Expensive gifts, free meals at the town hall, or cash prizes might all be showered upon the
conquering
hero.
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome_nodrm
(No wonder the aging Milo had difficulty keeping up with his young rival Timasitheus!
)
Document: Pausanias's Account of Milo
of Croton [6. 14. 5-8]
Milo won six victories for wrestling at Olympia, one of them among the boys; at [the Pythian Games] he won six among the men and one among the boys. He came to Olympia to wrestle for the seventh time, but did not succeed in mastering Timasitheus, a fellow-citizen who was also a young man, and who refused . . . to come to close quarters with him. It is further stated that Milo carried his own statue into the Altis. His feats with the pomegranate and the [dis- cus] are also remembered by tradition. He would grasp a pomegranate so firmly
Detail from a sarcophagus shows young Greeks engaged in a wrestling contest, Greek, marble relief, sixth century BCE. (Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis)
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that nobody could wrest it from him by force, and yet he did not damage it by pressure. He would stand upon a greased [discus], and make fools of those who charged him and tried to push him [off of it]. He used to perform also the following exhibition feats: He would tie a cord around his fore- head as though it were a ribbon or a crown. Holding his breath and filling with blood the veins
on his head, he would break the cord by the strength of these veins. It is said that he would let down by his side his right arm from the shoulder to the elbow, and stretch out straight the arm below the elbow, turning the thumb upwards, while the other fingers lay in a row. In this position, then, the little finger was lowest, but nobody could bend it back by pressure. [Tr. W. H. S. Jones. Pausanias: Description of Greece. (6. 14. 5-8. ) Volume III. LCL, 1933. Page numbers: 83, 85. ]
AFTERMATH
Many notable wrestlers competed in the sport after Milo. Examples: Epharmostus of Opus (fifth century BCE), who won championships at the Olympic, Isthmian, and Nemean games, as well as a number of other places, including Arcadia, Argos, Athens, Marathon, and Pellana; Praxidamas of Aegina (fifth century), who triumphed five times in the Isthmian games and three times in the Nemean, and whose son, Alcimidas, won the boys' wrestling crown at Nemea; Thaeaus of Argos (fifth century), winner of three Isthmian championships, one each at the Pythian and Nemean games, as well as at Argos, Sicyon, and Athens; Caprus of Elis (fourth century), a uniquely versatile competitor who was the first man in Olympic history to claim championships in both wrestling and the pankration at the same festival. But none of these athletes, accomplished as they were, matched Milo's excellence. No one else ever did, either.
The (Ancient) World's Greatest Athlete
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Altis: the sacred grove that surrounded the temple of Zeus in Olympia, where the statues of victorious ath- letes were placed. A statue of Milo was erected in the Altis, and inter- estingly, Milo's statue was crafted by his fellow Crotoniate, a sculptor named Dameas.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CROTON: HOME OF FINE-QUALITY ATHLETES
The southern Italian city of Croton was famous for the many superb athletes it produced. Milo was undoubtedly the best known and most successful of these, but there were others. Astylus, early fifth century BCE, was a champion sprinter. He won both the stade and the diaulos races in the same Olympiad three consecu- tive times, in 488, 484, and 480. Such a unique double victory, accomplished three times, was unmatched in the ancient Olympics.
Phayllus, also early fifth century, won three victories in the Pythian Games: two in the pentathlon, and one in the stade (200-yard) race. An epigram concerning Phayllus records that he long-jumped 55 feet (probably a triple jump) and threw the discus 95 feet.
And in one Olympiad, the top seven finishers in the stade sprint race were all from Croton, thus occasioning a famous saying: "The last of the Crotoniates was the first among all other Greeks. "
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? GREEK NAMES
The ancient Greeks did not have a "first name, middle name, last name" in the same way as do Americans and members of other modern societies. They generally had a given name, roughly equivalent to a modern first name, followed by their place of origin. Hence, "Milo of Croton. " An alternative form: identifying a person by referencing his father's name, a patronymic naming system. Milo's father's name was Diotimus, and Pausanias sometimes refers to Milo by his patronymic: "Milo, son of Diotimus. " Compare modern patronym- ics, such as names that end with the -son suffix: Johnson (i. e. , "son of John"), Jackson, Peterson, Stevenson, etc.
? ? ? ASK YOURSELF
1. Milo apparently enjoyed competing in informal contests of strength and skill, in addition to those described in the document. What do you suppose motivated him to want to do this?
2. In the introduction to the document, it was stated that Milo was the greatest ancient Olympic athlete, and possibly the greatest of all time. Does this seem plau- sible? Is there a way to prove this contention, or is it more likely that it is an issue for which a consensus will never be achieved?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e Ancient athletes like Milo enjoyed the adulation of an adoring public, much like modern athletes and other celebrities. The ancient athletes were
? ? ? ? ? ? ? A FAMOUS ATHLETIC FAMILY
Possibly the most noteworthy athletic family in the history of the ancient games came from the island of Rhodes, in the eastern Mediterranean. Pausanias informs us that the "elder statesman" of this distinguished group, Diagoras, won a boxing crown in the Olympics of 464 BCE. His sons Acusilaus, Damagetus, and Dorieus were all champion athletes. There is a story that Acusilaus and Damagetus, having triumphed at the same Olympiad, hoisted their father onto their shoulders and carried him through the crowd, who tossed flow- ers at him and congratulated him on his sons' athletic excellence. Dorieus, the youngest son, won the pankra- tion in three successive Olympiads (432, 428, and 424), as well as eight crowns in the Isthmian games and seven in the Nemean. Two of Diagoras's grandsons also claimed Olympic glory: Eucles, who triumphed in box- ing in the Olympics of 396, and Peisirodus, in boys' boxing, in 388.
Pindar wrote an epinicean ode (Olympian 7) in honor of Diagoras, that "mighty, fair-fighting man" (tr. Swanson), in which he indicates that Diagoras won twice at Olympia, four times at the Isthmian games, and an unspecified number of times at Nemea, as well as one or more victories at games in Athens, Argos, Thebes, Arcadia, Boeotia, Aegina, and Pellana.
Plutarch and Cicero both relate the following incident from Diagoras's old age: On the day when he had seen his two sons crowned at Olympia, a Spartan supposedly approached him and said, "Die, Diagoras, for you could never ascend to heaven. " The point seemed to be that the old man had reached the apex of happiness, and nothing--not even heaven itself--could surpass the joy a father would feel at the Olympic success of his offspring.
Today, we might use the words "athletic dynasty" to describe this family!
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immortalized by statues in the Altis (sort of like a Hall of Fame of Olympic champions), and praised in verse by well-paid professional poets. Furthermore, they brought fame and glory to their families and home- towns by virtue of their athletic accomplishments. Consider why human beings, both ancient and modern, idolize(d) their athletic heroes, some- times to great extremes.
e The ancient Olympics were first staged in 776 BCE. They continued to be held every four years for more than a millennium. The modern version of the games has been continuously run since 1896 (with the exceptions of the war years of 1916, 1940, and 1944). So one could argue that Olympic competitions constitute one of the most enduring, most popular, and most widely watched events in the history of the western world. Consider why this is so, why it is that the Olympics have inspired and cre- ated such a long-standing interest among both competitors and fans.
Further Information
Gardiner, E. N. Athletics of the Ancient World. Oxford, 1930.
Harris, H. A. Greek Athletes and Athletics. Bloomington, IN, 1964.
Harris, H. A. Sport in Greece and Rome. Ithaca, NY, 1972.
Kyle, Donald. Athletics in Ancient Athens. Leiden, The Netherlands, 1987.
Matz, David S. Greek and Roman Sport. A Dictionary of Athletes and Events. Jefferson, NC,
1991.
Robinson, Rachel S. Sources for the History of Greek Athletics. Cincinnati, 1955.
Website
Milo of Kroton. http://www. perseus. tufts. edu/Olympics/milo. html
Bibliography for Document
Jones, W. H. S. (tr. ). Pausanias: Description of Greece. Volume III. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London, 1933.
Swanson, Roy Arthur. (tr. ) Pindar's Odes. Indianapolis and New York, 1974.
The (Ancient) World's Greatest Athlete
233
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44. "PUT ME IN, COACH": A FAMOUS ATHLETIC TRAINER
INTRODUCTION
Hiring a personal trainer is not a modern phenomenon; ancient Greek athletes often had their own personal coaches, who advised them on everything from dietary regimens, to train- ing methods, to lifestyle options. We even have a detailed training manual, authored by a certain Philostratus; the date is uncertain, but it may have been written in the third century CE. In addition to training advice, Philostratus also offers opinions on other relevant topics, such as an athlete's family background: "Now since it is best to begin with a man's birth, the coach should proceed first to investigate the parentage of the boy athlete, that is, to see if the parents were married when young, both of good stock, and free from diseases . . . Young parents . . . bestow strength upon the athlete, pure blood, powerful frame and untainted humors as well as normal size, and I would still further claim that they bestow also a wholesome beauty" [Philostratus. On Gymnastics 28; tr. Robinson. ].
We know the names of several coaches, and perhaps the most successful of these was the fifth-century BCE wrestling trainer Melesias. Pindar's eighth Olympian Ode honors Alcimedon of Aegina, the winner of the boys' wrestling, in 460; Melesias coached Alcimedon, and according to Pindar, Alcimedon's victory was the 30th earned by wrestlers who learned their craft under Melesias's tutelage.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Greek athletes sometimes became coaches after their retirement from active compe- tition, in much the same manner as retired athletes in modern times. This was clearly the case with Melesias; Pindar notes that "he won in his / own right at Nemea, / and, later in the men's pancration / bouts. " From this, it seems clear that Melesias excelled both in wrestling and in the pancration, but he apparently special- ized in coaching wrestlers. Keep in mind also how Pindar emphasizes to young ath- letes dreaming of Olympic glory that it would be to their advantage to secure the services of an experienced coach who had been there, done that: "Untested men [that is, those who had never competed and won] speak unreliably. / But Melesias speaks with authority / about these feats to neophytes . . . "
2. Pindar often incorporated mythic allusions into his poetry, as, for example, the last two lines of the document: "Hades holds no qualms/for one who wins. " The
? ? ? ? 235
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
meaning seems to be that a victorious athlete is already immortal, by virtue both of his success and Pindar's poem in his honor, so he need not worry about what might happen to him in the afterlife.
Document: "Coach" Melesias: Pindar, Olympian 8
And, if I've rushed to glorify Melesias' wrestler-boys in poetry,
may envy hurl no jagged stone at me: for I recall he won in his
own right at Nemea,
and, later in the men's pancration
bouts. Teaching comes the easiest to one
who knows; and it is pointless not to learn.
Untested men speak unreliably.
But Melesias speaks with authority
about these feats to neophytes whose highest
dreams are of the prize performances at consecrated games. Alcimedon has brought Melesias
his thirtieth victory:
divinely lucky, with no lack of manliness,
he sent four badly beaten boys
back home in shameful silence, to defer
the choristers of catcalls,
and gave his father's father strength enough
to wrestle with old age:
Hades holds no qualms
for one who wins.
[Tr. Roy Arthur Swanson. Pindar's Odes. (Olympian 8. ) Indianapolis and New York, 1974. Page numbers: 35, 36. ]
AFTERMATH
All three of the wrestlers trained by Milesias and honored by Pindar hailed from families with long-standing athletic traditions. While nothing is known of the progeny of Alcimedon, Timasarchus, or Alcimidas, it would not be surprising if their sons and/or grandsons carried on their families' athletic prowess.
After winning a championship at a major athletic festival like the Olympic or Nemean Games, a victorious athlete could expect to receive a sumptuous welcome upon his return to his hometown.
Expensive gifts, free meals at the town hall, or cash prizes might all be showered upon the conquering hero. It is
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? he sent four badly beaten boys/back home in shameful silence, to defer/the choristers of catcalls: An excellent example of Pindar's skill in seamlessly combining two somewhat different topics in the same sentence. The comment about "four badly beaten boys" is a reference to the procedure fol- lowed in wrestling (and also most likely in boxing and the pancra- tion): prior to the official start of the games, wrestlers would be required to engage in a series of elimination matches--the exact number is anybody's guess--to narrow the field of finalists to 16. These 16 would then compete for the championship, in a single- elimination format. So in order to win a wrestling crown, an athlete would have to defeat four oppo- nents, almost certainly on the same day, no small task considering that these 16 could fairly be said to be the best wrestlers in the Greek world.
Even to make it to the "final 16" would have required considerable skill. And yet so intense was the emphasis on winning that simply making it to that select group of 16 would mean nothing for any wrestler who failed--and there would be 15 failures! --to capture the championship. To lose was worse than disgraceful; hence
? ? ? ? ? 236
"Put Me In, Coach": A Famous Athletic Trainer highly likely that all three of Milesias's wrestlers enjoyed these
kinds of perquisites when they came home.
ASK YOURSELF
1. Compare Pindar's style of poetry to that of Homer. Both authors describe athletic competitions in their respective documents, but there are quite a few differences in the way each poet goes about doing so. What differences do you notice? What do you suppose accounts for those differences?
2. Does Pindar give us any hints about why Melesias was so successful as a coach? Does he anywhere suggest that Melesias's experience as an athlete helped to prepare him to become a first-rate coach?
3. What modern examples can you think of in which two or more members of the same family were successful athletes? And modern examples of former athletes who later became successful coaches?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e In modern sports, the skill of a coach is often measured by the number of victories his/her teams have accumulated, and perhaps also by the number of individual awards won by the players on those teams. It seems as if the same kinds of standards were applied to ancient Greek coaches like Melesias. Consider why coaches are evaluated by these criteria. Is there a more accurate way to assess their effectiveness?
e PindarwritesthatMelesiaswas"divinelylucky"tohavebeensosuccessful as a wrestling coach. It seems like a strange phrase, since Pindar elsewhere often praises the work ethic and self-discipline of both athletes and their trainers. Why do you suppose, then, that he would use the word "lucky" to describe Melesias?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Pindar's totally unsympathetic comment about the four wrestlers defeated by Alcimedon having to return home "in shameful silence," to endure the jeers and the catcalls of their fellow townspeople.
pancration (pronounced "pan-krat-ee- on," not "pan-kra-shun. ") A word meaning "all/strength," the pancra- tion was a brutal event, a combina- tion of boxing and wrestling, in which just about every kind of blow, hold, or kick was permitted, somewhat like modern cage fight- ing. The only prohibitions: no bit- ing; no gouging.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? A BOGUS COACH
Women were not permitted to attend the Olympic games as spectators, but the mother of the champion boxer Peisirodus (q. v. ), Pherenice (the daughter of the famous boxer Diagoras, and therefore also a member of that famous family of athletes) was so eager to watch her son compete that she disguised herself as his coach; she did so by completely enveloping herself in a cloak, in the manner of the other coaches. The deception worked until her son's moment of victory, when Pherenice, in her exuberant leaping and cheering, inadvertently allowed the cloak to drop from her body, immediately revealing her feminine qualities. The Olympic authorities were uncertain about what action to take; some felt that Pherenice should be put to death for such a sacrilege, but cooler heads fortunately prevailed, in deference to the considerable athletic prestige of her family. So Pherenice apparently received no punishment, but the authorities did enact a new regulation, that henceforth, all trainers and coaches must be "clad" in the same way as the athletes: au naturel.
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? MILESIAS'S OTHER SUCCESS STORIES
Pindar briefly mentions Milesias in two of his other victory odes. Milesias served as the trainer for Timasarchus of Aegina, who won a boys' wrestling championship at Nemea, ca. 473 BCE (Pindar's fourth Nemean Ode), and Alcimidas of Aegina, also victorious in boys' wrestling, ca. 461 BCE at Nemea (the sixth Nemean Ode). In the case of the latter, his was the 25th victory won by a member of his athletically inclined family.
? ? 238
Further Information
Bowra, C. M. The Odes of Pindar. Baltimore, 1969.
Hornblower, Simon. Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian
Poetry. Oxford, 2004.
Nisetich, Frank J. Pindar's Victory Songs. Baltimore, 1980. Race, William H. Pindar. Cambridge, MA, 1997.
Website
Works by Pindar. http://classics. mit. edu/Browse/browse-Pindar. html
Bibliography for Document
Swanson, Roy Arthur (tr. ). Pindar's Odes. Indianapolis and New York, 1974.
45. THE RESUME OF ANCIENT ROME'S SUPERSTAR CHARIOTEER
INTRODUCTION
Roman chariot racing was a high-risk, high-reward profession. Princely fortunes awaited those lucky few who enjoyed long careers on the racetrack. The satirist Juvenal, writing per- haps with equal measures of envy and exaggeration, claims that the charioteer Lacerta could amass wealth amounting to 100 times the net worth of a successful lawyer. In the same vein, the epigrammatist Martial writes that a driver named Scorpus could rake in 15 heavy bags of gold in only an hour of successful racing.
But the most proficient of them all was undoubtedly the second-century CE charioteer Appuleius Diocles. Racing for all four factions over the course of his lengthy 24-year career, he tallied an astounding 1,462 wins and set several (most likely) unbreakable statistical records. The minutely detailed inscription that appears below preserves the numbers. This inscription has occasionally been interpreted as a memorial to a recently deceased Diocles, but its tone and content point more strongly to understanding it as a summary of his career after his retirement from the track.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Roman charioteers did not necessarily hail from downtown Rome, or even from Italy. Diocles, for example, came from Lusitania, a section of western Spain in Roman times, Portugal on the map of modern Europe.
2. The Romans counted their years according to the names of the two consuls who held office during that particular year. This system worked because the consul- ship was an annual magistracy, with a high turnover rate: two new consuls each year.
3. Most Roman chariot races featured quadrigae, chariots pulled by four horses, yoked four across. It was apparently noteworthy--and unusual--when different arrangements were employed, such as three-horse, six-horse, or even seven-horse teams.
4. Some races were run cooperatively, team races, with members of the same faction assisting each other strategically. However, the details or rules of such races are unknown.
? ? ? ? 239
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? Document: The Diocles Inscription (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum [Collection of Latin Inscriptions] 6. 10048
Appuleius Diocles, a driver of the Red faction from Lusitania in Spain, aged 42 years, seven months, 23 days. He first drove for the White faction, during the consulship of Acilius Aviola amd Corellius Pansa [122 CE]. He first won in the same faction, during the consulship of Manlius Acilius Glabrio and Caius
? ? ? ? HOW MUCH MONEY IS 35,000,000 SESTERCES?
The inscription informs us that Diocles won in excess of 35,000,000 sesterces over the course of his 24 years of competitive charioteering. But how much money is that exactly? Or even approximately? Comparing ancient currencies to modern is always problematic, but perhaps a way can be found to provide us with at least a general idea of the buying power of his winnings.
The relationships of the salaries earned by certain Roman workers is known from the Edict of the Emperor Diocletian (ca. 300 CE), a document that specified maximums on wages and prices, a kind of Roman wage/price freeze. Although the edict postdated Diocles by about 150 years, it nonetheless contains the most complete sur- viving information about Roman wage structures, and provides enough detail to make at least some general comparisons with Diocles's earnings.
Among the professions mentioned in the edict, lawyers could receive the highest legal wage, 4,000 sesterces for pleading a case. Teachers of Greek, Latin, literature, and geometry might make a maximum of 800 sesterces per student, per month. An artist was limited to 600 sesterces per day, while a mosaic maker could earn a daily wage of 240 sesterces. Bakers, blacksmiths, wagon wrights, stone masons, cabinet makers, and carpenters could each bring home 200 sesterces for a day's work. Daily wages for camel or mule drivers, water bearers, and sewer cleaners were capped at 100 sesterces, while shepherds, at the lowest level of the wage scale, were eligible for a meager daily maximum of 80. Remember, too, that these figures were the maximums; there was no guarantee that any worker would be paid the highest legally permissible wage.
On the other hand, Diocles's earnings of 35,000,000 sesterces (rounded off), distributed over 24 years, would have yielded an average annual income of about 1,460,000. Even if Diocles competed every day of a 365-day year (which he surely did not), it would still have meant an average daily salary for him of 4,000 sester- ces, far higher than that offered by any of the occupational categories previously mentioned. Lawyers could earn 4,000, but that was not a daily wage; it was to be paid for pleading a case, which would undoubtedly require many days, or weeks, of preparation and courtroom jousting.
An additional indication of the enormity of a sum of 35,000,000 sesterces is that admission to the Equestrian Order--Rome's upper middle class, sometimes called the "knights"--required a net worth of at least 400,000 sesterces. A typical Roman equestrian almost certainly earned a comfortable, if not lavish, income; yet Diocles could make several times an equestrian's amount in a year, or less, of successful charioteering.
Was Diocles permitted to keep all 35,000,000, or was he required to surrender at least some of it to his fac- tion, or to the imperial treasury, or to some other person or organization (although probably not to an agent; the practice of professional athletes hiring legal or financial representatives awaited a more mercenary era)? The answer to this question is unknown. But even if he had to put half of his winnings into someone else's upturned palm, the remainder--17,500,000 sesterces--would still have made him a multimillionaire by today's standards.
It appears that the practice of paying handsome salaries to top-ranked athletes is hardly a new phenomenon.
? ? 240
Bellicius Torquatus [124 CE]. He first drove for the Green faction during the consulship of Torquatus Aspens and Annius Libo [128 CE]. He first won for the Red faction during the consulship of Laenus Pontianus and Antonius Rufinus.
Summary [of his career]: He drove chariots for 24 years, having been sent from the gate 4,257 times [i. e. , he competed in 4,257 races]. He won 1,462: from the procession [the first race of the day] 110 wins. Singles races [where he competed on his own, instead of cooperatively with other faction teammates]: 1,064 wins. Of these, he won the major prize 92 times: 30,000 sesterces 32 times, including three times with a six-horse team [four horses was the stan- dard number]; 40,000 sesterces 28 times. He won 50,000 sesterces 29 times; of these, one was with a seven-horse team. He won 60,000 sesterces three times. He won 347 doubles races and 51 triples races. In the three-horse chariots, he won the 15,000 sesterces prize four times. He placed [i. e. , finished first, second, or third] 2,900 times.
He finished second 861 times, third 576 times. He failed to place 1,351 times. He won ten times for the Blue faction, 91 times for the White fac- tion, including two wins worth 30,000 sesterces each. He won 35,863,120 ses- terces [over the course of his entire career]. Furthermore, he won three races in two-horse chariots. He won once for the Whites, and twice for the Greens, in three-horse chariots. He won by taking the lead at the start 815 times. He won by coming from behind 67 times. He won after deliberately falling behind 36 times. He won using various other strategies 42 times. He won on the stretch
The Resume of Ancient Rome's Superstar Charioteer
? ? ? ? THE FACTIONS: RED, WHITE, GREEN, AND BLUE
Factions were official organizations of racing companies whose responsibility it was to provide horses, chariots, drivers, and equipment. Originally, there were only two factions, the White (factio alba, or albata) and the Red (factio russata). Early in the first century CE, two more were formed, the Green (factio prasina), and the Blue (fac- tio veneta). Spectators usually became fans of a particular faction; their attitude toward individual drivers depended upon the drivers' faction affiliation. The Green and Blue factions seemed to be the most popular, which raises the interesting, although unanswerable, question of why a charioteer of Diocles's undoubted skill and reputation spent most of his career with the Reds.
Chariot racing was apparently an institution that inspired the loyalty and partisanship of royalty and com- moner alike. The emperor Caligula (reigned 37-41 CE) was reportedly so addicted to the fortunes of the Greens that occasionally, he even ate and slept in their stables.
Document: Pausanias's Account of Milo
of Croton [6. 14. 5-8]
Milo won six victories for wrestling at Olympia, one of them among the boys; at [the Pythian Games] he won six among the men and one among the boys. He came to Olympia to wrestle for the seventh time, but did not succeed in mastering Timasitheus, a fellow-citizen who was also a young man, and who refused . . . to come to close quarters with him. It is further stated that Milo carried his own statue into the Altis. His feats with the pomegranate and the [dis- cus] are also remembered by tradition. He would grasp a pomegranate so firmly
Detail from a sarcophagus shows young Greeks engaged in a wrestling contest, Greek, marble relief, sixth century BCE. (Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis)
? ? 230
that nobody could wrest it from him by force, and yet he did not damage it by pressure. He would stand upon a greased [discus], and make fools of those who charged him and tried to push him [off of it]. He used to perform also the following exhibition feats: He would tie a cord around his fore- head as though it were a ribbon or a crown. Holding his breath and filling with blood the veins
on his head, he would break the cord by the strength of these veins. It is said that he would let down by his side his right arm from the shoulder to the elbow, and stretch out straight the arm below the elbow, turning the thumb upwards, while the other fingers lay in a row. In this position, then, the little finger was lowest, but nobody could bend it back by pressure. [Tr. W. H. S. Jones. Pausanias: Description of Greece. (6. 14. 5-8. ) Volume III. LCL, 1933. Page numbers: 83, 85. ]
AFTERMATH
Many notable wrestlers competed in the sport after Milo. Examples: Epharmostus of Opus (fifth century BCE), who won championships at the Olympic, Isthmian, and Nemean games, as well as a number of other places, including Arcadia, Argos, Athens, Marathon, and Pellana; Praxidamas of Aegina (fifth century), who triumphed five times in the Isthmian games and three times in the Nemean, and whose son, Alcimidas, won the boys' wrestling crown at Nemea; Thaeaus of Argos (fifth century), winner of three Isthmian championships, one each at the Pythian and Nemean games, as well as at Argos, Sicyon, and Athens; Caprus of Elis (fourth century), a uniquely versatile competitor who was the first man in Olympic history to claim championships in both wrestling and the pankration at the same festival. But none of these athletes, accomplished as they were, matched Milo's excellence. No one else ever did, either.
The (Ancient) World's Greatest Athlete
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Altis: the sacred grove that surrounded the temple of Zeus in Olympia, where the statues of victorious ath- letes were placed. A statue of Milo was erected in the Altis, and inter- estingly, Milo's statue was crafted by his fellow Crotoniate, a sculptor named Dameas.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? CROTON: HOME OF FINE-QUALITY ATHLETES
The southern Italian city of Croton was famous for the many superb athletes it produced. Milo was undoubtedly the best known and most successful of these, but there were others. Astylus, early fifth century BCE, was a champion sprinter. He won both the stade and the diaulos races in the same Olympiad three consecu- tive times, in 488, 484, and 480. Such a unique double victory, accomplished three times, was unmatched in the ancient Olympics.
Phayllus, also early fifth century, won three victories in the Pythian Games: two in the pentathlon, and one in the stade (200-yard) race. An epigram concerning Phayllus records that he long-jumped 55 feet (probably a triple jump) and threw the discus 95 feet.
And in one Olympiad, the top seven finishers in the stade sprint race were all from Croton, thus occasioning a famous saying: "The last of the Crotoniates was the first among all other Greeks. "
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? GREEK NAMES
The ancient Greeks did not have a "first name, middle name, last name" in the same way as do Americans and members of other modern societies. They generally had a given name, roughly equivalent to a modern first name, followed by their place of origin. Hence, "Milo of Croton. " An alternative form: identifying a person by referencing his father's name, a patronymic naming system. Milo's father's name was Diotimus, and Pausanias sometimes refers to Milo by his patronymic: "Milo, son of Diotimus. " Compare modern patronym- ics, such as names that end with the -son suffix: Johnson (i. e. , "son of John"), Jackson, Peterson, Stevenson, etc.
? ? ? ASK YOURSELF
1. Milo apparently enjoyed competing in informal contests of strength and skill, in addition to those described in the document. What do you suppose motivated him to want to do this?
2. In the introduction to the document, it was stated that Milo was the greatest ancient Olympic athlete, and possibly the greatest of all time. Does this seem plau- sible? Is there a way to prove this contention, or is it more likely that it is an issue for which a consensus will never be achieved?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e Ancient athletes like Milo enjoyed the adulation of an adoring public, much like modern athletes and other celebrities. The ancient athletes were
? ? ? ? ? ? ? A FAMOUS ATHLETIC FAMILY
Possibly the most noteworthy athletic family in the history of the ancient games came from the island of Rhodes, in the eastern Mediterranean. Pausanias informs us that the "elder statesman" of this distinguished group, Diagoras, won a boxing crown in the Olympics of 464 BCE. His sons Acusilaus, Damagetus, and Dorieus were all champion athletes. There is a story that Acusilaus and Damagetus, having triumphed at the same Olympiad, hoisted their father onto their shoulders and carried him through the crowd, who tossed flow- ers at him and congratulated him on his sons' athletic excellence. Dorieus, the youngest son, won the pankra- tion in three successive Olympiads (432, 428, and 424), as well as eight crowns in the Isthmian games and seven in the Nemean. Two of Diagoras's grandsons also claimed Olympic glory: Eucles, who triumphed in box- ing in the Olympics of 396, and Peisirodus, in boys' boxing, in 388.
Pindar wrote an epinicean ode (Olympian 7) in honor of Diagoras, that "mighty, fair-fighting man" (tr. Swanson), in which he indicates that Diagoras won twice at Olympia, four times at the Isthmian games, and an unspecified number of times at Nemea, as well as one or more victories at games in Athens, Argos, Thebes, Arcadia, Boeotia, Aegina, and Pellana.
Plutarch and Cicero both relate the following incident from Diagoras's old age: On the day when he had seen his two sons crowned at Olympia, a Spartan supposedly approached him and said, "Die, Diagoras, for you could never ascend to heaven. " The point seemed to be that the old man had reached the apex of happiness, and nothing--not even heaven itself--could surpass the joy a father would feel at the Olympic success of his offspring.
Today, we might use the words "athletic dynasty" to describe this family!
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immortalized by statues in the Altis (sort of like a Hall of Fame of Olympic champions), and praised in verse by well-paid professional poets. Furthermore, they brought fame and glory to their families and home- towns by virtue of their athletic accomplishments. Consider why human beings, both ancient and modern, idolize(d) their athletic heroes, some- times to great extremes.
e The ancient Olympics were first staged in 776 BCE. They continued to be held every four years for more than a millennium. The modern version of the games has been continuously run since 1896 (with the exceptions of the war years of 1916, 1940, and 1944). So one could argue that Olympic competitions constitute one of the most enduring, most popular, and most widely watched events in the history of the western world. Consider why this is so, why it is that the Olympics have inspired and cre- ated such a long-standing interest among both competitors and fans.
Further Information
Gardiner, E. N. Athletics of the Ancient World. Oxford, 1930.
Harris, H. A. Greek Athletes and Athletics. Bloomington, IN, 1964.
Harris, H. A. Sport in Greece and Rome. Ithaca, NY, 1972.
Kyle, Donald. Athletics in Ancient Athens. Leiden, The Netherlands, 1987.
Matz, David S. Greek and Roman Sport. A Dictionary of Athletes and Events. Jefferson, NC,
1991.
Robinson, Rachel S. Sources for the History of Greek Athletics. Cincinnati, 1955.
Website
Milo of Kroton. http://www. perseus. tufts. edu/Olympics/milo. html
Bibliography for Document
Jones, W. H. S. (tr. ). Pausanias: Description of Greece. Volume III. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London, 1933.
Swanson, Roy Arthur. (tr. ) Pindar's Odes. Indianapolis and New York, 1974.
The (Ancient) World's Greatest Athlete
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44. "PUT ME IN, COACH": A FAMOUS ATHLETIC TRAINER
INTRODUCTION
Hiring a personal trainer is not a modern phenomenon; ancient Greek athletes often had their own personal coaches, who advised them on everything from dietary regimens, to train- ing methods, to lifestyle options. We even have a detailed training manual, authored by a certain Philostratus; the date is uncertain, but it may have been written in the third century CE. In addition to training advice, Philostratus also offers opinions on other relevant topics, such as an athlete's family background: "Now since it is best to begin with a man's birth, the coach should proceed first to investigate the parentage of the boy athlete, that is, to see if the parents were married when young, both of good stock, and free from diseases . . . Young parents . . . bestow strength upon the athlete, pure blood, powerful frame and untainted humors as well as normal size, and I would still further claim that they bestow also a wholesome beauty" [Philostratus. On Gymnastics 28; tr. Robinson. ].
We know the names of several coaches, and perhaps the most successful of these was the fifth-century BCE wrestling trainer Melesias. Pindar's eighth Olympian Ode honors Alcimedon of Aegina, the winner of the boys' wrestling, in 460; Melesias coached Alcimedon, and according to Pindar, Alcimedon's victory was the 30th earned by wrestlers who learned their craft under Melesias's tutelage.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Greek athletes sometimes became coaches after their retirement from active compe- tition, in much the same manner as retired athletes in modern times. This was clearly the case with Melesias; Pindar notes that "he won in his / own right at Nemea, / and, later in the men's pancration / bouts. " From this, it seems clear that Melesias excelled both in wrestling and in the pancration, but he apparently special- ized in coaching wrestlers. Keep in mind also how Pindar emphasizes to young ath- letes dreaming of Olympic glory that it would be to their advantage to secure the services of an experienced coach who had been there, done that: "Untested men [that is, those who had never competed and won] speak unreliably. / But Melesias speaks with authority / about these feats to neophytes . . . "
2. Pindar often incorporated mythic allusions into his poetry, as, for example, the last two lines of the document: "Hades holds no qualms/for one who wins. " The
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
meaning seems to be that a victorious athlete is already immortal, by virtue both of his success and Pindar's poem in his honor, so he need not worry about what might happen to him in the afterlife.
Document: "Coach" Melesias: Pindar, Olympian 8
And, if I've rushed to glorify Melesias' wrestler-boys in poetry,
may envy hurl no jagged stone at me: for I recall he won in his
own right at Nemea,
and, later in the men's pancration
bouts. Teaching comes the easiest to one
who knows; and it is pointless not to learn.
Untested men speak unreliably.
But Melesias speaks with authority
about these feats to neophytes whose highest
dreams are of the prize performances at consecrated games. Alcimedon has brought Melesias
his thirtieth victory:
divinely lucky, with no lack of manliness,
he sent four badly beaten boys
back home in shameful silence, to defer
the choristers of catcalls,
and gave his father's father strength enough
to wrestle with old age:
Hades holds no qualms
for one who wins.
[Tr. Roy Arthur Swanson. Pindar's Odes. (Olympian 8. ) Indianapolis and New York, 1974. Page numbers: 35, 36. ]
AFTERMATH
All three of the wrestlers trained by Milesias and honored by Pindar hailed from families with long-standing athletic traditions. While nothing is known of the progeny of Alcimedon, Timasarchus, or Alcimidas, it would not be surprising if their sons and/or grandsons carried on their families' athletic prowess.
After winning a championship at a major athletic festival like the Olympic or Nemean Games, a victorious athlete could expect to receive a sumptuous welcome upon his return to his hometown.
Expensive gifts, free meals at the town hall, or cash prizes might all be showered upon the conquering hero. It is
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? he sent four badly beaten boys/back home in shameful silence, to defer/the choristers of catcalls: An excellent example of Pindar's skill in seamlessly combining two somewhat different topics in the same sentence. The comment about "four badly beaten boys" is a reference to the procedure fol- lowed in wrestling (and also most likely in boxing and the pancra- tion): prior to the official start of the games, wrestlers would be required to engage in a series of elimination matches--the exact number is anybody's guess--to narrow the field of finalists to 16. These 16 would then compete for the championship, in a single- elimination format. So in order to win a wrestling crown, an athlete would have to defeat four oppo- nents, almost certainly on the same day, no small task considering that these 16 could fairly be said to be the best wrestlers in the Greek world.
Even to make it to the "final 16" would have required considerable skill. And yet so intense was the emphasis on winning that simply making it to that select group of 16 would mean nothing for any wrestler who failed--and there would be 15 failures! --to capture the championship. To lose was worse than disgraceful; hence
? ? ? ? ? 236
"Put Me In, Coach": A Famous Athletic Trainer highly likely that all three of Milesias's wrestlers enjoyed these
kinds of perquisites when they came home.
ASK YOURSELF
1. Compare Pindar's style of poetry to that of Homer. Both authors describe athletic competitions in their respective documents, but there are quite a few differences in the way each poet goes about doing so. What differences do you notice? What do you suppose accounts for those differences?
2. Does Pindar give us any hints about why Melesias was so successful as a coach? Does he anywhere suggest that Melesias's experience as an athlete helped to prepare him to become a first-rate coach?
3. What modern examples can you think of in which two or more members of the same family were successful athletes? And modern examples of former athletes who later became successful coaches?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e In modern sports, the skill of a coach is often measured by the number of victories his/her teams have accumulated, and perhaps also by the number of individual awards won by the players on those teams. It seems as if the same kinds of standards were applied to ancient Greek coaches like Melesias. Consider why coaches are evaluated by these criteria. Is there a more accurate way to assess their effectiveness?
e PindarwritesthatMelesiaswas"divinelylucky"tohavebeensosuccessful as a wrestling coach. It seems like a strange phrase, since Pindar elsewhere often praises the work ethic and self-discipline of both athletes and their trainers. Why do you suppose, then, that he would use the word "lucky" to describe Melesias?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Pindar's totally unsympathetic comment about the four wrestlers defeated by Alcimedon having to return home "in shameful silence," to endure the jeers and the catcalls of their fellow townspeople.
pancration (pronounced "pan-krat-ee- on," not "pan-kra-shun. ") A word meaning "all/strength," the pancra- tion was a brutal event, a combina- tion of boxing and wrestling, in which just about every kind of blow, hold, or kick was permitted, somewhat like modern cage fight- ing. The only prohibitions: no bit- ing; no gouging.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? A BOGUS COACH
Women were not permitted to attend the Olympic games as spectators, but the mother of the champion boxer Peisirodus (q. v. ), Pherenice (the daughter of the famous boxer Diagoras, and therefore also a member of that famous family of athletes) was so eager to watch her son compete that she disguised herself as his coach; she did so by completely enveloping herself in a cloak, in the manner of the other coaches. The deception worked until her son's moment of victory, when Pherenice, in her exuberant leaping and cheering, inadvertently allowed the cloak to drop from her body, immediately revealing her feminine qualities. The Olympic authorities were uncertain about what action to take; some felt that Pherenice should be put to death for such a sacrilege, but cooler heads fortunately prevailed, in deference to the considerable athletic prestige of her family. So Pherenice apparently received no punishment, but the authorities did enact a new regulation, that henceforth, all trainers and coaches must be "clad" in the same way as the athletes: au naturel.
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? MILESIAS'S OTHER SUCCESS STORIES
Pindar briefly mentions Milesias in two of his other victory odes. Milesias served as the trainer for Timasarchus of Aegina, who won a boys' wrestling championship at Nemea, ca. 473 BCE (Pindar's fourth Nemean Ode), and Alcimidas of Aegina, also victorious in boys' wrestling, ca. 461 BCE at Nemea (the sixth Nemean Ode). In the case of the latter, his was the 25th victory won by a member of his athletically inclined family.
? ? 238
Further Information
Bowra, C. M. The Odes of Pindar. Baltimore, 1969.
Hornblower, Simon. Thucydides and Pindar: Historical Narrative and the World of Epinikian
Poetry. Oxford, 2004.
Nisetich, Frank J. Pindar's Victory Songs. Baltimore, 1980. Race, William H. Pindar. Cambridge, MA, 1997.
Website
Works by Pindar. http://classics. mit. edu/Browse/browse-Pindar. html
Bibliography for Document
Swanson, Roy Arthur (tr. ). Pindar's Odes. Indianapolis and New York, 1974.
45. THE RESUME OF ANCIENT ROME'S SUPERSTAR CHARIOTEER
INTRODUCTION
Roman chariot racing was a high-risk, high-reward profession. Princely fortunes awaited those lucky few who enjoyed long careers on the racetrack. The satirist Juvenal, writing per- haps with equal measures of envy and exaggeration, claims that the charioteer Lacerta could amass wealth amounting to 100 times the net worth of a successful lawyer. In the same vein, the epigrammatist Martial writes that a driver named Scorpus could rake in 15 heavy bags of gold in only an hour of successful racing.
But the most proficient of them all was undoubtedly the second-century CE charioteer Appuleius Diocles. Racing for all four factions over the course of his lengthy 24-year career, he tallied an astounding 1,462 wins and set several (most likely) unbreakable statistical records. The minutely detailed inscription that appears below preserves the numbers. This inscription has occasionally been interpreted as a memorial to a recently deceased Diocles, but its tone and content point more strongly to understanding it as a summary of his career after his retirement from the track.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Roman charioteers did not necessarily hail from downtown Rome, or even from Italy. Diocles, for example, came from Lusitania, a section of western Spain in Roman times, Portugal on the map of modern Europe.
2. The Romans counted their years according to the names of the two consuls who held office during that particular year. This system worked because the consul- ship was an annual magistracy, with a high turnover rate: two new consuls each year.
3. Most Roman chariot races featured quadrigae, chariots pulled by four horses, yoked four across. It was apparently noteworthy--and unusual--when different arrangements were employed, such as three-horse, six-horse, or even seven-horse teams.
4. Some races were run cooperatively, team races, with members of the same faction assisting each other strategically. However, the details or rules of such races are unknown.
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Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? Document: The Diocles Inscription (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum [Collection of Latin Inscriptions] 6. 10048
Appuleius Diocles, a driver of the Red faction from Lusitania in Spain, aged 42 years, seven months, 23 days. He first drove for the White faction, during the consulship of Acilius Aviola amd Corellius Pansa [122 CE]. He first won in the same faction, during the consulship of Manlius Acilius Glabrio and Caius
? ? ? ? HOW MUCH MONEY IS 35,000,000 SESTERCES?
The inscription informs us that Diocles won in excess of 35,000,000 sesterces over the course of his 24 years of competitive charioteering. But how much money is that exactly? Or even approximately? Comparing ancient currencies to modern is always problematic, but perhaps a way can be found to provide us with at least a general idea of the buying power of his winnings.
The relationships of the salaries earned by certain Roman workers is known from the Edict of the Emperor Diocletian (ca. 300 CE), a document that specified maximums on wages and prices, a kind of Roman wage/price freeze. Although the edict postdated Diocles by about 150 years, it nonetheless contains the most complete sur- viving information about Roman wage structures, and provides enough detail to make at least some general comparisons with Diocles's earnings.
Among the professions mentioned in the edict, lawyers could receive the highest legal wage, 4,000 sesterces for pleading a case. Teachers of Greek, Latin, literature, and geometry might make a maximum of 800 sesterces per student, per month. An artist was limited to 600 sesterces per day, while a mosaic maker could earn a daily wage of 240 sesterces. Bakers, blacksmiths, wagon wrights, stone masons, cabinet makers, and carpenters could each bring home 200 sesterces for a day's work. Daily wages for camel or mule drivers, water bearers, and sewer cleaners were capped at 100 sesterces, while shepherds, at the lowest level of the wage scale, were eligible for a meager daily maximum of 80. Remember, too, that these figures were the maximums; there was no guarantee that any worker would be paid the highest legally permissible wage.
On the other hand, Diocles's earnings of 35,000,000 sesterces (rounded off), distributed over 24 years, would have yielded an average annual income of about 1,460,000. Even if Diocles competed every day of a 365-day year (which he surely did not), it would still have meant an average daily salary for him of 4,000 sester- ces, far higher than that offered by any of the occupational categories previously mentioned. Lawyers could earn 4,000, but that was not a daily wage; it was to be paid for pleading a case, which would undoubtedly require many days, or weeks, of preparation and courtroom jousting.
An additional indication of the enormity of a sum of 35,000,000 sesterces is that admission to the Equestrian Order--Rome's upper middle class, sometimes called the "knights"--required a net worth of at least 400,000 sesterces. A typical Roman equestrian almost certainly earned a comfortable, if not lavish, income; yet Diocles could make several times an equestrian's amount in a year, or less, of successful charioteering.
Was Diocles permitted to keep all 35,000,000, or was he required to surrender at least some of it to his fac- tion, or to the imperial treasury, or to some other person or organization (although probably not to an agent; the practice of professional athletes hiring legal or financial representatives awaited a more mercenary era)? The answer to this question is unknown. But even if he had to put half of his winnings into someone else's upturned palm, the remainder--17,500,000 sesterces--would still have made him a multimillionaire by today's standards.
It appears that the practice of paying handsome salaries to top-ranked athletes is hardly a new phenomenon.
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Bellicius Torquatus [124 CE]. He first drove for the Green faction during the consulship of Torquatus Aspens and Annius Libo [128 CE]. He first won for the Red faction during the consulship of Laenus Pontianus and Antonius Rufinus.
Summary [of his career]: He drove chariots for 24 years, having been sent from the gate 4,257 times [i. e. , he competed in 4,257 races]. He won 1,462: from the procession [the first race of the day] 110 wins. Singles races [where he competed on his own, instead of cooperatively with other faction teammates]: 1,064 wins. Of these, he won the major prize 92 times: 30,000 sesterces 32 times, including three times with a six-horse team [four horses was the stan- dard number]; 40,000 sesterces 28 times. He won 50,000 sesterces 29 times; of these, one was with a seven-horse team. He won 60,000 sesterces three times. He won 347 doubles races and 51 triples races. In the three-horse chariots, he won the 15,000 sesterces prize four times. He placed [i. e. , finished first, second, or third] 2,900 times.
He finished second 861 times, third 576 times. He failed to place 1,351 times. He won ten times for the Blue faction, 91 times for the White fac- tion, including two wins worth 30,000 sesterces each. He won 35,863,120 ses- terces [over the course of his entire career]. Furthermore, he won three races in two-horse chariots. He won once for the Whites, and twice for the Greens, in three-horse chariots. He won by taking the lead at the start 815 times. He won by coming from behind 67 times. He won after deliberately falling behind 36 times. He won using various other strategies 42 times. He won on the stretch
The Resume of Ancient Rome's Superstar Charioteer
? ? ? ? THE FACTIONS: RED, WHITE, GREEN, AND BLUE
Factions were official organizations of racing companies whose responsibility it was to provide horses, chariots, drivers, and equipment. Originally, there were only two factions, the White (factio alba, or albata) and the Red (factio russata). Early in the first century CE, two more were formed, the Green (factio prasina), and the Blue (fac- tio veneta). Spectators usually became fans of a particular faction; their attitude toward individual drivers depended upon the drivers' faction affiliation. The Green and Blue factions seemed to be the most popular, which raises the interesting, although unanswerable, question of why a charioteer of Diocles's undoubted skill and reputation spent most of his career with the Reds.
Chariot racing was apparently an institution that inspired the loyalty and partisanship of royalty and com- moner alike. The emperor Caligula (reigned 37-41 CE) was reportedly so addicted to the fortunes of the Greens that occasionally, he even ate and slept in their stables.
