Onno Van Nijf Global Players

Onno M. van Nijf:

Global players: Athletes and Performers in the Hellenistic and Roman World# Introduction Among the more striking manifestations of the fenomeno associativo of the Hellenistic and Roman periods was the strong growth of the number of private associations based on common occupations.1 Among these groups associations of athletes and performers seem to have played a special role. These associations were formed by individuals sharing an occupational identity, but unlike their banausic colleagues they did not limit their activities to one city. They maintained strong translocal links, and had in fact, even a certain global flavour about them. They were active in different cities and festivals in various parts of the Greek speaking part of the empire, where they had local representatives or branches, but they also maintained central headquarters that were ultimately moved to the imperial capital.2 In this article I want to take a new look at these associations and study them against the background of the general rise of associations in the late Hellenistic and Roman periods, and in the context of two wider developments in the political culture. In the first part of this article I shall attempt to establish that these associations performed a number of functions that were broadly similar to those offered by more 'banausic' associations. In the second part, however, I shall suggest that it may be useful to interpret these associations against the background of two wider developments: a process that we might describe as 'ancient globalization', and a political development that put a greater emphasis on symbolic politics. The rise of the associations Performers: Greek civic festivals had always revolved around dramatic, musical and athletic competitions. In the course of the classical period, when festivals increasingly be-

came a more autonomous sector of society, we see the beginnings of a certain specialization of the main disciplines. This seems to have happened first with the actors and artists, who before the end of the classical period must have been to a high degree travelling professionals, without obvious links to the cities where they performed. One may think of the spectacular portrait of the actor Ion in Plato's dialogue of that name. But it was not before the 3rd century BC that we see in various parts of the Greek world the rise of a number of larger organizations that united professional performers (various types of actors, musicians, and others who were necessary for a successful performance). The history of these associations in the Hellenistic period may be quickly summarised as they have been discussed recently in the excellent studies by Aneziri and Le Guen.3 The first of these associations were formed some time around 280-270 BCE and they all had their base in one of the cultural centres of the (enlarged) Greek world of this period. There was a group with a firm basis in Athens4, while a rather loose association with various local branches was formed around the festivals of Nemea and Isthmia.5 We find a group in Egypt in Alexandria (with subsidiaries in Ptolemais, but also in Rhodes and Cyprus) that was founded with the support of the new dynasty,6 and -somewhat later- a Dionysiac association founded by the Attalids with a base in western Asia Minor: Ionia and Hellespont.7 A smaller and more obscure association seems to have existed in southern Italy and Sicily.8 These associations seem to have been very similar, and their activities may have overlapped. They seem to have coëxisted however, without a formal division of labour, and conflicts unavoidably arose over issues like status and precedence. A famous example is the conflict between the associations of Athens and of Isthmia and Nemea which could only be solved by the Roman senate, when Rome had started to guarantee the freedom of movement on which these associations depended.9 By the beginning of the imperial period, however, these individual associations start disappearing from sight, apparently to be replaced by one larger supraregional -and we may use here the term 'global' - association, whose base was ultimately transferred to Rome.10

#

Various versions of this paper were presented at seminars of the University of Groningen, The Free University of Amsterdam, and the University of Athens. I would like to thank the participants for their questions and advice, in particular Prof. Kostas Buraselis and dr. Sofia Aneziri (Athens). I also like to thank Chris Dickenson and Sofia Voutsaki for their comments 1 I have studied this type of associations in: van Nijf (1997). 2 The most important studies are: Forbes (1955)and Pleket (1973) on athletes, and Aneziri (2003)and Le Gruen (2001) on technitai. See also Roueché (1993) and Millar (1977), 456-463.

3

Aneziri (2003), 21-124 ; LeGuen (2001), ii, 14-37. Aneziri (2003), 25-51; LeGuen (2001), ii, 14-17. 5 Aneziri (2003), 51-70; LeGuen (2001), ii, 17-27. 6 Aneziri (2003),109-120; LeGuen (2001), ii, 34-36. 7 Aneziri (2003), 71-109; LeGuen (2001), ii, 27-34. 8 LeGuen (2001), ii, 36-38. 9 LeGuen (2001), ii, 102-104 with the documents, i, 98-113. 10 LeGuen (2001), ii, 140. 4

van Nijf

226 Athletes: The history of the organization of athletes fell a bit behind. Although there may have been a rise of 'professional' lower class athletes from the late fifth century B.C. onwards, there was apparently no reason for athletes to band together.11 In fact the rise of the associations of athletes is clearly a phenomenon of the Roman period. The first attestations date from the 1st century BC, and among these we find an honorific inscription from Erythrae and a letter by the triumvir Mark Antony, which shows that from the beginning these associations had strong links with the Roman authorities.12 Although it is possible that the history of these associations went back a bit further in time, we have in fact no indication that they had a very long tradition.13 Perhaps we should take the claim of pre-existing privileges with a pinch of salt. From the beginning the texts employ a varied terminology. Scholars have insisted that this reflects formal differentiations and that we should distinguish sharply between local and 'global ' associations, between associations of 'mere athletes or performers', of 'sacred victors', and of 'fellow competitors' to name a few.14 Yet, terminological confusion is rife, and it would seem that the distinctions were much less rigid than has generally been assumed. A comparison with associations of craftsmen suggests another possibility. In many cases these associations adopted a rather flexible terminology, whereby the same association might be known under various names.15 Terminological consistency may not have been high on the minds of the athletes or the performers, and titles could vary with the circumstances or fashion. The same would have applied to the organizational structure. The world wide association would have had to be flexible enough to adapt itself to the needs of travelling athletes or performers, who happened to find themselves gathered at one of the many contests of the age.16Small local branches would bother themselves with the registration of local performers or champions at local contests and their privileges.17 Other groups would have entered negotiations with festival organizers throughout the empire,18 or with Roman officials and even emperors.19 11

For the rise of 'professional' athletes: Pleket (1973), esp. 197-198 and more generally Pleket (1974; Pleket (1975). 12 IErythrae 429; Sherk RDGE 57. 13 Forbes (1955), 239-40; Pleket (1973), 200-202. 14 Discussion in Forbes (1955), 240-248 and Pleket (1973). 15 See: van Nijf (1997), 10. 16 E.g. IvO 436, 496. 17 E.g. ITralleis, 112 and the texts collected in PAgon. 18 E.g. P&P 51; POxy vii, 1050 is an example of a municipal account, with entries for the various categories of performers. 19 Most famously Pliny Ep.Tra. 118-119, see also the texts collected in PAgon. The For the nature of the relationship between emperors and associations, see Millar (1977), 456-463.

Even (or perhaps especially) retired athletes seem to have felt a need to maintain formal links with the field and with one another.20 Terminological and organizational fixity would have been indispensable in the dealings with the Roman state, but it seems unnecessary to assume that in all other instances the associations would have had to present the same face. What we may be dealing with, therefore, is not one monolithic organization bent on representing a uniform presence, as if it were a corporate logo, but something more flexible. I prefer to see the athletic and artistic associations of the empire as a rather loose agglomeration of various overlapping groups of performers of different types and categories, who could all claim to be somehow connected to imperially recognised, and centrally located, associations of Rome. In fact, seen in this way the athletes and performers appear a truly global institution. But before we turn to these global aspects, it is still profitable to investigate first the functions that these associations had for their members. Athletes, artists and other associations To understand the appeal of these associations it is useful to compare them to the associations of other groups based on shared occupation. The first, and perhaps most obvious, function that associations could perform for their members, i.e. the protection of their economic interests, is also one of the most difficult to establish. This is a problem that we also encounter in the case of other associations that were based on shared occupation. Until recently it was the accepted view that, unlike mediaeval guilds, ancient associations were not involved in defending economic interests of their members. This view can no longer be maintained. Although it is obviously the case that this aspect of associations was not a major concern in their epigraphic self presentation, there is enough evidence to suggest that associations were able to act in their members' (economic) interests. Honorific and funerary monuments are perhaps not the best place to look, but as soon as we take in other types of documents, or if we look hard enough we find evidence that these interests were firmly on their mind. 21 Athletes and performers were of course in the first place professional specialists, and their social status and self-image was expressed clearly in the collective noun that was used to indicate the performers: they 20

See the discussion of the term katalysis (retirement) in Pleket (1973), esp 213-221. 21 Finley (1985), 137-138, with my remarks in van Nijf (1997),12-18 and 82-107.

Athletes and performers

were technitai (‘craftsmen’), just as much as builders or blacksmiths were. Their labour was hired, as we can see in the various accounts that mention payments to athletes and performers in connection with various festivals.22 As no festival could proceed without them, associations of athletes and performers were in an excellent position to defend the economic interests of their members. They could flex their muscles, so to speak, when they operated as brokers or middlemen. They entered collective agreements on behalf of their members with festival organisers, and they were also responsible for the negotiation of payments and of prize money. This was of course practical for the organisers, but also a sensible business strategy for the performers and athletes themselves. It may have helped them to protect their income, perhaps by negotiating acceptable levels of pay and prizes, or by negotiating with defaulting organisers. They could also throw their weight about by insisting on a carefully planned scheduled so that performers had time to travel from one festival to another. An inscription from Aphrodisias shows that relevant clauses were occasionally written into the contracts. When a festival was announced it was necessary to fix the exact time well in advance with the association of athletes "because the competitors must leave afterwards for Herakleia, and always hereafter in a cycle…"23 The periodos was a a business cycle as much as a sports’ calendar.. Another area where athletes and performers could make their collective power being felt was in the negotiation of privileges and exemptions that were offered to performers, and which often had an economic dimension. Several legal texts confirm that travelling performers were exempt from the various import and export duties that traders and other travellers normally had to pay (ateleia), that they enjoyed protection against personal and collective liability (asylia), and that they could also be freed from billeting and other local munera or taxes. Other texts prove that associations entered into negotiations with the authorities – often as high as the emperor himself- to secure privileges for victorious athletes, which could include payments by their home cities. 24 An exchange of letters between Pliny and the emperor Trajan spells out some of the more attractive privileges – but it also shows that the associations could sometimes overplay their hand.25 To enable the performers to claim these privileges and benefits, there must have been a complex internal bureaucracy in these associations to provide the members

227 with the appropriate documentation.26 We should think of athletes and performers, therefore, as literally cardcarrying members of a worldwide association that aimed to protect their situation with the approval of governors and emperors. Having said that, it is important to note that the documents employed a quite marked rhetoric of concealment: they had a tendency to mask unpleasant realities, including economic interests. Instead, their documents were couched in a language that emphasized honour and privilege and relied heavily on euphemism and elevated formulae. While protecting the economic interests of their members these associations were clearly concerned to set themselves up as respectable organizations. In modern society we tend to relegate religious activities to a separate domain. Trade unions or labour organizations are not normally assumed to have a religious function. It is not possible, however, to make the same distinction for ancient society. It is perfectly clear that religious considerations were on the mind of every association: divine protectors, sacrifices, banquets, participation in private or public religious rituals are close to the core of every association.27 Associations of athletes and performers were no exception. The first thing to note is, of course, that the activities of these associations took place in the context of religious rituals. Dramatic performances and athletic contests were of course an integral element of the cult of deities. Even at Olympia more than half the time of the Games was dedicated to processions, sacrifices, banquets and other religious rituals. In the Hellenistic and Roman period this ‘religious market’ increased dramatically due to the rise in new or ‘improved’ festivals with athletic or dramatic contests. It could be argued that the rise in the number and the visibility of the associations was in itself the product of this religiously inspired ‘agonistic explosion.’28 It is not surprising, then, that athletes and performers were represented in the first place as the worshippers of the most important gods associated with these festivals. Actors and artists focused on Dionysos, whereas athletes tended to worship the gymnasion god par excellence, Herakles. Yet other cultic ties are also known: Apollo for the actors, and Hermes - obliquely referred to as 'the agonistic one' in an inscription from Aphrodisias - are on record. As the main drive behind festi-

22

E.g. POxy vii, 1050. P&P 51 l. 13-15. 24 E.g. Sherk, RDGE 57; Bean Side Kitabeleri 148; cf. CJ 10.54.; IEphesos 17-198; IEphesos 3005. For examples of an application for an allowance: PAgon 1-5, see also Hunt and Edgar Select Papyri, 306. 25 Pliny Ep.Tra. 118-119. 23

26

The texts collected in PAgon give a good impression of the kinds of documents that the archives of associations contained. 27 Van Nijf (1997), 11; in more detail Kloppenborg (1996) and Harland (2003). 28 For the term 'agonistic explosion' see Robert (1982). Cf. van Nijf (2001), 307-312.

van Nijf

228 vals in the Roman period seems to have been provided by the imperial cult, it comes as no surprise that the associations also dedicated themselves to emperor worship in various forms.29 Their cultic identity is also evident from the way that they organised themselves and their activities. Their top-officials were styled priests or high-priests (archiereis), and headquarters of associations served as sanctuaries (temene) that could be filled with cult statues and other sacred objects.30 Their religious dimension was further underlined by the adoption of a sacred vocabulary which mirrored that employed for the festivals. They described themselves as sacred, or pious, and this claim to piety was also accepted by others. The artists of Dionysos were even called as the ‘most pious of all Greeks’.31 There can be little doubt that religious activity was at the core of the self-image and the identity of these associations: when they presented themselves as worshippers of Herakles or Dionysos, we should take them at their word. Another function that in modern literature is frequently attributed to collegia and other associations is funeral care for deceased members. Virtually all voluntary associations showed a strong concern with the burial and commemoration of their members.32 Associations of athletes and performers were likewise concerned with burials and commemoration. Collective tomb monuments, such as the columbaria that were built by the collegia of Rome and some other cities are not attested, but there is evidence that associations buried deceased members, were responsible for the maintenance of the tombs, or for the celebration of commemorative rituals of individual members, benefactors, or patrons. This is very much in line with the funerary activities of other associations that also took care of graves and commemorative ceremonies within and beyond their own group. 33 In the scholarly literature these activities have often been discussed as a purely functional or practical matter. Occupational associations or collegia were simply seen as a mutual burial clubs, providing 'decent' burials

for destitute individuals. This view should now be abandoned. Formal burial may have involved rites, prayers and, perhaps a cremation, or a hole in the ground, and a stone, but at no point did it require elaborate tombs, inscriptions or commemorative ceremonies. These were optional, and depended on the economic and social aspirations of the craftsmen and traders who joined these clubs. The aim of these associations in providing these elements was both to advertise the deceased individual's name and qualities, as well as to locate him within the context of a community of fellow worshippers, colleagues, or neighbours.34 The conspicuous character of the texts and monuments, however suggest that this was not the sole aim. Apparently these associations were concerned to raise their own standing in society by representing themselves as a worthy community within the city. The fact that associations based on common trade or occupation were also involved in the funerary care for benefactors and patrons with no obvious occupational ties, is of course connected with the demands of patronage, but it may also have helped to raise their status in the community even further. Again the result will have been one of status association. 35 There are some texts to show that athletes and performers employed a similar strategy.36 However they were able to go one step further than their more banausic counterparts. In some cases we find associations setting up not mere epitaphs but also long and complex consolation decrees for deceased members. Such texts required of course the rhetorical and literary skills that only a gymnasium education would bring, which is another indication of the relative elevated social status of athletes and performers. However, this practice also put the associations on a par with the highest levels of urban society, as most consolation decrees were set up by the boule and the demos for deceased members of the local elites. An example from Knidos concerns the oecumenical association of athletes and their trainers addressing the boule, demos and archontes of the city of Knidos over the premature death of a certain Euboulos, a promising athlete who belonged to one of Knidos' top families. The text shows how these decrees would put the deceased, his home city, and the association itself on the map.37

29

E.g. IG iii-ii, 1350, for 'the sacred Hadrianic Antonine thymelic, traveling great synod of the oecumenical worshippers of Dionysos and the emperor Antoninus Pius.' IEphesos 1084, mentions ' The sacred xystic traveling pious synod of the worshippers of Herakles and Imperator Caesar Augustus. For links with Apollo, see IEphesos 22; For Hermes: IG xi, 130; for the epithet 'agonios', see P&P, 91.2. 30 E.g. IGUR ii, 237. 31 The ' exemplary piety' of the artists is discussed in LeGuen (2001), ii 83-93. 32 Van Nijf (1997). 31-69. 33 E.g. ISmyrna 217; SEG 35, 1236; IAlexandreia Troas, 140. See also Sigismund Nielsen and Stehmeier in this volume.

As with other associations, funerary activities were crucial to the associations of athletes as a social strategy designed to preserve the memories of individual 34

Van Nijf (1997). 31-69 and Patterson (1993). Van Nijf (1997), 55-68. E.g. ISmyrna , 709. 37 SEG 33, 863. Other examples may be found at: P&P 89-90; and Bean Belleten 29, 1965, 588-591 n.2 (= Barth, M. - Stauber, J., Inschriften Mysia & Troas, Munich 1993, 830). 35 36

Athletes and performers

members, as well as to raise the collective profile of the association within a civic context. It will be obvious by now that, as with other associations based on common trade or occupation, the activities of associations of athletes and performers had the effect of raising their profile in society. A similar effect resulted from the participation of associations in the culture of spectacles that marked civic life in the Roman empire. Through membership of associations, craftsmen and traders were frequently able to participate in the ceremonial life of civic communities. Civic rituals were often formative for social identities and helped to distinguish civic groups. The ritual presence of the associations boosted their social profile and helped them to be viewed as an integral element of the civic hierarchy, which these festivals aimed to represent in various ways (e.g. by showing an idealised social hierarchy in the seating arrangements, or by employing the symbolic geography of the city in processions).38 Such matters were also high up the list of the associations of athletes and performers, even allowing for the fact that these athletes and actors had qualitate qua, a ritual presence that other occupations lacked (although there were also contests for sculptors and physicians)39. Associations of athletes and performers also had roles to play in various civic festivals that went beyond their particular specialization, and which presented them on the same level as other associations and civic groups. Prominent sub-groups, and in particular those competitors that had been victorious in sacred crown games (hieronikai) often had a prominent position in civic ritual. In some cities, like Didyma or Termessos, they enjoyed the privilege of reserved seats in the stadia or theatres of the city;40 at other festivals athletes and actors were singled out in distributions and handouts that were organized by wealthy benefactors.41 Ancient spectacles were not limited to theatres and stadia, however, as an entire city could be turned into the dramatic setting of ritual activity: banquets that took place in agoras and other public spaces, and civic processions that followed a carefully crafted route through town also frequently included athletic or artistic victors.42 Some associations kept their own flags and banners conveniently in a stand in their clubhouse, as was the case in Smyrna.43

229 This brief survey has made clear, I hope, that the associations of athletes and performers were in many respects like other 'occupational' associations. They engaged themselves with defending the economic interests of their members, with cultic functions, with burial and commemoration and with ceremonial activity. Through membership of these associations, athletes and performers may have created their own space in the context of their hometown. Yet there were some significant differences, and to these I shall now turn. "Ordo-making": I have argued elsewhere that the cumulative effect of these various modes of self-representation of associations had a clear socio-political dimension. These activities and the ensuing publicity, did not simply raise the visibility of these associations, but also located them clearly within a civic context. They show that (professional) associations were not 'marginal' to the cities where they were active, but that they were integral elements of them. Associations often served as structures of integration for their members: through these associations these 'rather thin men' obtained a place in the civic world.44 I have suggested that this process can be usefully described as 'ordo making'.45 This does not imply that associations were in themselves an order -according to Roman law- , but that they were engaged with all their activities in a perpetual process of behaving like, dressing themselves up as, or representing themselves as an 'ordo' in order to make the most political and symbolic capital out of membership. (Even if you weren't an order, it paid off to behave as if you were one). I want to argue here that this model also has its uses in the case of the associations of athletes and performers. Occasionally such ‘political’ ambitions shine through in the terminology that they adopted. I think that we can already sense this behind the expression techniteuma -clearly coined after politeuma - which was used by technitai in Egyptian papyri and a handful of literary texts.46 Another example of this tendency is perhaps found in a text from Aphrodisias where the term politeuesthai -which normally refers to citizenship, or to the exercise of civic office- appears to have been used here to indicate the exercise of office within an association of athletes, thus obfuscating the boundaries between citizenship and club membership.47 It should be noted, however, that associations of athletes and performers were in some respects quite dif-

38

Van Nijf (1997), 189-206 (processions); and 209-249 (seats). Sculptors: Roueché, C. Performers and partisans, 1993, 76; physicians: IEphesos 1161, 1168. 40 E.g. Didyma: Rehm, A. IDidyma, 50; Termessos: TAM 3.1, 872. 41 E.g. IPriene 111; IG 12.2, 68 (Lesbos). 42 E.g. IEphesos 11 1, 27; IPergamon, 246; Forbes (1955),245. 43 ISmyrna 24.1, 714. 39

44

Van Nijf (1997) passim. For the expression 'rather thin men' (homines tenuiores ) see Brunt (1973). 45 Van Nijf (1997). 245-247. 46 OGIS 51 = SB 5, 8855. 47 P&P 91,1, l.27.

van Nijf

230 ferent from their banausic counterparts. It is clear for example that associations of athletes and performers recruited their members from among somewhat more elevated strata than did the associations of craftsmen and traders. Athletes and performers must have had a gymnasium education, which will not have been accessible to the more common craftsmen and traders, and top-performers often belonged to the elites of their home-towns. A number of bouleutai is on record, and some individuals were even offered multiple local citizenships and council memberships in several cities, a clear sign of relatively high status.48 The leading members of associations made themselves useful as benefactors or as ambassadors to the imperial court.49 Another important difference is that associations of craftsmen had a clear local character, whereas the performers and athletes maintained strong translocal links. As we saw above the associations of athletes and performers can be best understood as a conglomerate of locally and regionally based groups of various degrees of formal organization that orbited around empire wide and formally recognised bodies that were based in Rome. It has been pointed out, some time ago now, by Fergus Millar that these empire-wide associations seem to have had an independent existence, which put them on a par with such building blocks of the empire as cities and provincial koina.50 One of their striking features is the high degree of conformism that we find in their organizational structure and formal language, which was akin to that used by cities and koina and other communities. Although it should be pointed out that we encounter this formalised language also in other types of associations, it is probably fair to say that athletes and performers took this habit to a higher plane.51 They had general assemblies, as well as a range of magistrates, including archontes, grammateis, and nomodeiktai (chancellors, or legal advisers) that were clearly styled after political offices. They had assemblies that passed formally phrased decrees in honour of members and outside benefactors and authorities. They had their own ambassadors dealing with governors and emperors, and even appointed proxenoi.52 The adoption of this formal style of organization did not only reflect the social aspirations of their member48

On the status of athletes: van Nijf (2001); and Pleket (1974). E.g.: CIG 3426; FD 3.1, 209 (citizenship and council membership); IG iiiii. 3686 (a xystarch who was hoplostrategos in Athens) 49 E.g. IDidyma, 107; IGUR 236, 237. 50 Millar (1977), 456-463. 51 Van Nijf (1997), 73-128 for a discussion of honorific language of occupational associations. 52 The formulaic style of the decrees of associations: Bean Belleten 29 1965 588 -593; archiereus: IEphesos, 1618; proxenos: IDidyma, 272; ambassador: Geagan (1975).

ship, but also helped to create a political space for these associations alongside the acknowledged institutions of empire. Their formal language helped facilitate communication with the authorities, both at the level of individual cities as well as that of Hellenistic kings and Roman emperors. We have seen above that associations of performers frequently maintained strong links with civic and royal authorities. In the Roman period emperors, effortlessly stepping into the shoes of the Hellenistic predecessors, continued to protect and cajole the associations. This special relationship between emperors and associations seems to have been equally strong in the case of the athletes. It is quite clear that these associations were from the very start closely connected to imperial patronage, and it may be suggested that the Romans were behind the rise of this type of association. This may be impossible to prove, but it is obvious that these associations prospered in the particular constellation of the Roman empire, fulfilling the needs both of the athletes and the emperors. Greek sports had always occupied an important place in the Roman perception of the Greeks. The beginning of the Principate put an even higher prize on athletics, and athletic contests, which may have created a need for associations as intermediaries.53 It is not surprising then that among the earliest attestations of the association of athletes is a letter by the triumvir Mark Antony confirming the privileges these groups enjoyed.54 It would appear that these links continued, and even increased over time. At some time in the second century AD these associations acquired by imperial patronage headquarters in Rome, where they had their archives, a temenos, and where also old members tended to retire. This would have made Rome also the 'agonistic capital' of the world.55 We also have evidence to show that the associations themselves were keen on maintaining these links. In his Zehn Agonistische Papyri, Peter Frisch presents documents that belonged to a number of athletic and artistic associations from Roman Egypt, which recorded a claim of a century-long unbroken relationship with the emperors that focused on their requesting privileges from one emperor, and on their having these confirmed and reconfirmed by his successors. Many texts show these associations with a marked obsession with rewards and privileges, most (in)famously in the request they made to Pliny, when governor of Bithynia, to back-date the rights to have a triumphal entry and to receive cash allowances for victories they had gained in contests that only subsequently offered such privi53 54 55

Van Nijf (2001), 318-320;van Nijf (2005), 281-284. Sherk RDGE, 57. Forbes (1955), 244.

Athletes and performers

leges.56 They kept this interest to the end: one of the last texts pertaining to these associations is a late 3rd century re-script by emperors Diocletian and Maximian, limiting the privileges only to victors, who had won at least three times in Ancient Greece or Rome.57 Such texts go a long way in explaining why the associations would be keen on presenting themselves to the authorities and the emperors in as dignified a manner as possible, but they also raise the question of why they succeeded in their aims, or put differently why the emperors were prepared to protect the interests of these groups. If we want to formulate an answer to this question we shall also have to locate these associations more firmly in a wider social and political context. I want to finish, therefore, by offering the contours of an interpretational framework that may allow us to see the rise and actions of these associations against the background of two wider trends: the first we might call 'ancient globalization'; the second is that of a 'representational turn' in ancient political culture in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.58 Ancient Globalization: Although these associations had their role to play in the civic life of the individual poleis, it is clear that they could only originate in a context where the classical polis was not the ultimate point of reference. These associations were a symptom of a process that we may call 'ancient globalization', put into motion by the conquests of Philip and Alexander, and culminating in the Roman 'world empire'.

231 maintained by political institutions, but these were not enough to bind the new commonwealth of Greeks together. One of the striking aspects of the enlarged Greek world of the Hellenistic and Roman period was that, despite all political and social differences, it was in many respects remarkably similar. No (later) Greek city was complete without a theatre, a gymnasium and a stadium. And these sites derived their cultural meaning precisely from the activities of the travelling athletes and performers who performed there. So, ancient globalization produced a world where the common currency was Greek culture, of which one of the most striking examples is the growth of a common religiously based festival culture which placed a lot of store precisely on the bodily practices (athletics) and cultural forms (drama) in which these associations specialised. The new globalizing world-order offered in this respect new opportunities and expectations. Before the end of the classical period travelling was certainly possible, but it may have been more hazardous, and it was certainly more limited in scale. Associations of athletes and technitai could exist only in a world where someone, some power, could somehow guarantee the freedom to travel, asylia - or freedom from seizure and ateleia, the freedom against indirect taxes on which these groups depended. These associations, it may therefore be argued, represented in many senses a crucial physical/personal link between urban societies as far apart as Old Greece, the Anatolian Highlands, the banks of the Nile or Tigris, the deserts of the Near East, the remote communities in the Punjab and the plains beyond the Oxus.

I use the term 'globalization' in the sense used by the modern historian C.A. Baily, who applies it to the increasing cultural and economic contacts in the early modern Eurasia and Africa.59. Baily argues that globalization depends not only on political power and economic integration, but also on cultural dimensions e.g. the similarity of bodily practices (including food-ways, and dress modes, and posture), as well as on shared cultural forms, such as a shared religious imagination, including common cults and practices.

On the one hand, therefore, these associations depended on a globalizing situation, as it was only in a global world that they could ply their trade. But, I would argue, they were not just minor beneficiaries of this development; they were also among the main (cultural) agents in making this process of cultural -and political- globalization possible. The rise of associations was therefore perhaps also a response to the cultural transformation of the ancient world.

Now it can be argued that the particular form that ancient globalization took in the wake of the conquests of Alexander and his successors produced a new world order. This new order was the result of warfare and was

Representational political culture: Secondly, these associations also operated in a markedly political context: they played a role in transformations in the political culture and the cultural politics of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

56

Pliny Ep.Tra. 118-119. CJ. 10.54. 58 Considerations of space do not allow me to offer here more than some first thoughts on this subject. I intend to return to this subject in a forthcoming study. 59 Baily (2002); Baily (2004). Baily speaks about 'archaic globalization' which is clear from a modern perspective. In dealing with antiquity, however, the term 'archaic' may be confusing. I therefore opt for 'ancient globalization.' 57

These 'global' associations were among those cultural institutions that helped to represent the globalizing aspirations of the Roman empire to the subject populations. I want to suggest that the rise of these associations is not simply a case of professionals who skilfully played a widening cultural market, but also a political

van Nijf

232 development: associations were cultural and political agents that were closely bound up with an increasingly 'representational' political culture of Hellenistic kings and Roman emperors.60 Power does not simply depend on institutions and armies, but also on perception. Tim Blanning has shown that in early modern Europe high culture always played an important role in shaping this perception.61 Following Juergen Habermass, Blanning argues that the political culture of medieval rulers and absolutist kings were based on the representation of royal power before the people, not for the people. Cultural forms played an important part in this process, as Peter Burke wrote on the Sun king, Louis XIV: 'Ritual, art and architecture may all be seen as the instruments of self assertion, as the continuation of war and diplomacy by other means'62 Culture - in a wide sense- is a real political force, therefore, and any political power must have a culture as part of its identity, and use it as a means of political communication and control.63 I would like to suggest here that this is a useful perspective from which to explore our subject as well. The Hellenistic and Roman period witnessed a 'structural transformation' of the political culture, where the 'public sphere' of the classical Greek polis, was gradually being eroded and replaced by a political culture that was -for all the differences- much more akin to the representational style of the absolutist kings of early modern Europe. Blanning focuses in his analysis of absolutist culture on music and the visual arts, but in antiquity cultural forms like drama and athletic competition were among the most important examples of what he calls 'representational culture'. From the beginning of the Hellenistic age a close link existed between rulers, festivals and performers. They were collectively engaged in a process of royal selfassertion, or 'propaganda'. Already Alexander had a penchant for organising agonistic festivals, and he took with him so many technitai that they acquired, according to Athenaeus, the nick name of Alexandrokolakes Alexander toadies- in stead of their more common, but equally denigrating, nickname of Dionysokolakes.64 The dramatic associations that rose in the third century BC maintained close links to various Hellenistic dynasties. In the words of Eric Csapo: The Attalids, Ptole60

Political culture concerns 'the values, expectations, and implicit rules that expressed and shaped collective intentions and actions' in the definition of Hunt (1986), 10. 61 Blanning (2002). 62 Burke (1992), 65. 63 Reed (2002) (quoted from electronic version). 64 Bloedow (1998).

mies, and Seleucids cultivated them as an essential mass-media link to their subjects … something like the political theatre, mass-media management, and imageconjuring we readily associate with post-modern politics served these Hellenistic autocrats as basic tools, but tools largely in the hands of the Dionysiac artists. The documents give a glimpse of the artists of Dionysus' triumphal and soteriological glamour about the image of their patrons.65 One sign of this is that we frequently find dynastic names integrated into the titles of the associations.66 This trend was continued in the Roman period, when emperors easily slipped into the position of Hellenistic kings. Associations were from now Hadrianic, Trajanic or Severan or whatever. To give just one example: one of the last known titles (from the reign of Aurelian) was also one of the longest: The sacred musical travelling Aurelian great guild of the artisans of Dionysos, sacred crown victors and their fellow competitors. As Hellenistic Kings often held Dionysos in special honour, and as 'neos Dionysos' is a frequent epitheton used by Hellenistic rulers as well as by Roman emperors we can easily understand how Dionysiac technitai could help to represent royal or imperial power. Athletes played a similar role. Athletic associations came late to the scene, but when they did, they established themselves immediately as an integral element of Roman political culture. Athletic competition was an integral element of the way that the Roman emperors and Roman power were represented in the Greek speaking parts of the empire. Athletic festivals, of which there were increasing numbers, were frequently closely connected with the imperial cult or at any rate with representation of Roman power, and Romans, or the need to please the Romans, may have been a major drive behind the spread of athletic festivals. Old festivals were frequently revived, or reorganised under Roman supervision. This does not only hold for recently Hellenized/ Romanized areas, but also for areas like Sparta and Crete, where agonistic life appears to have been mainly a creation of the imperial period. Even in Athens agonistic life received a major boost when Hadrian decided to reorganise the city's festival calendar. Not all emperors were as active in this respect as Hadrian, who -according to Aelius Aristides - turned the entire empire into one gigantic roving celebration of spectacles and contests, but all Roman emperors were actively involved in granting and timing various festivals throughout the Greek provinces. 67 The Roman world of 65 66 67

Csapo (2002) (quoted from electronic version). OGIS 51 = SB 5, 8855 is an early example for Egypt. Aelius Aristides Ῥωμῆς ἐγκώμιον 225, l. 11-14: ἀντεισῆκται δὲ

Athletes and performers

Greek festivals was a system, a kind of agonistic network designed to represent imperial power.68 In this process, the associations presented themselves as the obvious agents of imperial agonistic policies. It fell upon the associations to arrange for the competitors to make their appearance, and they were held collectively responsible by the emperors when they did not show up in large enough numbers, as is shown by a number of imperial letters chastising the associations for not showing up at the Roman-founded Panhellenia of Athens.69 Moreover, emperors appointed special officials to exercise control over the associations through the institution of xystarchia. This title was by imperial degree bestowed on prominent athletes who were thus put in charge of the activities of the associations in their hometown, or at certain festivals. The individuals concerned were paid for their efforts, but the position was an individual honour, and it also created a permanent and very personal link between the emperors, associations and individual athletes. 70 That these close relations could lead to intensive correspondence is shown by a papyrus from Hermoupolis that contained the documents concerning the membership of a boxer Herminus. It contains two letters by Claudius, the first thanking the association for their letter of congratulation on the emperor's victory over the Britons; the second one shows that the associations had served as the emperor's agents when the client kings Caius Iulius Antiochus of Commagene and Iulius Polemon of Pontus celebrated games in honour of the emperor.71 Finally it is useful in this context to consider the term oikoumenikos, which played a central role in the self identification of these associations from the early Principate. Modern scholars have of course discussed this term, mainly focusing on its literal meaning. Some scholars hold that oikoumenikos may have been used simply to convey the idea that the associations were travelling around the entire inhabited world - although there was already the word peripolistikos to do that. Others argue that the term was used to indicate that they recruited their members from 'all over the inhabited world'.72

233 Discussions of the meaning of this term should, therefore, take this wider political and cultural context into account. Oikoumene is of course an old term which has been used from the classical period onwards in historical and geographical discussion. It was a term to denote the 'inhabited world' which became however a kind of shorthand for the world inhabited by the Greeks - and later by the Greeks and the Romans, with a strong connotation of the interconnectedness of this world.74 This connotation became particularly strong in the context of the Hellenistic world when the conquests of Alexander and later of the Romans had made it actually possible to conceive of the world as one and interconnected.75 The term appears to have become particularly popular from the late Republic onwards, when it became a symbol of Rome's claims to universal hegemony.76 Iulius Caesar adopted the notion as a centre piece in his ideology, and he was awarded in the words of Dio "a statue in bronze that was mounted upon a likeness of the inhabited world, with an inscription to the effect that he was a demigod”.77 The imagery was also adopted -and adapted- by Augustus, who in 29 set up a similar statue in the curia, and who also adopted the image of the oikoumene on his own coinage.78 Around the same time the term begins to appear in the epigraphic record. Virtually all texts can be dated to the Roman period, and they can normally be connected to the sphere of Roman 'world power'. In the great majority of these texts the expression was part of imperial titulature: from the period of the triumviri onwards the term was used to represent emperors as the saviours, benefactors, rulers and even the founders of the inhabited world. The second largest group of attestations is clearly connected with the world of games and contests. In these cases we are normally dealing with festivals that had a specific role to play in the representation of Roman imperial power. Festivals that were called 74

What has not been picked up in the discussion, as far as I can see, is the fact that oikoumenikos was also a key concept in the Roman imperial ideology of the time.73 θέας πᾶσα χάρις καὶ ἀγώνων ἄπειρος ἀριθμός. ὥστε ὅλον πῦρ ἱερὸν καὶ ἄσβεστον οὐ διαλείπει τὸ πανηγυρίζειν, ἀλλὰ περίεισιν ἄλλοτε εἰς ἄλλους. 68 On Greek athletics under Roman rule: van Nijf (2001), 318-320; van Nijf (2005), 281-284. 69 Oliver (1970), 107-108. 70 Forbes (1955), 247-249. Cf. POxy 7, 1050. 71 PAgon 6. 72 Pleket (1973) 73 Hingley (2005), 1-10.

Cf. Pliny NH 3.17.20 orbem terrarum urbi spectandum propositurus. 75 In geographical theoretical writing other 'oikoumenai' were in principle thought possible, but they were not known and do not need to concern us here. 76 Polybius may have been one of the first repeatedly to describe Roman rule explicitly in these terms 1.1.1: "Can any one be so indifferent or idle as not to care to know by what means, and under what kind of polity, almost the whole inhabited world, oikoumene, was conquered and brought under the dominion of the single city of Rome, and that too within a period of not quite fifty-three years?" τίς γὰρ οὕτως ὑπάρχει φαῦλος ἢ ῥᾴθυμος ἀνθρώπων ὃς οὐκ ἂν βούλοιτο γνῶναι πῶς καὶ τίνι γένει πολιτείας ἐπι‐ κρατηθέντα σχεδὸν ἅπαντα τὰ κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην οὐχ ὅλοις πεντήκοντα καὶ τρισὶν ἔτεσιν ὑπὸ μίαν ἀρχὴν ἔπεσε τὴν Ῥωμαίων. 77 Dio 13.14.6. 78 Hingley (2005), 2.

van Nijf

234 oikoumenikos were normally set up in the context of the imperial cult, or showed another specific connection, e.g. they were the gifts/doreai of emperors to local communities. In other words they were clearly designed to represent Roman rule to the subject Greeks.79 It is impossible to say whether such terms were centrally imposed, or that the initiative to use this language came from the cities themselves. I am inclined to think that in this case -like with the imperial cult in generalthe term belonged to the common language of negotiation between rulers and subjects concerning the nature of their relationship.80 Both parties would have agreed that this was a proper way of looking at things, and thus a suitable term to be used. I suggest that the frequent inclusion of this term in the title of the associations implies that these groups considered themselves, and were considered as, an integral ingredient in this process of representational politics. It should be admitted, though, that the term oikoumenikos was not completely monopolised by athletes and performers, but there are really not more than a handful examples, and the majority of these can still be linked with the world of power and festivals.81 Imperial associations of athletes and performers, then, were unique in the intensity and tenacity with which they projected this 'global' imagery. By adopting -and sticking to- the term oikoumenikos the associations were giving out a clear cultural and political message. By using this politically laden term, athletes and performers positioned themselves, or were positioned, as cultural agents whose job it was to represent an oecumenical, or global, cultural policy of Roman dynasts and emperors. In sum, the growth, of a representational public sphere, in the Hellenistic period and most of all in the Roman period created a need for technical specialists to mediate between the authorities and the subject Greek population. In this process the members of these associations did not simply represent themselves -or even their hometown- but they represented Greek culture firmly within the context of Roman power. Ultimately these associations represented the political system which underwrote their actions. Conclusion 79

Thus we find in Side games that were known as “Sacred Oikoumenical Apollonian Gordianian Antoninian Isopythian, Truce bringing, Iselastic for all the world”. They were first celebrated under Gordian, and counted as an imperial gift, a dorea. Bean and Mitford (1970), no.21. 80 Cf. Price (1984), esp. 234-248 on the ruler cult. 81 E.g. Miletos RA 1874, 112-13 where the expression is used for linen weavers; IGR 4, 144 is a dedication from Kyzikos fo Antonia Tryphaina set up by traders from across the oikoumene. IEphesos 825 is an honorific inscription for a sophist set up by his students from across the 'oikoumene'.

My argument has been: 1: Associations of athletes and performers were not all that different from other types of associations, even though they operated on a larger scale 2: They were a symptom of, and a major factor in, the transformation of the ancient world: Hellenistic kingdoms and the Roman empire were important stages in a process that we may best describe as 'archaic globalization'. 3: Culture (including physical and literary) was increasingly fundamental to the way global Greek identity was formed in this interconnected world from Philip/ Alexander to the end of the Roman empire. 4: As 'cultural specialists' they were an integral part in a structural transformation of the political culture that in this period took on an increasing representational shape. They were among the main agents of a process representation whereby Roman rule could be conceived of as oecumenical i.e. world wide or global. 5: The rise of the associations of athletes and performers should not only be studied against an internal background (the needs of the members) but also against the wider cultural and political background. They were a core element of the political culture of the age. Bibliography: Aneziri, S. (2003). Die Vereine der dionysischen Techniten im Kontext der hellenistischen Gesellschaft. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte, Organisation und Wirkung der hellenistischen Technitenvereine. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag. Bayly, C. A. (2002). 'Archaic' and 'modern' globalization in thre Eurasian and African arena. c. 1750-1850. Globalization in world history. A. G. Hopkins. London, Pimlico: 46-73. Bayly, C. A. (2004). The Birth of the Modern World. Global Connections and Comparisons. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing. Bean, G. E. and T. B. Mitford (1970). Journeys in Rough Cilicia, 1964-1968. Wien, Denkschriften 102. Blanning, T. C. W. (2002). The culture of power and the power of culture. Old Regime Europe 1660-1789. Oxford, OUP. Bloedow, E. F. (1998). "The significance of the Greek athletes and artists at Memphis in Alexander's strategy after the battle of Issus." QUCC N.S. 59: 129-142. Brunt, P. A. (1973). "Aspects of the social thought of Dio Chrysostom and of the Stoics." 19: 9-34. Burke, P. (1992). The fabrication of Louis XIV. New Haven. Csapo, E. (2002). "review of [Brigitte Le Guen, 2001] 07.16:2002." BMCR.

Athletes and performers

Finley, M. I. (1985). The ancient economy. London 2 [First edition, London, 1973]. Forbes, C. A. (1955). "Ancient athletic guilds." Classical Philology 50: 238-252. Geagan, D. J. (1975). " A letter of Trajan to a Synod of Isthmia." Hesperia 44(4): 396-401. Harland, P. A. (2003). "Imperial Cults within local cultural life: Associations in Roman Asia." Ancient History Bulletin 17(1): 85-107. Hingley, R. (2005). Globalizing Roman culture. City, diversity and empire. London, Routledge. Hunt, L. (1986). Politics, Culture and Class in the French Revolution. London. Kloppenborg, J. S. (1996). Collegia and thiasoi. Issues in function, taxonomy and membership. Voluntary associations in the Graeco-Roman world. J. S. Kloppenborg and S. G. Wilson. London, Routledge: 16-30. LeGuen, B. (2001). Les Associations de Technites dionysiaques à l'époque hellénistique. Vol. 1, Corpus documentaire; vol. 2, Synthèse. Nancy- Paris, Association pour la Diffusion de la Recherche sur l'Antiquité. Millar, F. (1977). The emperor in the Roman world. London. Oliver, J. H. (1970). Marcus Aurelius. Aspects of civic and cultural policy in the East. Princeton, NJ., Hesperia Supplement 13. Patterson, J. (1993). Patronage, collegia and burial in Imperial Rome. Death in Towns, 100-1600. S. Bassett. Leicester: 15-27. Pleket, H. W. (1973). "Some aspects of the history of athletic guilds." Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 10: 197-227. Pleket, H. W. (1974). "Zur Soziologie des antiken Sports." Mededelingen van het Nederlands Historisch Instituut te Rome 36: 57-87. Pleket, H. W. (1975). "Games, prizes, athletes and ideology: some aspects of the history of sport in the Graeco-Roman world." Stadion 1: 49-89. Price, S. (1984). Rituals and Power: the Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. Cambridge. Reed, T. J. (2002). "The oyster and the grit." The Times Literary Supplement March 15. Robert, L. (1982). Discours d'ouverture. Πρακτικά του Η´διεθνούς συνεδρίου Ελληνικής και Λατινικής επιγραφικής. Αθηνα, 3-9 Οκτωβρίου 1982, Τόµος Α´. Athens: 35-36. Roueché, C. (1993). Performers and Partisans at Aphrodisias in the Roman and Late Roman periods: A Study Based on Inscriptions from the Current Excavations at Aphrodisias in Caria. London. van Nijf, O. M. (1997). The Civic World of Professional Associations in the Roman East. Amsterdam, Gieben.

235 van Nijf, O. M. (2001). Local heroes: Athletics, festivals and elite self-fashioning in the Roman East. Being Greek under Rome. S. Goldhill. Cambridge 2001, Cambridge University Press. van Nijf, O. M. (2005). "Aristos Hellenôn: succès sportif et identité grecque dans la Grèce romaine." Metis. Anthropologie des mondes grecs anciens NS 3: 271-294.

Onno M. van Nijf University of Groningen [email protected]