Troiae Ludus
（
Τροία) (frequently called in Latin
Troia, in the phrase
Troiam ludere; in
Suet. Cal. 18,
Troiae decursio; in
Tac. Ann. xi. 11,
ludicrum
Troiae). An equestrian sham-fight, performed in the Circus Maximus by boys of high
rank. It was supposed to represent an exercise introduced by Aeneas and the Trojans after
their landing in Italy, and celebrated afterwards by Ascanius at Alba (
Verg. Aen. v. 597). The earliest mention in
historical times is the celebration by Sulla in his dictatorship B.C. 81 (
Cat. 3), and by Caesar when he dedicated the Temple of Venus (Dio Cass.
xliii. 23). Augustus celebrated it certainly twice: first in B.C. 27 (Dio Cass. xlix. 43); on
which occasion Tiberius at the age of fifteen was
ductor turmae puerorum
maiorum (
Suet. Tib. 6); secondly, at the
dedication of the Temple of Marcellus, B.C. 12, when his grandson Gaius took a chief part. He
then discontinued the celebration because Asinius Pollio complained in the Senate that it was
a dangerous sport, in which his grandson Aeserninus had broken his leg (
Suet. Aug. 43). Caligula celebrated it in the first
year of his reign, and again at the funeral games of Drusilla; and of Nero's boyhood we are
told that he often
Troiam lusit up to the age of eleven （
Suet. Ner. 7).
The method of celebration may be gathered from Vergil (
Aen. v. 553-603). In this account the Trojan boys are first marshalled
in three squadrons of twelve each, under Ascanius, Priamus (son of Polites), and Atys. They
come forward ceremoniously, much as the gladiators did, or as the performers in a modern
bull-fight do now, to salute the spectators before the combat begins: then they break up their
triple formation, and, forming into two equal bands, retire to opposite stations. After this,
they charged and retired with evolutions so complicated that they seemed to Vergil comparable
to nothing but the Cretan Labyrinth or troops of dolphins at play. It is hard to explain why
Vergil introduces the difficulty of three leaders and three companies. In all historical
accounts there were two. We can hardly doubt that Vergil, under cover of the story of Aeneas,
is describing what he actually saw, and this must have been the
celebration in B.C. 27. In that contest we know from Suetonius (
Tib. 12) that Tiberius was one leader, and from the same chapter it may
be inferred that Marcellus was another. We may surmise that Vergil introduced this elaborate
account for the same reason which led him to bring in the touching allusion to Marcellus in
Aen. vi.There may have been a third leader in the preliminary display
on that occasion, to give distinction to Sextus Apuleius, the son of Augustus's colleague in
the consulship, who, as appears from Tac. (
Tac. Ann.
ii. 50), afterwards married Marcella, daughter of Octavia. Assuming, then, that in the
real celebration of B.C. 27 there were three leaders for the procession, and that for the
combat two lines were formed, according to custom, under Tiberius and Marcellus, we may
suppose that Vergil makes three corresponding leaders in his Troia—viz., Iulus and
Atys out of compliment to Augustus, and a Priamus as appropriate to the Trojan game.
