Chapter 17
TERTULLIAN
their hatred is unjust. (6) Or are we, perhaps, permitted to love without cause any more than to hate without cause? God who bids us to love our enemies certainly forbids us to hate even with cause; God who commands us to bless those who curse us does not permit us to curse even with cause.5 (7) But what is more merciless than the circus, where they do not even spare their rulers or their fellow citizens?6 If any of these frenzies of the circus become the faithful elsewhere, then it will be lawful also in the circus; but, if nowhere, then neither in the circus.
Chapter 17 (1) In like manner we are commanded to steer clear of every kind of impurity. By this command, therefore, we are precluded also from the theater, which is impurity's own peculiar home, where nothing wins approval but what else where finds approval. (2) And so, the theater's greatest charm is above all produced by its filth—filth which the actor
5 Cf. Matt. 5.44; Rom. 12.14.
6 The spectacles where the people assembled en masse, often in the presence of the emperor, provided them with an opportunity to make known their attitude and to express wishes and complaints. It was for this very reason, Suetonius (Tiberius 47) tells us, that Tiberius
'gave no public shows at all, and very seldom attended those given by others, for fear that some request would be made of him.' Emboldened by the security of numbers, the multitude also directed gibes at the emperor. By demonstrations against fellow citizens Tertullian means probably the outbursts of hatred against Christians who had been led into the arena to die because of their faith. Tertullian himself
(.Scorpiace 10.10) refers to these anti-Christian outbreaks at the shows 'where they readily join in the cry: How long shall we suffer the third race?' By the third race the Christians are meant; the first race being the pagans; the second, the Jews.
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of the Atellan farces conveys by gestures;1 filth which the mimic actor even exhibits by womanish apparel, banishing all reverence for sex and sense of shame so that they blush more readily at home than on the stage;2 filth, finally, which the pantomime experiences in his own body from boyhood in order to become an artist.3 (3) Even the very prostitutes, the victims of public lust, are brought upon the stage, creatures feeling yet more wretched in the presence of women, the only members in the community who were unaware of their existence; now they are exhibited in public before the eyes of persons of every age and rank; their address, their price, their record are publicly announced, even to those who do not need the information, and (to say nothing of the rest) things which 1 The Atellan farce was a very old popular burlesque, called after the small Oscan town Atella in Campania where it had been especially in vogue. Transplanted to Rome at an early time, it grew from amateurish improvisations into a literary genre. It offered coarse, often indecent, scenes taken from daily life, with stock figures such as the dotard, the deceitful soothsayer, the glutton, and the simpleton. Since the actors in the Atellan farce wore masks, lively gesticulation had to serve as a substitute for the play of countenance.
2 The mime was also a farce in which incidents of common life were represented in a ludicrous way. The actors wore no masks. It was the most licentious type of all farces, adultery and love affairs being the main themes. The young actors who played the part of the infatuated or beloved youth appeared on the scene with wavy hair and, both in pose and clothing, strove for womanish gracefulness. In view of the fact that the taste of the general Roman public became increasingly coarser, it is not surprising that this literary genre was especially fashionable under the Empire.
3 In the pantomime entire dramatic scenes were enacted by a single actor who played several parts in succession, male and female, his only medium of expression being clear, effective, and rhythmic movements of the body, while the connective text was sung by a chorus. Since this kind of acting consisted not only in expressive movements of head and hand, but also in bendings and turns and even leaps, it demanded full command of the body, acquired by incessant training and careful diet from early childhood. The pantomime appeared as an independent art in the Augustan Age, soon became very popular, and replaced in a great measure the old drama, especially tragedy.
TERTULLIAN
ought to remain hidden in the darkness of their dens so as not to contaminate the daylight. (4) Let the senate blush, let all the orders blush, let even those very women who have committed murder on their own shame blush once a year when, by their own gestures, they betray their fear of the light of the day and the gaze of the people.4
(5) Now, if we must detest every kind of impurity, why should we be allowed to hear what we are not allowed to speak, when we know that vile jocularity and every idle word are judged by God?5 Why, in like manner, should we be permitted to see that which is sinful to do? Why should things which, spoken by the mouth, defile a man6 not be regarded as defiling a man when allowed access by the ears and eyes, since the ears and eyes are the servants of the spirit, and he whose servants are filthy cannot claim to be clean himself?
(6) You have, therefore, the theater prohibited in the pro hibition of uncleanness. Again, if we reject the learning of the world's literature as convicted of foolishness before God,7 we have a sufficiently clear rule also concerning those types of 4 Tertullian is not the only ancient author who tells us about this strange custom at the Floralia (April 28 to May 3) : the courtesans appearing in public and enacting a kind of mime which included indecent speech and exposure of the actresses on the stage. Cato the Younger is said to have withdrawn from the theater rather than witness the disgusting spectacle, though he would not interfere with the custom itself (Valerius Maximus 2.10.8) . Among the early Chris tian writers is was especially Lactantius (Divinae institutiones 1.20.10) who attacked the licentious character of this custom. To understand it at all, we must keep in mind that, in primitive rituals of vegetation deities, words and actions which would have been repulsive in ordinary life took on a certain meaning: they were thought to promote fertility.
5 Cf. Matt. 12.36; Eph. 5.3.
6 Mark 7.20.
7 Cf. 1 Cor. 3.19. On the basis of this scriptural passage Tertullian spurns the texts of tragedy and comedy as belonging to 'the learning of the world's literature.'
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spectacles which, in profane literature, are classified as belonging to the comic or tragic stage. (7) Now, if tragedies and comedies are bloody and wanton, impious and prodigal inventors of outrage and lust, the recounting of what is atrocious or base is no better; neither is what is objectionable in deed acceptable in word.
Chapter 18 (1) Now, if you maintain that the stadium is mentioned in the Scriptures, I will admit at once that you have a point.1 But as for what is done in the stadium, you cannot deny that it is unfit for you to see—punches and kicks and blows and all the reckless use of the fist and every disfiguration of the human face, that is, of God's image.2 (2) Never can you approve the foolish racing and throwing feats and the more foolish jumping contests;3 never can you be pleased with either harmful or foolish exhibitions of strength nor with the cultiva tion of an unnatural body,4 outdoing the craftsmanship of of God; you will hate men bred to amuse the idleness of 1 Cf. 1 Cor. 9.24.
2 Cf. Gen. 1.27; 9.6. Tertullian refers here especially to the pankration (game of all powers), a combination of both boxing and wrestling.
In this contest every kind of blow and grip was permitted.
3 These are parts of the pentathlon, or five contests, an athletic exhibition which consisted of sprinting, throwing the discus, hurling the spear, leaping, and wrestling (the latter is mentioned in the last section of this chapter) .
4 A number of ancient writers speak disdainfully of the gluttony of the pugilists and wrestlers, who fattened their bodies to give them the appearance of unnatural strength.