they inculcated the nobility’s claim to leadership, and nonetheless strengthened the
sense of solidarity between the community’s head and its members that was indis-
pensable in the case of all military involvement, and in the face of threats of any
kind. Especially the lavish but carefully arranged processions promoted the neces-
sary self-confidence, because they served as an image and a show of the powerful
Roman community determined to act under the protection of the favorably disposed
gods. In such a way, the ludi publicicommitted the people to the pre-eminence of
the nobility and to their objectives. This ruling elite made the games into a com-
prehensive means of political influence, because they were at the same time intended
to help the community to become aware of itself, and to accentuate and sustain its
identity. The ludi scaeniciwere of the greatest importance for the development of
the consciousness of one’s own roots and the destiny of Rome directed by the numina.
The dramatic performances dominating the appearance of the games represented a
propaganda medium capable of being shaped and effective for the huge public. They
imparted the great “national” topics and binding values to the people, told of Rome’s
heroic past, and pointed to a brilliant future ahead. As they cut Greek mythology
and culture to Roman conditions and scales, the “Greek” games, for all their dif-
ferences, did prove that Rome belonged religiously and culturally to the Greek world,
fulfilling an urgent foreign policy requirement and facilitating attempts to form
contacts and alliances. However, the political functions of the ludi publiciwere not
limited to that.
The public games also offered the nobility undreamed-of possibilities of self-
presentation, which must have been welcome to the individual in his strivings for
public offices. The constantly growing expenditure by the competing magistrates in
providing the decor and costumes for the performances involved no risk of offend-
ing the sensitive cult order. The gods were in every respect unrestrained, and so
a greater quantity of their worship was also always a higher quality, so long as the
ritual forms hallowed by tradition were not thwarted. At no point in their develop-
ment can there be talk of a “secularization” of the ludi publici, although certain trends
toward secessionism by individuals away from the unity of the political elite also became
apparent in the array of public games. The senate, the custodian of collective
discipline, was at the most able to slow the process of disintegration of the Roman
ruling elite spreading to the ludi publici. However, sanction and regulation were unable
to prevent the far-reaching consequences. All in all, the nobility smoothed the way
for the great individual personalities in this respect, too.
The new ludi publiciof the late republic, as games in honor of a personal tutelary
deity, accompanied Sulla’s restoration, supported Pompey’s claim to recognition, and
demonstrated the extraordinary position of Caesar, who ultimately controlled the
fortunes of the Roman state. The new age, which Caesar Augustus was then to
establish, was heralded in by the permanent victory games. However, only their deep
religious character, their dedication to the Victoria populi Romanior subsequently
to the Victoria Caesaris, made their eminently political exploitation by the dictators
possible. In their respective way, these ludi publici also established an identity.
No doubt Sulla’s and Caesar’s interference with the traditional system of games did
anticipate phenomena of the imperial period and make the future rulers’ promotion
Complex Rituals 233