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Ludi Plebeii
The Plebeian Games (Latin ''Ludi Plebeii'') were an ancient Rome, ancient Roman Roman festival, religious festival held November 4–17. The games ''(ludi)'' included both theatrical performances ''(ludi scaenici)'' and athletic competitions for the purpose of entertaining the common people of Rome. History The Plebeian Games may have been celebrated among the common people without an official place on the Roman calendar, religious calendar until nobiles, plebeians rose to positions of highest prominence; Cicero, at least, thought they were Rome's oldest ''ludi''. They are known to have been held each year from 220 onward, but may have been much older. It may be most accurate to say the ''Ludi Plebeii'' were first established as a public festival in 220 BC. Because the proceedings of the Plebeian Games strikingly resemble those of the Ludi Romani, ''Ludi Romani'' ("Roman Games"), T.P. Wiseman has suggested that they were created by the ''plebs'' as an assertion of their own ident ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus Flaminius Bartoli 1699
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term "circus" also describes the field of performance, training, and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River, England. In 1770, he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers, and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances developed si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire following the War of Actium. During this period, Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean world. Roman society at the time was primarily a cultural mix of Latins (Italic tribe), Latin and Etruscan civilization, Etruscan societies, as well as of Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements, which is especially visible in the Ancient Roman religion and List of Roman deities, its pantheon. Its political organisation developed at around the same time as direct democracy in Ancient Greece, with collective and annual magistracies, overseen by Roman Senate, a senate. There were annual elections, but the republican system was an elective olig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andronicus, the innovator of Latin literature. The word Plautine () refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his. Biography Not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus's early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, around 254 BC.''The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'' (1996) Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers, Oxford University Press, Oxford Reference Online According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years. It is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was eventually discovered; and he adopted the nomen "Maccius" (from Maccus, a clownis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pompa Circensis
In ancient Rome, the ''pompa circensis'' ("circus parade") was the procession that preceded the official games ''(ludi)'' held in the circus as part of religious festivals and other occasions. Description The most detailed description of the ''pompa circensis'' during the Republican era is given by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, based on eyewitness observation and the historian Fabius Pictor, who says he is describing the original ''Ludi Romani''; Fabius may, however, have been more influenced by what he saw in the ''pompa'' of the Saecular Games in 249 BC. The procession was led by boys of the nobility ''(nobiles)'' riding on horseback, followed by boys on foot who were future infantrymen. Next came the charioteers and athletes who would compete in the games. Troupes of dancers followed to musical accompaniment performed on '' auloi'', a type of woodwind instrument, and the lyre. The dancers were divided into age classes, men, youths, and children. Wearing purple tunics, they wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia''). He worked during the reign of Tiberius (14 AD to 37 AD). During the Middle Ages, Valerius Maximus was one of the most copied Latin prose authors, second only to Priscian. More than 600 medieval manuscripts of his books have survived as a result.Briscoe, ''Valerius Maximus'', p. 15. Biography Nothing is known of his life except that his family was poor and undistinguished, and that he owed everything to Sextus Pompeius (consul AD 14),H J Rose, ''A Handbook of Latin Literature'' (London 1966) p. 356 proconsul of Asia, whom he accompanied to the East in 27. Pompeius was the center of a literary circle to which Ovid belonged; he was also an intimate friend of the most literary prince of the imperial family, Germanicus. Although he shared the same n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chariot Races
Chariot racing (, ''harmatodromía''; ) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from a very early time. With the institution of formal races and permanent racetracks, chariot racing was adopted by many Greek states and their religious festivals. Horses and chariots were very costly. Their ownership was a preserve of the wealthiest aristocrats, whose reputations and status benefitted from offering such extravagant, exciting displays. Their successes could be further broadcast and celebrated through commissioned odes and other poetry. In standard Greek racing practise, each chariot held a single driver and was pulled by four horses, or sometimes two. Drivers and horses risked serious injury or death through collisions and crashes; this added to the excitement and interest for spectators. Most charioteers were slaves or contracted professionals. While records almost inva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludi Circenses
''Ludi'' (Latin:games; plural of "ludus") were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (''populus Romanus''). ''Ludi'' were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also presented as part of the cult of state. The earliest ''ludi'' were horse races in the circus (''ludi circenses''). Animal exhibitions with mock hunts ('' venationes'') and theatrical performances (''ludi scaenici'') also became part of the festivals. Because some of these entertainments are not competitive "games", ''ludi'' may also be translated more generally as "shows". Days on which ''ludi'' were held were public holidays, and no business could be conducted—"remarkably," it has been noted, "considering that in the Imperial era more than 135 days might be spent at these entertainments" during the year. Although their entertainment value may have overshadowed religious sentiment at any given moment, even in late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epulum Jovis
In ancient Roman religion, the Epulum Jovis (also Epulum Iovis) was a sumptuous ritual feast offered to Jove on the Ides of September (September 13) and a smaller feast on the Ides of November (November 13). It was celebrated during the '' Ludi Romani'' ("Roman Games") and the '' Ludi Plebeii'' ("Plebeian Games"). The gods were formally invited, and attended in the form of statues. These were arranged on luxurious couches ''( pulvinaria)'' placed at the most honorable part of the table. Fine food was served, as if they were able to eat. The priests designated as '' epulones'', or masters of the feast, organized and carried out the ritual, and acted as "gastronomic proxies" in eating the food. See also * Lectisternium * Sellisternium *Religion in ancient Rome *Glossary of ancient Roman religion The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Flaminius (consul 223 BC)
Gaius Flaminius (c. 275 BC24 June 217 BC) was a leading Roman politician in the third century BC. Flaminius served as consul twice, in 223 and 217. He is notable for the ''Lex Flaminia'', a land reform passed in 232, the construction of the Circus Flaminius in 221, the construction of the Via Flaminia, and his death at the hands of Hannibal's army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in 217, during the Second Punic War. Flaminius is celebrated by ancient sources as being a skilled orator and a man possessed of great piety, strength, and determination. He is, however, simultaneously criticised by ancient writers such as Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ... and Livy for his popular policies and disregard of Roman traditions, particularly during the terms of his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Censor
The censor was a magistrate in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances. Established under the Roman Republic, power of the censor was limited in subject matter but absolute within his sphere: in matters reserved for the censors, no magistrate could oppose his decisions, and only another censor who succeeded him could cancel those decisions. Censors were also given unusually long terms of office; unlike other elected offices of the Republic, which (excluding certain priests elected for life) had terms of 12 months or less, censors' terms were generally 18 months to 5 years (depending on the era). The censorate was thus highly prestigious, preceding all other regular magistracies in dignity if not in power and reserved with rare exceptions for former Roman consul, consuls. Attaining the censorship would thus be considered the crowning achievement of a Roman politician on the ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus Maximus
The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian language, Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot racing, chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine Hill, Aventine and Palatine Hill, Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Roman Empire, Empire. It measured in length and in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for Circus (building), circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park. Events and uses The Circus was Rome's largest venue for ''ludi'', public games connected to Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religious Roman festival, festivals. ''Ludi'' were sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the SPQR, Roman people (''populus Romanus'') and List of Roman deities, gods. Most were held annually or at annual intervals on the Roman calendar. Oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plebs
In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the group and the term are unclear, but may be related to the Greek, ''plēthos'', meaning masses. In Latin, the word is a singular collective noun, and its genitive is . Plebeians were not a monolithic social class. In ancient Rome In the annalistic tradition of Livy and Dionysius, the distinction between patricians and plebeians was as old as Rome itself, instituted by Romulus' appointment of the first hundred senators, whose descendants became the patriciate. Modern hypotheses date the distinction "anywhere from the regal period to the late fifth century" BC. The 19th-century historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr believed plebeians were possibly foreigners immigrating from other parts of Italy. This hypothesis, that plebeians were raci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
