Athletics and Literature in the Roman Empire (review)

This scholarly and stimulating book originated from a Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Cambridge and still has the erudite feel of a thesis with copious notes, arguments, and counter-arguments. Emphasizing especially literature and epigraphy, it fits well into the Series on Greek Culture in the Roman World, which publishes “original and innovative research in the art, archaeology, epigraphy, history, philosophy, religion and literature of the Empire, with an emphasis on Greek material.” In this work, König combines his interests in the athletic traditions of Greece and the Greek prose writers of the imperial period. He claims with some justification that his book offers exciting interpretations of Greek athletics from the first to third centuries A.D. and “a basic understanding of the ways in which ancient athletics was practiced” (7–8). From the evidence of numerous inscriptions where he relies much on the pioneering work of Louis Robert—he cites almost fifty articles of his—König deduces that many of the rich aristocrats in Greece gave their main attention to athletic pursuits rather than to literature, oratory, and philosophy. Throughout the book, he seeks to expound two major points, namely that the portrayal of athletics in the texts often involves the discussion of contemporary culture, and that the epigraphical and literary sources, despite their apparent differences, usually have remarkable similarities. He attempts to demonstrate not only that there are conflicting views about athletics in the writings of the period, but also that even the most positive ancient statements contain nuances that necessitate a close reading of the text.

König reminds us that far more literature on Greek athletics has survived from the time of the Roman Empire than from the Classical Greek period, despite its obvious popularity in the earlier centuries. Indeed, athletics, which had greater religious, social, and political associations than it has in the modern world, became so fashionable and ingrained in the culture of the second and third centuries A.D. that writers of the time found it hard to ignore and used it to explore wider contemporary issues. By the time of the imperial era, athletics was well established not only in the Greek east, but also to a lesser extent in the Roman west. For the ancients who wished to compete in the numerous festivals, athletics was a road full of danger, expense, and reward, with great fame for the most successful. For some, it became even a necessary accomplishment that could lead to high status in society and to citizen identity (at least for Greek élite males). One may observe, however, that identity is a notoriously difficult thing to define in the Empire, where it may refer, for example, to an affinity or bond with traditional Greek states such as Athens and Sparta, new Greek cities in Asia Minor, or the Roman élite. Those individuals who chose not to practice athletics intensively sometimes criticized its excesses, or sought a balance between body and mind.

In the Introduction, König begins with two long quotations from the time of the Empire that reveal vastly different approaches to athletics. The first is an inscription (IG 14.1102), typical of many, in which the pancratiast M. Aurelios Asklepiades boasts of his numerous athletic achievements in festivals around the Mediterranean. The second passage comes from the physician Galen (Protr. 9), who expresses strong criticism against the value of athletics, which he believes to be useless, and vehemently attacks athletic trainers for assuming that their methods were based on medical training. König uses these two citations and others to set the tone for his discussion of Greek athletics in the wider setting of the ancient world.

In Chapter 2, the author discusses the controversial aspects of civic education in the Greek gymnasium, basing many of his conclusions on the evidence of Lucian’s Anarcharsis. Lucian’s debate on the relevance of athletics allowed him to...