Sport in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor

Starting from the observation that an athletic victor from Aphrodisias is praised for the remarkable fact that he received his victor prize ‘from the hands of the emperor’, this chapter asks if, how and why athletic representation changed from the Hellenistic to the Roman imperial period and what part material culture (i.e. victor inscriptions) played in this process. It analyses how Roman emperors of roughly the first three centuries ad used athletic festivals as a means of establishing a channel of communication with the people of the Greek-speaking parts of the empire. It is also looks at the manners in which emperors were present at these festivals and investigates how they intervened in the agonistic circuit. The final section takes the athletes’ perspective and reveals four new trends in the self-presentation of athletes of the Roman imperial period: the expansion of the frame of reference (‘first of the inhabited earth’), an explicit reference to multiple citizenships and council memberships, an emphasis on the victor’s status as part of an empire-wide aristocracy (‘father of senators’), and a prominence of the motif of the athlete’s proximity to the emperor. No doubt, the way athletes of the imperial period wanted their victories to be understood clearly changed in comparison to their predecessors. Athletes were now part of an empire that was composed of almost the entire inhabited earth. Their self-presentation is indicative of this aspect.

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Greek Festivals in the Hellenistic Era

Newby

2021

The Oxford Handbook Sport and Spectacle in the Ancient World

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The Hellenistic era incorporated new city foundations in Egypt and the Near East, as well as the ancient Greek cities of mainland Greece, Asia Minor, and Magna Graecia. This chapter examines Greek festivals and athletic contests amid the struggles of cities and individuals for recognition and self-identity. Relying especially on epigraphic and archaeological evidence, it will look at the Olympic Games during this period, and at the widening geographical origins of its victors. New festivals were established and played crucial roles in inter-city politics; note especially the new isolympic and isopythian games such as the Ptolemaia in Alexandria and the festival of Artemis Leucophyene at Magnesia on the Maeander. The guilds of performers played important roles in the Hellenistic period. We consider how the experience of an athletic victor now compared with that in the past.

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Sport in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor

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Festivals and Benefactors

Festivals and Benefactors

Establishing a Channel of Communication

Greek Festivals in the Hellenistic Era

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