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Billy_T.
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November 23, 2019 at 12:29 pm #108519
wvParticipant“The Colosseum was named after a statue. The official name of the Colosseum was the Flavian Amphitheatre, named after the Flavian dynasty of emperors who ordered it to be built. Most ordinary Romans called it the Colosseum because it was built next to the Colossus, a statue of Emperor Nero.” from 100 Things You Should Know About Gladiators.
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(Statue Nero: wikipedia: “…This statue was later remodeled by Nero’s successors into the likeness of Helios (Sol) or Apollo, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. Nero’s head was also replaced several times with the heads of succeeding emperors. Despite its pagan links, the statue remained standing well into the medieval era and was credited with magical powers. It came to be seen as an iconic symbol of the permanence of Rome…”———————
Nero: “…In 67 AD Nero participated in the Olympics. He had bribed organizers to postpone the games for a year so he could participate,[105] and artistic competitions were added to the athletic events. Nero won every contest in which he was a competitor. During the games Nero sang and played his lyre on stage, acted in tragedies and raced chariots. He won a 10-horse chariot race, despite being thrown from the chariot and leaving the race. He was crowned on the basis that he would have won if he had completed the race. After he died a year later, his name was removed from the list of winners.[106] Champlin writes that though Nero’s participation “effectively stifled true competition, [Nero] seems to have been oblivious of reality.” Wikipedia: Nero—–
Gladiators were named after their 16 inch sword-like weapon, btw. The Gladius.
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vNovember 23, 2019 at 1:14 pm #108521Billy_TParticipantI love finding out more and more about “pagan” culture. During my trip to France in 2007, it was so cool to see Roman ruins — colosseums, amphitheaters, aqueducts and temples, especially. There’s a beautiful temple in one of my favorite French city/towns, Nimes. Arles has all kinds of Roman ruins too. But they’re all over France.
Of course, all of that came at great cost to the ethnic tribe I’ve always identified most with, the Celts. Caesar almost wiped them out.
Some recent reads tell the story of early Christian efforts to wipe out pagan culture itself, including Greek, Roman and pretty much any culture that did not embrace “the one true god.” These continued in many forms for centuries. Literally millions of books, statues, buildings . . . One of the reasons why we have “ruins” is because of Christian zealots doing their damndest to tear them down, burn them up, “disappear” them from history.
Catherine Nixey’s The Darkening Age is excellent corrective history on this topic. Stephen Greenblatt’s The Swerve is as well. The Map of Knowledge, by Violet Moller, deepens the history, concentrating more on Islamic contributions.
(I read these books last May)
Thanks for the post, WV.
November 23, 2019 at 3:43 pm #108533wvParticipantI love finding out more and more about “pagan” culture..
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Well, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the notion of Nero’s “artistic” competition in the Olympics. How does an ‘artistic’ competition work, i wonder.
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vNovember 23, 2019 at 9:09 pm #108544Billy_TParticipantI love finding out more and more about “pagan” culture..
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Well, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the notion of Nero’s “artistic” competition in the Olympics. How does an ‘artistic’ competition work, i wonder.
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vThe Greeks and Romans were highly competitive peoples. The Greeks in more areas of life, but the Romans too. They turned anything into a contest. One might say, they were the first culture to want to rate things, thumbs up, thumbs down . . . and with the Romans, especially, this could be a life or death decision.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the so-called Protestant work ethic has no real connection to biblical times and ways. Wandering, nomadic tribes weren’t really all that hopped up to be competitive in any modern sense of that word. They wouldn’t recognize the connection or the religion(s) they supposedly gave birth to. Their Helenic neighbors, however, would likely see it.
There really isn’t any such thing as “Judeo-Christian” values or ethics to begin with, primarily because the two cultures diverged violently, almost from Day One, but especially from Constantine on. It makes no sense to hyphenate them, or to suggest we get our culture from that hyphen. We’re far more influenced by the Greeks and the Romans in their heyday, as empires, and then their impact on the later European empires that tried to copy them, once the ancient world was rediscovered, mostly after the Dark Ages.
As far as Nero goes, while he wasn’t as whacked as Caligula, any “contest” he set up was likely guaranteed to have preordained winners. That included plays, art-work, poetry readings, debates, athletic contests, etc. etc. Those who surrounded him knew what they needed to do to please him, so if Nero didn’t set things up, he was still the ultimate focus.
One could argue we’re not all that far removed from that sort of thing.
;>)
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