Too aged to
participate
in battle, he was nonetheless very generous (some might say too generous!
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome_nodrm
to A.
D.
68.
London,
1959.
Website
Tiberius Gracchus. http://medeaslair. net/tgracchus. html
Bibliography for Document
Scott-Kilvert, Ian. Plutarch: Makers of Rome. New York, 1965.
A Tribune Speaks, a Riot Ensues
215
This page intentionally left blank
41. EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT THE WEATHER, BUT NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT
INTRODUCTION
The source of information for this document is to be found among the letters of Pliny the Younger.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. The addressee of this letter is one Minicius Macrinus, to whom Pliny had written in several other letters. He hailed from Brescia, in northern Italy, in the same general location as Pliny's hometown of Como.
2. Pliny begins his letter with the same topic that often occupies the first lines of modern letters: the weather!
Document: Storms, and Then Floods
Can the weather be as bad and stormy where you are? Here we have nothing but gales and repeated floods. The Tiber has overflowed its bed and deeply flooded its lower banks, so that although it is being drained by the canal cut by the Emperor [Trajan, who ruled 98-117 CE], with his usual foresight, it is filling the valleys and inundating the fields, and wherever there is level ground, there is nothing to be seen but water. Then the streams which it normally receives and carries down to the sea are forced back as it spreads to meet them, and so it floods with their water the fields it does not reach itself. The Anio, most delightful of rivers--so much so that the houses on its banks seem to beg it not to leave them--has torn up and carried away most of the woods which shade its course. High land nearby has been undermined, so that its channel is blocked in several places with the resultant landslides. And in its efforts to regain its lost course it has wrecked buildings and forced out its way over the debris.
People who were hit by the storm on higher ground have seen the valuable furniture and fittings of wealthy homes, or else all the farm stock, yoked oxen, plows and plowmen, or cattle left free to graze, and among them trunks of trees
? ? ? ? ? 217
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
or beams and roofs of houses, all floating by in wide- spread confusion. Nor have the places where the river did not rise escaped disaster, for instead of floods they have had incessant rain, gales and cloudbursts which have destroyed the walls enclosing valuable properties, rocked public buildings, and brought them crashing to the ground. Many people have been maimed, crushed, and buried in such accidents, so that grievous loss of life is added to material damage.
My fears that you have been through something like this are proportionate to the danger--if I am wrong, please relieve my anxiety as soon as possible, and let me know in any case. Whether disaster is actual or expected, the effect is much the same, except that suffer- ing has its limits but apprehension has none; suffering is confined to the known event, but apprehension extends to every possibility. [Tr. Betty Radice. Pliny: Letters and Panegyricus. (8. 17). Volume II. LCL, 1969. Page num- bers: 49, 51. ]
AFTERMATH
Although Tiber River flooding remained a serious public safety issue even after the floods described by Pliny and Tacitus, it was not until the nineteenth century that large stone flood walls were built along the river's banks, to keep the water confined to its channel. The
ancient Roman engineers and architects most likely had the expertise to design and construct such walls, but they did not do so. The reasons for this were several: floodwaters generally receded quickly; Rome's fabled Seven Hills had sufficient elevation and space to afford a safe haven to people in harm's way during flooding; the sophisticated system of aqueducts con- tinually brought fresh water into the city, so the danger of drinking water contaminated by flooding was minimal; the sewer system was also very efficient, so that foul water and water-borne debris could be washed away quickly; and their belief in floods as religious
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Anio: The Anio River, a major tribu- tary of the Tiber, arises in central Italy and runs its course for about 67 miles before its confluence with the Tiber. Two large aqueducts drew water from the Anio and helped to supply Rome with the hundreds of thousands of gallons that daily poured into the city. Hence, it is not surprising that Pliny would refer to this river as delicatissimus, "most delightful. "
flooded its lower banks: See the side- bar, below.
Tiber: The fabled Tiber River wended its way through the downtown area of Rome.
widespread confusion: The Latin is varie lateque, with the former con- noting a wide variety of debris floating on the floodwaters and the latter suggesting that these waters were widely dispersed.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? FATHER TIBER OUT OF CONTROL!
Flooding of the Tiber River was a continuing problem in ancient Rome; still extant are 42 literary descriptions of 33 different floods between 414 BCE and 398 CE. One of the most destructive of these occurred about 70 CE; it is described in vivid detail by the historian Tacitus, in his Histories [1. 86; tr. Moore. ]
[There was] a sudden overflow of the Tiber, which, swollen to a great height, broke down the wooden bridge [the Sublician Bridge, the oldest bridge in Rome] and then was thrown back by the ruins of the bridge which dammed the stream, and overflowed not only the low-lying level parts of the city, but also parts which are normally free from such disasters. Many were swept away in the public streets, a larger number cut off in shops and in their beds. The common people were reduced to famine by lack of employment and failure of supplies. Apartment houses had their foundations undermined by the standing water and then collapsed when the flood withdrew.
? ? 218
Everybody Talks about the Weather, but No One Does Anything about It
omens gave at least some Romans a sense that these inundations, catastrophic though they might be, were somehow ordained by the gods and therefore not susceptible to human control.
ASK YOURSELF
1. What were some of the dangers that resulted in Rome when the Tiber River flooded?
2. What people were directly affected by the flood? What kinds of property damages occurred?
3. What does Pliny mean by the last sentence in his letter ("whether disaster is actual or expected the effect is much the same . . . ")?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e TheRomansexcelledintheartofcivilengineering. Giventhisfact,whydo you suppose the Tiber River flooded so often, and so destructively, over the course of so many years, without Roman engineers and architects devising a system of flood control that could have prevented, or at least minimized, the destruction caused by the flooding?
e Does the flooding described by both Pliny and Tacitus sound similar to any of the natural disasters that have afflicted the modern world in recent years?
e Does Pliny's account in any way suggest the existence in ancient Rome of an agency similar to the Red Cross, the National Guard, or emergency response teams to deal with a natural disaster such as the one he describes? If those agencies did not exist, how do you suppose the Romans would cope with calamities like raging floods?
Further Information
Adam, Jean-Pierre. Roman Building: Materials and Techniques. Bloomington, IN, 1994. Aldrete, Gregory S. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 2007.
Connolly, P. and H. Dodge. The Ancient City. Oxford, 1998.
Platner, Samuel B. and T. Ashby. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. London,
1929.
Richardson, L. A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 1992.
Bibliography for Document
Aldrete, Gregory S. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 2007.
Burstein, Stanley, a review of Aldrete's book (supra), in the History Cooperative database:
http://www. historycooperative. org/journals/ht/41. 1/br_1. html
Moore, Clifford H. (tr. ). Tacitus: The Histories, Books I-III. Volume II. [LCL. ] Cambridge
and London, 1925.
Radice, Betty (tr. ). Pliny: Letters and Panegyricus. Volume II. [LCL. ] Cambridge and
London, 1969.
Westcott, John H. (ed. ). Selected Letters of Pliny. Norman, OK, new edition, 1965.
? ? ? ? 219
This page intentionally left blank
SPORTS AND GAMES
This page intentionally left blank
42. THE GODDESS WAS ON HIS SIDE
INTRODUCTION
Homer's Iliad, organized into 24 chapters called "Books," covers the last few months of the 10-year Trojan War. Its pages are filled with stirring tales of gods and goddesses, victory and defeat, treachery and deceit, high passions and fierce rivalries. In Book 16, Homer describes a turning point in the war: the killing of the Greek soldier Patroclus by the best of the Trojans, Hector. The death of Patroclus set off a chain of events that dominates the last part of the Iliad, but the focus in this chapter is on Book 23, where the preeminent Greek warrior Achilles sponsors a series of eight athletic contests to honor the memory of Patroclus, who was his close friend.
The fourth event in the games, recounted in the document to follow, was a footrace. The contestants: Odysseus; Antilochus, who was earlier involved in a chariot-racing contro- versy; and Ajax, son of Oileus (there were two Ajaxes, differentiated by their patronymics; the other Ajax was the son of Telamon). The prizes: for the winner, a silver mixing bowl, "the finest mixing bowl in all the world. " A massive ox awaited the man who finished sec- ond, while the third- (and last) place runner would receive half a bar of gold.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. As usual in funeral games, prizes of great value were offered to the contestants. Achilles provided these prizes from among his own possessions, mostly the booty he had amassed during the long years of the war. The relative value of the prizes sometimes seems a little puzzling. Most moderns, for example, would probably con- sider a solid gold bar to be worth more than a silver mixing bowl. Perhaps the crafts- manship of the bowl, "wrought to perfection" as Homer puts it, conferred on it a greater value than a lump of gold.
2. Footraces, both in the funeral games and in the later Olympic games, were not run on an oval track as today, but rather in a straight line, with a turning post at the far end. The athletes ran toward the post, rounded it, and then ran back to the starting line--which thus also functioned as the finish line.
3. The Greeks generally viewed the gods and goddesses as taking direct roles in human activities. So it is not surprising that Odysseus would pray to Athena for help during the heat of the race, and that she would hear his prayer and provide assistance.
? ? ? ? 223
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? Document: Homer's Account of the Foot Race in the Funeral Games for Patroclus
[Achilles has announced the three prizes, and calls for three volunteers to compete in the footrace. ]
"Now men come forward, fight to win this prize! "
And the racing Oilean [i. e. , son of Oeleus] Ajax sprang up at once, Odysseus, quick at tactics too, then Nestor's son,
Antilochus, fastest of all the young men in the ranks.
Achilles pointed out the post. They toed the line--
and broke flat out from the start and Ajax shot ahead
with quick Odysseus coming right behind him, close
as the weaver's rod to a well-sashed woman's breast
when she deftly pulls it toward her, shooting the spool
across the warp, still closer, pressing her breast--
so close Odysseus sprinted, hot on Ajax' heels,
feet hitting his tracks before the dust could settle
and quick Odysseus panting, breathing down his neck,
always forcing the pace and all the Argives shouting,
cheering him on as he strained for triumph, sprinting on
and fast in the homestretch, spurting toward the goal
Odysseus prayed in his heart to blazing-eyed Athena,
"Hear me, Goddess, help me--hurry, urge me on! "
So Odysseus prayed and Athena heard his prayer,
put spring in his limbs, his feet, his fighting hands
and just as the whole field came lunging in for the trophy
Ajax slipped at a dead run--Athena tripped him up--
right where the dung lay slick from bellowing cattle
the swift runner Achilles slew in Patroclus' honor.
Dung stuffed his mouth, his nostrils dripped muck
as shining long-enduring Odysseus flashed past him
to come in first by far and carry off the cup
while Ajax took the ox. The racer in all his glory
just stood there, clutching one of the beast's horns,
spitting out the dung and sputtering to his comrades,
"Foul, by heaven! The goddess fouled my finish!
Always beside Odysseus--just like the man's mother,
rushing to put his rivals in the dust! "
They all roared with laughter at his expense.
Antilochus came in last and carried off his prize
with a broad smile and a joke to warm his comrades:
"I'll tell you something you've always known, my friends-- down to this very day the gods prefer old-timers.
Look at Ajax now, with only a few years on me.
But Odysseus--why, he's out of the dark ages,
one of the old relics--
but in green old age, they say. No mean feat
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Argives: The word applies specifically to the natives of Argos, an impor- tant city in southern Greece, but Homer uses it generically to refer to all the Greeks.
blazing-eyed Athena: The goddess Athena is depicted in both the Iliad and in the Odyssey as Odysseus's special helper and protector. Many of her nicknames pertain to her eyes; "gray-eyed" and "flashing- eyed" are commonly employed, in addition to "blazing-eyed," as here.
cheering him on: A majority of the spectators was clearly rooting for Odysseus to win the race.
green old age: The Greeks had an interesting word for an older per- son who was still fit and active: omogeron, literally an "unripe old person," like fruit that had not yet ripened but was still green.
Nestor: Nestor was the wise old man of the Greek forces that were assembled to fight at Troy.
Too aged to participate in battle, he was nonetheless very generous (some might say too generous! ) with advice to his younger cohorts. Prior to the start of the chariot race in the funeral games, he subjected his son Antilochus to a long mono- logue about how to win it. One can almost picture the young man's eyes glazing over.
quick at tactics: Homer always describes Odysseus with phrases referring to his mental agility. Unlike many of the other epic heroes, Odysseus was known for his ability to think quickly and to devise schemes to extricate himself from almost any predicament.
? ? ? 224
The Goddess Was on His Side
? ? ? ? AGE AND TREACHERY ALWAYS OVERCOME YOUTH AND SKILL
Odysseus had a well-deserved reputation for sneakiness, especially as a competitive athlete, and he often defeated opponents much younger than he. The Odyssey also offers several interesting instances of Odysseus the aging athlete overcoming unsuspecting, youthful challengers. Perhaps the best example of these kinds of encounters occurs in Book 8, where Odysseus has been shipwrecked on the island of the Phaeacians. Several of the young Phaeacians, who had a chance meeting with Odysseus but of course had no idea of his identity, decided to be neighborly and invite him to join in their athletic contests--although the reader does get the impression that there was a certain smirking cockiness in their invitation.
After enduring some taunting from his Phaeacian hosts, Odysseus angrily jumped to his feet, not bothering to change into athletic apparel, nor even to stretch or warm up. He grabbed a discus that was lying nearby on the ground, one that was even heavier than those the young Phaeacian athletes had heaved. He whirled around and let it fly; Homer says that the spectators "went flat on the ground," so astonished and surprised were they at Odysseus's strength and throwing skill. The discus flew through the air and landed far beyond the farthest throw that any of the young men had achieved.
The adrenaline gushed. Odysseus next turned to those (formerly! ) smirking Phaeacians and furiously chal- lenged them to any other kind of contest. A footrace? No volunteers arose. Wrestling? Silence. Boxing? Not to- day. Archery? Some other time. Javelin throwing? Forget it.
Finally, Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians, stepped forward and called a halt to the games and the chal- lenges, suggesting instead that they all turn their attention to a banquet and dancing, more "Phaeacian-like" pursuits.
? ? to beat him out in a race, for all but our Achilles. "
Bantering so, but he flattered swift Achilles
and the matchless runner paid him back in kind:
"Antilochus, how can I let your praise go unrewarded?
Here's more gold--a half-bar more in the bargain. "
He placed it in his hands, and he was glad to have it.
[Tr. Robert Fagles. Homer: The Iliad. (Book 23. ) Penguin Books, 1990. Page numbers: 582, 583, 584. ]
AFTERMATH
The three contestants in the footrace all had interesting post-race adventures. The most famous of these is the story of Odysseus's 10-year homeward journey after the Trojan War, as recounted in Homer's Odyssey.
Ajax drowned on his voyage home after the war. This Ajax was always viewed as a brash and irreverent sort; after successfully weathering a storm at sea and guiding his ship and crew to safety, he loudly boasted that he had bested both the deities and the ocean waves. The god Poseidon, infuriated by this unwarranted insolence, shattered with his fearsome trident the point of land from which Ajax uttered his boast, sinking both it and Ajax into the depths of the onrushing waters.
Antilochus, young, handsome, and a close friend of both Patroclus and Achilles--it was Antilochus who had the unhappy duty of informing Achilles about Patroclus's death--was subsequently killed while defending his father Nestor against an attack by the Ethiopian king
? ? 225
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
Memnon. The three friends--Antilochus, Patroclus, and Achilles--were buried in the same tomb and were reunited in the afterlife. When Odysseus made his descent into the Underworld (in Book 11 of the Odyssey), he saw all three of them together.
ASK YOURSELF
1. Achilles was a fast runner; Homer often refers to him as "swift-footed Achilles. " He probably could have won the footrace easily if he had competed. In fact, Antilochus admits, at the end of the document, that Achilles could outrun even Odysseus. Why do you suppose, then, that he sat it out?
2. Why did Ajax complain so bitterly about losing the race to Odysseus? What do you think about his contention that a goddess was the cause of his defeat?
3. The response of the spectators--laughter--to Ajax' unfortunate fall seems a little inappropriate. Why do you suppose they laughed at him? Was it merely because he looked foolish, having fallen in cattle droppings, or did their laughter also display a lack of respect for him?
4. If Odysseus had fallen instead of Ajax, is it likely that the spectators would have greeted him with laughter?
5. Quite a change has taken place in Antilochus. A little earlier in Book 23, he angrily complained when it appeared that he might be deprived of the second-place prize in the chariot race. But he seems to be perfectly content with having finished last in the footrace. Why the change in attitude?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e In Homer's description of the eight events in the funeral games for Patroclus, it seems as if the chariot race is the most important one. It is described first, and in the greatest detail. Think about why the Greeks of Homer's time apparently considered chariot racing so prestigious.
e TheattitudedisplayedbytheHomericathletestowardwinningandlosing seems to be very different from the way in which Olympic athletes (centu- ries later) viewed the matter. As noted, disputes did arise in the funeral games for Patroclus, but more often, the competitors seemed to behave like Antilochus after the footrace: even though he finished last, he was still good-humored about it and willing to give due credit to the winner. No defeated Olympic athlete would have displayed such magnanimity. Two of the events in the funeral games did not even have a winner: the wrestling match, which ended in a tie, and the archery contest, which was cancelled because everyone knew that Agamemnon was unbeatable. Consider some possible reasons why the participants in the funeral games seemed to have such a polite outlook on the question of winning and losing.
e The Roman poet Virgil (70-19 BCE) authored the Aeneid, an epic poem about the Roman hero Aeneas and the founding of the Roman race. In Book 5, Virgil describes a series of athletic events staged in honor of Anchises, Aeneas's deceased father. Consider the similarities and differ- ences between the funeral games for Patroclus and the funeral games for Anchises.
? ? ? ? 226
Further Information
Bowra, Sir Maurice. Tradition and Design in the Iliad. London, 1930.
Edwards, Mark W. Homer: Poet of the Iliad. Baltimore and London, 1987.
Nagy, Gregory. The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry.
Baltimore and London, 1979.
Schein, Seth. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and
London, 1984.
Wace, Alan J. B. and Frank Stubbings. A Companion to Homer. London, 1962.
Website
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. http://library. thinkquest. org/19300
Bibliography for document
Fagles, Robert (tr. ). Homer: The Iliad. New York, 1990.
The Goddess Was on His Side
227
This page intentionally left blank
43. THE (ANCIENT) WORLD'S GREATEST ATHLETE INTRODUCTION
The sixth-century BCE wrestler Milo of Croton (a southern Italian town noted for the many champion athletes born there) was without a doubt the most successful competitor in ancient Olympic history. It might not be too far a stretch to consider him the most domi- nant Olympic athlete ever. As Pausanias informs us below, he won the championship in six consecutive Olympiads. No Olympic athlete, ancient or modern, has ever accomplished a comparable feat. And he nearly won a seventh; he was undone by a certain Timasitheus (also from Croton, interestingly), who apparently employed a strategy of running around the wrestling ring, and forcing Milo--who must by that time have been 40 years of age or older--to chase him. Eventually, youth and stamina overcame age and experience.
Pausanias also notes that Milo won seven wrestling championships at the Pythian Games. Other sources add that Milo won 10 times at the Isthmian Games and 9 more at the Nemean Games, giving him an astounding total of 32 championships at the four most prestigious and competitive athletic venues.
In addition to his athletic excellence, he was something of a showman, delighting in tests of strength and skill. Many of these displays are described in the passage quoted from the pages of Pausanias. And like many oversized athletes throughout history, Milo had an enor- mous appetite, reportedly downing 20 pounds of meat and bread and three pitchers of wine at a single sitting. He is said to have once carried a four-year-old bull around the stadium, and then to have butchered it and consumed it in its entirety. Another time, at a festival in honor of Zeus, he lifted onto his shoulders a four-year-old steer, paraded with it among the festivalgoers, and then supposedly butchered and ate it.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Statues of victorious athletes were set up in the area around the temple of Zeus, the god to whom the Olympic games were dedicated. Victorious athletes were also praised in verse written by epinicean poets. These poets--who could perhaps be characterized as the western world's first sports writers--specialized in writing odes that honored successful athletes. The best known epinicean poet was Pindar (518-438 BCE). About 45 of his elegantly written poems survive to the present day.
? ? ? ? 229
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
2. Winning the Olympic championship in wrestling was exceptionally difficult. The number of wrestlers who could enter the lists for wrestling is not known, but appa- rently, the entrants had to wrestle a series of elimination matches prior to the start of the games, so that the number of finalists was reduced to 16. These surviving 16 were paired up by lot; no effort was made to seed them or to match them according to weight. The wrestling event then proceeded in the manner of a single-elimination tournament featuring the (presumably) finest 16 wrestlers in the Greek world. Hence, in order to win the overall championship, a wrestler had to defeat four extremely skilled opponents, in four grueling matches, and most likely, all in the same day. (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)
? ? 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.
1959.
Website
Tiberius Gracchus. http://medeaslair. net/tgracchus. html
Bibliography for Document
Scott-Kilvert, Ian. Plutarch: Makers of Rome. New York, 1965.
A Tribune Speaks, a Riot Ensues
215
This page intentionally left blank
41. EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT THE WEATHER, BUT NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT
INTRODUCTION
The source of information for this document is to be found among the letters of Pliny the Younger.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. The addressee of this letter is one Minicius Macrinus, to whom Pliny had written in several other letters. He hailed from Brescia, in northern Italy, in the same general location as Pliny's hometown of Como.
2. Pliny begins his letter with the same topic that often occupies the first lines of modern letters: the weather!
Document: Storms, and Then Floods
Can the weather be as bad and stormy where you are? Here we have nothing but gales and repeated floods. The Tiber has overflowed its bed and deeply flooded its lower banks, so that although it is being drained by the canal cut by the Emperor [Trajan, who ruled 98-117 CE], with his usual foresight, it is filling the valleys and inundating the fields, and wherever there is level ground, there is nothing to be seen but water. Then the streams which it normally receives and carries down to the sea are forced back as it spreads to meet them, and so it floods with their water the fields it does not reach itself. The Anio, most delightful of rivers--so much so that the houses on its banks seem to beg it not to leave them--has torn up and carried away most of the woods which shade its course. High land nearby has been undermined, so that its channel is blocked in several places with the resultant landslides. And in its efforts to regain its lost course it has wrecked buildings and forced out its way over the debris.
People who were hit by the storm on higher ground have seen the valuable furniture and fittings of wealthy homes, or else all the farm stock, yoked oxen, plows and plowmen, or cattle left free to graze, and among them trunks of trees
? ? ? ? ? 217
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
or beams and roofs of houses, all floating by in wide- spread confusion. Nor have the places where the river did not rise escaped disaster, for instead of floods they have had incessant rain, gales and cloudbursts which have destroyed the walls enclosing valuable properties, rocked public buildings, and brought them crashing to the ground. Many people have been maimed, crushed, and buried in such accidents, so that grievous loss of life is added to material damage.
My fears that you have been through something like this are proportionate to the danger--if I am wrong, please relieve my anxiety as soon as possible, and let me know in any case. Whether disaster is actual or expected, the effect is much the same, except that suffer- ing has its limits but apprehension has none; suffering is confined to the known event, but apprehension extends to every possibility. [Tr. Betty Radice. Pliny: Letters and Panegyricus. (8. 17). Volume II. LCL, 1969. Page num- bers: 49, 51. ]
AFTERMATH
Although Tiber River flooding remained a serious public safety issue even after the floods described by Pliny and Tacitus, it was not until the nineteenth century that large stone flood walls were built along the river's banks, to keep the water confined to its channel. The
ancient Roman engineers and architects most likely had the expertise to design and construct such walls, but they did not do so. The reasons for this were several: floodwaters generally receded quickly; Rome's fabled Seven Hills had sufficient elevation and space to afford a safe haven to people in harm's way during flooding; the sophisticated system of aqueducts con- tinually brought fresh water into the city, so the danger of drinking water contaminated by flooding was minimal; the sewer system was also very efficient, so that foul water and water-borne debris could be washed away quickly; and their belief in floods as religious
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Anio: The Anio River, a major tribu- tary of the Tiber, arises in central Italy and runs its course for about 67 miles before its confluence with the Tiber. Two large aqueducts drew water from the Anio and helped to supply Rome with the hundreds of thousands of gallons that daily poured into the city. Hence, it is not surprising that Pliny would refer to this river as delicatissimus, "most delightful. "
flooded its lower banks: See the side- bar, below.
Tiber: The fabled Tiber River wended its way through the downtown area of Rome.
widespread confusion: The Latin is varie lateque, with the former con- noting a wide variety of debris floating on the floodwaters and the latter suggesting that these waters were widely dispersed.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? FATHER TIBER OUT OF CONTROL!
Flooding of the Tiber River was a continuing problem in ancient Rome; still extant are 42 literary descriptions of 33 different floods between 414 BCE and 398 CE. One of the most destructive of these occurred about 70 CE; it is described in vivid detail by the historian Tacitus, in his Histories [1. 86; tr. Moore. ]
[There was] a sudden overflow of the Tiber, which, swollen to a great height, broke down the wooden bridge [the Sublician Bridge, the oldest bridge in Rome] and then was thrown back by the ruins of the bridge which dammed the stream, and overflowed not only the low-lying level parts of the city, but also parts which are normally free from such disasters. Many were swept away in the public streets, a larger number cut off in shops and in their beds. The common people were reduced to famine by lack of employment and failure of supplies. Apartment houses had their foundations undermined by the standing water and then collapsed when the flood withdrew.
? ? 218
Everybody Talks about the Weather, but No One Does Anything about It
omens gave at least some Romans a sense that these inundations, catastrophic though they might be, were somehow ordained by the gods and therefore not susceptible to human control.
ASK YOURSELF
1. What were some of the dangers that resulted in Rome when the Tiber River flooded?
2. What people were directly affected by the flood? What kinds of property damages occurred?
3. What does Pliny mean by the last sentence in his letter ("whether disaster is actual or expected the effect is much the same . . . ")?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e TheRomansexcelledintheartofcivilengineering. Giventhisfact,whydo you suppose the Tiber River flooded so often, and so destructively, over the course of so many years, without Roman engineers and architects devising a system of flood control that could have prevented, or at least minimized, the destruction caused by the flooding?
e Does the flooding described by both Pliny and Tacitus sound similar to any of the natural disasters that have afflicted the modern world in recent years?
e Does Pliny's account in any way suggest the existence in ancient Rome of an agency similar to the Red Cross, the National Guard, or emergency response teams to deal with a natural disaster such as the one he describes? If those agencies did not exist, how do you suppose the Romans would cope with calamities like raging floods?
Further Information
Adam, Jean-Pierre. Roman Building: Materials and Techniques. Bloomington, IN, 1994. Aldrete, Gregory S. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 2007.
Connolly, P. and H. Dodge. The Ancient City. Oxford, 1998.
Platner, Samuel B. and T. Ashby. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. London,
1929.
Richardson, L. A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 1992.
Bibliography for Document
Aldrete, Gregory S. Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome. Baltimore, 2007.
Burstein, Stanley, a review of Aldrete's book (supra), in the History Cooperative database:
http://www. historycooperative. org/journals/ht/41. 1/br_1. html
Moore, Clifford H. (tr. ). Tacitus: The Histories, Books I-III. Volume II. [LCL. ] Cambridge
and London, 1925.
Radice, Betty (tr. ). Pliny: Letters and Panegyricus. Volume II. [LCL. ] Cambridge and
London, 1969.
Westcott, John H. (ed. ). Selected Letters of Pliny. Norman, OK, new edition, 1965.
? ? ? ? 219
This page intentionally left blank
SPORTS AND GAMES
This page intentionally left blank
42. THE GODDESS WAS ON HIS SIDE
INTRODUCTION
Homer's Iliad, organized into 24 chapters called "Books," covers the last few months of the 10-year Trojan War. Its pages are filled with stirring tales of gods and goddesses, victory and defeat, treachery and deceit, high passions and fierce rivalries. In Book 16, Homer describes a turning point in the war: the killing of the Greek soldier Patroclus by the best of the Trojans, Hector. The death of Patroclus set off a chain of events that dominates the last part of the Iliad, but the focus in this chapter is on Book 23, where the preeminent Greek warrior Achilles sponsors a series of eight athletic contests to honor the memory of Patroclus, who was his close friend.
The fourth event in the games, recounted in the document to follow, was a footrace. The contestants: Odysseus; Antilochus, who was earlier involved in a chariot-racing contro- versy; and Ajax, son of Oileus (there were two Ajaxes, differentiated by their patronymics; the other Ajax was the son of Telamon). The prizes: for the winner, a silver mixing bowl, "the finest mixing bowl in all the world. " A massive ox awaited the man who finished sec- ond, while the third- (and last) place runner would receive half a bar of gold.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. As usual in funeral games, prizes of great value were offered to the contestants. Achilles provided these prizes from among his own possessions, mostly the booty he had amassed during the long years of the war. The relative value of the prizes sometimes seems a little puzzling. Most moderns, for example, would probably con- sider a solid gold bar to be worth more than a silver mixing bowl. Perhaps the crafts- manship of the bowl, "wrought to perfection" as Homer puts it, conferred on it a greater value than a lump of gold.
2. Footraces, both in the funeral games and in the later Olympic games, were not run on an oval track as today, but rather in a straight line, with a turning post at the far end. The athletes ran toward the post, rounded it, and then ran back to the starting line--which thus also functioned as the finish line.
3. The Greeks generally viewed the gods and goddesses as taking direct roles in human activities. So it is not surprising that Odysseus would pray to Athena for help during the heat of the race, and that she would hear his prayer and provide assistance.
? ? ? ? 223
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? Document: Homer's Account of the Foot Race in the Funeral Games for Patroclus
[Achilles has announced the three prizes, and calls for three volunteers to compete in the footrace. ]
"Now men come forward, fight to win this prize! "
And the racing Oilean [i. e. , son of Oeleus] Ajax sprang up at once, Odysseus, quick at tactics too, then Nestor's son,
Antilochus, fastest of all the young men in the ranks.
Achilles pointed out the post. They toed the line--
and broke flat out from the start and Ajax shot ahead
with quick Odysseus coming right behind him, close
as the weaver's rod to a well-sashed woman's breast
when she deftly pulls it toward her, shooting the spool
across the warp, still closer, pressing her breast--
so close Odysseus sprinted, hot on Ajax' heels,
feet hitting his tracks before the dust could settle
and quick Odysseus panting, breathing down his neck,
always forcing the pace and all the Argives shouting,
cheering him on as he strained for triumph, sprinting on
and fast in the homestretch, spurting toward the goal
Odysseus prayed in his heart to blazing-eyed Athena,
"Hear me, Goddess, help me--hurry, urge me on! "
So Odysseus prayed and Athena heard his prayer,
put spring in his limbs, his feet, his fighting hands
and just as the whole field came lunging in for the trophy
Ajax slipped at a dead run--Athena tripped him up--
right where the dung lay slick from bellowing cattle
the swift runner Achilles slew in Patroclus' honor.
Dung stuffed his mouth, his nostrils dripped muck
as shining long-enduring Odysseus flashed past him
to come in first by far and carry off the cup
while Ajax took the ox. The racer in all his glory
just stood there, clutching one of the beast's horns,
spitting out the dung and sputtering to his comrades,
"Foul, by heaven! The goddess fouled my finish!
Always beside Odysseus--just like the man's mother,
rushing to put his rivals in the dust! "
They all roared with laughter at his expense.
Antilochus came in last and carried off his prize
with a broad smile and a joke to warm his comrades:
"I'll tell you something you've always known, my friends-- down to this very day the gods prefer old-timers.
Look at Ajax now, with only a few years on me.
But Odysseus--why, he's out of the dark ages,
one of the old relics--
but in green old age, they say. No mean feat
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Argives: The word applies specifically to the natives of Argos, an impor- tant city in southern Greece, but Homer uses it generically to refer to all the Greeks.
blazing-eyed Athena: The goddess Athena is depicted in both the Iliad and in the Odyssey as Odysseus's special helper and protector. Many of her nicknames pertain to her eyes; "gray-eyed" and "flashing- eyed" are commonly employed, in addition to "blazing-eyed," as here.
cheering him on: A majority of the spectators was clearly rooting for Odysseus to win the race.
green old age: The Greeks had an interesting word for an older per- son who was still fit and active: omogeron, literally an "unripe old person," like fruit that had not yet ripened but was still green.
Nestor: Nestor was the wise old man of the Greek forces that were assembled to fight at Troy.
Too aged to participate in battle, he was nonetheless very generous (some might say too generous! ) with advice to his younger cohorts. Prior to the start of the chariot race in the funeral games, he subjected his son Antilochus to a long mono- logue about how to win it. One can almost picture the young man's eyes glazing over.
quick at tactics: Homer always describes Odysseus with phrases referring to his mental agility. Unlike many of the other epic heroes, Odysseus was known for his ability to think quickly and to devise schemes to extricate himself from almost any predicament.
? ? ? 224
The Goddess Was on His Side
? ? ? ? AGE AND TREACHERY ALWAYS OVERCOME YOUTH AND SKILL
Odysseus had a well-deserved reputation for sneakiness, especially as a competitive athlete, and he often defeated opponents much younger than he. The Odyssey also offers several interesting instances of Odysseus the aging athlete overcoming unsuspecting, youthful challengers. Perhaps the best example of these kinds of encounters occurs in Book 8, where Odysseus has been shipwrecked on the island of the Phaeacians. Several of the young Phaeacians, who had a chance meeting with Odysseus but of course had no idea of his identity, decided to be neighborly and invite him to join in their athletic contests--although the reader does get the impression that there was a certain smirking cockiness in their invitation.
After enduring some taunting from his Phaeacian hosts, Odysseus angrily jumped to his feet, not bothering to change into athletic apparel, nor even to stretch or warm up. He grabbed a discus that was lying nearby on the ground, one that was even heavier than those the young Phaeacian athletes had heaved. He whirled around and let it fly; Homer says that the spectators "went flat on the ground," so astonished and surprised were they at Odysseus's strength and throwing skill. The discus flew through the air and landed far beyond the farthest throw that any of the young men had achieved.
The adrenaline gushed. Odysseus next turned to those (formerly! ) smirking Phaeacians and furiously chal- lenged them to any other kind of contest. A footrace? No volunteers arose. Wrestling? Silence. Boxing? Not to- day. Archery? Some other time. Javelin throwing? Forget it.
Finally, Alcinous, the king of the Phaeacians, stepped forward and called a halt to the games and the chal- lenges, suggesting instead that they all turn their attention to a banquet and dancing, more "Phaeacian-like" pursuits.
? ? to beat him out in a race, for all but our Achilles. "
Bantering so, but he flattered swift Achilles
and the matchless runner paid him back in kind:
"Antilochus, how can I let your praise go unrewarded?
Here's more gold--a half-bar more in the bargain. "
He placed it in his hands, and he was glad to have it.
[Tr. Robert Fagles. Homer: The Iliad. (Book 23. ) Penguin Books, 1990. Page numbers: 582, 583, 584. ]
AFTERMATH
The three contestants in the footrace all had interesting post-race adventures. The most famous of these is the story of Odysseus's 10-year homeward journey after the Trojan War, as recounted in Homer's Odyssey.
Ajax drowned on his voyage home after the war. This Ajax was always viewed as a brash and irreverent sort; after successfully weathering a storm at sea and guiding his ship and crew to safety, he loudly boasted that he had bested both the deities and the ocean waves. The god Poseidon, infuriated by this unwarranted insolence, shattered with his fearsome trident the point of land from which Ajax uttered his boast, sinking both it and Ajax into the depths of the onrushing waters.
Antilochus, young, handsome, and a close friend of both Patroclus and Achilles--it was Antilochus who had the unhappy duty of informing Achilles about Patroclus's death--was subsequently killed while defending his father Nestor against an attack by the Ethiopian king
? ? 225
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
Memnon. The three friends--Antilochus, Patroclus, and Achilles--were buried in the same tomb and were reunited in the afterlife. When Odysseus made his descent into the Underworld (in Book 11 of the Odyssey), he saw all three of them together.
ASK YOURSELF
1. Achilles was a fast runner; Homer often refers to him as "swift-footed Achilles. " He probably could have won the footrace easily if he had competed. In fact, Antilochus admits, at the end of the document, that Achilles could outrun even Odysseus. Why do you suppose, then, that he sat it out?
2. Why did Ajax complain so bitterly about losing the race to Odysseus? What do you think about his contention that a goddess was the cause of his defeat?
3. The response of the spectators--laughter--to Ajax' unfortunate fall seems a little inappropriate. Why do you suppose they laughed at him? Was it merely because he looked foolish, having fallen in cattle droppings, or did their laughter also display a lack of respect for him?
4. If Odysseus had fallen instead of Ajax, is it likely that the spectators would have greeted him with laughter?
5. Quite a change has taken place in Antilochus. A little earlier in Book 23, he angrily complained when it appeared that he might be deprived of the second-place prize in the chariot race. But he seems to be perfectly content with having finished last in the footrace. Why the change in attitude?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e In Homer's description of the eight events in the funeral games for Patroclus, it seems as if the chariot race is the most important one. It is described first, and in the greatest detail. Think about why the Greeks of Homer's time apparently considered chariot racing so prestigious.
e TheattitudedisplayedbytheHomericathletestowardwinningandlosing seems to be very different from the way in which Olympic athletes (centu- ries later) viewed the matter. As noted, disputes did arise in the funeral games for Patroclus, but more often, the competitors seemed to behave like Antilochus after the footrace: even though he finished last, he was still good-humored about it and willing to give due credit to the winner. No defeated Olympic athlete would have displayed such magnanimity. Two of the events in the funeral games did not even have a winner: the wrestling match, which ended in a tie, and the archery contest, which was cancelled because everyone knew that Agamemnon was unbeatable. Consider some possible reasons why the participants in the funeral games seemed to have such a polite outlook on the question of winning and losing.
e The Roman poet Virgil (70-19 BCE) authored the Aeneid, an epic poem about the Roman hero Aeneas and the founding of the Roman race. In Book 5, Virgil describes a series of athletic events staged in honor of Anchises, Aeneas's deceased father. Consider the similarities and differ- ences between the funeral games for Patroclus and the funeral games for Anchises.
? ? ? ? 226
Further Information
Bowra, Sir Maurice. Tradition and Design in the Iliad. London, 1930.
Edwards, Mark W. Homer: Poet of the Iliad. Baltimore and London, 1987.
Nagy, Gregory. The Best of the Achaeans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry.
Baltimore and London, 1979.
Schein, Seth. The Mortal Hero: An Introduction to Homer's Iliad. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and
London, 1984.
Wace, Alan J. B. and Frank Stubbings. A Companion to Homer. London, 1962.
Website
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. http://library. thinkquest. org/19300
Bibliography for document
Fagles, Robert (tr. ). Homer: The Iliad. New York, 1990.
The Goddess Was on His Side
227
This page intentionally left blank
43. THE (ANCIENT) WORLD'S GREATEST ATHLETE INTRODUCTION
The sixth-century BCE wrestler Milo of Croton (a southern Italian town noted for the many champion athletes born there) was without a doubt the most successful competitor in ancient Olympic history. It might not be too far a stretch to consider him the most domi- nant Olympic athlete ever. As Pausanias informs us below, he won the championship in six consecutive Olympiads. No Olympic athlete, ancient or modern, has ever accomplished a comparable feat. And he nearly won a seventh; he was undone by a certain Timasitheus (also from Croton, interestingly), who apparently employed a strategy of running around the wrestling ring, and forcing Milo--who must by that time have been 40 years of age or older--to chase him. Eventually, youth and stamina overcame age and experience.
Pausanias also notes that Milo won seven wrestling championships at the Pythian Games. Other sources add that Milo won 10 times at the Isthmian Games and 9 more at the Nemean Games, giving him an astounding total of 32 championships at the four most prestigious and competitive athletic venues.
In addition to his athletic excellence, he was something of a showman, delighting in tests of strength and skill. Many of these displays are described in the passage quoted from the pages of Pausanias. And like many oversized athletes throughout history, Milo had an enor- mous appetite, reportedly downing 20 pounds of meat and bread and three pitchers of wine at a single sitting. He is said to have once carried a four-year-old bull around the stadium, and then to have butchered it and consumed it in its entirety. Another time, at a festival in honor of Zeus, he lifted onto his shoulders a four-year-old steer, paraded with it among the festivalgoers, and then supposedly butchered and ate it.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Statues of victorious athletes were set up in the area around the temple of Zeus, the god to whom the Olympic games were dedicated. Victorious athletes were also praised in verse written by epinicean poets. These poets--who could perhaps be characterized as the western world's first sports writers--specialized in writing odes that honored successful athletes. The best known epinicean poet was Pindar (518-438 BCE). About 45 of his elegantly written poems survive to the present day.
? ? ? ? 229
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
2. Winning the Olympic championship in wrestling was exceptionally difficult. The number of wrestlers who could enter the lists for wrestling is not known, but appa- rently, the entrants had to wrestle a series of elimination matches prior to the start of the games, so that the number of finalists was reduced to 16. These surviving 16 were paired up by lot; no effort was made to seed them or to match them according to weight. The wrestling event then proceeded in the manner of a single-elimination tournament featuring the (presumably) finest 16 wrestlers in the Greek world. Hence, in order to win the overall championship, a wrestler had to defeat four extremely skilled opponents, in four grueling matches, and most likely, all in the same day. (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)
? ? 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.
