Editing Marsyas (section)

== Prophecy and free speech at Rome ==
Among the Romans, Marsyas was cast as the inventor of [[augury]]<ref>N.M. Horsfall, reviewing ''Cacus and Marsyas in Etrusco-Roman Legend'' by Jocelyn Penny Small (Princeton University Press, 1982), in ''Classical Review'' 34 (1984) 226–229, vehemently rejects Marsyas's connection with augury, but this is a minority view.</ref> and a proponent of free speech (the philosophical concept παρρησία, "[[parrhesia]]") and "speaking truth to power". The earliest known representation of Marsyas at Rome stood for at least 300 years in the [[Roman Forum]] near or in the [[comitium]], the space for political activity.<ref>[[Elaine Fantham]], "Liberty and the Roman People," ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 135 (2005), p. 221; on assemblies of the people, see [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith]], ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', Bill Thayer's edition at [[LacusCurtius]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Comitia.html "Comitia."]</ref> He also was depicted as a ''[[Silenus|silen]]'',<ref>The distinction between a satyr and a silen was sometimes blurred in the later tradition.</ref> carrying a [[Bota bag|wineskin]] on his left shoulder and raising his right arm. The statue was regarded as an ''indicium libertatis'', a symbol of liberty, and was associated with demonstrations of the ''[[plebs]]'', or common people. It often served as a sort of [[kiosk]] upon which invective verse was posted.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''ad Aeneidos'' 3.20; T.P. Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome? The Background to Horace's ''Ars Poetica''," ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 78 (1988), p. 4; Elaine Fantham, "Liberty and the Roman People," ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 135 (2005), p. 227; Ann L. Kuttner, "Culture and History at Pompey's Museum," ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 129 (1999), pp. 357–358.</ref>

Marsyas served as a minister for Dionysus or Bacchus, who was [[Interpretatio graeca|identified by the Romans with]] their [[Liber|Father Liber]], one of three deities in the [[Aventine Triad]], along with [[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]] and Libera (identified with [[Persephone]]). These deities were regarded as concerning themselves specially with the welfare of the ''plebs''. The freedom that the [[Religious ecstasy|ecstasies]] of [[Cult of Dionysus|Dionysian worship]] represented took on a political meaning in Rome as the ''[[libertas]]'' that distinguished the free from the enslaved. The [[Liberalia]], celebrated March 17 in honor of Liber, was a time of speaking freely, as the poet and playwright [[Gnaeus Naevius]] declared: "At the Liberalia games we enjoy free speech."<ref>Rather alliteratively: ''libera lingua loquimur ludis Liberalibus''.</ref> Nonetheless, Naevius was arrested for his [[invective]]s against the powerful.<ref>T. P. Wiseman, ''Roman Drama and Roman History'' ([[University of Exeter Press]], 1998), ''passim'', explores the connections among Marsyas, the Aventine trinity, the ''plebs'', the Liberalia, and free speech. For a detailed discussion of the case of Naevius, see Harold B. Mattingly, "Naevius and the Metelli", ''Historia'' 9 (1960) 414–439. ''Marsyas'' was also the title of a work by the Roman playwright [[Lucius Pomponius]], possibly a [[satyr play]], in the second century BC.</ref>
[[Image:Censorinus denarius.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Denarius]] minted at Rome in 82 BC by L. Censorinus, with the head of Apollo and the figure of Marsyas holding a wineskin, based on the statue in the forum]]

Marsyas was sometimes considered a king and contemporary of [[Faunus#Festivals|Faunus]], portrayed by [[Vergil]] as a native Italian ruler at the time of [[Aeneas]]. [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], in his [[Commentary (philology)|commentary]] on the ''[[Aeneid]]'', says that Marsyas sent Faunus envoys who showed techniques of augury to the Italians.<ref>Servius, ''ad Aen''. 3.59; T.P. Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome?" ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 78 (1988), pp. 2–3 and p. 11, note 91, with additional sources on Marsyas p. 4, notes 26–28.</ref> The plebeian ''[[gens]]'' of the [[Marcius (family)|Marcii]] claimed that they were descended from Marsyas. [[Gaius Marcius Rutilus]], who rose to power from the ''[[plebs]]'', is credited with having dedicated the statue that stood in the Roman forum, most likely in 294 BC, when he became the first plebeian [[Roman censor|censor]] and added the ''[[cognomen]]'' [[Marcius Censorinus|Censorinus to the family name]].<ref>Robert Morstein-Marx, ''Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 99 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwkJh1cZb1YC&dq=Marsyas+silen+OR+silens+OR+silenus+OR+silenos+OR+satyr&pg=PA99 online.]{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Marcius Rutilus was also among the first plebeian augurs, [[co-option|co-opted]] into their [[collegium|college]] in 300 BC, and so the mythical teacher of augury was an apt figure to represent him.<ref>T.P. Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome?" ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 78 (1988), p. 4. The Marcii also claimed descent from [[Ancus Marcius]]. Morstein-Marx comments that the attribution of the statue to Marcius Rutilus Censorinus "is attractive, but perhaps over-bold" (''Mass Oratory and Political Power'', p. 99).</ref>

[[File:Sylenus Marsyas hanging - Louvre Ma542.jpg|thumb|150px|left|''The Torment of Marsyas'', [[Louvre Museum]], [[Paris]]]]
In 213 BC, two years after suffering one of the worst military defeats in its history at the [[Battle of Cannae]], Rome was in the grip of a reactionary fear that led to excessive [[religiosity]]. The [[Roman senate|senate]], alarmed that its authority was being undermined by "prophets and sacrificers" in the forum, began a program of suppression. Among the literature confiscated was an "authentic" prophecy calling for the institution of [[Ludi Apollinares|games in the Greek manner for Apollo]], which the [[Roman senate]] and [[Roman magistrates|elected officials]] would control. The prophecy was attributed to Gnaeus Marcius, reputed to be a descendant of Marsyas. The games were duly carried out, but the Romans failed to bring the continuing [[Punic Wars|wars with the Carthaginians]] to a victorious conclusion until they heeded a second prophecy and imported the worship of the Phrygian Great Mother, [[Cybele]], whose song Marsyas was said to have composed; the song had further relevance in that it was also credited by the Phrygians with protecting them from invaders.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] 10.30.9: "They say too that they repelled the army of the Gauls by the aid of Marsyas, who defended them against the barbarians by the water from the river [into which he had been transformed after his flaying] and by the music of his flute." The Celtic-speaking invaders who founded [[Galatia]] controlled the Great Mother's center of worship at [[Pessinus]] from the end of the third century BC. One of the major deities of the Gauls [[interpretatio graeca|was identified with]] Apollo and may have suggested opposition to Marsyas; see [[Frederick Ahl]], "[[Amber]], [[Avalon|Avallon]], and Apollo's Singing Swan", ''American Journal of Philology'' 103 (1982) 373–411.</ref> The power relations between Marsyas and Apollo reflected the continuing [[Struggle of the Orders]] between the elite and the common people, expressed in political terms by ''[[optimates]]'' and ''[[populares]]''. The arrest of Naevius for exercising free speech also took place during this period.<ref>T. P. Wiseman, ''Roman Drama and Roman History'' (University of Exeter Press, 1998).</ref>

Another descendant of Marcius Rutilus, [[Marcius Censorinus|L. Marcius Censorinus]], issued coins depicting the statue of Marsyas, at a time when the [[Augur#Augurs in the Republic|augural college]] was the subject of political controversy during the [[Roman civil wars#Late Republic|Sullan civil wars of the 80s BC]].<ref>Peter Justin Moon Schertz, "Marsyas Augur: A Plebeian Augur in the Time of [[Sulla]]?", paper presented at the 103rd annual meeting of the [[Archaeological Institute of America]], abstract from ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 106 (2002), pp. 270–271. Sulla increased the number of augurs; the nature of the controversy is debatable, but seems to do less with the proportion of plebeians to [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]] than a question of whether new augurs would be [[co-option|coopted]] by current members of the college or whether they would be elected by vote of the people.</ref> On the coin, Marsyas wears a [[Phrygian cap]] or ''[[pileus (hat)|pilleus]]'', an emblem of liberty.<ref>Robert J. Rowland, Jr., "[[Numismatic]] Propaganda under [[Lucius Cornelius Cinna]]," ''Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association'' 97 (1966), p. 417.</ref> This Marcius Censorinus was killed by [[Sulla]] and his head displayed outside [[Praeneste]]. Sulla's legislative program attempted to curtail power invested in the people, particularly restricting the powers of the [[tribune|plebeian tribunes]], and to restore the dominance of the senate and the privileges of [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]].<ref>Ronald T. Ridley, "The Dictator's Mistake: Caesar's Escape from Sulla", ''Historia'' 49 (2000), p. 220.</ref>

[[File:Le concours entre Apollon et Marsyas (Musée national d'archéologie, Athènes) (30673129491).jpg|260px|thumb|[[Mantineia Base]] depicting the contest of Apollo and Marsyas, c. 330–320 BC, [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens|NAMA]].]]

Marsyas was claimed as the [[eponym]] of the [[Marsi]] as well, one of the ancient peoples of Italy.<ref>T.P. Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome?", ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 78 (1988), pp. 2–3 and p. 11, note 91, with additional sources on Marsyas p. 4, notes 26–28.</ref> The [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War of 91–88 BC]], in which the [[Ancient peoples of Italy|Italian peoples]] fought to advance their status as citizens under Roman rule, is sometimes called the Marsic War because of the leadership of the Marsi. The Roman {{Lang|la|[[Colonia (Roman)|coloniae]]}} [[Paestum]] and [[Alba Fucens]], along with other Italian cities, set up their own statues of Marsyas as assertions of their political status.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''ad Aeneidos'' 3.20 and 4.58: "among the free cities, there was a statue of Marsyas, who was under the protection of Father Liber" (''in liberis civitatibus simulacrum Marsyae erat, qui in tutela Liberi patris est''). Also T. P. Wiseman, "Satyrs in Rome? The Background to Horace's ''Ars Poetica''", ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 78 (1988), p. 4; Elaine Fantham, "Liberty and the Roman People", ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 135 (2005), p. 227, especially note 52.</ref>

During the [[Principate]], Marsyas became a subversive symbol in opposition to [[Augustus]], whose propaganda systematically associated Augustus with Apollo as the torturer of sileni. Augustus's daughter [[Julia the Elder|Julia]] held nocturnal assemblies at the statue, and crowned it to defy her father.<ref>Elaine Fantham, "Liberty and the People in Republican Rome," ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' 135 (2005), p. 227, citing Seneca, ''De beneficiis'' 6.32 and Pliny, ''Historia naturalis'' 21.6.8–9, both of whom characterize Julia's meetings as sexual congress with strangers.</ref> The poet [[Ovid]], who was ultimately exiled by Augustus, twice tells the story of Marsyas's flaying by Apollo, in his epic ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]'' and in the ''Fasti'', the calendrical poem left unfinished at his death.<ref>[[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''Metamorphoses'' 6.383–400 and ''Fasti'' 6.649–710.</ref> Although the immediate cause of Ovid's exile remains one of literary history's great mysteries, Ovid says that a "poem and transgression" were contributing factors; his poetry tests the boundaries of permissible free speech during Rome's transition from [[Roman Republic|republic]] to [[Principate|imperial monarchy]].<ref>Joanna Niżyńska samples the extensive scholarship on the subversive qualities of Ovid's poetry in her comparative study "Marsyas's Howl: The Myth of Marsyas in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' and [[Zbigniew Herbert]]'s ‘Apollo and Marsyas’", ''Comparative Literature'' 53.2 (Spring 2001), pp. 151–169.</ref>

[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] indicates that in the first century AD, the painting ''Marsyas religatus'' ("Marsyas Bound"), by [[Zeuxis (painter)|Zeuxis of Heraclea]], could be viewed at the [[Temple of Concordia]] in Rome.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia naturalis]]'' 35.66.</ref> The goddess [[Concordia (mythology)|Concordia]], like the Greek [[Harmonia (mythology)|Harmonia]], was a [[personification]] of both [[Music of ancient Greece|musical harmony as it was understood in antiquity]], and of [[social order]], as expressed by [[Cicero]]'s phrase ''concordia ordinum''. The apparent incongruity of exhibiting the tortured silenus in a temple devoted to harmony has been interpreted in modern scholarship as a warning against criticizing authority.<ref>Joanna Niżyńska, "Marsyas's Howl," ''Comparative Literature'' 53.2 (Spring 2001), p. 152.</ref>

===The Louvre's Apollo–Marsyas sarcophagus===
{{stack|[[File:Musée Louvre-Lens Sarcophage.JPG|thumb|300px|Competition between Marsyas and Apollo, Tuscan marble sarcophagus, {{Circa|290}}–300 CE, (Louvre).]]}}
A sarcophagus depicting the competition between Marsyas and Apollo, dating to around 300 CE, was discovered in 1853 on the bank of the river Chiarone in [[Tuscany, Italy|Tuscany]], on the former Emilia-Aurelia road. Its gathering of deities reads visually from left to right, starting from Athena with her staff and [[Erichthonius of Athens|Erichthonius]], forming her [[caduceus]], which is partially broken along with a portion of her arm. In Greek myth, Athena was once associated with the pipes that later became those of Marsyas, so that other narratives were developed explaining the transfer as Athena having discarded the instrument in a pique (as in Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''). The flaying of Marsyas is set on the end opposite to Athena, on the extreme right.{{fact|date=January 2024}}