to be differentiated from a satyr by having the attributes of a horse rather than a goat, though usage of the two words is not consistent enough to permit a sharp distinction.

Salii the "leaping priests" of Mars

In ancient Roman religion, the Salii were the "leaping priests" of Mars supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths, dressed as archaic warriors: an embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak (paludamentum), a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex. They were charged with the twelve bronze shields called ancilia, which, like the Mycenaean shield, resembled a figure eight. One of the shields was said to have fallen from heaven in the reign of King Numa and eleven copies were made to protect the identity of the sacred shield on the advice of the nymph Egeria, consort of Numa, who prophesied that wherever that shield was preserved, the people would be the dominant people of the earth.

The procession concluded with men carrying golden bowls and perfumes, and then the statues of the gods carried on litters (fercula), with their attributes (exuviae) transported separately in special chariots or carts (tensae or thensae). The tensae were pulled by boys whose mothers and fathers were still alive. [9] The images and exuviae were displayed at the circus, probably on the wooden platform called a pulvinar. [10]

The procession started from the Capitolium, and through the clivus Capitolinus came to the Roman Forum. It then proceeded along the Via Sacra and passed through the Vicus Tuscus to arrive at the Circus Maximus. [11]

Clivus Capitolinus street in Rome, Italy

The main road to the Roman Capitol, the Clivus Capitolinus starts at the head of the Forum Romanum beside the Arch of Tiberius as a continuation of the Via Sacra; proceeding around the Temple of Saturn and turning to the south in front of the Portico Dii Consentes, it then climbs up the slope of the Capitoline Hill to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at its summit. This was traditionally the last and culminating portion of all Roman triumphs.

Roman Forum Archaeological site in Rome, Italy

The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum, is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum.

Via Sacra street in Rome

The Via Sacra was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum, to the Colosseum.

The magistrate who presided over the games rode in a two-horse chariot (biga) and wore the traditional attire of the triumphing general (triumphator). [12] It had been the view of Theodor Mommsen that the pompa circensis was simply a repurposing of the triumphal procession, to which the presenting of games had originally been attached. After ludi began to be presented apart from a triumph, the presiding magistrate took the place of the triumphator in the parade. [13] H.S. Versnel considered the pompa to be a blend of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan elements. [14] Frank Bernstein has argued that the tradition of Etruscan origin is essentially sound, and that the circus games and their opening procession were established during Rome's Regal period under the rule of Etruscan kings as part of the cult of the Capitoline Jupiter. [15]

During the Empire

The pompa circensis underwent a significant change during the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, when his image and chariot were added to the procession. During the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, other members of the imperial family were represented by images and sellae (special "seats" or thrones; see curule chair). It then became customary in the 1st century to have the images of the emperor's family join those of the deities. [16] By the time of Tiberius, the parade route had incorporated the Temple of Mars Ultor, built by Augustus, which had absorbed several ceremonies formerly held at the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter. The new extended route would have passed along the Forum of Augustus. [17]

The priesthood of the Arval Brothers carried out a sacrifice when these ludi circenses were held in conjunction with various celebrations of Imperial cult. Until the reign of Nero, the Arval sacrifices were made on the Capitolium, where the procession traditionally began. In the early Empire, however, the Arvals made their sacrifices at the new Temple of the Divine Augustus on the occasion of ludi Martiales , ludi Augustales , and Augustus's birthday. At these times, the procession began there. The topography covered by the parade route might vary according to the desired symbolism for the occasion. [18]

A more traditional parade route was restored under the Flavian dynasty. The Capitolium was again the focus, and the temples most explicitly connected to the Julio-Claudians were less central, though the images of the imperial family continued to be displayed. The route was expanded to pass along the Campus Martius in the time of Domitian, who had built a grand temple to the divinized Vespasian and Titus there. During the 2nd century, the route of the pompa circensis had probably become more similar to that of the triumph. [19] The pompa circensis thus developed as a highly visible medium for expressing the new political and religious order of the Empire. [20]

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References

  1. ↑ As identified by Katherine M. D. Dunbabin, "The Victorious Charioteer on Mosaics and Related Monuments," American Journal of Archaeology 86.1 (1982), p. 71.
  2. ↑ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 7.72.1–13 = Q. Fabius Pictor, FRH2 1 frg. 20.
  3. ↑ H.S. Versnel, Triumphus: An Inquiry into the Origin, Development and Meaning of the Roman Triumph (Brill, 1970), pp. 96–97.
  4. ↑ Versnel, Triumphus, p. 97.
  5. ↑ W.J. Slater, "Three Problems in the History of Drama," Phoenix 47.3 (1993), p. 202.
  6. ↑ Slater, "Three Problems," p. 203.
  7. ↑ T.P. Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome? The Background to Horace's Ars Poetica," Journal of Roman Studies 78 (1988), pp. 7.
  8. ↑ Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome?" p. 11, note 86; Slater, "Three Problems," p. 203.
  9. ↑ Versnel, Triumphus, pp. 98, 260.
  10. ↑ Duncan Fishwick, "Prudentius and the Cult of Divus Augustus," Historia 39.4 (1990), p. 481, citing Festus (500 in the edition of Lindsay).
  11. ↑ Patrizia Arena, "The pompa circensis and the domus Augusta (1st–2nd c. A.D.)," in Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire. Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Heidelberg, July 5–7, 2007) (Brill, 2009), p. 86.
  12. ↑ Versnel, Triumphus, pp. 102, 104, 129–130.
  13. ↑ As summarized by Versnel, Triumphus, p. 101f.
  14. ↑ Versnel, Triumphus, p. 97.
  15. ↑ Frank Bernstein, "Complex Rituals: Games and Processions in Republican Rome in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 223ff.
  16. ↑ Patrizia Arena, "The pompa circensis and the domus Augusta (1st–2nd c. A.D.)," in Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire. Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Heidelberg, July 5–7, 2007) (Brill, 2009), p. 78ff.
  17. ↑ Arena, "The pompa circensis," p. 86.
  18. ↑ Arena, "The pompa circensis," p. 87ff.
  19. ↑ Arena, "The pompa circensis," pp. 91–92.
  20. ↑ Arena, "The pompa circensis," pp. 92–93.
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