Gestures and Acclamations in Ancient Rome
Gregory S. Aldrete
Number of quotes: 13
Book ID: 96 Page: 50
Section: 4B
In Apuleius’s colorful novel The Metamorphoses, when a lowly night watchman began to tell a story to his friends, he first extended his right arm and made what the novelist called “the orator’s gesture” (Apul. Met. 2.21). Such incidents challenge the idea that the rather intricate rules of rhetoric were the exclusive preserve of the nobility and imply that this knowledge penetrated much deeper into Roman society.
Quote ID: 2454
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 96 Page: 52
Section: 5D
However, satire depends on the presence of a basic element of truth that the audience can easily recognize,
Quote ID: 2455
Time Periods: ?
Book ID: 96 Page: 101
Section: 4B
The English word acclamation has acquired connotations of approval or praise, but the Latin word from which it is derived, acclamatio, simply means any shouted comment, whether positive or negative.{1}
Quote ID: 2456
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 101
Section: 4B
In Roman society the acclamation had a long history of use as an important feature of many social occasions.
Quote ID: 2457
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 102
Section: 4B
Throughout Roman history the senate, people, and army had directed laudatory acclamations at prominent politicians.
Quote ID: 2458
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 102
Section: 4B
During the early empire acclamations acquired new importance, since they became a central component of ceremonies associated with the emperor, most notably in the accession process by which a new emperor was identified and legitimized.
Quote ID: 2459
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 102
Section: 4B
For the urban plebs to a much greater degree than for the other groups, however, acclamations became the primary means of communication and interaction with the emperor.
Quote ID: 2460
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 112
Section: 4B
The volume and variety of shouted acclamations accompanying an emperor’s entrance furnished a rough measure of his standing with the urban plebs, in the same way that figures of the late republic had used such acclamations to judge their popularity.
Quote ID: 2461
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 128
Section: 4B
Acclamations have several notable features that enabled them to serve as such powerful and versatile forms of interaction between emperor and urban plebs. The most significant of these qualities are the existence of a body of well-known acclamation formulas and the rhythmic nature of many acclamation chants themselves.
Quote ID: 2462
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 129
Section: 4B
Verbal formulas allowed large numbers of people to communicate directly with a minimum of prior planning. In the circus demonstration of A.D. 196, described by Dio, the participation of so many thousands was made possible because everyone in the audience knew the basic formulas.
Quote ID: 2463
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 130
Section: 4B
The fundamental importance of formulas in organizing mass acclamations was strikingly revealed by the disaster that ensued when Nero compelled a group of Italians from rural Italy to attend one of his theatrical performances, where they were forced at sword point to praise his thespian skills. The frightened rustics were ignorant of the acclamation formulas used in Rome and of the various types of rhythmic applause that the urban plebs were accustomed to employ. Attempting to imitate the complex verbal acclamations of the locals, the Italians merely created chaos in the theater with their confused, disjointed shouting, and with their “inexperienced hands” they disrupted the smooth rhythms of the urban applauders (Tac. Ann. 16.5).
Quote ID: 2464
Time Periods: 014
Book ID: 96 Page: 145
Section: 4B
By his time, Quintilian admitted that while in theory there should be no more than a trace of singing in an oration, in practice there were many who overstepped the bounds of decorum and delivered almost musical speeches. He labeled this the greatest fault of contemporary oratory.
Quote ID: 2465
Time Periods: 1
Book ID: 96 Page: 147
Section: 4B
Even funeral eulogies could be presented in a rhythmic manner. During Tiberius’s eulogy at the funeral of Augustus, he allegedly said to the crowd, “I, like the leader of a chorus, merely give out the leading words, while you join in and chant the rest” (Dio 56.35).
Quote ID: 2466
Time Periods: 014
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