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CHAPTER THREE.
The verdict of the judges was announced by the heralds. These were also men of high standing. They had to have the marks of an honest life. They were also crowned for their office. Their work was varied. They greeted the assembly of the people. They called out who the victors were. They greeted the victors with their illustrious names. They summoned the victors to come to the judges of Greece to receive the prizes. They placed the crown on the victors. They accompanied the adorned victors through the stadium, while loudly proclaiming their praise. Triumphal poems. The favour and enthusiasm of the people often preceded the heralds.
§ I.
The officials and judges issued their verdict and declaration, and made it known to all with the mediation and help of the heralds, who were also called public criers or general criers (Pollux Onomasticon book 3, chapter 30). These were not despicable people, nor was their occupation a despicable profession. For they originally descended from the sacrificers, that is, sacrificing
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priests, who sang, played, and blew trumpets in a competition at the altar in the Altis, undoubtedly to better qualify themselves through this exercise, to show themselves to be good heralds and trumpeters, not only at the beginning of the games but also at the end of them by proclaiming the victors (Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae book 4). In the same way, later in the amphitheater, and especially in the place called the orchestra, there was the altar, which was called the sacrificial table, where the singers and players competed, according to the story of Faber (Faber, Agonisticon book 2, chapter 15). In the course of time, when they ceased to be priests, which happened in the time of Archias the Hyblaean, the first of the foreigners (that is, of those who were not priests) who was allowed to practice the art of heraldry there, and to compete with others, as he also won three times in the Pythian game: which is why a Pythian statue of him was erected, whose laudatory poem Pollux has noted (Pollux): for which reason he was undoubtedly also entitled to serve as a herald for the great victors, that is, those of the great games. With this change, and thus in the course of time, I repeat, the heralds were furthermore people of the highest standing, and moreover had to flaunt the marks of an honest life and be free of all blemish. For this reason Aristides says: If someone has become a traitor, you will not have him crowned, nor have him proclaimed (Aristides in Rhetorica, Speech 1). But the dignity and high rank of these heralds is sufficiently apparent from the fact that Nero used a certain Cluvius Rufus for this purpose, who had already been a mayor in Rome (Dio Cassius, on Nero). Furthermore, their dignity was increased by the fact that they themselves were of a constitution that allowed them to participate in the games and contend for the prize (Cicero, Letters to Friends book 5, letter 12), and in the event of victory, they were proclaimed by other colleagues. But their esteem and splendour are exceptionally apparent from the fact that they themselves were also crowned for their office. Paschalius speaks of this in the following words: Here one must not pass by, etc. (Paschalius, de Coronis book 6, chapter 12). "One must not pass by the fact that some heralds were not crowned, namely those they called city heralds. But that type of heralds, who proclaimed the victors of the athletic games, as well as those who were included in the rights of legation, because they belonged to the companions of the ambassador and the servants of the embassy, and were therefore held to be holy and inviolable, were adorned with a golden crown; just like those through whom the truce was offered to the enemies. The Argives, says Xenophon, have, as is their custom, sent two ambassadors who carried the treaties." (Xenophon, Hellenica book 4) It was therefore certainly an office of the highest dignity. So much for Paschalius.
§ II.
These bore their names, as is common, according to their office and occupation, which was the proclamation, which was called proclaiming () and heralding; which act, or something included in it,
() The words "proclaim" and "herald" are often used in the New Testament to denote the holy work of the preaching of the Apostles and their fellow workers, and possibly sometimes with an allusion to the heralds in the Olympic stadium. At least it seems so to us in 1 Corinthians 9:27: "lest, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." For in verses 24-27, Paul had his eye entirely on the Olympic stadium. That is why Hammondus says here: It will be the task of the herald to announce from a platform, or another elevated place, what type of contests are about to begin, to call upon the contestants, to make known the prizes of the victory, to admonish the athletes, to encourage them, to present the rules of the contest to them, and to call them to the court of the judges, and after hearing their verdict, to announce the names of the victors. Under Christ as the Agonothete, the Apostles are at the same time heralds and prize-givers, criers and those who place the wreath, as Isidorus says: The same announce, make known, summon, admonish, bind, unbind, and designate some as victors, and reject others as if they were unworthy.
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was also called naming, calling, or acclaiming, just as the execution of it (*) was called naming, greeting, or acclaiming. But we must deal with this in more detail.
§ III.
For this office (as it was performed after the concluded contest and during the prize-giving) belonged, first, that the heralds, at the verdict and signal of the officials, had to make the introduction by respectfully greeting and blessing the distinguished assembly of the people.
(*) Lydius, in his Agonistica Sacra, judges that Paul in Hebrews 5:10, saying of Christ that He is a High Priest ... "called of God," alludes to the actions of the contestants, whose victors were publicly declared by the herald. This is indeed very likely. For Paul, who had spoken in verse 9 of the perfection of the Lord Christ, who had done all that was to be done and was thus the perfect chief contestant, now calls Him the High Priest appointed by God. "Called" here is the same as "proclaimed."
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§ IV.
Secondly, they had to loudly and with a very clear voice announce and proclaim who the victors were, what kind of victory each one had obtained, and show corresponding signs of it: the latter of which Himerius means by "coming together in one and the same token of recognition" (Himerius), translated by Paschalius as convenire in unum idemque signum cognitionis: that is, "to agree on one and the same token of knowledge." The form of this part of the proclamation, which can rightly be called the announcement, can be deduced from the spiritual, which Gregory of Nazianzus expresses thus of a Christian victor: (Gregory of Nazianzus, in Hero the Philosopher) etc. That is: This is the most truthful fighter for the truth and defender of the Trinity: a fervent persecutor of those who persecute suffering, and so on. Do you want it more perfectly and broadly? This is the best of the best, and of the generous the most courageous, and so on. In this form, another part, or something of another part, of the proclamation is mixed in, namely the acclaim or praise, about which more later. Simpler, then, is the tone and manner that Rufus, the herald of Nero, adopted, saying: Emperor Nero wins the contest, and crowns the Roman people and his own empire. (Dio Cassius, on Nero) It should be noted here that a victor did not win for himself, nor was he considered to earn the crown for himself, but for his city or region: in which place, with respect to Nero, the empire, as subjected to him, as monarch, is
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placed. But more on this elsewhere. It should also be noted that, while it was a very great honor to be proclaimed in this way, namely as a victor in the stadium, it was an equally great disgrace to be named and proclaimed in a court case. But this last was not actually called heralding or proclaiming, but "posting," as Dio Chrysostom testifies (Dio Chrysostom, Speech 1, on fame), saying: But those who are proclaimed in the courtroom are considered the most miserable of all, while those in the theater are considered the happiest of all. And it is said that the latter are proclaimed, but the former are "posted." Regarding which passage Casaubonus notes that "posting" is used for children who are disinherited by their parents by the voice of the herald (Casaubonus).
§ V.
Thirdly, they undoubtedly also had to greet the victors with the general splendid name of "Olympian game winners," that is, winners of the Olympic Games, or "winners of the sacred games" (for the Olympic Games were consecrated to the gods, and highly exalted, and therefore sacred, just as the crowns were also called sacred) or with the special names that designated the types of games in which these and those had achieved victory, either by running, wrestling, or boxing, and so on. Among these, however, those who had participated in the mixed games and had become masters in them stood out: for example, the often-mentioned "pancration," and from there the "pancratiasts," or the
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"pentathlon," and from there the "pentathletes": in particular those who won more than once on a single day, and from there bore the name of "miraculous victors," or who were accustomed to winning in all four of the Greek games, and thus in the full circuit, and therefore boasted with the honorific name of "period-victors": which special names came to embellish the above-mentioned general names of "Olympian game winners" and "winners of the sacred games" more or less, to the extent that they possessed more or less splendour in their specialty, while on the other hand they were otherwise easily obscured in and by the general names. But since this greeting mainly took place after the crowning, as will immediately become apparent, we proceed to consider the further requirements of their duties.
§ VI.
Fourthly, they also had to summon the victors to approach the judges of Greece and receive the prizes. Virgil alludes to this with regard to Aeneas's ship race (Virgil, Aeneid book 5, verse 244), saying:
Then, having spoken, the son of Anchises, as was the custom, called everyone together, declared Cloanthus the victor with the loud voice of the herald, and wreathed his temples with green laurel.
This is, according to Vondel's translation:
Anchises' Son, to bring them all together,
Gathered them, then proclaimed Cloanth
Victor by the voice of the Herald on the strand,
Wreathed the Victor's head with green laurels.
Regarding this summoning, or, if you will, demanding, a certain Heliodorus speaks, saying: and the herald summoned Theagenes for the wreath, etc. (Heliodorus, Aethiopica book 4, folio 73).
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Perhaps what Cornelius Nepos says also applies here (Cornelius Nepos, in the Preface): It was a very great honour throughout all of Greece to be summoned as a victor of Olympia. That is: it was a very great honour throughout all of Greece to be summoned as a victor of the Olympic Games. That the victors, at that summons, went at a full run to the judges of Greece to receive the prize and the crown, there is not the slightest doubt, since this was the end of all contest, and the fulfillment of their burning desire. But more on this elsewhere.
§ VII.
So, fifthly, it was the work of the heralds, undoubtedly at the command of the officials, to place the crown on the declared and proclaimed victors. Cicero demonstrates this (Cicero, Letters to Friends book 5, letter 12), saying: Heralds of the athletic games are more modest; when they have placed the crowns on the other victors and have proclaimed their names with a loud voice, and crowns are given to them themselves before the end of the games, they use another herald, so that they do not proclaim themselves victors with their own voice. That is: The heralds of the athletic games are more decent; although they place the crowns on the other victors and proclaim their names with a strong voice, they nevertheless, when crowns are given to them before the start of the games, use another herald, so that they do not declare themselves victors with their own voice. See further on this Faber (Faber, Agonisticon book 2, chapter 17). It must be considered, however, that this was also done by the agonothetes and prize-givers, to whom the same is often attributed; unless we interpret that attribution in the sense that they had it carried out by the heralds, and in so far could be said to have done it themselves, since the one who has something done by another is always considered and said to have done it themselves.
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We may also add here that the heralds undoubtedly then also had the task of adorning and decorating the victors with all the honors that were usually given to them, besides the crown. See below.
§ VIII.
Sixthly, they had to accompany the now adorned victors, who were led up and down the stadium with pomp and splendor, and now not only proclaim them as victors, but also praise them, commend their virtues and bravery, and loudly proclaim their praise. The words for this could be put into their mouths by the great victors, who were said to give the heralds what they were supposed to proclaim, as is clear from what Plutarch recounts about Euripides (Plutarchus, Life of Alcibiades), who sang in honor of Alcibiades. It sounds something like this:
But, O son of Clinias,
I'll praise your virtues.
Beautiful victor, ah,
I'll clap my hands.
Yes, the most beautiful who ever
Walked among Greeks:
For (it happened now or never)
As if the others were sleeping,
You push forward, once, twice, yes three times
Ahead of all others:
Entered the stadium without fail,
It was your destiny to be crowned twice;
And then said firmly,
What the herald should proclaim.
But this praise was perfected and fulfilled mainly by the singing of the victory odes
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that were made in honor of the victors by the poets, and were sung by them or others, of which this song by Euripides (in which he also includes what we had to prove here) is an example. But more on this below.
§ IX.
Finally, it should also be noted that the favour and enthusiasm of the people often preceded the heralds in loudly proclaiming the victors, and before them they named and glorified them. For this reason Faber says: The spectators thus called out during the contests themselves, and named the victor not without his praise, without waiting for the announcement of the trumpeter or herald ---- They also delivered the eulogies and songs, out of respect, as it were, in advance. That is: The spectators then also called out during the games, and named the victor not without his praise, without waiting for the announcement of the trumpeter or herald ---- And also brought forth the eulogies and songs, out of reverence, as it were, in advance. He proves this from Plutarch (Plutarchus, in the book On Listening), Plato (Plato, the Laws book 7), Homer (Homer, Iliad book 10) and others. We are not inclined to consider these further: but more must be said below about the eulogies and songs.