Bread & games
Bread & Games refers to the Roman Games in Trier , which were held from 1997 to 2012.
history
Beginnings of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum
The Bread & Games event took place for the first time on July 12th and 13th, 1997. Under the motto "Bread and Games - Ancient (Experience) Life in the Amphitheater", the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier organized a large weekend of events as part of the cultural summer of Rhineland-Palatinate of the state, which presented an ancient arena spectacle based on scientific findings.
On July 12, 1997, Roman legionaries of Legio XXII Primigenia and Legio VIII Augusta moved through the Porta Nigra and then into the Trier amphitheater . There they re-enacted scenes from the storm on the city wall, as they probably happened in Trier in 187 AD.
On July 13, 1997, the spectacle took place with 50 actors based on a script by historians Wilfried Stroh and Marcus Junkelmann . After a move-in ("pompa"), the game-giving official opened the gladiatorial games with a Latin address and a sacrifice to the gods. There were exhibition fights, including with horses. Parallel to the event, there was a special exhibition and a panel discussion in the State Museum.
Roman spectacle of the city
From 2002 to 2010 Germany's largest Roman spectacle took place in Trier every August. In 2011 the event took place for the first time in September. The range of events extended to four locations: In the historical setting of the amphitheater , the "Spectaculum", a play in connection with real gladiator fights, was performed. From 2002 to 2005 the program was limited to gladiator fights organized by the Ars Dimicandi Institute in Milan and acrobatic performances. Since 2006, the fights have been embedded in a historical staging that gave the overall event the title. Alexander Etzel-Ragusa was responsible for directing the productions, and since 2007 he has also written the plays. Since 2009 the Spectaculum has been telling a sequel from the Trier arena in the time of Emperor Mark Aurel with recurring characters.
The majority of the imperial baths included the representation of the civil and military Roman world. The tent camp on the vicus and the palaestra showed Roman handicrafts as well as arts and medicine. Combat and combat presentations were staged on a parade field in the palace garden. In the evening, during the “Mystical Night”, the underground corridors of the Kaiserthermen were staged with sound and light installations as well as dance performances. In addition, a “Roman lounge” with live music invited young people in particular to visit the thermal baths in the evening.
The Rheinisches Landesmuseum has been part of the event again since 2010 and presented authentic Roman craftsmanship in the “fabricae” (Roman expression for workshops).
On Saturdays and Sundays , a pompa through the old town to the Kaiserthermen started in front of Triers' landmark, the Porta Nigra .
Important principles of the event were authenticity and the transfer of knowledge, for which the organizers worked together with experts from Roman antiquity. Visitors were able to actively contribute and participate on the event site. Every year around 20,000 people visited the spectacle, which in 2006 was named a “Selected Location” by the Germany - Land of Ideas initiative . In 2011, Bread & Games took place in September for the first time in its history. The event was also extended to four days.
After another deficit in 2012, the city of Trier decided to suspend "Bread & Games" in 2013. Mainly because the number of visitors was lower than expected, the city had to pay more than 100,000 euros in subsidies for 2012, more than twice as high as originally planned.
Productions in the amphitheater since 2006
2006: "Valerius"
The story “The Gladiator Valerius” by Dominique Caillat was performed as the first spectaculum . It is about the slave Valerius, who is trained in the gladiator school in Trier and is being prepared for a life as a doomed man.
2007: "Bloody Laurel"
On the occasion of the great Constantine exhibition , the Spectaculum “Bloody Laurel” was performed at Bread & Games: Constantine, ruler of the Roman Empire, wed Fausta, daughter of the influential ex-emperor Maximian. As the highlight of the celebrations, Constantine had gladiator fights performed and his victorious battle against the Franks re-enacted. The captured princes are said to be mauled by wild animals in the arena on their wedding day.
2008: "Sword of Life - Water of Death"
The first staging in the sequel story was based on an ancient Trier legend about the building of the amphitheater and the aqueduct. A fierce competition raged between the building owners: Which building will be completed first? The one that brings the water of life to Trier or that in which the sword of death rules? Gladiators, master builders and a woman washed in the water were at the center of the play, which revealed the tricks and tricks and the betrayal of the Trier amphitheater almost 2000 years ago.
2009: "Destiny in Flames"
The focus of the drama sequel was the mysterious Sibylline Books of Fate, which tell about the future of Rome until its fall. A seer offers the King of Rome ten books that are said to contain the fate of Rome up to its fall. The trade fails and the books disappear for a long time. In Augusta Treverorum of all places they reappear and a murderous battle for the books ensues.
2010: "The Battle of Hercules"
A mysterious gladiator asked the head of the Trier gladiator school to be admitted to his school. As "Hercules", the contentious fighter soon conquered the Trier arena. To demonstrate his abilities, he had games performed and, as a climax, re-enacted the legendary fight between the ancient hero Hercules and a seven-headed hydra. Hercules was defeated by his adversary Antigonus , his true identity was revealed. He had moved Commodus, son of the Emperor Marc Aurel , into the arena to impress his father.
2011: "Hercules and the Queen of the Amazons"
The mysterious people of the Amazons were the focus of the 10th edition of the Roman Spectacle. Hero of the title Hercules had to face the Amazon queen Hypolita (played by Katy Karrenbauer ) in the amphitheater production . He had acquired the golden belt of the Amazons, which had been stolen from a temple, and thus drew the wrath of the women fighters.
2012: "Hercules and the Power of Evil"
Bread & Games 2012 took place from August 31 to September 2 and on September 8 and 9, 2012. On the first weekend there were performances in the amphitheater, the Kaiserthermen and the Rheinisches Landesmuseum, on the second weekend there were performances of the spectacle in the amphitheater.
Awards
In 2006, the Bread & Games Trier event was named a “Selected Location” by the Germany - Land of Ideas initiative .
Also in 2006, which gave Handwerkskammer Trier , the Chamber of Commerce Trier and the Trier University and the University of Trier Event bread and games to "Holkenbrink Prize", Trier are honored with the achievements in the economy of the region.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Hans-Peter Kuhnen : Bread and Games - Antiquity (he) live in the amphitheater . In: Finds and excavations in the Trier district, issue 29 (1997), publisher: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier
- ↑ No “Bread & Games” in the next year ( Memento from November 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Web links
- Official website "Bread & Games Trier" ( Memento from January 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive )