Water as a Cruel Element in the Roman World

Water as a Cruel Element in the Roman World*
CHRISTER BRUUN
The present study originated in my involvement with the topic of „Roman
water“, which has stretched over several years.1 Having devoted some time
to the matter, I am of course well aware that in all cultures, ours included,
water is regarded as a beneficiary and healthy element. To give a paper
called „Water as a Cruel Element“ { or, if „cruel“ is too strong a word,
we might speak about „Water as a Negative Element“) might therefore
seem somewhat awkward. However, a converse inquiry turns up more
than meets the eye at first glance – although perhaps nothing quite as
sensational as the finds which awaited E. H . Thompson beneath the surface
of the Mayan sacrificial pond at Chiehen Itza.
Before embarking on my investigations, it should also be conceded
that the present work by no means is the first to mention negative features
connected with water in antiquity,2 although it would seem that the cases
dealt with below have not been considered in the way done here.
As background, a brief glance at the Greek world and at Greek concepts
will be necessary. Pindar’s first Olympian ode starts with the words
„Ariston men hydor“ – best of all things is water. This is no accidental
phrase, and is probably a proverbial saying. Thales designated water as
* I wish to thank the participants of the Seili Seminar for stimulating comments. I
am especially indebted to Mr. J. Aronen for useful advice, kindly forwarded regardless
of the fact that he may not share all the views expressed here. This article was
written in part while enjoying a grant from the Ingrid, Margit och Henrik Höijer Foundation
(administered by the Swedish Society of Letters in Finland), which is gratefully
acknowledged.
1 See my The Water Supply of Ancient Rome. A Study of Roman Imperial Administration,
Helsinki 1991, preceded by „Statio aquarum“, in: E. M. Steinby (ed.), Lacus
Iuturnae I, Rome 1989, 127-147 and a few other works.
2 See e. g. K. Preisendanz, „Fluchtafel (Defixiones )“, Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum
8 {1972) 1-29, esp. 6 and 20 f.; and A.-M. Thpet, La magie dans Ia poesie
latine, Lilie 1976, esp. 19 f. and 27 f.
74
the basic element, and water is praised on a nurober of other occasions
in Pindar’s lyrics; so for instance in the third Olympian ode an alrnost
identical passage occurs {3,42).3
What we know about the Roman world can only strengthen the presupposition
that water was a thoroughly positive phenomenon. There is
no need to go into details about the various cults and rites which were
connected with the element water: the Romans venerated the nymphs
and sacred springs {it would in fact seem that all springs were sacred), we
have the cult of Fons or Fontus, of Tiberinus pater and other rivers and
their gods, and we have the cult of Neptunus.
Neptunus, the god of the Ocean, might provide the first clue for the
present investigation. At a younger age, when indulging in novels about
World War II, I read a book called „The Cruel Sea“ (written by Nicholas
Monsarrat). How did the ancients look upon the salt sea? lndeed, even
though the Mediterranean was a unifying element rather than a dividing
one in classical antiquity, we can safely assume that to the average country
man the sea would have been an unfriendly element. The Romans were not
a seafaring nation. Of course the aristocracy enjoyed their villae maritimae
on the coast,4 but when it came to undertaking a voyage by sea, this was
considered a most frightening thing to do. 5 There is also brief mention in
the Fasti Ostienses for A.D. 147: aqua alta fuit,6 to remind us of the perils
of living near !arge and intirnidating bodies of water.
Should we therefore, when talking about water in antiquity, firstly
make a distinction between the dangerous and unfriendly salt water of the
sea, and sweet water in springs and rivers? Moreover, does it perhaps
follow that other distinctions might be necessary as weil? In proposing
3 Tbus G. Kirkwood, Selections from Pindar. Edited with an Introduction and Commentary,
(Am er. Philol. Ass. Textbook ser. 7), Chicago 1982, 48. On Pind. Olymp.
3,42 and the mention of water see e. g. M. J. Verdenius, Commentaries on Pindar I,
(Mnemosyne Suppl. 97), Leiden 1987, 36, wbo also stresses the great importance attributed
to water by the Greeks.
4 L. Friedländer, Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Roms I (9. ed), Leipzig 1919,
469-473.
5 See L. Casson, Travel in tbe Ancient World, Old Woking Surrey 1974, 149 f.: „And
the Romans, a lubberly Iot in general, were particularly nervous when it came to sea
voyages … the farewell poems they address to friends departing for overseas sometimes
read like elegies on their certain deatbs.“
6 See L. Vidman, Fasti Ostienses, Prague 1982, 51.
75
this, I argue that this approach will have consequences for other aspects
of the Roman world as well.
To return briefiy to the Greeks: the Greek world actually provides a
first reminder that water can be evil and cruel. In the Greek Underworld
ran the river Styx, known especially from Homer but also mentioned by
Hesiod. There was a real world counterpart to this mythical river, the
„stygos hydor“ , a gigantic waterfall in North Arcadia. lts water was regarded
as bringing death to both men and animals, and so, for example, it
is commonly said in ancient literary sources that Alexander the Great was
poisoned by water from the Styx, as can be seen in Pausanias 8,18,4-6.7
In the Roman world, we find cruelty, or at least evil deeds, in connection
with water on many occasions. The first case concerns evil emperors
and water in the City of Rome. As there was a huge supply of water
through the aqueducts in Rome, there were also very large sewers for
drainage. Basically, the same water which first was brought in through
the aqueducts, was then washed out into the Tiber through the sewers; as
the geographer Strabo put it (Geogr. 5,3,8): „And water is brought into
the city through the aqueducts in such quantities that veritable rivers fiow
through the city and the sewers.“
Clearly, the quality of the water changed in this process. From drinking
water it turned to sewage water at some point. Is it at all appropriate
to talk about water here? To us it would seem to be polluted water, while
still being water. How did the Romans look at the matter? Was it still the
same element to them ?8 Be this as it may, if we turn to the Historia Augusta,
it is clear that the water of the sewers on several occasions fulfilled
a cruel function. In the vita of the emperor Elagabal it is told that after
the emperor had been killed, his body was dragged through the sewers and
finally thrown into the Tiber {HA. Heliog. 33,7; HA. Heliog. 17,1: addita
iniuria cadaveri est, ut id in cloacam milites mitterent and 17,2: in Tiberim
abiectum est, ne umquam sepeliri posset). Although the Historia Augusta
7 For this, see in general RE IV A (1932) 457-463 „Styx“ (Bölte).
8 Most liquids contain water to some extent, but at what point do they change from
„water“ and become „a different liquid“? The question is perhaps not as academic as
it might seem at first. For instance water and wine are totally different entities to us,
but one may notice the comment by Verdenius (supra note 3), 43 f. when discussing
Pindar’s conceptions: „The use of wine or honey instead of water is most naturally
explained if these liquids are assumed to be ‚pregnant‘ forms of water … „.
76
largely is fictitious regarding Elagabal, there is also the testimony of Cassius
Dio to vouchsafe for these events (79,1 ,1; 79,20,2). In this episode the
sewers and the Tiber clearly have negative features, since they are essential
instruments in the vengeance on the dead emperor. There is also a
mention that after the murder of Commodus, the Senate decided that his
corpse was to be thrown into the Tiber, but Pertinax later overruled this
decision (HA. Comm. 17,4).
The Historia Augusta further tells that after his death, Elagabal was
given the name Tiberinus, among others. This is clearly not an honorific
name, but a nickname due to the fact that the corpse was thrown into the
Tiber. Recently Geza Alföldy has given a more complex explanation for
the name. He points to the fact that in the Tiber there lived a species
of fish commonly called Tiberinus, a species known to live off the wastes
washed into the river through the sewers. According to Alföldy the name
Tiberinus referred to this fish, which was regarded as repulsive by the
Romans. 9 If Alföldy is right, this would mean that also the Tiber and
what lived in it were regarded in quite a negative light by the Romans. In
any case the water of the sewers was, understandably enough, seen in a
negative light.
We now come to the main evidence to be discussed here; the socalled
tabellae defixionis or curse tablets, a rather common feature in the
Graeco-Roman world. Over 100 lead tablets, found in the sacred spring in
present day Bath in England, in ancient Aquae Sulis, have recently been
masterfully edited and commented upon by Roger Tomlin.10
Most of these inscribed curse tablets from Bath are concerned with
9 G. Alföldy, Die Krise des römischen Reiches. Geschichte, Geschichtsschreibung und
Geschichtsbetrachtung. Ausgewählte Beiträge, Stuttgart 1989, 217-228 ( earlier as „Zwei
Schimpfnamen des Kaisers Elagabal: Tiberinus und Tractatitius“, BHAC 1972/ 1974,
Bonn 1976, 11-21. Some doubt does however pertain to how the fish was regarded; in
Macrobius (Sat. 3,16,11-18) one gets the impression that the fish was much appreciated,
even though it fed in the vicinity of the Cloaca Maxima. Thus also e. g. R. Lanciani,
The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, London 1897, 15 f., who mentions that
fish from the Tiber tasted weil still in his days. I hope to deal more closely with the
nicknames of Elagabal in the near future in a paper on pejorative nicknames of the
Roman emperors.
10 R. S. 0. Tomlin, Tabellae Sulis. Roman Inscribed Tablets of Tin and Lead from the
Sacred Spring at Bath [part II.4 of B. Cunliffe (ed.), The Temple of Sulis Minerva at
Bath], Abingdon 1988.
77
thefts; people who have suffered thefts ask the gods that the thieves may
be punished in various ways.11 Sometimes the hoped-for punishments are
described in detail, and are certainly cruel to some extent. It is obviously
no accident that the curse tablets have all been found in the well,12 but
this is perhaps one aspect which Tomlin does not explore to the full in
his commentary. He writes, „But if this healing process be credited to the
divinity of the uncanny hot spring, it is an easy step to believing that the
process can be reversed, that the classical features of Sulis Minerva can
become a gorgon’s head.“ 13 The question is, of course, how to explain such
a reversal.
The important thing for this enquiry is that, even though the spring
at Bath certainly was thought to eure illness, its water ( or forces connected
to the water) was evidently also considered to provide the power to punish
and to cause pain. To be sure, the people who inscribed the curse tablets
certainly thought that they were acting for a good cause, but this does
not detract at all from the fact that in this way water was connected also
with punishment and, by this perspective, with cruelty.
D. R. Jordan, one of the greatest experts on tabellae defixionis, points
out that curse tablets have been found in wells located not just at Bath,
but also in Athens, for example. Altogether, of the over 600 tablets for
which the source locations are known, at least 200 come from wells, twelve
from baths, and six from fountains.14
11 That thieves are cursed on tabellae defizioni& is actually a phenomenon which occurs
all over the Roman world; see the Iist of such texts in H. Solin, „Tabelle plumbee di
Concordia“, Aquileia Nostra 48 (1977) 145-164, esp. 148 f.
12 That the Iead curse tablets at Bath had been put in the spring for magical reasons can
be regarded as certain. But this explanation is of course not valid for all Iead tablets
found in wells. For instance, the archive of the Athenian cavalry, inscribed on Iead
tablets, was found in two wells in Athens. The Iead tablets had been put there either
because they needed to be hidden in the face of an enemy attack [thus K. Braun, „Der
Dipylon-Brunnen Bl. Die Funde“, AM 85 (1970) 129-269, esp. 194], or just because
the wells provided convenient places for discarding obsolete documents [thus J. H. Kroll,
„An Archive of the Athenian Cavalry“, Hesperia 46 (1977) 83-140, esp. 100 f.].
13 Tomlin (supra note 11), 102.
14 D. R. Jordan, „Defixiones from a Weil near the Southwest Corner of the Athenian
Agora“, Hesperia 54 (1985) 205-255, esp. 205-207. Other works by Jordan on the
tabellae defizioni& include „A Survey of Greek Defixiones Not Included in the Special
Corpora“, GRBS 26 (1985) 151-197, and the review mentioned in note 21.
78
Clearly, the spring of Minerva Sulis was not unique in its ability to
cause wrongdoers punishment and pain, as a few explicit texts show.
A curse tablet from Siscia in the Balkans asks the river god Savus to
drown the enemies of the supplicant, 15 while the late antique writer Solinus
mentions healing springs in Sardinia which also had the power to blind
thieves.16 A late antique lead tablet from Garthage asks libera me de aquas
malas,17 and the „aquae malae“ {rain or hail?) again remind us of the fact
that water sometimes had negative qualities. One could also point to the
Egyptian magical papyrus, which prescribes that water used for drowning
a cat should be employed in a curse against charioteers and racehorses.18
Why water at Bath and in other places was thought to possess these
sinister powers is an interesting and difficult question. The first explanation
which logically comes to mind is probably that, because the water
came from below, it was thought to make up a connection to the chthonic
deities and to the dark forces of the Underworld.19 We know in fact
that curse tablets often were addressed to chthonic deities and placed in
shrines or springs belonging to these powers.20 A specific body of water,
Lake A vernus in Campania, actually was regarded by the Romans as con-
15 AE 1921, 95, with much improved reading by E. Vetters, „Eine lateinische Fluchtafel
mit Anrufung des Wassermannes“, Glotta 36 (1958) 204-208 and idem, „Eine lateinische
Fluchtafel mit Anrufung des Wassermannes“ , Glotta 39 (1961) 127-132. Vetter’s second
contribution improved some readings on the basis of a better photograph. It would seem
that his second reading disposed of the „bösen Wassergeister“, depremente3, which
appeared along with the god Savus in the first version. Still, that Savus represents an
evil or punitive water force is beyond doubt.
16 Solin. collect. 4,7: nam qv.i3qv.ü 3acromento raptv.m negat, Iumina aqv.i3 adtrectat:
v.bi periv.riv.m non e3t, cernit clariu3, 3i perfidia abnuit, detegitur facinw caecitate et
captu3 ocv.li3 admi$$Um fatetur (mentioned by Tomlin, supra note 1 1 , 102).
17 AE 1939, 136 discussed by H. Solin, Eine neue Fluchtafel aus Ostia, Comm. Hum.
Litt. 42,3, Helsinki 1968, 31 no. 43.
18 See H. D . Betz (ed.), The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation I, Chicago 1986,
18 f. = K. Preisendanz (& A. Henrichs), Papyri Graecae Magicae. Die griechischen
Zauberpapyri I (2. ed.), Stuttgart 1973, no. III,1-3 and III,40-44.
19 This is the explanation advocated by e. g. Preisendanz (supra note 3), 5 f.
20 D. R. Jordan, „Curses from the waters of Sulis“ (= review of Tomlin’s book), JRA
3 (1990) 437-441, esp. 437.
79
stituting the entrance to the Underworld21 (but to my knowledge no curse
tablets have been found in the lake) .
However, a majority of the curse tablets contain no mention of chthonic
deities, and it might weil be that another explanation for the immersion
of these tablets in wells or other bodies of water must be sought. A rather
pa.rticular explanation was given by some authorities at the beginning of
this century, namely that tablets were thrown in wells ut per quam via
pateret ad manes eorum, qui naufragio perierunt.22
A third explanation is possible: in tablets excavated by Jordan in
Athens we find formulas such as „that you may chill him and his purposes
… the blackening out and chilling of Eutychianus“, „let Attalos the ephebe
grow cold“; „I hand over to you Karpodora … and Trophimas … that you
may chill them and their purposes“ (the Greek word is catapsucho).23 Here
it is clear that the punishment is described as chilling, i. e. weakening,
the forces of the enemy. Jordan uses the term „sympathetic magic“ for
this phenomenon; „the phrase [involving the verb catapsucho] referring no
doubt to the chill of the lead itself or of the water in the wells“. 24 This may
well be another explanation for why water (and lead) were thought of as
appropriate contexts for a curse tablet, even if the concept of „sympathetic
magic“ might be worth a closer look in another place.25
To sum up: It cannot be denied that the Romans ( and other ancient
people) thought that water at least occasionally possessed sinister, evil, or
indeed cruel, forces.
21 See the discussion in Thpet (supra note 3), 27 f.
22 See A. Audollent, Defixionum tabellae, Paris 1904, cxvii, taking up a suggestion of
Wünsch. It was believed that such tablets normally were thrown in the sea or in rivers,
and that wells were used only where such water bodies were not available. Audollent
(ibid.) furthermore refuted an earlier suggestion that a particular weil near Arezzo had
been used for a curse tablet because it produced an evil smell which might even have
been lethal.
23 The verb appears in all the thirteen curse tablets presented by Jordan, Hesperia
1985, 214-233 and 248 f. The examples are taken from tablets nos. I, 4, and 7.
24 Jordan, Hesperia 1985, 207, 241 f.
25 The studies on submerged tabellae defizioniJ and sympathetic magic referred to
by Jordan are W. Sherwood Fox, „Submerged tabellae defixionum“, AJPh 33 (1912)
301-310 and T. Hopfner, „Mageia“, RE XIV (1930) 301-393, esp. 311 and 315.
80
MEDIUM AEVUM QUOTIDIANUM
HERAUSGEGEBEN VON GERHARD JARITZ
SONDERBAND II
CRUDELITAS
The Politics of Cruelty
in the Ancient and Medieval World
Proceedings of the International Conference
Turku {Finland), May 1991
Edited by
Toivo Viljamaa, Asko Timonen
and Christian Krötzl
Krems 1992
Front page illustration: Martyrdom of Saint Barbara (detail),
Friedrich Pacher, Tyrolian, 1480-1490,
Neustift (Novacella), South Tyrol (Italy), Stiftsgalerie
Alle Rechte vorbehalten
– ISBN 3-90 1094 05 9
Herausgeber: Medium Aevum Quotidianum. Gesellschaft zur Erforschung der materiellen
Kultur des Mittelalters, Körnermarkt 13, A-3500 Krems, Österreich – Druck:
KOPITU Ges. m. b. H., Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10, A-1050 Wien.
Contents
Preface 7
Andrew LINTOTT (Oxford): Cruelty in the Political Life
of the Ancient World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Maarit KAIMIO (Helsinki): Violence in Greek Tragedy 28
Toivo VILJAMAA (Thrku): „Crudelitatis odio in crudelitatem
ruitis“ . Livy’s Concept of Life and History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Katarüna MUSTAKALLIO (Helsinki): The „crimen incesti“
of the Vestal Virgins and the Prodigious Pestilence
Asko TIMONEN (Thrku): Criticism ofDefense. The Blam-
56
ing of „Crudelitas“ in the „Historia Augusta“ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Christer BRUUN (Helsinki): Water as a Cruel Element in
the Roman World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4
Luigi de ANNA (Thrku): Elogio della crudelta. Aspetti
della violenza nel mondo antico e medievale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Greti DINKOVA-BRUUN (Helsinki): Cruelty and the Medieval
Intellectual: The Case of Peter Abelard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Christian KRÖTZL (Tampere): „Crudeliter affiicta“ . Zur
Darstellung von Gewalt und Grausamkeit in mittelalterlichen
Mirakelberichten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5
Thomas LINDKVIST (Uppsala) : The Politics of Violence
and the Transition from Viking Age to Medieval Scandinavia
Alain DUCELLIER (Toulouse): Byzance, Juge Cruel dans
un Environnement Cruel? Notes sur le „Musulman cruel“
dans l’Empire byzantin entre Vlleme et XIIlerne siedes
Asko TIMONEN (Turku): Select Bibliography
6
139
148
181
Preface
The present volume is a collection of the papers read at the conference
which was held in May 1991 at the University of Turku on the theme
The Politics of Cruelty in the A ncient and Medieval World. The general
aim of the conference was to advance interdisciplinary and international
collaboration in the fields of humanistic studies and particularly to bring
together scholars who have common interests in the study of our past.
The choice of the subject of cruelty naturally resulted from different study
projects concerning the political and social history of late antiquity and
the Middle Ages – the Roman imperial propaganda, the conß.ict between
paganism and christianity, the history of the Vandals, the Byzantine empires,
the Medieval miracle stories, to name some of them. Perhaps also
contemporary events had an influence on the idea that cruelty could be
the theme which conveniently would unite those various interests. And
the idea emerged irrespective of considerations whether or not we should
search for models in the Ancient World or join those who, as it seems to
have been a fashion, insist on investigating what we have common with
the Middle Ages.
One might argue – and for a good reason indeed – that cruelty is
a subject for anthropologists and psychologists, not for philologists and
historians. Where does the student of history find reliable criteria for
defining the notion of cruelty in order to judge the men of the past and their
actions, to charge with cruelty not only individuals but also nations and
even ages („the crudelitas imperatorum“ , „the Dark Ages“ , „the violence of
the Vikings“, „the cruel Muslims“ )? Is it not so that the only possibility is
to adapt our modern sensibilities to the past and to use our own prejudices
in making judgements about others? The prejudices – yes, but this is just
what makes the theme interesting for the historian because our prejudices
– our conception of cruelty, for instance – are part of the heritage of past
centuries. The events of our own day – maybe more clearly than ever – have
demonstrated that we live in a historical world. When we investigate the
history of the concept of cruelty we, as it were, Iook ourselves at a mirror
and learn to understand ourselves better. The concept of cruelty has two
sides. It is a subjective concept used to define and describe those persons
7
and those acts that according to the user of the term are negative, harmful,
humiliating, harsh, inhumane, primitive and unnatural; in everyday life
it is associated with religious habits – with crude remnants of primitive
religion, it is associated with passion, an uncontrolled mental state, or with
violence and with the exercise of power without justice. On the other hand
the term is used to classify people by their ethical and social habits, to
accuse, to invalidate and injure others; therefore the accusation of cruelty
refers to basic features of ancient and also Medieval thought, to the fear of
anything foreign, to the aggressive curiosity to define and subsume others
simply by their otherness.
Such were the considerations wich gave inspiration for arranging the
„cruelty“ -seminar. The conference was accommodated by the Archipelago
Institute of the University of Turku, in the island Seili („Soul island“) , in
an environment of quiet beauty of the remote island and sad memories of
the centuries when people attacked by a cruel fate, lepers or mentally ill,
were banished there from the civilized community.
The conference was organized by the Department of Classics of the
University of Turku in collaboration with the Departments of Cultural
History and Italian language and culture of the same university. It is a
pleasure to us to be able to thank here all those who helped to make the
congress possible. We would like especially to express our gratitude to
Luigi de Anna and Hannu Laaksonen for their assistance in preparing and
carrying out the practical arrangements. The financial assistance given by
the Finnish Academy and by the Turku University Foundation was also
indispensable. Finally, we close by expressing our gratitude to Gerhard
Jaritz, the editor of the Medium Aevum Quotidianum for the Gesellschaft
fü r Erforschung der materiellen Kultur des Mittelalters, for his kind COoperation
and for accepting this collection of papers to be published as a
supplement to the series of the studies on the Medieval everyday life. One
of the starting-points for organizing the „cruelty“ -conference was the firm
conviction that the Graeco-Roman Antiquity did not end with the beginning
of the Middle Ages, but these two eras form a continuum in many
respects, and the continuity was felt not only in the literary culture, in the
Greek and Latin languages which were still used, but also in the political,
social and religious structures of the Middle Ages. We think that this
continuity is amply demonstrated by the studies of the present volume.
Department of Classics, University of Turku, Finland
8