Ancient Athletic Sponsorship and Product Placement

Image Credit; Morays Muse. The Colchester Vase overlayed The Balkerne Gate

On the way to yet another fashion week, I was reading Elsa Schiaparelli’s memoir ‘Shocking Life’. For a life as vivid as Schiap's. You won’t be surprised to hear that her autobiography is filled with celebrity cameos too. Not only does Schiap come from a family of intellectuals who contributed to archaeology and astronomy (we touched upon one in our article about Flower Crowns here)

When Schiap mentioned Amelia Eartheart’s fashion line I was thrilled. In 1932, not only did Earheart complete her first trip across the Atlantic, but Earheart set up a fashion house, ‘Amelia Earhart Fashions'. It was very successful debuting at Macy's. Her clothes were Aviation inspired, made from parachute silk or aeroplane wing fabric.

While the line felt very in Earhart's interests, some critics have pointed out that it was more of an athlete endorsement, rather than a designer line.  Earhart needed money to fund her adventures, a notable pursuit, look at her legacy. Other heroes of the skies earned money through sponsorships from patrons, like Wiley Post who flew his record breaking plane Winnie Mae, purchased for him by Oklahoman  businessman Florence ‘FC’ Hall of Chickasha. 

Image Credit; Amelia in her designs The Smithsonian Museum

As we see our favourite athletes on soft drinks packaging this summer, promoting products they probably didn’t design, and online commenters branding them cash grabs, I argue, they have to make money somehow. Sponsorships, merchandise and unions are not a new concept. History can teach us a lot about how athletes earned their money through ancient athletic sponsorship and product placement.

Greece and Rome are considered as the ‘pillars of classical society’. However whilst in pop culture the two civilisations being ‘enmeshed’ without nuance they did have sporting differences. Take for example there were some differences between elite Greek and Roman sport. For the more modest Greeks participation was important, however for the Romans with its litany of emperors, spectacle was important to control the masses. 

Ancient Greece

Scholar W. Vamplew states that during Greece's Archaic games, from which the original Greek Olympics originated, religion and prizes were fundamental to these events. The 'crown' or stephanitic games—held at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, and Isthmia—stood out because these games prioritised prestige over monetary rewards, however, victorious athletes often received significant rewards from their home cities. During the Archaic period we also see that competitors, particularly chariot racers often didn’t didn’t even pilot their own chariots but instead hired athletes to do so. 

However, moving towards the Hellenistic period, this is when we begin to see more ‘modern’ sports practices take place. By this time, most athletes were professional and hired trainers. Furthermore, an expansion of athletic festivals across Greece created opportunities akin to a sports circuit or tour, where athletes could engage in various local competitions and prestigious major events.

Victorious athletes took advantage of their prestige and formed local associations as early as the third century BCE to defend their interests regarding rights and rewards. Later, these athletes became a political and organisational force in Roman Greece. The officials of the organisation (retired athletes) lobbied Roman leaders for rights and privileges for its members. This included exemptions from military service, taxation, and other impositions. Isn’t this similar to some of the scandals facing athletes today? 

Ancient Rome 

In the ancient Roman Colosseum we also saw more evidence of sponsorship. Whilst we stated the Greeks were more modest in their sports practises prioritising skill, the Romans were all about spectacle. Emperors used the games to control the masses.

Gladiatorial combats, the main attraction at the Roman games, originated as honorific rites at funerals in about the fourth century BCE originating from pre Roman culture the Etruscans. The Etruscans would use prisoners of war to fight to the death but these fights were not public. Julius Caesar turned gladiatorial combat from a private affair to a public one, staging a tournament for his deceased father. Caesar's successor Augustus for example used gladiator games as a propaganda tool to assure his own authority and power and to maintain the unity of the empire. It said Tiberius and Marcus Aurelius were not interested in the games but Claudius and of course Caligula was.  Tickets were distributed as patronage to demonstrate the sponsor’s wealth. It’s even suggested that entry was even charged at games and has been seen on inscriptions.

However, we see more modern day sports practises really started getting started when the Flavian dynasty built the Colosseum. Whilst the Colosseum in the movies is praised as a redemption arc for gladiators , it was more of a redemption arc for businessmen of that time. It was the ultimate networking spot.

Image credit; public domain. Emperor Claudius was intrigued by the gladiators allegedly

In regards to merchandise, ordinary Romans also classified themselves through game-related objects. Watchers of the games owned various memorabilia, such as knives with gladiator handles, bronze mirrors and glass cups depicting combat scenes,  even cremation urns. These items, often made from inexpensive materials, were accessible to ordinary citizens. High-quality items, like a glass flask modelled after a gladiator's helmet, indicated that even elites valued such motifs for social display.

Image credit; Wikipedia. The Colchester Vase, a form of Roman Sports Memorabilia

Memorabilia ranged from generic gladiator themed memorabilia, to specific vases (such as the Colchester vase) commemorating certain fights. The Roman games started to decline in the third century CE. With economic conditions becoming increasingly unfavourable, fewer social elites could afford to finance such elaborate mass entertainment quite frankly and that can be seen today.

We would love to delve into the Byzantine empire and beyond however we will do a separate issue for that. How much history can you cover in one article? The possibilities are endless.