Franz Xaver Ryan

This essay began as an attempt to localize the scenic games for Apollo. The site is an easy inference from a notice of Livius, but this conclusion must then be put to the test by a discussion of parallel cases. It quickly became apparent that there are many other questions about the Apolline games which either have not been answered correctly or have never yet been raised. No effort has been made here to discuss or even merely to cite every reference to the Apolline games in our sources. The focus remained instead upon problems, but the problems were so legion that the result is a rather complete account of the Ludi Apollinares of the republican period. Topics treated include the original type of the games, the numismatic evidence for the program of the circus games, the founding by C. Piso in 211 of games in existence from 212, the reason why the people was laureate at the games, the financing of the games, the significance of the choice of the urban praetor as president of the games, a familial or gentilitial claim after 212-211 to the presidency of the games and hence to the urban praetorship, the ostensibly tardy or rather the ostensibly precipitate decision to make the games permanent in 208, the nature of the venatio of the urban praetors, the incidence of munera during the urban praetorship, the significance of the scaena praebenda introduced in 174-173, the obligation of members of the political class to attend the games, a new stage in the lengthening of the festival, the exact date of the de Othone of Cicero, the identity of the president of the games in the year 63, and the underlying reason for the opposition to a stone theater in Roma.