HUM / REL 293 - Beginning Latin
Course Notes - Week 8
Stage 9 of the Cambridge Course describes the Amphitheater at Pompeii, and the Gladiators who fought in it.
The photo on page 121 is of the top of a clay lamp which shows a pair of gladiators, one of whom has dropped his shield.
Page 126 has a photo of the exterior staircase to the amphitheater in Pompeii, and of a carving found in Chester (England) showing a rētiārius with a shoulder guard on his right shoulder. The names "Chester" and "-caster" found in many town names in Britain (eg. Chester, Manchester, Silchester, Lancaster) are a reminder that the place was the site of a Roman army camp (castra -ōrum, neuter plural). Similarly, names with "Colonia" indicate a former Roman colony
(Colne, pronounced cone, near where I grew up, and Köln or Cologne in Germany)
The mosaic of the lion, on page 120, is from Tunis.
Page 132 shows a painting from the wall of the tomb of C. Vestorius Priscus, who died at age 22 a couple of years before the eruption of Vesuvius. The fallen gladiator has his hand raised as a signal of defeat and an appeal for mercy.
The small picture on page 133 is from a mosaic floor with several small pictures of gladiatorial contests. This picture shows some of the musicians who accompanied the contests; one is playing a curved horn, the other is playing a small organ.
The picture on page 134 is a Pompeian wall painting illustrating the amphitheater and the riot which took place in AD 59, which resulted in games being banned for 10 years at Pompeii. (Think of modern soccer riots.)
The arms illustrated on page 136 also come from Pompeii.
The wall painting of a beast fighter and a lioness, shown on page 137, is from the amphitheater at Merida in Spain.
The small graffito (singular of graffiti) from Pompeii, sketched on page 138, shows a gladiator waving a palm branch in victory. The inscription below says "CAMPANI VICTORIA VNA CVM NVCERINIS PERISTIS" - Campanians, in your moment of victory you have perished along with the Nucerians
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