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Dear Language Enthusiast,
Welcome to the August edition of Latin Monthly, the
Internet newsletter from Transparent Language. In this
issue, we look at a rather brutal topic-- the blood
sports of the gladiators. Examining the traditions and
pageantry surrounding those spectacles of physical
cruelty offers a fascinating window into the very soul
of the culture of ancient Rome. I'm sure you'll find
this month's article both intriguing and helpful in
building your language skills.
Let's begin with something contradictory that can
serve as an antidote for what follows-- a protest
against cruelty by the Roman philosopher Seneca
(Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 4 BC to 65 AD), taken from the
essay De Clementia ("Concerning Mercy") which he wrote
for the instruction of his pupil, Nero. (Yes, THAT
Nero!)
Sincerely,
Transparent Language
www.transparent.com
latinae:
Crudelitas minime humanum malum est indignumque tam
miti animo; ferina ista rabies est sanguine gaudere ac
vulneribus et abiecto homine in silvestre animal
transire. Quid enim interest, oro te, Alexander, leoni
Lysimachum obicias an ipse laceres dentibus tuis? Tuum
illud os est, tua illa feritas.
O quam cuperes tibi potius ungues esse, tibi rictum
illum edendorum hominum capacem!
Non exigimus a te, ut manus ista, exitium familiarium
certissimum, ulli salutaris sit, ut iste animus ferox,
insatiabile gentium malum, citra sanguinem caedemque
satietur; clementia iam vocatur, ad occidendum amicum
cum carnifex inter homines eligitur.
Hoc est, quare vel maxime abominanda sit saevitia,
quod excedit fines primum solitos, deinde humanos,
nova supplicia conquirit, ingenium advocat ut
instrumenta excogitet per quae varietur atque
extendatur dolor, delectatur malis hominum; tunc illi
dirus animi morbus ad insaniam pervenit ultimam, cum
crudelitas versa est in voluptatem et iam occidere
hominem iuvat.
In English:
Cruelty is an evil that does not suit human beings at
all and is unworthy of a mind so mild. For it is a
bestial sort of savagery to take delight in blood and
wounds and, throwing away one's humanity, cross over
into the state of a wild animal. I ask you, Alexander-
- what difference does it make to you if you throw
Lysimachus to a lion or tear him apart yourself with
your own teeth? That mouth is yours-- and the savagery
as well.
How you must have wished that those claws were your
own, and those gaping jaws capable of swallowing men
whole!
We do not ask of you that your hand-- a most certain
means of destruction for those close to you-- should
be the salvation of any man; we do not demand that
your fierce spirit, the insatiable curse of nations,
should be satisfied with anything less than bloodshed
and slaughter. (It is called "mercy" now, when a
professional butcher is chosen among men to kill a
friend.)
This is the reason why such barbarity is to be utterly
detested: because it goes beyond the usual boundaries,
and then beyond all human limits; it hunts out new
forms of torture, calling on cleverness to think up
new devices to vary and prolong the pain. The awful
sickness of that man's mind has arrived at the
outermost limits of insanity, when cruelty has changed
to enjoyment and it becomes pleasurable to kill a
human being.
BLOOD SPORTS IN ANCIENT ROME
Gladiator displays began as a funeral custom and grew
from there to become what was arguably the most
popular form of public entertainment in imperial Rome.
The men who fought (and some women, beginning in
Nero's time) were usually outsiders: war captives,
slaves, condemned criminals. But as the games grew in
popularity, Roman citizens volunteered to fight and it
was actually found necessary to pass a law prohibiting
the aristocracy from taking part.
By the time of the late Republic, there were entire
schools devoted to training gladiators. (Spartacus
escaped from one such school in Capua to lead a revolt
in 73 B.C.) At these schools, gladiators specialized
in the use of certain weapons for duelling. A
retiarius fought with a trident and net against a
myrmillo who wore a helmet and light armor; a
laquearius used a noose; a hoplomachus was equipped
with a large sword, an oblong shield and very heavy
armor.
In addition to the man-to-man contests, called munera,
were animal hunts called venationes. Like everything
else, they grew more lavish under the Empire. Sulla
put on a show in 93 B.C. that included 100 lions;
Pompey sponsored a 5-day-long spectacle with 500 lions
and 18 elephants; while under Augustus, 3,500
elephants were killed in the Circus Maximus. (If we
can judge from Cicero's reaction, these spectacles
upset some Romans who felt more sympathy for the
animals than they could ever feel for a human
combatant.)
And where do we get our "thumbs up" gesture? The
popular view is that it was a signal to spare the life
of a defeated gladiator, but it is more likely that
the sign for mercy at the gladiatorial spectacles was
thumbs down. Jerking the thumb upward toward the heart
meant, "Finish him!"
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