Water Games Of The Roman Empire
At the beginning of the Roman Empire began to reveal a new kind of entertainment, breaking with traditional fighting gladiators. These representations using water as a decorative element or staging differ from violent and bloody fighting water - the naumachies - comtemporain them by their more frequent use and artistry when it comes to drama. These are often inspired by Greco-Roman myths that make them look fabulous also exists in exotic animal training, aquatic shows the most popular.
Summary |
Different types of flushing water
However naumachies are not the only Roman shows where water was used. From the end of the Republic, was seen also among the performances of traditional hunting, or venationes, presentations Wildlife Nile. Ponds specially constructed for the occasion made it possible to create a dcor inspired by the landscapes of the Nile, also highly appreciated by the iconography of the time.
The first show with crocodiles was given in 58 BC. AD. Under Augustus, a hunting of hippo occurred in 29 BC. AD. for the inauguration of the Temple of Julius Diuus. In 2 BC. AD 36 lizards were killed in a pond dug at Circus Flaminius. Nero also presented crocodiles in the arena of his flooded amphitheater wood, as evidenced by a text by the poet Calpurnius Siculus (VII, 65-68).
The latter also speaks of a battle between bears and seals. After the fauna of the Nile, so it was that of the sea which made its appearance in Rome. Suetonius (Nero, XII, 2-6) confirms this point. Pliny the Elder (Natural History, IX, 41) tells us that seal had become quite common in dressage shows later than the Flavian period. Naturalist note that this animal is capable of understanding the verbal order to greet the public and answer the call of his name.
But amphibians were not the only ones to be presented in an aquatic setting. During the inaugural games of 80 AD, they saw the horses and bulls to run a few laps they were usually on dry ground. Without doubt they had to stand on their front legs, the back of their bodies hidden by water, so as to include the sea horses or bulls so often represented in Roman art until the late Empire. Known by Martial (XXVIII, 4-6) other shows where such an analogy was sought.
The occurrence of such events naturally derived from the tradition of the uenatio, combined with growing taste of the Romans for exhibitions of new animal species and illusionists for decoration imitating their natural environment.
The mime and choreography aquatic
Finally, at 80 games, other events still occurred in the flooded arena of the amphitheater, that Martial is the only one to mention (Book Shows (XXVXXVI).
The first was a representation of the legend of Hero and Leander. It recounted how a young man joined each evening when the tower was locked in his beloved swimming across the Strait of Hellespont guided by a lamp. We know some figurative representations. During the show, which took place at night to be faithful to the legend, so we saw a player cross the water level of the amphitheater, probably heading for a stage representing the tower of Hero.
Immediately after, the public could see a "chorus of Nereids , the swimmers moving in the middle of the arena and drawing figures in the water. Their performance, as described by the poet recalls both a dance and a kind of aquatic number of "music hall".
These shows can be compared with some mimes of mythological or legendary, known from other sources, where the actors, playing without masks, needed a physical in keeping with the role. Entertainment banquet in the classical period of Greece, this type of show, once introduced to the theater, took place in a setting reminiscent willingly realistic natural scenery. They continued to be popular throughout the Roman period. Apuleius example, in his Metamorphoses (X, 30-32) discusses the restoration to the theater in Corinth a mountain of wood planted with trees, sets a performance Judgement of Pris. It also lingers in describing the procession of young women representing the Graces and children dressed as Cupids intended to surround the actress portraying Venus , herself selected for its beauty. The use of the amphitheater filled with water for a representation of the passage of Leander proceeded from the same search for maximum realism. But the choice of a legend of aquatic theme and use a real pool to represent is a Roman innovation, although the exact date of its appearance remains uncertain. Indeed, the crossing of Leander and the choir of Nereids games Titus are known to us by Martial, and the poet does not present as a novelty. However, they are ignored by historians who have reported on these games, usually inclined to refer only to new or exceptional performances. It is therefore possible that these shows have appeared earlier, especially in Campania , which already had a few theaters at the time Julio-Claudian, a basin could accommodate them.
The fate of these shows
Despite all the shortcomings of the written documentation, it is possible to understand what was the fate of these shows.
Flushing of Nilotic Scaurus then Augustus had been deemed worthy of mention by historians because they represented innovations. In addition, the persistence of these shows are mostly discovered by chance during a leaflet of Pliny in one animal species, at the turn of a few verses of a poet as Calpurnius Siculus. This is a sign, not the scarcity of these shows, but their normalization. A text of Ammianus Marcellinus (Stories, XXII, 24) also teaches us that for several centuries, the Nilotic fauna was quite common in Roman hunts to gradually create a serious depopulation in the regions of origin. In the fifth century, the presentation of a hunt for crocodiles in a pond was still in use. It is known by his Letters (VI, 43, X, 141 & 151) that during games he organized in 401, Symmachus brought crocodiles and asked permission to "flood the theater" for the opportunity, without knowing to which building he alludes (IV, 8).
As for aquatic mimes, a letter of Fronto (III, 14.3-4) tells us that a century after the games of 80, the legend of Hero and Leander became very popular with the public through its many performances. Insofar as the crossing of the Hellespont was the central episode of the legend, it was probably again in aquatic shows. As for the hunting theme of Nilotic, you must then wait for the late Roman Empire to find explicit evidence. They also attest to the spread of aquatic mime and choreography in the provinces. The most detailed is a passage from John Chrysostom (Homily on St. Matthew VII, 5-7) evoking performances of Antioch where we saw swimming actors and actresses in the pool of a theater (kolumbhvqtra). The words used suggest that they should evolve according to a choreography, as young women of the show 80. Although John Chrysostom says nothing, the naked swimmers, who raises his indignation, had perhaps the guise of a mythological theme. They could personify nymphs, or Nereids in the show as described by Martial. The poet Flavian period and the preacher of the late fourth century thus describe staged quite similar. A quick reference to St. Augustine to a show where we went to see "the sea to the theater" (mare in theatro) shows that such performances were also known in North Africa at the same time. Finally, for Italy, one can cite the verses 326-332 of De Mallii Theodori consulatu of Claudian, citing games given in 398. The poet describes the presentation of fireworks on the stage, then a "sea suddenly appeared" before the audience, where changing the "melodious rowers (rowers canora), so the singers mounted on boats.
The sites used
Archaeology confirms the information provided by the texts on the location of the amphitheater and flood basins.
Regarding the uenationes, outside of the first presentations of wildlife of the Nile, made in makeshift, most aquatic shows the best-documented periods of Julio-Claudian and Flavian took place at the amphitheater, probably in a basin similar to those we found in Verona and Merida. After the transformation of the basement of the Coliseum, the site was probably used as the naval battle of Trajan. The stands and smaller dimensions of the basin were perfectly capable of presenting naumachies similar to those of lecture halls, but equally well other aquatic shows that the arena had hosted, where a good view of the details was necessary. It is also known by Symmachus it existed in his time in Rome a theater suitable for the impoundment, where we probably gave either hunts or mimes. In fact, most obviously many facilities for aquatic performances were found in theaters. Apart from some early achievements in Campania and at Daphne near Antioch, various theaters were constructed in order to be placed in water between the third century BC. BC and the fifth century BC. AD. These facilities are distributed late between Italy, Greece and the Middle East, which confirms the diffusion of these shows in one part of the empire, already suggested by the texts. Each time, changes to the building are similar: a basin, with an average diameter of 25 m and a depth of 1, 15 m, was performed in the orchestra through the building of a semi-circular wall welded to the frons pulpitis and installation of a waterproof coating. The impoundment was provided either by a tank formed in the cavea or under the building stage, either directly by the derivation of an aqueduct. These basins of a size sufficient to modest changes in some amphibious animals or the suggestion of a maritime design for a mime. Despite being probably very incomplete, subject to chance discoveries and conservation of the remains, the timeline shows examples of well documented that the diffusion model has essentially made from West to East. If we add to these buildings to theaters kolymbthra Milan and Rome, as attested by the texts, there is the prominence kept till the end by Italy in the field of aquatic shows.
The naumachies, but also hunts and mime aquatic thus appear as all shows specifically Roman or Italian, appeared between the end of the Republic and the beginnings of the Julio-Claudian era. They gave birth to facilities that are still far from having been fully identified or sufficiently developed.
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