Roman dominions were industriously ransacked to afford this very polite and elegant amusement to this most refined and civilised people. The wretched miscreant was brought upon the stage, regarded with the last ignominy and contempt by the assembled multitudes, made a gazing-stock to the world, as the apostle expresses it; and a wild beast, instigated to madness by the shouts and light missive darts of the spectators, was let loose upon him, to tear and worry him in a miserable manner. To this sanguinary and brutal custom the following expressions of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews allude. (x. 32, 33.) Ye endured the great fight of afflictions, partly whilst ye were made a gazing-stock, both by reproaches and afflictions. The original is very emphatical; being openly exposed as on a public theatre to ignominious insults and to the last cruelties.1 In another passage also St. Paul, speaking of the determined fierceness and bigotry with which the citizens of Ephesus opposed him, uses a strong metaphorical expression taken from the theatre:- If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus. Not that the Apostle appears to have been actually condemned by his enemies to combat with wild beasts in the theatre" (because the Roman citizens were never subjected to such a degradation): "he seems only to have employed this strong phraseology, to denote the violence and ferocity of his adversaries, which resembled the rage and fury of brutes, and to compare his contention with these fierce pagan zealots and fanatics to the common theatrical conflict of men with wild beasts." 2 1 ὀνειδισμοῖς τὲ καὶ θλίψεσι θεατριζόμενοι, exposed on a public stage. Dispensatorem ad bestias dedit. Hoc est, seipsum traducere. Id est, says one of the commentators, ludibrio exponere. Petronius Arbiter, p. 220. edit. Burman. 1709. Εξεθεατρίσαν ἑαυτούς. They openly exposed themselves. Polybius, p. 364. Hanov. 1619. Eusebius relates that Attalus, a Christian, was led round the amphitheatre, and exposed to the insults and violence of the multitude. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. v. p. 206. Cantab. Solebant olim gladiatores et bestiarii, antequam certamen obirent per ora populi circumduci. Valesii not. in loc. There is a striking passage in Philo, where, in the same strong metaphorical imagery the Apostle here employs, Flaccus is represented deploring the public ignominy to which he was now reduced. See Philonis Opera, tom. ii. p. 542. edit. Mangey. 2 The same metaphors are of frequent occurrence in the New Testament. Herod is called a fox; Go and tell that fox. (Luke xii. 32.) Hypocrites are called wolves in sheep's clothing. (Matt. vii. 15.) Rapacious and mercenary preachers are styled wolves, that will enter and ravage the fold: There will enter among you grievous wolves, not sparing the flock. (Acts xx. 29.) The Apostle uses a harsher metaphor to denote the malice and rage of his adversaries: Beware of dogs. (Phil. iii. 2.) Had St. Paul been thus engaged, says Dr. Ward, it is difficult to apprehend how he could have escaped without a miracle. For those who conquered the beasts were afterwards obliged to fight with men till they were killed themselves. It seems most reasonable, therefore, to understand the expression [Onpiouάxnoa] as metaphorical, and that he alludes to the tumult raised by Demetrius. He uses the like metaphor, and with respect to the same thing (1 Cor. iv. 9.), and again (13.), alluding to another custom. As to the expression, Κατ' ἀνθρώπον in 1 Cor. xv. 32., the sense seems to be humanitus loquendo. Dr. Ward's Dissertations on Scripture, dissert. xlix. pp. 200, 201. The very same word which the Apostle here employs to denote the violence and fury of his adversaries is used by Ignatius in the like metaphorical sense, 'Από Συρίας μέχρι Ρώμης ΘΗΡΙΟΜΑΧΩ διὰ γῆς καὶ θαλάσσης, νυκτὸς καὶ uépas. All the way from Syria to Rome, by sea and by land, by night and by day, do I FIGHT WITH WILD BEASTS. Ignatii Epist. ad Rom. p. 94. edit. Oxon. 1708. Προφυ λάσσω δὲ ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν θηρίων ἀνθρωπομόρφων. I advise you to beware of beasts in the shape of men, p. 22. So also the Psalmist, My soul is among lions, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows. (Psal. Ivii. 4.) Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord (Psal. Iviii. 6.) See also Lakemacher's Observationes Sacræ, part ii. pp. 194-196. Let it be farther observed, for the elucidating a very striking passage in 1 Cor. iv. 9. that in the Roman amphitheatre the bestiarii, who in the morning combated with wild beasts, had armour with which to defend themselves, and to annoy and slay their antagonist. But the last who were brought upon the stage, which was about noon', were a miserable number, quite naked, without any weapons to assail their adversary-with immediate and inevitable death before them in all its horrors, and destined to be mangled and butchered in the direst manner. In allusion to this custom, with what sublimity and energy are the apostles represented to be brought out last upon the stage, as being devoted to certain death, and being made a public spectacle to the world, to angels, and men! For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle to the world, to angels and men. Dr. Whitby's illustration of this distinguished passage is accurate and judicious. "Here the Apostle seems to allude to the Roman spectacles tŷs tŵv θηριομάχων καὶ μονομαχίας ἀνδροφόνου, that of the bestiarii and the gladiators, where in the morning men were brought upon the theatre to fight with wild beasts, and to them was allowed armour to defend themselves, and smite the beasts that did assail them: but in the meridian spectacle were brought forth the gladiators naked, and without any thing to defend them from the sword of the assailant, and he that then escaped was only reserved for slaughter to another day; so that these men might well be called πlaváτioi, men appointed for death; and this being the last appearance on the theatre for that day, they are said here to be set forth oxáro, the last." V. But the most splendid and renowned solemnities, which ancient history has transmitted to us, were the Olympic Games. Historians, orators, and poets, abound with references to them, and their sublimest imagery is borrowed from these celebrated exercises. "These games were solemnised every fifth year by an infinite concourse of people from almost all parts of the world. They were celebrated with the greatest pomp and magnificence: hecatombs of victims were slain in honour of the immortal gods; and Elis was a scene of universal festivity and joy. There were other public games instituted, as the Pythian, Nemean, Isthmian; which could also boast of the valour and dexterity of their combatants, and show a splendid list of illustrious names, who had, from time to time, honoured them with their presence. But the lustre of these, though maintained for a series of years, was obscured, and almost totally eclipsed, by the Olympie. We find that the most formidable and opulent sovereigns of those 1 Matutinarum non ultima præda ferarum. Martial, xiii. 95. Casu in meridianum spectaculum incidi—quidquid ante pugnatum est, misericordia fuit, nunc omissis nugis mera homicidia sunt: nihil habent quo tegantur, ad ictum totis corporibus expositi―non galcâ, non scuto repellitur ferrum. Seneca, tom. ii. epist. vii. pp. 17, 18. edit. Gronov. 1672. 'Απόλλυντο μὲν θηρία ἐλάχιστα, ἄνθρωποι δὲ πολλοὶ, οἱ μὲν ἀλλήλοις μαχόμενοι, οἱ δὲ καὶ ὑπ' ἐκείνων ἀναλόμενοι. Dion Cassius, lib. lx. p. 951. Reimar. See also pp. 971, 972. ejusdem editionis. See also Beausobre's note on 1 Cor. iv. 9. and Lipsii Saturnalia, tom. vi. p. 951. 2 Josephus, De Bell. Jud. lib. i. cap. 21. § 12. ed. Havercamp. Arriani Epictetus, lib. iii. p. 456. edit. Upton. 1741. times were competitors for the Olympic crown. We see the kings of Macedon1, the tyrants of Sicily, the princos of Asia Minor, and at last the lords of imperial Rome, and emperors of the world3, incited by a love of glory, the last infirmity of noble minds, enter their names among the candidates, and contend for the envied palm; judging their felicity completed, and the career of all human glory and greatness happily terminated, if they could but interweave the Olympic garland with the laurels they had purchased in fields of blood. The various games which the Romans celebrated in their capital and in the principal cities and towns of Italy, with such splendour, ostentation, and expense, seem to have been instituted in imitation of the Grecian; though these were greatly inferior in point of real merit and intrinsic glory: for though the Romans had the gymnastic exercises of the stadium and the chariot race, yet the mutual slaughter of such numbers of gladiators, the combats with lions, bears, and tigers, though congenial to the sanguinary ferocity and brutality of these people,- for no public entertainment could be made agreeable without these scenes,-must present spectacles to the last degree shocking to humanity; for every crown here won was dipt in blood. 6 1. "The Olympic exercises principally consisted in running, wrestling, and the chariot-race; for leaping, throwing the dart and discus, were parts of that they called the Pentathlon. The candidates were to be freemen, and persons of unexceptionable morals.5 A defect in legitimacy or in personal character totally disqualified them. It was indispensably necessary for them previously to submit to a severe regimen. At their own houses they prescribed themselves a particular course of diet; and the laws required them, when they had given in their names to be enrolled in the list of competitors, to resort to Elis, and reside there thirty days before the games commenced; where the regimen and preparatory exercises were regulated and directed by a number of illustrious persons who were appointed every day to superintend them. This form of diet they authoritatively prescribed, and religiously inspected, that the combatants Philip. Eadem quoque die nuntium pater ejus [Philippus] duarum victoriarum accepit alterius, belli Illyrici, alterius, certaminis Olympici, in quod quadrigarum currus miserat. Justin. lib. xii. cap. 16. p. 359. edit. Gronov. 1719. Cui Alexandro tanta om nium virtutum naturâ ornamenta exstitere, ut etiam Olympio certamine vario ludicrorum genere contenderit. Justin. lib. vii. cap. 2. p. 217. 2 Hiero, king of Syracuse. See Pindar's first Olympic ode: his first Pythian ode. Theron, king of Agrigentum. See the second and third Olympic odes. Nero. See Dion Cassius, tom. ii. pp. 1032, 1033. 1066. edit. Reimar. Aurigavit [Nero] plurifariam, Olympiis etiam decemjugem. Suetonius in Vita Neronis, p. 605. edit. var. Lug. Bat. 1662. Sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum Evitata rotis, palmaque nobilis Horat. lib. i. ode i. The candidates were obliged to undergo an examination of another kind, consisting of the following interrogatories :- 1. Were they freemen? 2. Were they Grecians? 3. Were their characters clear from all infamous and immoral stains? West's Dissertation on the Olympic Games, p. 152, edit. 12mo. Arriani Epictetus, lib. iii. p. 456. Upton. 7 Philostratus, de Vita Apollonii, lib. v. cap. 43. p. 227. edit. Olearii. Lipsiæ, 1709. might acquit themselves in the conflict in a manner worthy the Grecian name, worthy the solemnity of the occasion, and worthy those crowds of illustrious spectators by whom they would be surrounded. There are many passages in the Greek and Roman classics which make mention of that extreme strictness, temperance, and continence which the candidates were obliged to observe. Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam, A youth, who hopes th' Olympic prize to gain, Hor. Art. Poet. ver. 412. Francis. The following is a very distinguished passage in Arrian's discourses of Epictetus, which both represents to the reader the severity of this regimen and the arduous nature of the subsequent contention1:"Do you wish to conquer at the Olympic games?—But consider what precedes and follows, and then if it be for your advantage, engage in the affair. You must conform to rules; submit to a diet, refrain from dainties, exercise your body whether you choose it or not, in a stated hour, in heat and cold: you must drink no cold water, nor sometimes even wine. In a word, you must give yourself up to your master, as to a physician. Then, in the combat you may be thrown into a ditch, dislocate your arm, turn your ankle, swallow abundance of dust, be whipped, and, after all, lose the victory. When you have reckoned up all this, if your inclination still holds, set about the combat." #2 3 2. "After this preparatory discipline, on the day appointed for the celebration, a herald called over their names, recited to them the laws of the games, encouraged them to exert all their powers, and expatiated upon the blessings and advantages of victory. He then introduced the competitors into the stadium, led them around it, and, with a loud voice, demanded if any one in that assembly could charge any of the candidates with being infamous in his life and morals, or could prove him a slave, a robber, or illegitimate. They were then conducted to the altar, and a solemn oath exacted from them, that they would observe the strictest honour in the contention. Afterwards, those who were to engage in the foot-race were brought to the barrier, along which they were arranged, and waited in all the excesses of ardour and impatience for the signal. The cord being dropped, they all at once sprung forward', fired with the love of glory, conscious that the eyes of all assembled Greece were now upon them, and that the envied palm, if they won it, would secure them the highest honours, and immortalise their memory. It is Epictetus, lib. iii. c. 15. See also Epicteti Enchiridion, cap. 29. p. 710. edit. Upton. 2 Mrs. Carter's translation of Arrian, pp. 268, 269. London, 1758. 4to. See West's Dissertation on the Olympic Games, p. 154. 12mo. signoque repente Corripiunt spatia audito, limenque relinquunt Virgil, Eneid v. 315. natural to imagine with what rapidity they would urge their course, and emulous of glory, stretch every nerve to reach the goal. This is beautifully represented in the following elegant epigram (translated by Mr. West) on Arias of Tarsus, victor in the stadium: The speed of Arias, victor in the race, Brings to thy founder, Tarsus, no disgrace; In all these athletic exercises the combatants contended naked1; for though, at first, they wore a scarf round the waist, yet an unfortunate casualty once happening, when this disengaging itself, and entangling round the feet, threw the person down, and proved the unhappy occasion of his losing the victory, it was, after this accident, adjudged to be laid aside.2 3. Chaplets composed of the sprigs of a wild olive3, and branches of palm, were publicly placed on a tripod in the middle of the stadium, full in the view of the competitors, to inflame them with all the ardour of contention, and all the spirit of the most generous emulation. Near the goal was erected a tribunal, on which sat the presidents of the games, called Hellanodics, personages venerable for their years and characters, who were the sovereign arbiters and judges of these arduous contentions, the impartial witnesses of the respective merit and pretentions of each combatant, and with the strictest justice conferred the crown. 4. "It is pleasing and instructive to observe how the several particulars here specified concerning these celebrated solemnities, which were held in the highest renown and glory in the days of the apostles, explain and illustrate various passages in their writings, the beauty, energy, and sublimity of which consist in the metaphorical allusions to these games, from the various gymnastic exercises of which their elegant and impressive imagery is borrowed. Thus the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (an epistle which, in point of composition, may vie with the most pure and elaborate of the Greek classics) says, Wherefore, seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin Thucydides, lib. i. § 6. tom. i. pp. 16, 17. ed. Glasg. 2 In the xivth Olympiad, one Orsippus, a racer, happened to be thrown down by his scarf tangling about his feet, and was killed; though others say that he only lost the victory by that fall; but whichever way it was, occasion was taken from thence to make a law, that all the athletes for the future should contend naked. West's Dissertation, p. 66. 12mo. * Τὸ γέρας ἐστὶν οὐκ ἄργυρος, οὐδὲ χρυσὸς, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ κοτίνου στέφανος ἢ σελίνου. Josephus contra Apion. lib. ii. § 30. p. 488. Havercamp. Strabo, in his geographical description of the Elian territories, mentions a grove of wild olives. Eσti d'aλoos ¿yiedalsv Apes. Strabo, lib. viii. p. 343. edit. Paris, 1620. Probably from this grove the Olympic crowns were composed. To excite the emulation of the competitors, by placing in their ambition, these crowns were laid upon a tripod or table, their view the object of which during the games was brought out and placed in the middle of the stadium. West's Dissertation, p. 174. 12mo. |