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124-817: One of the most important constitutions issued by a Roman emperor was Caracalla's Constitutio Antoniniana of 212, also called the Edict of Caracalla or the Antonine Constitution, which declared that all free men of the Roman Empire were to be given Roman citizenship and all free women the same rights as Roman women. This article about Roman law is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus , 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla ( / ˌ k æ r ə ˈ k æ l ə / ),

248-466: A Gallic hooded tunic that he habitually wore and made fashionable. He may have begun wearing it during his campaigns on the Rhine and Danube. Cassius Dio , who was still writing his Historia romana during Caracalla's reign, generally referred to him as "Tarautas", after a famously diminutive and violent gladiator of the time, though he also calls him "Caracallus" on various occasions. Caracalla

372-483: A lanista (owner of a gladiator training school). From the principate onwards, private citizens could hold munera and own gladiators only with imperial permission, and the role of editor was increasingly tied to state officialdom. Legislation by Claudius required that quaestors , the lowest rank of Roman magistrate, personally subsidise two-thirds of the costs of games for their small-town communities—in effect, both an advertisement of their personal generosity and

496-455: A "frenzied crescendo" during combats, perhaps to heighten the suspense during a gladiator's appeal; blows may have been accompanied by trumpet-blasts. The Zliten mosaic in Libya (circa 80–100 AD) shows musicians playing an accompaniment to provincial games (with gladiators, bestiarii , or venatores and prisoners attacked by beasts). Their instruments are a long straight trumpet ( tubicen ),

620-403: A Pompeian match between chariot-fighters, Publius Ostorius, with previous 51 wins to his credit, was granted missio after losing to Scylax, with 26 victories. By common custom, the spectators decided whether or not a losing gladiator should be spared, and chose the winner in the rare event of a standing tie. Even more rarely, perhaps uniquely, one stalemate ended in the killing of one gladiator by

744-432: A considerable degree of stagecraft. Among the cognoscenti, bravado and skill in combat were esteemed over mere hacking and bloodshed; some gladiators made their careers and reputation from bloodless victories. Suetonius describes an exceptional munus by Nero, in which no-one was killed, "not even noxii (enemies of the state)." Trained gladiators were expected to observe professional rules of combat. Most matches employed

868-448: A draw. In the same century, an epigraph praises one of Ostia 's local elite as the first to "arm women" in the history of its games. Female gladiators probably submitted to the same regulations and training as their male counterparts. Roman morality required that all gladiators be of the lowest social classes, and emperors who failed to respect this distinction earned the scorn of posterity. Cassius Dio takes pains to point out that when

992-499: A gigantic stipend from the public purse. Gladiator games were advertised well beforehand, on billboards that gave the reason for the game, its editor, venue, date and the number of paired gladiators ( ordinarii ) to be used. Other highlighted features could include details of venationes , executions, music and any luxuries to be provided for the spectators, such as an awning against the sun, water sprinklers, food, drink, sweets and occasionally "door prizes". For enthusiasts and gamblers,

1116-492: A gladiator. His gravestone in Sicily includes his record: "Flamma, secutor , lived 30 years, fought 34 times, won 21 times, fought to a draw 9 times, defeated 4 times, a Syrian by nationality. Delicatus made this for his deserving comrade-in-arms." A gladiator could acknowledge defeat by raising a finger ( ad digitum ), in appeal to the referee to stop the combat and refer to the editor , whose decision would usually rest on

1240-512: A large curved horn ( Cornu ) and a water organ ( hydraulis ). Similar representations (musicians, gladiators and bestiari ) are found on a tomb relief in Pompeii . A match was won by the gladiator who overcame his opponent, or killed him outright. Victors received the palm branch and an award from the editor . An outstanding fighter might receive a laurel crown and money from an appreciative crowd but for anyone originally condemned ad ludum

1364-512: A long pole, which were in use until at least the 2nd century AD. As a consequence, the phalangarii of Legio II Parthica may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly triarii . Caracalla's mania for Alexander went so far that he visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the Aristotelian school based on a legend that Aristotle had poisoned Alexander. This

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1488-404: A more detailed program ( libellus ) was distributed on the day of the munus , showing the names, types and match records of gladiator pairs, and their order of appearance. Left-handed gladiators were advertised as a rarity; they were trained to fight right-handers, which gave them an advantage over most opponents and produced an interestingly unorthodox combination. The night before the munus ,

1612-464: A part-purchase of their office. Bigger games were put on by senior magistrates, who could better afford them. The largest and most lavish of all were paid for by the emperor himself. The earliest types of gladiator were named after Rome's enemies of that time: the Samnite , Thracian and Gaul . The Samnite, heavily armed, elegantly helmed and probably the most popular type, was renamed secutor and

1736-573: A precedent in the Iberian munus of Scipio Africanus ; but none of those had been paid. For the poor, and for non-citizens, enrollment in a gladiator school offered a trade, regular food, housing of sorts and a fighting chance of fame and fortune. Mark Antony chose a troupe of gladiators to be his personal bodyguard. Gladiators customarily kept their prize money and any gifts they received, and these could be substantial. Tiberius offered several retired gladiators 100,000 sesterces each to return to

1860-518: A propitiatory funeral blood-rite that anticipates early Roman gladiator games. Compared to these images, supporting evidence from Etruscan tomb-paintings is tentative and late. The Paestum frescoes may represent the continuation of a much older tradition, acquired or inherited from Greek colonists of the 8th century BC. Livy places the first Roman gladiator games (264 BC) in the early stage of Rome's First Punic War , against Carthage , when Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva had three gladiator pairs fight to

1984-401: A public proclamation as a most cruel murder. A gladiator who was refused missio was despatched by his opponent. To die well, a gladiator should never ask for mercy, nor cry out. A "good death" redeemed the gladiator from the dishonourable weakness and passivity of defeat, and provided a noble example to those who watched: For death, when it stands near us, gives even to inexperienced men

2108-474: A senior referee ( summa rudis ) and an assistant, shown in mosaics with long staffs ( rudes ) to caution or separate opponents at some crucial point in the match. Referees were usually retired gladiators whose decisions, judgement and discretion were, for the most part, respected; they could stop bouts entirely, or pause them to allow the combatants rest, refreshment and a rub-down. Ludi and munera were accompanied by music, played as interludes, or building to

2232-467: A similarly dignified display of female athletics was met by the crowd with ribald chants and cat-calls. Probably as a result, he banned the use of female gladiators in 200 AD. Caligula , Titus , Hadrian , Lucius Verus , Caracalla , Geta and Didius Julianus were all said to have performed in the arena, either in public or private, but risks to themselves were minimal. Claudius , characterised by his historians as morbidly cruel and boorish, fought

2356-429: A soldier first and an emperor second. In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth started the legend of Caracalla's role as king of Britain. Later, in the 18th century, the works of French painters revived images of Caracalla due to apparent parallels between Caracalla's tyranny and that ascribed to king Louis XVI ( r.  1774–1792 ). Modern works continue to portray Caracalla as an evil ruler, painting him as one of

2480-533: A temple on the Quirinal Hill in 212, which he dedicated to Serapis. A fragmented inscription found in the church of Sant' Agata dei Goti in Rome records the construction, or possibly restoration, of a temple dedicated to the god Serapis. The inscription bears the name "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus", a reference to either Caracalla or Elagabalus , but more likely to Caracalla due to his known strong association with

2604-699: A training program for the military. It proved immensely popular. Thereafter, the gladiator contests formerly restricted to private munera were often included in the state games ( ludi ) that accompanied the major religious festivals. Where traditional ludi had been dedicated to a deity, such as Jupiter , the munera could be dedicated to an aristocratic sponsor's divine or heroic ancestor. Gladiatorial games offered their sponsors extravagantly expensive but effective opportunities for self-promotion, and gave their clients and potential voters exciting entertainment at little or no cost to themselves. Gladiators became big business for trainers and owners, for politicians on

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2728-604: A whale trapped in the harbor in front of a group of spectators. Commentators invariably disapproved of such performances. Commodus was a fanatical participant at the ludi , and compelled Rome's elite to attend his performances as gladiator, bestiarius or venator . Most of his performances as a gladiator were bloodless affairs, fought with wooden swords; he invariably won. He was said to have restyled Nero's colossal statue in his own image as " Hercules Reborn", dedicated to himself as "Champion of secutores ; only left-handed fighter to conquer twelve times one thousand men." He

2852-466: A woman named "Mevia", hunting boars in the arena "with spear in hand and breasts exposed", and Petronius mocks the pretensions of a rich, low-class citizen, whose munus includes a woman fighting from a cart or chariot. A munus of 89 AD, during Domitian 's reign, featured a battle between female gladiators, described as "Amazons". In Halicarnassus, a 2nd-century AD relief depicts two female combatants named "Amazon" and "Achillia"; their match ended in

2976-688: A year after Geta's death, Caracalla left Rome, never to return. He went north to the German frontier to deal with the Alamanni , a confederation of Germanic tribes who had broken through the limes in Raetia . During the campaign of 213–214, Caracalla successfully defeated some of the Germanic tribes while settling other difficulties through diplomacy, though precisely with whom these treaties were made remains unknown. While there, Caracalla strengthened

3100-504: Is different: the extent of religious ritual and meaning in them, which constitutes idolatry. Although Tertullian states that these events are forbidden to believers, the fact that he writes a whole treatise to convince Christians that they should not attend ( De Spectaculis ) shows that apparently not everyone agreed to stay away from them. In the next century, Augustine of Hippo deplored the youthful fascination of his friend (and later fellow-convert and bishop ) Alypius of Thagaste , with

3224-464: Is presented in the ancient sources of Cassius Dio , Herodian , and the Historia Augusta as a cruel tyrant and savage ruler. This portrayal of Caracalla is only further supported by the murder of his brother Geta and the subsequent massacre of Geta's supporters that Caracalla ordered. Alongside this, these contemporary sources present Caracalla as a "soldier-emperor" for his preference of

3348-463: Is true that Rome was in a difficult financial situation, it is thought that this could not have been the sole purpose of the edict. The provincials also benefited from this edict because they were now able to think of themselves as equal partners to the Romans in the empire. Another purpose for issuing the edict, as described within the papyrus upon which part of the edict was inscribed, was to appease

3472-515: Is widely accepted, and clearly most likely, that Caracalla ordered the assassination himself, as the two had never been on favourable terms with one another, much less after succeeding their father. Caracalla then persecuted and executed most of Geta's supporters and ordered a damnatio memoriae pronounced by the Senate against his brother's memory. Geta's image was removed from all paintings, coins were melted down, statues were destroyed, his name

3596-739: The Baths of Caracalla in Rome began in 211 at the start of Caracalla's rule. The thermae are named for Caracalla, though it is most probable that his father was responsible for their planning. In 216, a partial inauguration of the baths took place, but the outer perimeter of the baths was not completed until the reign of Severus Alexander . These large baths were typical of the Roman practice of building complexes for social and state activities in large densely populated cities. The baths covered around 50 acres (or 202,000 square metres) of land and could accommodate around 1,600 bathers at any one time. They were

3720-574: The Campanians in celebration of their victory over the Samnites . Long after the games had ceased, the 7th century AD writer Isidore of Seville derived Latin lanista (manager of gladiators) from the Etruscan word for "executioner", and the title of " Charon " (an official who accompanied the dead from the Roman gladiatorial arena) from Charun , psychopomp of the Etruscan underworld. This

3844-695: The Forum Romanum , using twenty-two pairs of gladiators. Ten years later, Scipio Africanus gave a commemorative munus in Iberia for his father and uncle, casualties in the Punic Wars. High status non-Romans, and possibly Romans too, volunteered as his gladiators. The context of the Punic Wars and Rome's near-disastrous defeat at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC) link these early games to munificence,

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3968-615: The Graeco-Egyptian god of healing Serapis . The Iseum and Serapeum in Alexandria were apparently renovated during Caracalla's co-rule with his father Septimius Severus. The evidence for this exists in two inscriptions found near the temple that appear to bear their names. Additional archaeological evidence exists for this in the form of two papyri that have been dated to the Severan period and also two statues associated with

4092-585: The Latin Right . Dio maintains that one purpose for Caracalla issuing the edict was the desire to increase state revenue; at the time, Rome was in a difficult financial situation and needed to pay for the new pay raises and benefits that were being conferred on the military. The edict widened the obligation for public service and gave increased revenue through the inheritance and emancipation taxes that only had to be paid by Roman citizens. However, few of those that gained citizenship were wealthy, and while it

4216-527: The Roman Empire . Julia Domna had a significant share in governance, since Caracalla found administration to be mundane. His reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples . Caracalla issued the Antonine Constitution ( Latin : Constitutio Antoniniana ), also known as the Edict of Caracalla, which granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout

4340-501: The Roman army having made the phalanx an obsolete tactical formation. The historian Christopher Matthew mentions that the term Phalangarii has two possible meanings, both with military connotations. The first refers merely to the Roman battle line and does not specifically mean that the men were armed with pikes , and the second bears similarity to the 'Marian Mules' of the late Roman Republic who carried their equipment suspended from

4464-579: The Western Roman Empire . According to Theodoret , the ban was in consequence of Saint Telemachus ' martyrdom by spectators at a gladiator munus. Valentinian III (r. 425–455) repeated the ban in 438, perhaps effectively, though venationes continued beyond 536. By this time, interest in gladiator contests had waned throughout the Roman world. In the Byzantine Empire, theatrical shows and chariot races continued to attract

4588-436: The editor himself. In any event, the final decision of death or life belonged to the editor , who signalled his choice with a gesture described by Roman sources as pollice verso meaning "with a turned thumb"; a description too imprecise for reconstruction of the gesture or its symbolism. Whether victorious or defeated, a gladiator was bound by oath to accept or implement his editor's decision, "the victor being nothing but

4712-643: The munera spectacle as inimical to a Christian life and salvation . Amphitheatres continued to host the spectacular administration of Imperial justice: in 315 Constantine the Great condemned child-snatchers ad bestias in the arena. Ten years later, he forbade criminals being forced to fight to the death as gladiators: Bloody spectacles do not please us in civil ease and domestic quiet. For that reason we forbid those people to be gladiators who by reason of some criminal act were accustomed to deserve this condition and sentence. You shall rather sentence them to serve in

4836-583: The munus . Two other sources of gladiators, found increasingly during the Principate and the relatively low military activity of the Pax Romana , were slaves condemned to the arena ( damnati ), to gladiator schools or games ( ad ludum gladiatorium ) as punishment for crimes, and the paid volunteers ( auctorati ) who by the late Republic may have comprised approximately half—and possibly the most capable half—of all gladiators. The use of volunteers had

4960-422: The retiarius , would tire less rapidly than their heavily armed opponents; most bouts would have lasted 10 to 15 minutes, or 20 minutes at most. In late Republican munera , between 10 and 13 matches could have been fought on one day; this assumes one match at a time in the course of an afternoon. Spectators preferred to watch highly skilled, well matched ordinarii with complementary fighting styles; these were

5084-481: The 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Christians disapproved of the games because they involved idolatrous pagan rituals, and the popularity of gladiatorial contests declined in the fifth century, leading to their disappearance. Early literary sources seldom agree on the origins of gladiators and the gladiator games. In the late 1st century BC, Nicolaus of Damascus believed they were Etruscan . A generation later, Livy wrote that they were first held in 310 BC by

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5208-473: The Gaul renamed murmillo , once these former enemies had been conquered then absorbed into Rome's Empire. In the mid-republican munus , each type seems to have fought against a similar or identical type. In the later Republic and early Empire, various "fantasy" types were introduced, and were set against dissimilar but complementary types. For example, the bareheaded, nimble retiarius ("net-man"), armoured only at

5332-481: The Roman Empire. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla's adopted praenomen and nomen : "Marcus Aurelius". Other landmarks of his reign were the construction of the Baths of Caracalla , the second-largest bathing complex in the history of Rome, the introduction of a new Roman currency named the antoninianus , a sort of double denarius , and the massacres he ordered, both in Rome and elsewhere in

5456-436: The Roman elite from the bankruptcies they would otherwise suffer, and restricting gladiator munera to the festivals of Saturnalia and Quinquatria . Henceforth, an imperial praetor 's official munus was allowed a maximum of 120 gladiators at a ceiling cost of 25,000 denarii; an imperial ludi might cost no less than 180,000 denarii. Throughout the empire, the greatest and most celebrated games would now be identified with

5580-417: The Roman world. The origin of gladiatorial combat is open to debate. There is evidence of it in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, and thereafter it rapidly became an essential feature of politics and social life in the Roman world. Its popularity led to its use in ever more lavish and costly games . The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years, reaching their peak between

5704-490: The annual pay of an average legionary from 2000 sesterces (500 denarii ) to 2700–3000 sesterces (675–750 denarii ). He lavished many benefits on the army, which he both feared and admired, in accordance with the advice given by his father on his deathbed always to heed the welfare of the soldiers and ignore everyone else. Caracalla needed to gain and keep the trust of the military, and he did so with generous pay raises and popular gestures. He spent much of his time with

5828-423: The arena and in 384 attempted, like most of his predecessors, to limit the expenses of gladiatora munera . In 393, Theodosius I (r. 379–395) adopted Nicene Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire and banned pagan festivals. The ludi continued, very gradually shorn of their stubbornly pagan elements. Honorius (r. 395–423) legally ended gladiator games in 399, and again in 404, at least in

5952-556: The arena. Nero gave the gladiator Spiculus property and residence "equal to those of men who had celebrated triumphs." From the 60s AD female gladiators appear as rare and "exotic markers of exceptionally lavish spectacle". In 66 AD, Nero had Ethiopian women, men and children fight at a munus to impress the King Tiridates I of Armenia . Romans seem to have found the idea of a female gladiator novel and entertaining, or downright absurd; Juvenal titillates his readers with

6076-445: The arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death. Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout

6200-624: The beginning of 217, Caracalla was still based at Edessa before renewing hostilities against Parthia. On 8   April 217 Caracalla, who had just turned 29, was travelling to visit a temple near Carrhae , now Harran in southern Turkey, where in 53   BC the Romans had suffered a defeat at the hands of the Parthians. After stopping briefly to urinate, Caracalla was approached by a soldier, Justin Martialis, and stabbed to death. Martialis had been incensed by Caracalla's refusal to grant him

6324-428: The cast list as Roman territories expanded. Most gladiators were armed and armoured in the manner of the enemies of Rome. The gladiator munus became a morally instructive form of historic enactment in which the only honourable option for the gladiator was to fight well, or else die well. In 216 BC, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , late consul and augur , was honoured by his sons with three days of munera gladiatoria in

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6448-424: The celebration of military victory and the religious expiation of military disaster; these munera appear to serve a morale-raising agenda in an era of military threat and expansion. The next recorded munus , held for the funeral of Publius Licinius in 183 BC, was more extravagant. It involved three days of funeral games, 120 gladiators, and public distribution of meat ( visceratio data ) —a practice that reflected

6572-614: The chief priesthood as pontifex maximus . His name became Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Pius Augustus . Caracalla and Geta ended the Roman invasion of Caledonia after concluding a peace with the Caledonians that returned the border of Roman Britain to the line demarcated by Hadrian's Wall . During the journey back from Britain to Rome with their father's ashes, Caracalla and his brother continuously argued with one another, making relations between them increasingly hostile. Caracalla and Geta considered dividing

6696-413: The coinage soon after his ascension. At the end of Severus' reign and early into Caracalla's, the Roman denarius had an approximate silver purity of around 55%, but by the end of Caracalla's reign the purity had been reduced to about 51%. In 215 Caracalla introduced the antoninianus , a coin intended to serve as a double denarius . This new currency, however, had a silver purity of about 52% for

6820-569: The cost of three gladiators, rather than four; such contests were prolonged, and in some cases, more bloody. Most were probably of poor quality, but the emperor Caracalla chose to test a notably skilled and successful fighter named Bato against first one supposicitius , whom he beat, and then another, who killed him. At the opposite level of the profession, a gladiator reluctant to confront his opponent might be whipped, or goaded with hot irons, until he engaged through sheer desperation. Combats between experienced, well trained gladiators demonstrated

6944-621: The crowd's response. In the earliest munera , death was considered a righteous penalty for defeat; later, those who fought well might be granted remission at the whim of the crowd or the editor . During the Imperial era, matches advertised as sine missione (usually understood to mean "without reprieve" for the defeated) suggest that missio (the sparing of a defeated gladiator's life) had become common practice. The contract between editor and his lanista could include compensation for unexpected deaths; this could be "some fifty times higher than

7068-639: The crowd, and the gladiators themselves, preferred the "dignity" of an even contest. There were also comedy fights; some may have been lethal. A crude Pompeian graffito suggests a burlesque of musicians, dressed as animals named Ursus tibicen (flute-playing bear) and Pullus cornicen (horn-blowing chicken), perhaps as accompaniment to clowning by paegniarii during a "mock" contest of the ludi meridiani . The gladiators may have held informal warm-up matches, using blunted or dummy weapons—some munera , however, may have used blunted weapons throughout. The editor, his representative or an honoured guest would check

7192-452: The crowds, and drew a generous imperial subsidy. The earliest munera took place at or near the tomb of the deceased and these were organised by their munerator (who made the offering). Later games were held by an editor , either identical with the munerator or an official employed by him. As time passed, these titles and meanings may have merged. In the republican era, private citizens could own and train gladiators, or lease them from

7316-412: The death in Rome's "cattle market" forum ( Forum Boarium ) to honor his dead father, Brutus Pera. Livy describes this as a " munus " (plural: munera ), a gift, in this case a commemorative duty owed the manes (spirit, or shade) of a dead ancestor by his descendants. The development of the gladiator munus and its gladiator types was most strongly influenced by Samnium's support for Hannibal and

7440-526: The deified emperor ( divus ) Marcus Aurelius ( r.  161–180 ); accordingly, in 195 or 196 Caracalla was given the imperial rank of Caesar , adopting the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Caesar, and was named imperator destinatus (or designatus ) in 197, possibly on his birthday, 4 April, and certainly before 7 May. He thus technically became a part of the well-remembered Antonine dynasty . Caracalla's father appointed Caracalla, aged 9, joint Augustus and full emperor from 28 January 198. This

7564-525: The empire in half along the Bosphorus to make their co-rule less hostile. Caracalla was to rule in the west and Geta was to rule in the east. They were persuaded not to do this by their mother. On 26 December 211, at a reconciliation meeting arranged by their mother, Geta was assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard loyal to the 23-year-old Caracalla. Geta died in his mother's arms. It

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7688-422: The empire. Between the death of the father and the assassination of Geta towards the end of 211, Caracalla's portrait remains static with a short full beard while Geta develops a long beard with hair strains like his father. The latter was a strong indicator of Geta's effort to be seen as the true successor to their father, an effort that came to naught when he was murdered. Caracalla's presentation on coins during

7812-479: The empire. In 216, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire . He did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. Macrinus succeeded him as emperor three days later. The ancient sources portray Caracalla as a cruel tyrant; his contemporaries Cassius Dio ( c. 155 – c. 235) and Herodian ( c. 170 – c. 240) present him as

7936-591: The empire. Julia's growing influence in state affairs was the beginning of a trend of emperors' mothers having influence, which continued throughout the Severan dynasty. On 4   February 211, Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (present-day York , England) while on campaign in Caledonia , to the north of Roman Britain . This left his two sons and co- augusti , Caracalla and his brother, Geta, as joint inheritors of their father's throne and empire. Caracalla adopted his father's cognomen , Severus, and assumed

8060-509: The evidence of the plot. It was then that he banished his wife, whose later killing might have been carried out under Caracalla's orders. On 28 January 207, at age 18, Caracalla celebrated his decennalia , the tenth anniversary of the beginning of his reign. The year 208 was the year of his third and Geta's second consulship. Geta was himself granted the rank of Augustus and tribunician powers in September or October 209. During

8184-681: The frontier fortifications of Raetia and Germania Superior , collectively known as the Agri Decumates , so that it was able to withstand any further barbarian invasions for another twenty years. In spring 214, Caracalla departed for the eastern provinces, travelling through the Danubian provinces and the Anatolian provinces of Asia and Bithynia . He spent the winter of 214/215 in Nicomedia . By 4 April 215 he had left Nicomedia, and in

8308-470: The games as a matter of undiminished public interest. In the early 3rd century AD, the Christian writer Tertullian condemned the attendance of Christians: the combats, he said, were murder, their witnessing spiritually and morally harmful and the gladiator an instrument of pagan human sacrifice. Carolyn Osiek comments: The reason, we would suppose, would be primarily the bloodthirsty violence, but his

8432-580: The gladiatorial fights at Campanian banquets described by Livy and later deplored by Silius Italicus. The enthusiastic adoption of munera gladiatoria by Rome's Iberian allies shows how easily, and how early, the culture of the gladiator munus permeated places far from Rome itself. By 174 BC, "small" Roman munera (private or public), provided by an editor of relatively low importance, may have been so commonplace and unremarkable they were not considered worth recording: Many gladiatorial games were given in that year, some unimportant, one noteworthy beyond

8556-440: The gladiators were given a banquet and opportunity to order their personal and private affairs; Futrell notes its similarity to a ritualistic or sacramental "last meal". These were probably both family and public events which included even the noxii , sentenced to die in the arena the following day; and the damnati , who would have at least a slender chance of survival. The event may also have been used to drum up more publicity for

8680-528: The god. Two other inscriptions dedicated to Serapis, as well as a granite crocodile similar to one discovered at the Iseum et Serapeum, were also found in the area around the Quirinal Hill. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG. GERM. Pontifex Maximus , TRibunus Plebis XVIIII , COnSul IIII , Pater Patriae The expenditures that Caracalla made with the large bonuses he gave to soldiers prompted him to debase

8804-454: The gods who had delivered Caracalla from conspiracy. The conspiracy in question was in response to Caracalla's murder of Geta and the subsequent slaughter of his followers; fratricide would only have been condoned if his brother had been a tyrant. The damnatio memoriae against Geta and the large payments Caracalla had made to his own supporters were designed to protect himself from possible repercussions. After this had succeeded, Caracalla felt

8928-408: The greatest reward was manumission (emancipation), symbolised by the gift of a wooden training sword or staff ( rudis ) from the editor . Martial describes a match between Priscus and Verus , who fought so evenly and bravely for so long that when both acknowledged defeat at the same instant, Titus awarded victory and a rudis to each. Flamma was awarded the rudis four times, but chose to remain

9052-504: The horse race celebrating his birthday to be abolished and for gold and silver statues dedicated to him to be melted down. These events were, however, limited in scope; most erasures of his name from inscriptions were either accidental or occurred as a result of re-use. Macrinus had Caracalla deified and commemorated on coins as Divus Antoninus . There does not appear to have been any intentional mutilation of Caracalla in any images that were created during his reign as sole emperor. Caracalla

9176-405: The imminent game. Official munera of the early Imperial era seem to have followed a standard form ( munus legitimum ). A procession ( pompa ) entered the arena, led by lictors who bore the fasces that signified the magistrate- editor' s power over life and death. They were followed by a small band of trumpeters ( tubicines ) playing a fanfare. Images of the gods were carried in to "witness"

9300-413: The instrument of his [editor's] will." Not all editors chose to go with the crowd, and not all those condemned to death for putting on a poor show chose to submit: Once a band of five retiarii in tunics, matched against the same number of secutores , yielded without a struggle; but when their death was ordered, one of them caught up his trident and slew all the victors. Caligula bewailed this in

9424-523: The kingdom of Parthia under the control of Rome. In response, Caracalla used the opportunity to start a campaign against the Parthians. That summer Caracalla began to attack the countryside east of the Tigris in the Parthian war of Caracalla . In the following winter, Caracalla retired to Edessa , modern Şanlıurfa in south-east Turkey , and began making preparations to renew the campaign by spring. At

9548-479: The later theatrical ethos of the Roman gladiator show: splendidly, exotically armed and armoured barbarians , treacherous and degenerate, are dominated by Roman iron and native courage. His plain Romans virtuously dedicate the magnificent spoils of war to the gods. Their Campanian allies stage a dinner entertainment using gladiators who may not be Samnites, but play the Samnite role. Other groups and tribes would join

9672-432: The lease price" of the gladiator. Under Augustus' rule, the demand for gladiators began to exceed supply, and matches sine missione were officially banned; an economical, pragmatic development that happened to match popular notions of "natural justice". When Caligula and Claudius refused to spare defeated but popular fighters, their own popularity suffered. In general, gladiators who fought well were likely to survive. At

9796-552: The left arm and shoulder, pitted his net, trident and dagger against the more heavily armoured, helmeted Secutor. Most depictions of gladiators show the most common and popular types. Passing literary references to others has allowed their tentative reconstruction. Other novelties introduced around this time included gladiators who fought from chariots or carts , or from horseback. At an unknown date, cestus fighters were introduced to Roman arenas, probably from Greece, armed with potentially lethal boxing gloves. The trade in gladiators

9920-519: The make and those who had reached the top and wished to stay there. A politically ambitious privatus (private citizen) might postpone his deceased father's munus to the election season, when a generous show might drum up votes; those in power and those seeking it needed the support of the plebeians and their tribunes , whose votes might be won with the mere promise of an exceptionally good show. Sulla , during his term as praetor , showed his usual acumen in breaking his own sumptuary laws to give

10044-458: The many surviving busts and coins. Images of the young Caracalla cannot be clearly distinguished from his younger brother Geta. On the coins, Caracalla was shown laureate after becoming augustus in 197; Geta is bareheaded until he became augustus himself in 209. Between 209 and their father's death in February   211, both brothers are shown as mature young men who were ready to take over

10168-406: The mines so that they may acknowledge the penalties of their crimes with blood. This has been interpreted as a ban on gladiatorial combat. Yet, in the last year of his life, Constantine wrote a letter to the citizens of Hispellum, granting its people the right to celebrate his rule with gladiatorial games. In 365, Valentinian I (r. 364–375) threatened to fine a judge who sentenced Christians to

10292-551: The more important civil functions of the emperor; receiving petitions and answering correspondence. The extent of her role in this position, however, is probably overstated. She may have represented her son and played a role in meetings and answering queries; however, the final authority on legal matters was Caracalla. The emperor filled all of the roles in the legal system as judge, legislator, and administrator. The Constitutio Antoniniana (lit. "Constitution of Antoninus", also called "Edict of Caracalla" or "Antonine Constitution")

10416-452: The most costly to train and to hire. A general melee of several, lower-skilled gladiators was far less costly, but also less popular. Even among the ordinarii , match winners might have to fight a new, well-rested opponent, either a tertiarius ("third choice gladiator") by prearrangement; or a "substitute" gladiator ( suppositicius ) who fought at the whim of the editor as an unadvertised, unexpected "extra". This yielded two combats for

10540-561: The most lavish munus yet seen in Rome, for the funeral of his wife, Metella. In the closing years of the politically and socially unstable Late Republic, any aristocratic owner of gladiators had political muscle at his disposal. In 65 BC, newly elected curule aedile Julius Caesar held games that he justified as munus to his father, who had been dead for 20 years. Despite an already enormous personal debt, he used 320 gladiator pairs in silvered armour. He had more available in Capua but

10664-413: The most tyrannical of all Roman emperors. Caracalla's name at birth was Lucius Septimius Bassianus. He was renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus at the age of seven as part of his father's attempt at union with the families of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius . According to the 4th-century historian Aurelius Victor in his Epitome de Caesaribus , he became known by the agnomen "Caracalla" after

10788-514: The much admired emperor Titus used female gladiators, they were of acceptably low class. Some regarded female gladiators of any type or class as a symptom of corrupted Roman appetites, morals and womanhood. Before he became emperor, Septimius Severus may have attended the Antiochene Olympic Games, which had been revived by the emperor Commodus and included traditional Greek female athletics. Septimius' attempt to give Rome

10912-462: The need to repay the gods of Rome by returning the favour to the people of Rome through a similarly grand gesture. This was done through the granting of citizenship. Another purpose for issuing the edict might have been related to the fact that the periphery of the empire was now becoming central to its existence, and the granting of citizenship may have been simply a logical outcome of Rome's continued expansion of citizenship rights. In 213, about

11036-428: The period between 215 and 217 and an actual size ratio of 1   antoninianus to 1.5   denarii. This in effect made the antoninianus equal to about 1.5   denarii. The reduced silver purity of the coins caused people to hoard the old coins that had higher silver content, aggravating the inflation problem caused by the earlier devaluation of the denarii . During his reign as emperor, Caracalla raised

11160-586: The period of his co-reign with his father, from 198 to 210, are in broad terms in line with the third-century imperial representation; most coin types communicate military and religious messages, with other coins giving messages of saeculum aureum and virtues. During Caracalla's sole reign, from 212 to 217, a significant shift in representation took place. The majority of coins produced during this period made associations with divinity or had religious messages; others had non-specific and unique messages that were only circulated during Caracalla's sole rule. Caracalla

11284-568: The position of centurion , and the praetorian prefect Macrinus , Caracalla's successor, saw the opportunity to use Martialis to end Caracalla's reign. In the immediate aftermath of Caracalla's death, his murderer, Martialis, was killed as well. When Caracalla was murdered, Julia Domna was in Antioch sorting out correspondence, removing unimportant messages from the bunch so that when Caracalla returned, he would not be overburdened with duties. Three days later, Macrinus declared himself emperor with

11408-633: The proceedings, followed by a scribe to record the outcome, and a man carrying the palm branch used to honour victors. The magistrate editor entered among a retinue who carried the arms and armour to be used; the gladiators presumably came in last. The entertainments often began with venationes (beast hunts) and bestiarii (beast fighters). Next came the ludi meridiani , which were of variable content but usually involved executions of noxii , some of whom were condemned to be subjects of fatal re-enactments, based on Greek or Roman myths. Gladiators may have been involved in these as executioners, though most of

11532-468: The reign of his father, Caracalla's mother Julia Domna had played a prominent public role, receiving titles of honour such as "Mother of the camp", but she also played a role behind the scenes helping her husband administer the empire. Described as ambitious, Julia Domna surrounded herself with thinkers and writers from all over the empire. While Caracalla was mustering and training troops for his planned Persian invasion, Julia remained in Rome, administering

11656-508: The republic and beyond. Anti-corruption laws of 65 and 63 BC attempted but failed to curb the political usefulness of the games to their sponsors. Following Caesar's assassination and the Roman Civil War , Augustus assumed imperial authority over the games, including munera , and formalised their provision as a civic and religious duty. His revision of sumptuary law capped private and public expenditure on munera , claiming to save

11780-461: The rest—that of Titus Flamininus which he gave to commemorate the death of his father, which lasted four days, and was accompanied by a public distribution of meats, a banquet, and scenic performances. The climax of the show which was big for the time was that in three days seventy four gladiators fought. In 105 BC, the ruling consuls offered Rome its first taste of state-sponsored " barbarian combat" demonstrated by gladiators from Capua, as part of

11904-425: The second largest public baths built in ancient Rome and were complete with swimming pools , exercise yards , a stadium , steam rooms, libraries, meeting rooms, fountains, and other amenities, all of which were enclosed within formal gardens. The interior spaces were decorated with colourful marble floors, columns, mosaics, and colossal statuary. At the outset of his reign, Caracalla declared imperial support for

12028-497: The senate, mindful of the recent Spartacus revolt and fearful of Caesar's burgeoning private armies and rising popularity, imposed a limit of 320 pairs as the maximum number of gladiators any citizen could keep in Rome. Caesar's showmanship was unprecedented in scale and expense; he had staged a munus as memorial rather than funeral rite, eroding any practical or meaningful distinction between munus and ludi . Gladiatorial games, usually linked with beast shows, spread throughout

12152-400: The shields of the one were inlaid with gold, of the other with silver ... The Romans had already heard of these splendid accoutrements, but their generals had taught them that a soldier should be rough to look on, not adorned with gold and silver but putting his trust in iron and in courage ... The Dictator, as decreed by the senate, celebrated a triumph, in which by far the finest show

12276-566: The soldiers, so much so that he began to imitate their dress and adopt their manners. After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with emulating Alexander the Great . He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. In planning his invasion of the Parthian Empire, Caracalla decided to arrange 16,000 of his men in Macedonian-style phalanxes , despite

12400-538: The soldiery over the senators, a depiction that made him even less popular with the senatorial biographers. Dio explicitly presented Caracalla as an emperor who marched with the soldiers and behaved like a soldier. Dio also often referred to Caracalla's large military expenditures and the subsequent financial problems this caused. These traits dominate Caracalla's image in the surviving classical literature. The Baths of Caracalla are presented in classical literature as unprecedented in scale, and impossible to build if not for

12524-436: The state-sponsored imperial cult , which furthered public recognition, respect and approval for the emperor's divine numen , his laws, and his agents. Between 108 and 109 AD, Trajan celebrated his Dacian victories using a reported 10,000 gladiators and 11,000 animals over 123 days. The cost of gladiators and munera continued to spiral out of control. Legislation of 177 AD by Marcus Aurelius did little to stop it, and

12648-562: The subsequent punitive expeditions against the Samnites by Rome and its Campanian allies; the earliest, most frequently mentioned and probably most popular type was the Samnite . To quote Livy: The war in Samnium, immediately afterwards, was attended with equal danger and an equally glorious conclusion. The enemy, besides their other warlike preparation, had made their battle-line to glitter with new and splendid arms. There were two corps:

12772-626: The summer he was in Antioch on the Orontes . By December 215 he was in Alexandria in the Nile Delta , where he stayed until March or April 216. When the inhabitants of Alexandria heard of Caracalla's claims that he had killed his brother Geta in self-defence, they produced a satire mocking this as well as Caracalla's other pretensions. Caracalla responded to this insult by slaughtering

12896-419: The support of the Roman army. Caracalla's official portrayal as sole emperor marks a break from the detached images of the philosopher-emperors who preceded him: his close-cropped haircut is that of a soldier, his pugnacious scowl a realistic and threatening presence. This rugged soldier-emperor, an iconic archetype, was adopted by most of the following emperors, such as Maximinus Thrax , who were dependent on

13020-429: The support of the troops to rule the empire. Herodian describes Caracalla as having preferred northern European clothing, Caracalla being the name of the short Gaulish cloak that he made fashionable, and he often wore a blond wig. Dio mentions that when Caracalla was a boy, he had a tendency to show an angry or even savage facial expression. The way Caracalla wanted to be portrayed to his people can be seen through

13144-461: The temple that have been dated to around 200   AD. Upon Caracalla's ascension to being sole ruler in 212, the imperial mint began striking coins bearing Serapis' image. This was a reflection of the god's central role during Caracalla's reign. After Geta's death, the weapon that had killed him was dedicated to Serapis by Caracalla. This was most likely done to cast Serapis into the role of Caracalla's protector from treachery. Caracalla also erected

13268-552: The time of the death of Augustus in AD 14. Outside Rome, citizenship was restricted to Roman coloniae  – Romans, or their descendants, living in the provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout the Empire ;– and small numbers of local nobles such as kings of client countries. Provincials, on the other hand, were usually non-citizens, although some magistrates and their families and relatives held

13392-604: The unsuspecting deputation of leading citizens that had assembled before the city to greet his arrival in December 215, before setting his troops against Alexandria for several days of looting and plunder. In spring 216 he returned to Antioch and before 27 May had set out to lead his Roman army against the Parthians. During the winter of 215/216 he was in Edessa . Caracalla then moved east into Armenia . By 216 he had pushed through Armenia and south into Parthia. Construction on

13516-581: The use of reinforced concrete. The Edict of Caracalla, issued in 212, however, goes almost unnoticed in classical records. Gladiator A gladiator ( Latin : gladiator , "swordsman", from gladius , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in

13640-438: The weapons ( probatio armorum ) for the scheduled matches. These were the highlight of the day, and were as inventive, varied and novel as the editor could afford. Armatures could be very costly—some were flamboyantly decorated with exotic feathers, jewels and precious metals. Increasingly the munus was the editor' s gift to spectators who had come to expect the best as their due. Lightly armed and armoured fighters, such as

13764-463: Was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD. He was a member of the Severan dynasty , the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna . Severus proclaimed Caracalla co-ruler in 198, doing the same with his other son Geta in 209. The two brothers briefly shared power after their father's death in 211, but Caracalla soon had Geta murdered by the Praetorian Guard and became sole ruler of

13888-483: Was a sign of Caracalla's increasingly erratic behaviour. In 216, Caracalla pursued a series of aggressive campaigns in the east against the Parthians , intended to bring more territory under direct Roman control. He offered the king of Parthia, Artabanus IV of Parthia , a marriage proposal between himself and the king's daughter. Artabanus refused the offer, realizing that the proposal was merely an attempt to unite

14012-482: Was accepted and repeated in most early modern, standard histories of the games. For some modern scholars, reappraisal of pictorial evidence supports a Campanian origin, or at least a borrowing, for the games and gladiators. Campania hosted the earliest known gladiator schools ( ludi ). Tomb frescoes from the Campanian city of Paestum (4th century BC) show paired fighters, with helmets, spears and shields, in

14136-508: Was afforded by the captured armour. So the Romans made use of the splendid armour of their enemies to do honour to their gods; while the Campanians, in consequence of their pride and in hatred of the Samnites, equipped after this fashion the gladiators who furnished them entertainment at their feasts, and bestowed on them the name Samnites. Livy's account skirts the funereal, sacrificial function of early Roman gladiator combats and reflects

14260-413: Was an edict issued in 212 by Caracalla declaring that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman citizenship, with the exception of the dediticii , people who had become subject to Rome through surrender in war, and freed slaves. Before 212, the majority of Roman citizens had been inhabitants of Roman Italia, with about 4–7% of all peoples in the Roman Empire being Roman citizens at

14384-540: Was born in Lugdunum , Gaul (now Lyon , France), on 4   April 188 to Septimius Severus ( r.  193–211 ) and Julia Domna , thus giving him Punic paternal ancestry and Arab maternal ancestry. He had a slightly younger brother, Geta , with whom Caracalla briefly ruled as co-emperor. Caracalla was five years old when his father was acclaimed Augustus on 9 April 193. In early 195, Caracalla's father Septimius Severus had himself adopted posthumously by

14508-457: Was completely ignored by his son, Commodus . The decline of the gladiatorial munus was a far from straightforward process. The crisis of the 3rd century imposed increasing military demands on the imperial purse, from which the Roman Empire never quite recovered, and lesser magistrates found their provision of various obligatory munera an increasingly unrewarding tax on the doubtful privileges of office. Still, emperors continued to subsidize

14632-817: Was empire-wide, and subjected to official supervision. Rome's military success produced a supply of soldier-prisoners who were redistributed for use in State mines or amphitheatres and for sale on the open market. For example, in the aftermath of the Jewish Revolt , the gladiator schools received an influx of Jews—those rejected for training would have been sent straight to the arenas as noxii (lit. "hurtful ones" ). The best—the most robust—were sent to Rome. In Rome's military ethos, enemy soldiers who had surrendered or allowed their own capture and enslavement had been granted an unmerited gift of life. Their training as gladiators would give them opportunity to redeem their honour in

14756-425: Was forced to marry the daughter of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus , Fulvia Plautilla , whom he hated, though for what reason is unknown. The wedding took place between the 9 and the 15 April, just after he turned 14. In 205, Caracalla was consul for the second time, in company with Geta – his brother's first consulship. By 205, aged 16, Caracalla had got Plautianus executed for treason, though he had probably fabricated

14880-440: Was not subject to a proper damnatio memoriae after his assassination; while the Senate disliked him, his popularity with the military prevented Macrinus and the Senate from openly declaring him to be a hostis . Macrinus, in an effort to placate the Senate, instead ordered the secret removal of statues of Caracalla from public view. After his death, the public made comparisons between him and other condemned emperors and called for

15004-498: Was proclaimed nobilissimus caesar on the same day, and their father Septimius Severus was awarded the victory name Parthicus Maximus . In 199, he was inducted into the Arval Brethren . By the end of 199, at age 11, he was entitled pater patriae . In 202, he was Roman consul , having been named consul designatus the previous year. His colleague was his father, serving his own third consulship. In 202, Caracalla

15128-475: Was said to have killed 100 lions in one day, almost certainly from an elevated platform surrounding the arena perimeter, which allowed him to safely demonstrate his marksmanship. On another occasion, he decapitated a running ostrich with a specially designed dart, carried the bloodied head and his sword over to the Senatorial seats and gesticulated as though they were next. As reward for these services, he drew

15252-458: Was struck from papyrus records, and it became a capital offence to speak or write Geta's name. In the aftermath of the damnatio memoriae , an estimated 20,000 people were massacred. Those killed were Geta's inner circle of guards and advisers, friends, and other military staff under his employ. When Geta died in 211, Julia Domna's responsibilities increased, because Caracalla found administrative tasks to be mundane. She may have taken on one of

15376-696: Was the day Septimius Severus's triumph was celebrated, in honour of his victory over the Parthian Empire in the Roman–Persian Wars ; he had successfully sacked the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon , after winning the Battle of Ctesiphon , probably in October 197. He was also awarded tribunician power and the title of imperator . In inscriptions, Caracalla is given from 198 the title of the chief priesthood, pontifex maximus . His brother Geta

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