Book - p. 444
CHAPTER NINE.
X. Reception by his countrymen with great splendor
and jubilation; also through breaches made in the
bulwarks. Faber's account of this. Various
examples. XI. Acknowledgment thereby that such a
citizen is mightier than ramparts. XII. Triumphal
entry on a chariot with white horses. XIII. A
great procession that accompanies Him in the same manner.
XIV. Resounding acclaim. XV. With flutes,
trumpets, horns, etc. XVI. Also with the lighting
of torches and all kinds of lights. Significant
example of Duillius. Of Caesar.
Of Emperor Heraclius.
§. I.
One chapter is too small to contain all the honors
of an Olympic victor:
therefore we have seen fit to break off the previous one,
begin a new one here, and adorn it with only a few.
§. II.
X. Because the fatherland held Him in such high regard,
as the one in whom they placed their glory, it was also a great honor for
Him that they solemnly received Him with great pomp, splendor,
and jubilation, and (because the gates were too small for such
a great hero, and the walls useless for a city that
had such a brave man) having thrown down the bulwarks,
they allowed Him to enter through that spacious breach.
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§. III.
Of this, the often-mentioned Faber gives us a
very clear account, saying: as for the word
HONOR, and so on. That is: for as for the word HONOR
(so that, by seizing this opportunity to consider
each word that Tertullianus uses, I may, as it were,
present the prizes of the contestants before your eyes, and at the same
time to elucidate and incidentally explain with the same effort
the imperial decrees, to which they also belong),
that name refers to the entry, and that triumphant
arrival in the city or place from which the victor
came, by which He ascended over the
pulled-down walls on a chariot (of which, I believe,
Pliny (Plinius ad Trajan. lib. 10. ep. 119.), and Vitruvius (Vitruvius lib. 9.) speak), not without
the preceding torches and lights, and an accompanying
multitude, while the proclamation or declaration of the
victory in the arena was done by the voice of the
herald and by the trumpeter, who had blown, or
sung beforehand (which is briefly noted by Virgil (Virgilius AEn. lib. 5.))
The games that began in the arena.
§. IV.
This reception and entry are evident from various
examples that have happened, of which the mentioned Faber (Faber lib. 2. cap. 10.)
also makes mention, speaking of one from Plutarch, of another
from Aelianus, and of a third from Diodorus Siculus
(Diodorus Siculus Bibl. lib. 13.), who relates this about EXENETUS of Akragas:
... That is: and on the first day of the
ninety-second Olympiad, when Exenetus of Akragas was a victor,
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they brought him into the city on a chariot. He was
accompanied, besides others, by three hundred
chariots with white horses, all from the people of Akragas.
Of a similar entry, Aelianus (AElianus Var. Hift. lib. 12. cap. 58.) gives this example in the person
of DIOXIPPUS:
... That is: when DIOXIPPUS,
Olympic victor, Athenian contestant, according to the
custom of the contestants or champions, rode into Athens
(on a chariot), the crowd streamed together, and
one pushed here and another there to see Him.
Plutarch, as said, also gives us an example (Plutarchus Symp. Probl. 2. quaeft. 5.)
of the entry, and at the same time of the breaking down of the wall, to which he
adds the reason, namely the reason we indicated earlier in passing
(§. 2.). So Plutarch then says:
... Which comes down to this meaning: at the
victory festivals, a part of the walls was torn down by the entering victors.
The tearing down of this has this meaning, that a city that has men who can
fight and conquer, its walls are of little use. Here we
add the example of NERO, who, returning as a victor
from Greece, had himself received, and had the walls
torn down for Him in various cities, as is evident from
Suetonius (Suetonius in Nerone cap. 25.). So this famous writer speaks of it: having returned
from Greece to Naples,
and so on. That is: having returned from Greece
to Naples, because He had first shown his art there,
He rode into it with white horses, after a part of
the wall had been thrown down, in the manner of the Olympic
victors. In the same manner also in Antium, then in
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Alba Longa, and then in Rome. But in Rome He rode in
the same chariot with which Augustus had previously
triumphed, and in a purple robe, and with a
cloak sprinkled with golden stars, wearing on his head
an Olympic and in his right hand a Pythian crown. The procession
of the others went before him with the titles, where, who, and with
what kind of songs, or what piece of poetry He had won. The chariot
was followed, in the manner of a small
triumph, by the acclaiming crowds, who shouted that they
were Augustians, and soldiers of his victory.
Then, after the triumphal arch of the greatest Circus
had been torn down, He rode through the Velabrum, and over the
market, to the temple of Apollo.
§. V.
In the cited examples, as well as in what
Faber has placed before our eyes, we find
several things that greatly magnify this honor of the entry
with the tearing down of the walls, for:
§. VI.
XI. The fact that his fellow citizens tore down the walls for the
victor, with the understanding that thanks to such a citizen,
mightier than any rampart, they were not needed, increased
the honor with such a discerning esteem.
§. VII.
XII. It also did not add little to the
honor that such a victor, adorned with the victor's
robe and crown, did not walk through the breach, nor ride on horseback,
but entered with greater splendor on a chariot: a chariot,
I say, drawn by none other than white horses, so
graceful to the eye and so fitting for the victory.
§. VIII.
XIII. As well as the fact that a large procession accompanied Him,
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both of high and low standing; and not only
on foot, but also on horseback, and even on chariots,
who, in his honor, showed white horses in their harness.
§. IX.
XIV. And also that that procession gave Him resounding acclaim,
and also in this case, as has been shown before
and with regard to NERO from Suetonius (Suetonius loc. cit.) can be shown,
strewed him with crowns, flowers, scents, ribbons, birds
and all kinds of pleasantries.
§. X.
XV. And that flutes, trumpets, horns and similar
joy instruments also then swelled his fame
and made the air resound.
§. XI.
XVI. And, not to mention everything, that also
torches and all kinds of lights were lit for him,
accompanied and served him, was also an
increase of his honor, especially if the entry took place towards
evening (as undoubtedly very often happened)
and during the subsequent accompaniment to or from the
feast. This also happened with NERO as an Olympic
victor, according to the account of Dio by Xiphilinus (Xiphilinus in Nerone.),
who speaks of it thus:
... That is: The entire city, crowned and carrying
torches, and sacrificing; and all the people, and also even
the senators cried out above all: Hail Olympic victor!
Hail Pythian victor! How great an honor it now was
in those old times to be lit with torches,
is evident from the fact that this was done to increase the splendor
of the victorious admirals, generals and
kings, when they were received in the manner of a
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triumph. GNAEUS DUILLIUS,
when he had fought a successful battle against the Carthaginians
at sea, and became the first Roman who for that
received a brilliant naval triumph, received among
the honors also the lighting with tar ropes
(what we would call pitch wreaths). Yes, that He,
as if he always triumphed, for his entire life, as often as
He returned from supper, used this torch lighting,
as well as the sound of oboes.
We find this recorded by Livy (Livius Epit. lib. 17.), Florus (Florus lib. 2. cap. 2.), Aurelius
Victor (S. Aurelius Viɛtor de Vir. Illuft. in C. Duillio.) and Valerius Maximus (Valerius Maximus lib. 3. cap. 6. exemp. 4.), the latter of whom, however,
records it among the examples of those who took too much
liberty, or went beyond the measure in seeking honor.
However, it may also be that the
Roman Senate expressly willed it, in order to keep alive
that great, glorious victory that DUILLIUS had achieved,
to ignite the brave and to terrify the enemies,
and that the mentioned Senate in that imitated the
tribute to the Olympic victors.
This Eutropius (Eutropius lib. 2. cap. 10.) almost makes us guess, when He about the
victory of DUILLIUS, although he conceals the lighting,
speaks thus: Duillius, fighting a battle, has conquered the
Carthaginian general (Hannibal), taken 31 ships,
sunk 14, captured 7,000 enemies,
killed 3,000. The Romans had never had a more pleasant
victory than that they, invincible on land, now also had great power at sea.
Therefore Florus exclaims: how great was the joy there! And therefore
Livy says: this honor was given to him continuously,
and so on.
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Which seems to mean that He did not arrogantly
appropriate the honor of daily lighting, but that this was
granted and arranged for him by the Senate, as we
said above.
However, perhaps this has led us a bit too far;
so we return. That the lighting with torches
and so on at a festive entry served for great honor and splendor,
is also evident from what Suetonius (Suetonius in Caefare cap. 37.) relates concerning
CAESAR, when he triumphed over the Gauls, now
Franks. So the mentioned writer says about it: On the day of
the triumph over the Franks, riding through the Velabrum, he almost
fell from the chariot because the wheel broke: and He ascended the
Capitol by torchlight, while forty elephants on the right and on the left
were the torchbearers. It was something special
and unusual here that elephants carried the torches,
and that they, according to Casaubonus (Cafaubonus ad loc.),
took the place of torch-bearing slaves. He also adds
that it was an old custom in Rome to allow well-deserving
men that honor, that they could be accompanied home
with a more than usual splendor by lit torches,
if they had been somewhere at a feast in the evening. He proves it with the
example of DUILLIUS, about whom we just spoke:
and He adds, moreover, that in Greek and Latin
writers very much mention is made of how in a time
of general or special joy lights were lit
and not only carried, but also hung up:
proving this with the words of Aeschylus (AEfchylus in Agam.), where he lets the
choir, joyful about the conquest of TROY,
speak thus:
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"And here and there hung high up
A lamp filled with pure oil,
Which gave off its shine."
Another example of the lighting by torches and
lights in honor of great people, to indicate
how much the fame of the Olympic victors was magnified by such
a tribute, we will bring up here, namely, what Faber in that
place, mentioned earlier, cites in the margin from Cedrinus (Cedrinus Comp. Hift. 345.) concerning Emperor
HERACLIUS. So Faber speaks:
Cedrinus relates that the people, carrying olive branches and torches,
came to meet Heraclius, who was entering Constantinople,
together with Prince Constantine and the patriarch
Sergius.