{"id":79,"date":"2019-10-04T17:04:44","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T21:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=79"},"modified":"2020-08-13T14:22:34","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T18:22:34","slug":"costs-of-munera-and-other-spectacles","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/chapter\/costs-of-munera-and-other-spectacles\/","title":{"raw":"Costs of Munera and Other Spectacles","rendered":"Costs of Munera and Other Spectacles"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">In this section you will learn<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>that is is very difficult to understand exactly how much various games cost<\/li>\r\n \t<li>how some games were funded, at least in part, by the Roman state<\/li>\r\n \t<li>how spectacles were used by elite politicians to 'share' their wealth and triumphs with the non-elite<\/li>\r\n \t<li>how spectacles could bankrupt politicians due to their cost<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nPutting on shows was an expensive exercise. It\u2019s hard to put the cost into exact figures, let alone convert those figures into modern money, except for the occasional game, but those who gave these games in the Late Republic (and sometimes in the empire) were willing to incur spectacular costs, sometimes ruining themselves in the process. This ensured a constantly evolving set of public expectations, with every set of games expected to exceed the previous set and so forth. The major <em>[pb_glossary id=\"95\"]ludi[\/pb_glossary]<\/em> were funded by the state, but if a show was held to fulfill a private vow then the giver paid for the entire expense; before the empire gladiatorial shows were not part of any of the state festivals and were entirely funded by the giver. However, even in the case of games funded by the state, the magistrates in charge were supposed to use their own money to supplement state funding.\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar textbox--examples\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">In modern terms<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">It's difficult to compare prices between the Romans modern-day currency because of the differences between the Roman market system and the current economical system.<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">750,000 sesterces is <strong>roughly<\/strong> equivalent to $200,000 CAD<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nSpeaking of a show in 160 BCE Polybius gives early evidence for the rising costs of shows.\r\n<blockquote>The total expense of such a show costs not less than thirty talents [750,000 sesterces] if it is done on such a lavish scale\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/back-matter\/aii-author-biographies\/#Polybius\">Polybius<\/a>, <em>Histories <\/em>31.28.6<\/blockquote>\r\nVarious laws were passed to stop aspiring politicians using games to promote their candidacies and getting around bribery laws by holding spectacles and handing out free seats (and food); they were all completely ineffective. In the following speech Cicero, who had passed his own law limiting when people could hold games, the <em>Lex Tullia<\/em>, in 63 BCE, was defending Lucius Licinius Murena on a charge of electoral bribery. He tries to pass off responsibility for spending on feasts and shows on Murena\u2019s friends and, in case that doesn\u2019t work, claims that such spending is entirely legitimate and in accord with Roman tradition.\r\n<blockquote>What is your charge? Are you accusing Murena of bribery? I am not defending bribery. You blame me because you say I am defending behaviour which I passed in a law to punish. I punished bribery, not innocence, and will join with you in prosecuting any honest case of bribery. You have said that at my urging a resolution of the Senate was passed, \u201cthat if any men who had been bribed had met with the candidates, if any hired men followed them, if seats were given men to see the shows of gladiators according to their tribes, and also, if dinners were given to the masses, that appeared to be a violation of the Calpurnian law.\u201d[footnote]A law passed in 149 BCE which seems to have created fines for bribery.\u00a0\u00a0[\/footnote] Therefore the Senate decides that these things were done in violation of the Calpurnian law if they were done at all it, decides what there is not the least occasion for, out of kindness for the candidates. For there is a great question whether such things have been done or not. That if they have been done, they were done in violation of the law, no one can doubt.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/back-matter\/aii-author-biographies\/#Cicero\">Cicero<\/a>, <em>In Defence of Murena<\/em> 67<\/blockquote>\r\nCicero continues on discussing the role of spectacles, their costs, and public expectations about their magnificence.\r\n<blockquote>\u201cBut spectacles were exhibited to the people who sat in their tribes, and crowds of the common people were invited to dinner.\u201d Although this, members of the jury, was not done by Murena at all, but done in accordance with all usage and precedent by his friends, still, being reminded of the fact, I recollect how many votes these investigations held in the Senate have lost us, Servius. For what time was there ever, either within our own recollection or that of our fathers, in which this, whether you call it ambition or generosity, did not exist to the extent of giving a place in the circus and in the Forum to one's friends, and to the men of one's own tribe?\r\n\r\nCicero, <em>In Defence of Murena<\/em> 72<\/blockquote>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_756\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"533\"]<img class=\" wp-image-756\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic-300x122.jpg\" alt=\"gladiators borghese\" width=\"533\" height=\"217\" \/> A mosaic shows gladiators fighting and the outcomes of the bouts (death is marked by a \u00d8) found in the Villa Borghese outside Rome. It probably dates to the early 4th century CE. Image from Wikimedia.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn a philosophical text written in 44 BCE, Cicero talked about the need to provide spectacles to the people for electoral success.\r\n<blockquote>Still, I realize that in Rome, even in the good old days, it was an established custom to expect magnificent entertainments from the very best men in the year they were [pb_glossary id=\"57\"]aedile[\/pb_glossary]. So both Publius Crassus,[footnote]This Crassus was the ancestor of the more famous Marcus Licinius Crassus who defeated Spartacus; there were a number of Crassi and wealth seems to have run in the family. This Crassus was aedile and consul in 205 BCE and was given the extra cognomen of <em>Dives <\/em>(Rich)<em>; <\/em>confusingly Marcus Licinius Crassus also had the same cognomen.[\/footnote] whose cognomen was not just \u201cRich\" but was actually rich, gave splendid games when he was aedile; and a little later Lucius Crassus (whose colleague was Quintus Mucius, the most unpretentious man in the world) gave the\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaways<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nElites were expected to give spectacles as part of their politician careers by the people of Rome\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nmost magnificent entertainments while aedile [212\/211 BCE]. Then came Gaius Claudius, the son of Appius, and, after him, many others - the Luculli, Hortensius, and Silanus. Publius Lentulus, however, in the year of my consulship, eclipsed all that had gone before him, and Scaurus emulated him. And my friend Pompey's exhibitions in his second consulship were the most magnificent of all. And so you see what I think about all this sort of thing. 58 Still we should avoid any suspicion that we are cheap. Mamercus was a very wealthy man, and his refusal to run for aedile was why he didn\u2019t win the race for consul.[footnote]In other words people believed he had avoided running for aedile so he would not have to use his own money to supplement the public funding given to the aediles for putting on the public games.[\/footnote] If, therefore, the people demand such entertainment, men of proper judgment must at least consent to supply it, even if they do not like the idea. But in so doing they should keep within their means, as I myself did. They should also pay for such entertainment, if gifts of money to the people will enable them to secure in the future some more important or more useful end.\r\n\r\nCicero, <em>On Moral Duties<\/em> 2.57-58<\/blockquote>\r\nFaced with the potentially massive costs of giving spectacles, some might cheap out. In the following extract from a Roman novel of the age of Nero, a character who is a freedman talks about his expectations for an upcoming spectacle and his disappointment at a particularly thrifty one.\r\n<blockquote>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_930\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"184\"]<a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381.jpg\"><img class=\"wp-image-930 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381-184x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"184\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a> The group comprises four silver denarii. The earliest, showing some wear, is of Domitian whilst the other three are in crisper condition and show very little signs of circulation. All of these three date to the reign of Antoninus Pius. It seems likely that the four coins went into the ground together, either lost as part of a purse, or concealed as a hoard. This loss or deposition, on the basis of the condition of the coins, presumably occurred in the 150s or 160s.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\u201cLook out for it! We'll soon have a fine <em>[pb_glossary id=\"82\"]munus[\/pb_glossary]<\/em> for three days, no <em>[pb_glossary id=\"80\"]lanista[\/pb_glossary]<\/em>\u2019s bunch<em> \u2013 <\/em>but lots of freedmen. Our Titus has a hot head and lots of courage and it will go to a finish. I'm pretty familiar with him, and he'll not stand for any frame-ups. It will be cold steel in the best style, no running away, the slaughter will be in the middle of the amphitheatre where all the crowd can see. And what's more, he has the money, for he came into thirty million when his father had the bad luck to die. He could spend four hundred thousand and never damage his inheritance, but his name would live forever. He has some dwarfs already and a female [pb_glossary id=\"81\"]<em>e<\/em><em>ssedarius.<\/em>[\/pb_glossary] Then, there's Glyco's steward; he was caught pleasuring Glyco\u2019s wife. You'll see some battle between jealous husbands and favoured lovers. Anyhow, that miser Glyco condemned his steward to the beasts\u00a0 - and so made public his own shame. How could the slave go wrong when he was only doing what he was told to do? It would have been better if that woman \u2013 who is only fit for a pisspot - had been tossed by the bull, but when someone can't beat the donkey, he\u2019ll beat the saddle. How could Glyco ever imagine that one of Hermogenes\u2019 brats could turn out well?\u2026I can smell a feast from Mammaea coming and there will be two <em>denarii<\/em> each for me and mine! If he does that he\u2019ll steal Norbanus\u2019 thunder completely. You know that it's to his interest to go full speed ahead to squash Norbanus. Honestly, what did he ever do for us? He exhibited some cheap gladiators that were so near dead that they'd have collapsed if you breathed on them. I've seen better at the beast hunts! He killed his cavalry by lamp; you would have taken them for henhouse cockerels! One was decrepit; another was bandy-legged, and a third who took the place of a dead man was pretty dead himself \u2013 and hamstrung too. There was only one that had any life, and he was a [pb_glossary id=\"98\"]Thracian[\/pb_glossary], but he only fought to command. The whole lot of them were whipped to shreds after and the whole crowd shouted \u2018give it to them!\u2019 They were nothing but runaways. And at that he had the nerve to say,\u00a0 \u201cI've given you a show.\u201d \u201cAnd I've applauded,\u201d I answered; \u201ccount it up and you'll find that I gave more than I got! One hand washes the other.\"\r\n\r\nPetronius, <em>Satyricon <\/em>45<\/blockquote>\r\nIn 177 the co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus tried to standardize the costs of gladiators in an attempt to ensure more people in the provinces didn\u2019t ruin themselves paying for them. This text (176-178\u00a0CE) is inscribed on a bronze table which comes from Andalusia, Spain. The decree is called Senatorial Decree on the Reduction of the Cost of Gladiatorial Games or, in Latin, the <em>Senatus Consultum de Pretiis Gladiatorum Minuendis.<\/em>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n\r\nOur leaders [Marcus Aurelius and Commodus] decreed that the games which are called <em>assiforana[footnote]Private games for which admission was charged[\/footnote] <\/em>should stay as they are but they should not exceed 30,000 sesterces in cost; but to those who give games which cost between 30-60,000 sesterces, gladiators should be offered in three categories with the same number in each category: those in the first group should cost at most 5,000; those in the second at most 4,000; those in the third 3,000. For those giving games whose cost ranges from 60,000-100,000 sesterces there should be three ranks of gladiators and in the first rank the highest cost should be 8,000, for the second 6,000, for the third 5,000. For games costing from 100,00-150,000 sesterces there should be five ranks of gladiators: the highest cost for the first rank should be 12,000, for the second 10,000, for the third 7,000, for the fourth 6,000, and for the fifth 5,000. For games costing 150,000-200,000 sesterces and above the cheapest gladiator should be 6,000, for the next rank up 6,000, for the next 7,000, for the next 9,000, for the next 12,000 and then up to 15,000. This should be the fixed amount for the best, most appealing gladiator.\r\n\r\nIn addition, in all <em>munera <\/em>marked by ranks, the [pb_glossary id=\"80\"]<em>lanista<\/em>[\/pb_glossary] must supply half the total number of gladiators from the regular ranks or the herd. The better members of the herd may fight as a group for 2,000 sesterces each, and no one of the herd will fight for less than 1,000.\r\n\r\nSince the <em>lanista <\/em>in an attempt to increase profits may say they cannot provide enough gladiators from the herd, they must know they will be required to transfer as many as required from those they rank as better to make up the required number from the herd. So on any event the entire <em>familia <\/em>will be divided into equal parts and on any particular day at least half of them will be in the flock\u2026\r\n\r\n\u202645 I also recommend the following rule regarding the proceeds: each gladiator should make an individual bargain for the money he gets for his fighting, and a free man should receive one quarter, a slave one fifth. Regarding the cost of gladiators, I have already advised the recommendations of the divine speech be followed, but that these prices should apply to those cities that suffered form relatively high prices for gladiators.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n&nbsp;<\/blockquote>\r\nIn the following passage from Gaius\u2019 <em>Institutes<\/em> (c. 160s CE), an ancient guide and textbook for Roman law, the author describes a vast difference for what one paid to hire a gladiator who survived and for one who died.\r\n<blockquote>If I provide gladiators to you under the condition that twenty <em>denarii<\/em> shall be paid to me for the exertions of every one who leaves the arena safe and sound and a thousand <em>denarii<\/em> for every one who is killed or disabled, the question arises whether this is a contract of purchase and sale or one of leasing and hiring. The better opinion is that of those who say that in the case of those who survive, a contract of leasing and hiring was agreed on; but so far as those who have been killed or disabled are concerned the contract is one of purchase and sale.\r\n\r\n<em>Institutes <\/em>3.146<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox textbox--learning-objectives\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">In this section you will learn<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<ul>\n<li>that is is very difficult to understand exactly how much various games cost<\/li>\n<li>how some games were funded, at least in part, by the Roman state<\/li>\n<li>how spectacles were used by elite politicians to &#8216;share&#8217; their wealth and triumphs with the non-elite<\/li>\n<li>how spectacles could bankrupt politicians due to their cost<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Putting on shows was an expensive exercise. It\u2019s hard to put the cost into exact figures, let alone convert those figures into modern money, except for the occasional game, but those who gave these games in the Late Republic (and sometimes in the empire) were willing to incur spectacular costs, sometimes ruining themselves in the process. This ensured a constantly evolving set of public expectations, with every set of games expected to exceed the previous set and so forth. The major <em><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_79_95\">ludi<\/a><\/em> were funded by the state, but if a show was held to fulfill a private vow then the giver paid for the entire expense; before the empire gladiatorial shows were not part of any of the state festivals and were entirely funded by the giver. However, even in the case of games funded by the state, the magistrates in charge were supposed to use their own money to supplement state funding.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar textbox--examples\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">In modern terms<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">It&#8217;s difficult to compare prices between the Romans modern-day currency because of the differences between the Roman market system and the current economical system.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">750,000 sesterces is <strong>roughly<\/strong> equivalent to $200,000 CAD<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Speaking of a show in 160 BCE Polybius gives early evidence for the rising costs of shows.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The total expense of such a show costs not less than thirty talents [750,000 sesterces] if it is done on such a lavish scale<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/back-matter\/aii-author-biographies\/#Polybius\">Polybius<\/a>, <em>Histories <\/em>31.28.6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Various laws were passed to stop aspiring politicians using games to promote their candidacies and getting around bribery laws by holding spectacles and handing out free seats (and food); they were all completely ineffective. In the following speech Cicero, who had passed his own law limiting when people could hold games, the <em>Lex Tullia<\/em>, in 63 BCE, was defending Lucius Licinius Murena on a charge of electoral bribery. He tries to pass off responsibility for spending on feasts and shows on Murena\u2019s friends and, in case that doesn\u2019t work, claims that such spending is entirely legitimate and in accord with Roman tradition.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>What is your charge? Are you accusing Murena of bribery? I am not defending bribery. You blame me because you say I am defending behaviour which I passed in a law to punish. I punished bribery, not innocence, and will join with you in prosecuting any honest case of bribery. You have said that at my urging a resolution of the Senate was passed, \u201cthat if any men who had been bribed had met with the candidates, if any hired men followed them, if seats were given men to see the shows of gladiators according to their tribes, and also, if dinners were given to the masses, that appeared to be a violation of the Calpurnian law.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"A law passed in 149 BCE which seems to have created fines for bribery.\u00a0\u00a0\" id=\"return-footnote-79-1\" href=\"#footnote-79-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> Therefore the Senate decides that these things were done in violation of the Calpurnian law if they were done at all it, decides what there is not the least occasion for, out of kindness for the candidates. For there is a great question whether such things have been done or not. That if they have been done, they were done in violation of the law, no one can doubt.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/back-matter\/aii-author-biographies\/#Cicero\">Cicero<\/a>, <em>In Defence of Murena<\/em> 67<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Cicero continues on discussing the role of spectacles, their costs, and public expectations about their magnificence.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBut spectacles were exhibited to the people who sat in their tribes, and crowds of the common people were invited to dinner.\u201d Although this, members of the jury, was not done by Murena at all, but done in accordance with all usage and precedent by his friends, still, being reminded of the fact, I recollect how many votes these investigations held in the Senate have lost us, Servius. For what time was there ever, either within our own recollection or that of our fathers, in which this, whether you call it ambition or generosity, did not exist to the extent of giving a place in the circus and in the Forum to one&#8217;s friends, and to the men of one&#8217;s own tribe?<\/p>\n<p>Cicero, <em>In Defence of Murena<\/em> 72<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_756\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-756\" style=\"width: 533px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-756\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic-300x122.jpg\" alt=\"gladiators borghese\" width=\"533\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic-300x122.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic-768x313.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic-65x26.jpg 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic-225x92.jpg 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic-350x143.jpg 350w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/03\/800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-756\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A mosaic shows gladiators fighting and the outcomes of the bouts (death is marked by a \u00d8) found in the Villa Borghese outside Rome. It probably dates to the early 4th century CE. Image from Wikimedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a philosophical text written in 44 BCE, Cicero talked about the need to provide spectacles to the people for electoral success.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Still, I realize that in Rome, even in the good old days, it was an established custom to expect magnificent entertainments from the very best men in the year they were <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_79_57\">aedile<\/a>. So both Publius Crassus,<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"This Crassus was the ancestor of the more famous Marcus Licinius Crassus who defeated Spartacus; there were a number of Crassi and wealth seems to have run in the family. This Crassus was aedile and consul in 205 BCE and was given the extra cognomen of Dives (Rich); confusingly Marcus Licinius Crassus also had the same cognomen.\" id=\"return-footnote-79-2\" href=\"#footnote-79-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> whose cognomen was not just \u201cRich&#8221; but was actually rich, gave splendid games when he was aedile; and a little later Lucius Crassus (whose colleague was Quintus Mucius, the most unpretentious man in the world) gave the<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--sidebar textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Key Takeaways<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>Elites were expected to give spectacles as part of their politician careers by the people of Rome<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>most magnificent entertainments while aedile [212\/211 BCE]. Then came Gaius Claudius, the son of Appius, and, after him, many others &#8211; the Luculli, Hortensius, and Silanus. Publius Lentulus, however, in the year of my consulship, eclipsed all that had gone before him, and Scaurus emulated him. And my friend Pompey&#8217;s exhibitions in his second consulship were the most magnificent of all. And so you see what I think about all this sort of thing. 58 Still we should avoid any suspicion that we are cheap. Mamercus was a very wealthy man, and his refusal to run for aedile was why he didn\u2019t win the race for consul.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"In other words people believed he had avoided running for aedile so he would not have to use his own money to supplement the public funding given to the aediles for putting on the public games.\" id=\"return-footnote-79-3\" href=\"#footnote-79-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> If, therefore, the people demand such entertainment, men of proper judgment must at least consent to supply it, even if they do not like the idea. But in so doing they should keep within their means, as I myself did. They should also pay for such entertainment, if gifts of money to the people will enable them to secure in the future some more important or more useful end.<\/p>\n<p>Cicero, <em>On Moral Duties<\/em> 2.57-58<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Faced with the potentially massive costs of giving spectacles, some might cheap out. In the following extract from a Roman novel of the age of Nero, a character who is a freedman talks about his expectations for an upcoming spectacle and his disappointment at a particularly thrifty one.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_930\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-930\" style=\"width: 184px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-930 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381-184x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"184\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381-184x300.jpg 184w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381-627x1024.jpg 627w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381-65x106.jpg 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381-225x368.jpg 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381-350x572.jpg 350w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/848\/2020\/06\/Roman_denarii_FindID_281381.jpg 650w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 184px) 100vw, 184px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-930\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The group comprises four silver denarii. The earliest, showing some wear, is of Domitian whilst the other three are in crisper condition and show very little signs of circulation. All of these three date to the reign of Antoninus Pius. It seems likely that the four coins went into the ground together, either lost as part of a purse, or concealed as a hoard. This loss or deposition, on the basis of the condition of the coins, presumably occurred in the 150s or 160s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLook out for it! We&#8217;ll soon have a fine <em><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_79_82\">munus<\/a><\/em> for three days, no <em><a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_79_80\">lanista<\/a><\/em>\u2019s bunch<em> \u2013 <\/em>but lots of freedmen. Our Titus has a hot head and lots of courage and it will go to a finish. I&#8217;m pretty familiar with him, and he&#8217;ll not stand for any frame-ups. It will be cold steel in the best style, no running away, the slaughter will be in the middle of the amphitheatre where all the crowd can see. And what&#8217;s more, he has the money, for he came into thirty million when his father had the bad luck to die. He could spend four hundred thousand and never damage his inheritance, but his name would live forever. He has some dwarfs already and a female <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_79_81\"><em>e<\/em><em>ssedarius.<\/em><\/a> Then, there&#8217;s Glyco&#8217;s steward; he was caught pleasuring Glyco\u2019s wife. You&#8217;ll see some battle between jealous husbands and favoured lovers. Anyhow, that miser Glyco condemned his steward to the beasts\u00a0 &#8211; and so made public his own shame. How could the slave go wrong when he was only doing what he was told to do? It would have been better if that woman \u2013 who is only fit for a pisspot &#8211; had been tossed by the bull, but when someone can&#8217;t beat the donkey, he\u2019ll beat the saddle. How could Glyco ever imagine that one of Hermogenes\u2019 brats could turn out well?\u2026I can smell a feast from Mammaea coming and there will be two <em>denarii<\/em> each for me and mine! If he does that he\u2019ll steal Norbanus\u2019 thunder completely. You know that it&#8217;s to his interest to go full speed ahead to squash Norbanus. Honestly, what did he ever do for us? He exhibited some cheap gladiators that were so near dead that they&#8217;d have collapsed if you breathed on them. I&#8217;ve seen better at the beast hunts! He killed his cavalry by lamp; you would have taken them for henhouse cockerels! One was decrepit; another was bandy-legged, and a third who took the place of a dead man was pretty dead himself \u2013 and hamstrung too. There was only one that had any life, and he was a <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_79_98\">Thracian<\/a>, but he only fought to command. The whole lot of them were whipped to shreds after and the whole crowd shouted \u2018give it to them!\u2019 They were nothing but runaways. And at that he had the nerve to say,\u00a0 \u201cI&#8217;ve given you a show.\u201d \u201cAnd I&#8217;ve applauded,\u201d I answered; \u201ccount it up and you&#8217;ll find that I gave more than I got! One hand washes the other.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Petronius, <em>Satyricon <\/em>45<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In 177 the co-emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus tried to standardize the costs of gladiators in an attempt to ensure more people in the provinces didn\u2019t ruin themselves paying for them. This text (176-178\u00a0CE) is inscribed on a bronze table which comes from Andalusia, Spain. The decree is called Senatorial Decree on the Reduction of the Cost of Gladiatorial Games or, in Latin, the <em>Senatus Consultum de Pretiis Gladiatorum Minuendis.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p>Our leaders [Marcus Aurelius and Commodus] decreed that the games which are called <em>assiforana<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Private games for which admission was charged\" id=\"return-footnote-79-4\" href=\"#footnote-79-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a> <\/em>should stay as they are but they should not exceed 30,000 sesterces in cost; but to those who give games which cost between 30-60,000 sesterces, gladiators should be offered in three categories with the same number in each category: those in the first group should cost at most 5,000; those in the second at most 4,000; those in the third 3,000. For those giving games whose cost ranges from 60,000-100,000 sesterces there should be three ranks of gladiators and in the first rank the highest cost should be 8,000, for the second 6,000, for the third 5,000. For games costing from 100,00-150,000 sesterces there should be five ranks of gladiators: the highest cost for the first rank should be 12,000, for the second 10,000, for the third 7,000, for the fourth 6,000, and for the fifth 5,000. For games costing 150,000-200,000 sesterces and above the cheapest gladiator should be 6,000, for the next rank up 6,000, for the next 7,000, for the next 9,000, for the next 12,000 and then up to 15,000. This should be the fixed amount for the best, most appealing gladiator.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, in all <em>munera <\/em>marked by ranks, the <a class=\"glossary-term\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-describedby=\"definition\" href=\"#term_79_80\"><em>lanista<\/em><\/a> must supply half the total number of gladiators from the regular ranks or the herd. The better members of the herd may fight as a group for 2,000 sesterces each, and no one of the herd will fight for less than 1,000.<\/p>\n<p>Since the <em>lanista <\/em>in an attempt to increase profits may say they cannot provide enough gladiators from the herd, they must know they will be required to transfer as many as required from those they rank as better to make up the required number from the herd. So on any event the entire <em>familia <\/em>will be divided into equal parts and on any particular day at least half of them will be in the flock\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u202645 I also recommend the following rule regarding the proceeds: each gladiator should make an individual bargain for the money he gets for his fighting, and a free man should receive one quarter, a slave one fifth. Regarding the cost of gladiators, I have already advised the recommendations of the divine speech be followed, but that these prices should apply to those cities that suffered form relatively high prices for gladiators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the following passage from Gaius\u2019 <em>Institutes<\/em> (c. 160s CE), an ancient guide and textbook for Roman law, the author describes a vast difference for what one paid to hire a gladiator who survived and for one who died.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>If I provide gladiators to you under the condition that twenty <em>denarii<\/em> shall be paid to me for the exertions of every one who leaves the arena safe and sound and a thousand <em>denarii<\/em> for every one who is killed or disabled, the question arises whether this is a contract of purchase and sale or one of leasing and hiring. The better opinion is that of those who say that in the case of those who survive, a contract of leasing and hiring was agreed on; but so far as those who have been killed or disabled are concerned the contract is one of purchase and sale.<\/p>\n<p><em>Institutes <\/em>3.146<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"media-attributions clear\" prefix:cc=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/ns#\" prefix:dc=\"http:\/\/purl.org\/dc\/terms\/\"><h2>Media Attributions<\/h2><ul><li about=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic.jpg\"><a rel=\"cc:attributionURL\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic.jpg\" property=\"dc:title\">800px-Borghese_villa_gladiator_mosaic<\/a>  &copy;  Unknown     <\/li><li about=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Roman_denarii_(FindID_281381).jpg\"><a rel=\"cc:attributionURL\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Roman_denarii_(FindID_281381).jpg\" property=\"dc:title\">Roman denarii<\/a>  &copy;  The Portable Antiquities Scheme \/ The Trustees of the British Museum    is licensed under a  <a rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike)<\/a> license<\/li><\/ul><\/div><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-79-1\">A law passed in 149 BCE which seems to have created fines for bribery.\u00a0\u00a0 <a href=\"#return-footnote-79-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-79-2\">This Crassus was the ancestor of the more famous Marcus Licinius Crassus who defeated Spartacus; there were a number of Crassi and wealth seems to have run in the family. This Crassus was aedile and consul in 205 BCE and was given the extra cognomen of <em>Dives <\/em>(Rich)<em>; <\/em>confusingly Marcus Licinius Crassus also had the same cognomen. <a href=\"#return-footnote-79-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-79-3\">In other words people believed he had avoided running for aedile so he would not have to use his own money to supplement the public funding given to the aediles for putting on the public games. <a href=\"#return-footnote-79-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-79-4\">Private games for which admission was charged <a href=\"#return-footnote-79-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div><div class=\"glossary\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\" id=\"definition\">definition<\/span><template id=\"term_79_95\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_79_95\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>A ludus may refer to any type of school, including a gladiatorial one. Ludi also refers to games, the public games held as part of religious rituals.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_79_57\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_79_57\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>The first rank on the cursus honorum, the course of public offices, these magistrates were in charge of maintaining public buildings and space and supervised and organized the public festivals. There were two types of aedile, curule, and plebeian.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_79_82\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_79_82\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>Literally \u201cgift\u201d, \u201cduty\u201d, or \u201cfavour\u201d, particularly one owed to the dead. As gladiatorial shows were given to honour the dead and in accordance with vows they were called munera. A munus in this sense was a private obligation and thus the cost was paid by whoever vowed it, not the state. Later the munera were integrated into the other games and incorporated into imperial spectacles.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_79_80\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_79_80\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>A gladiatorial trainer\/manager. Thought to be a word of Etruscan origin.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_79_81\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_79_81\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>A gladiator who fought from a British style war chariot. This type may have been introduced by Julius Caesar after his \u2018conquest\u2019 of the island.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><template id=\"term_79_98\"><div class=\"glossary__definition\" role=\"dialog\" data-id=\"term_79_98\"><div tabindex=\"-1\"><p>A type of gladiator who fought with a small shield (called a parmula) and a curved, short sword.<\/p>\n<\/div><button><span aria-hidden=\"true\">&times;<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Close definition<\/span><\/button><\/div><\/template><\/div>","protected":false},"author":801,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-79","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":35,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/801"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1153,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/79\/revisions\/1153"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/35"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/79\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/spectaclesintheromanworldsourcebook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}