Disability as Entertainment: Roman Arena

 

Welcome to my new series focusing on disability as entertainment. Throughout history, people with disabilities, especially physical deformities, have been put on display to be gawked, mocked, and laughed at. Interestingly, this seems to be a constant theme, where history repeats itself over and over again. I will attempt to work in chronological order, starting in Ancient Rome and working up to present day. However, I may discover something along the way which will force me to travel back in time.

The most obvious place to start is the Colosseum, where the Roman public went to be entertained. I will be discussing the role of dwarfs in the Colosseum and I shall explain why presently.

 

Are Dwarfs Even Disabled?

I feel it is important to explain some terminology. Although dwarf can now be interpreted as an offensive term, it is used by academics, as that is what the Romans called them. For this reason, I will also be using the term dwarf.

You may now be wondering if dwarfism is even a disability. The short answer is, it’s complicated. There has been some academic debate on that very question. I think the simplest thing to do is to give my take on the situation and explain why I am focusing on dwarfs this week. Brace yourself for some more terminology. According to dictionary.com, the definition of disability is ‘a physical or mental handicap, especially one that hinders or prevents a person from performing tasks of daily living, carrying out work or household responsibilities, or engaging in leisure and social activities’. Judging by this definition, I would say that having dwarfism can indeed be disabling in certain circumstances. Personally, sitting in a wheelchair, there are things I cannot reach on shelves etc., because they are too high up for me, which is disabling.

In the context of Ancient Rome, I would definitely consider dwarfs to be disabled. Not only would they have experienced hindrances due to their short stature, their physical difference meant that they were not seen as human. I will go into greater detail on this in another post, but basically, the Romans believed that deformity granted people special powers. The key reason that dwarfs are the main focus of this post is a matter of necessity. Simply put, there is not a whole amount of source material related to other disabilities. This may be due to disabled babies and children not surviving into adulthood. It could also be possible that they were just not noteworthy enough to record.

   

Fighting Dwarfs

Dwarfs are known to have fought in amphitheatres, such as the Colosseum. However, there is some disagreement as to how this played out. For instance, it has widely been believed that women fought dwarfs in the arena. However, this may not be true. It all depends on how you interpret the evidence. According to the Roman historian, Cassius Dio,

“Often he [Domitian] would conduct the games also at night, and sometimes he would pit dwarfs and women against each other”.

At first glance, it appears as if he is saying that dwarfs fought women. This is highly unlikely, as a woman would have a huge advantage over a dwarf, resulting in a quick and dull contest. I think the crowd would not be entertained! Instead, I believe the above quote should be read as dwarfs fought dwarfs and women fought women. This would have led to much fairer fights and would have been much more enjoyable (for the audience at least). There is evidence, including statuettes, which suggest that dwarfs would compete in boxing matches against each other. These matches usually took place as the warmup act before the main bloodshed began. I suppose in a sense, the dwarfs got off lightly.

A common occurrence in the arena was for mythological scenes to be recreated. Dwarfs were used to tell the tale of the ferocious battle between the Pygmies and their natural enemies, Cranes!! This is how the poet Statius described the event,

“Then in turn come forth the bold battalions of dwarfs, whom Nature from their birth cramped and bound once for all into a knotted lump. These join in battle and deal wounds; see, with Lilliputian hands they menace each his fellow with death; while Father Mars and murderous Valour, and the cranes, ere in random raid they pounce, marvel at the courage of the pygmies.”

This particular translation is from 1908, hence the old timey language.

Commodus as Hercules

 

I cannot finish this post without telling you the story of the time a bunch of cripples had their heads caved in. As anyone who has seen the movie Gladiator can attest, Commodus was not a nice guy. It’s reported that on one occasion, he gathered up every dwarf he could find and brought them to the Colosseum. He then let them loose in the arena with meat cleavers, until only one remained. On a separate occasion, he gathered people who had no feet and tied them up in a line at the centre of arena. He then proceeded to walk down the line, with a Hercules-style club, and smashed each of their heads in.

I think it is safe to say that it was probably best to steer clear of the Colosseum if you were disabled in Ancient Rome.

To keep up to date with my latest blog posts, you can like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter. You can find them by clicking the relevant icons in the sidebar.

Next week I will stick with Ancient Rome but focus on what it was like to be a disabled slave.

 

                                                                                                                   The Wheelchair Historian

 

Further Reading

Aeilia, Cleopatra, ‘General Misconceptions about Gladiators and Munera’,
http://www.societasviaromana.net/Collegium_Historicum/misconceptions.php Accessed: 2nd October, 2020.

Brunet, Stephen, ‘Dwarfs in Early Imperial Spectacles’, https://camws.org/meeting/2008/program/abstracts/07b4.Brunet.html Accessed: 2nd October, 2020.

Brunet, Stephen, ‘Women with Swords: Female Gladiators in the Roman World’, 2014 https://sites.middlebury.edu/gsaw/files/2016/02/women-with-swords.pdf Accessed: 2nd October, 2020.

Conliffe, Ciaran, ‘Commodus, Roman Emperor and Gladiator’, Last updated Mar 29, 2019, https://www.headstuff.org/culture/history/terrible-people-from-history/commodus-roman-emperor-gladiator/ Accessed: 2nd October, 2020.

Dio, Cassius, Roman History, 67.8.2 http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/67*.html Accessed: 2^nd October, 2020.

Jeffery, Simon, ‘Gladiators: Everything you need to know about bloodthirsty Roman entertainment on the net’, Fri 12 May 2000, https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/may/12/netnotes.simonjeffery Accessed: 2nd October, 2020.

Oliver, Mark, ‘10 Crazy Shows Romans Could Watch At The Colosseum’, November 25, 2016 https://listverse.com/2016/11/25/10-crazy-shows-romans-could-watch-at-the-colosseum/ Accessed: 2^nd October, 2020.

Spectacular Antiquity, ‘Dwarfs in the Roman Arena’, https://spectacularantiquity.wordpress.com/case-studies/public/dwarfs-in-the-arena/ Accessed: 2^nd October, 2020.

Habsburg Family Deformities

 

Philip I of Castile (1478-1506)

Welcome to the second instalment in my series on royal families and the genetic disabilities that they passed down. If you found last week’s post on Tutankhamun interesting, then you are in for a real treat.

This week I will be examining the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, and particularly their last king, Charles II (1661-1700).

Before I begin, I must confess that this topic involves several numbers, as well as scientific studies, much of which went straight over my head.

 

Who were the Habsburgs with their jaw dropping looks?

The House of Habsburg was one of the most powerful royal families to exist in European History. They date back to the 11^th Century and ruled the Duchy of Austria up until 1918, when they apparently lost a war. It was not just a long period they ruled over, but also a vast territory. Throughout the centuries, they ruled (deep breath): Austria, Germany, The Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia, Hungary, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, as well as overseas territories such as Mexico. That is a lot of ground to cover, literally. Is it possible to cover several centuries of history, over more than one continent in the space of a few paragraphs? Not a chance! I would have to live for hundreds of years to attempt that feat.

Instead, I will look at a very specific aspect of one branch of the family. In 1496, Philip I, son of the Holy Roman Emperor, married Joanna of Castile and Aragon, which would later become Spain. Thus, the reign of the Spanish Habsburgs had begun! They would rule successfully for 200 years, until the death of the childless Charles II killed off the bloodline in 1700. I will be coming back to that later. Many of the Spanish Habsburgs shared the same facial characteristic known as the ‘Habsburg Jaw’. This consisted of a large protruding jaw, also known as mandibular prognathism. They also had overhanging noses and enlarged lips which are characteristics of maxillary deficiency. The combination of these deformities made it difficult for some Habsburg kings to even close their mouths.

 

Was the Habsburg Jaw a result of Inbreeding?

Researchers decided to investigate whether the Habsburg Jaw was a result of inbreeding or some other cause. That reminds me, I forgot to mention, that as the Habsburgs gained the Spanish throne through marriage, they were afraid that they would also lose it through marriage. I can picture the scene now, the Habsburg ruler sitting in his court, when suddenly a candle (they didn’t have lightbulbs) flickers above his head. He proudly declares to his courtiers, “To preserve our hold on our kingdoms, cousins shall marry cousins, and uncles shall marry nieces!!” In my head he then lets out an ominous laugh.

Anyway, the researchers were able to analyse how closely related various members of the Spanish Habsburgs were, using something they called the inbreeding coefficient. They examined 16 generations of the family and more than 3,000 individuals. The results showed that Philip I (1478-1506), also known as Philip the Handsome, had a score of 0.025. However, Charles II (1661-1700), who was anything but handsome, had a score of 0.254. To put that into context, the offspring of first cousins would have an inbreeding coefficient of 0.0625. Charles II’s score indicates that his parents were either brother and sister, or parent and child. However, this was not the case. His father, Philip IV of Spain, was the uncle of his mother, Mariana of Austria. The high inbreeding coefficient was a result of such relationships happening for 16 generations! Harmful genes therefore increased as time went by as there were no new genes to overcome them. The researchers ultimately found that the people with the most severe Habsburg Jaw, also had the highest inbreeding coefficient.

It is important to note that while inbreeding is taboo in Western culture, it is still a common practice in certain parts of the world.

 

Charles II of Spain (1661-1700)

Charles II

So, the Spanish Habsburgs were inbred, why is that in a blog post about disability history? Charles II, that’s why! Charles II of Spain lived with an array of physical and mental disabilities, dying childless at the premature age of 39. His nickname was El Hechizado (“The Hexed”), as many people, including Charles, believed that he was the subject of a curse. His jaw was so bad that it was said that his two sets of teeth did not meet and therefore, he could not chew, forcing him to swallow food whole. This wreaked havoc on his digestive system, and he had frequent bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea. He was described as having very little interest in his surroundings and was practically senile by the time he died. As indicated before, he was believed to be infertile, having no children from two marriages. He was also slow at developing, as he did not speak until the age of 4, and he could not walk until he was 8. It is now believed that two genetic disorders, combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD, OMIM 26260) and distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA, OMIM 602722), can explain most of his ailments. Other researchers suggest that he may have also lived with hydrocephalus as upon death, the coroner stated that his head was full of water. Whatever the case may be, it is clear that the history of inbreeding in his family severely impacted his life.

To keep up to date with my latest blog posts, you can like my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter. You can find them by clicking the relevant icons in the sidebar.

Next week I will begin to examine the history of disabled people being used for entertainment purposes, starting with Ancient Rome.

 

                                                                                                 The Wheelchair Historian

 

Further Reading

Alvarez G, Ceballos FC, Quinteiro C (2009) The Role of Inbreeding in the Extinction of a European Royal Dynasty. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5174. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005174 Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Álvarez, G, Ceballos, FC, and ‘Royal dynasties as human inbreeding laboratories: the Habsburgs’ Heredity (2013) 111,114–121&2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved 0018-067X/13www.nature.com/hdy Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Dimuro, Gina, ‘The Habsburg Jaw And The Cost Of Royal Inbreeding’ Published June 20, 2018, Updated June 24, 2020 https://allthatsinteresting.com/habsburg-jaw Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Gregory, Andy, ‘Centuries of inbreeding to blame for ‘Habsburg jaw’ among European royals, study finds’, Monday 02 December 2019 12:31 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/habsburg-jaw-royal-family-inbreeding-facial-deformity-spain-austria-holy-roman-empire-a9229071.html Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Holloway, James, ‘Royal portraits confirm "Habsburg jaw" was caused by inbreeding’, December 02, 2019 https://newatlas.com/science/habsburg-jaw-inbreeding/ Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Saplakoglu, Yasemin, ‘Inbreeding Caused the Distinctive 'Habsburg Jaw' of 17th Century Royals That Ruled Europe’, December 02, 2019 https://www.livescience.com/habsburg-jaw-inbreeding.html Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Thompson, Andrea, ‘Inbreeding: Downfall of a Dynasty’, April 14, 2009 https://www.livescience.com/3504-inbreeding-downfall-dynasty.html Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Thulin, Lila, ‘The Distinctive ‘Habsburg Jaw’ Was Likely the Result of the Royal Family’s Inbreeding’, smithsonianmag.com, December 4, 2019, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/distinctive-habsburg-jaw-was-likely-result-royal-familys-inbreeding-180973688/ Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Turliuc M, D, Cucu A, I, Perciaccante A, Tosolini G, De Luca S, Costachescu B, Costea C, F: ‘Hydrocephalus of King Charles II of Spain, the Bewitched King’. Eur Neurol 2019;81:76-78. doi: 10.1159/000500719 Accessed: 25 September 2020.

Yong, Ed, ‘How inbreeding killed off a line of kings’, April 14, 2009 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2009/04/14/how-inbreeding-killed-off-a-line-of-kings/ Accessed: 25 September 2020.