Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants by Garrett Ryan

Author:Garrett Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prometheus
Published: 2021-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

Although short sprints were always part of the athletic repertoire, long-distance running was not popular. Greek and Roman men were much more likely to walk or (if wealthy) to ride for exercise. But since ancient doctors prescribed jogging for ailments ranging from flatulence to leprosy, a steady stream of puffing convalescents joined the gilded youth on the gymnasium track.* Then as now, some perverse souls actually enjoyed jogging. One Greek man, who started jogging for the health of his spleen, liked it so much that he began to run professionally and became an Olympic champion in the distance race. An epigram commemorates a scholar who passed his leisure hours loping along the porticoes and aqueducts of Rome. A few Roman ultrarunners even held exhibitions in the Circus Maximus, circling the track for hours on end. Some of these men, we are told, could run continuously for 150 miles.5

Since excessive muscle was assumed to oppress the body and weigh on the mind, few men wanted the rippling bulk of a laborer or gladiator. The ideal was a lean and toned physique—and to that end, many worked out with halteres. Originally designed to help athletes add distance in the running long jump, halteres—oblong pieces of stone or lead—were also used as dumbbells. Dumbbell exercises (“halter throwing”) were developed for every muscle group. Since halteres seldom weighed more than ten pounds, they were used primarily to improve flexibility, stamina, and general fitness.† They seem to have been especially popular in the Roman world, where every bath complex had its row of puffing patrons heaving halteres.6

For those who insisted on serious strength training, several methods were available. The most straightforward was to lift stones. Gymnasia were supplied with rocks of graded weight, which athletes

A Roman woman exercising with halteres. Fourth-century mosaic from the Villa Romana del Casale. Author’s photo

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