GYMNASIUM NERONIS
a building for gymnastic purposes, dedicated by
Nero in 62 A.D. (Suet. Nero 12:
dedicatisque thermis atque gymnasio
senatui quoque et equiti oleum praebuit; Tac. Ann. xiv. 47: gymnasium
eo anno dedicatum a Nerone praebitumque oleum equiti ac senatui
Graeca facilitate), or in 60 after the establishment of the Neronia (Cass.
Dio lxi. 21. I:
καὶ ἐπ̓ αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ γυμνάσιον ᾠκοδόμησεϝ ἐλαιόον τω ἐν τῇ καθιερώσει αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς βουλευταῖς καὶ τοῖς ἱππεῦσι προῖκα ἔνειμε).
Later in 62 the gymnasium was burned and a bronze statue of Nero
melted (Tac.
Ann. xv. 22). Philostratus (vit.
Apoll. iv. 42) says that
it was one of the most wonderful buildings in the city.
There are no other references to this gymnasium, but it would be
natural to suppose that it was near or connected with the
THERMAE (q.v.),
which Nero is said to have dedicated at the same time (Suet. loc. cit.).
The language of Philostratus seems to make no distinction between
γυμνάσιον and
βαλανεῖον, so that no inference can be drawn from it as
to the existence or non-existence of the gymnasium in his time. Hulsen
therefore assumes (HJ 590) that the gymnasium was an integral part of
the baths, and that gymnasium and thermae were names of the same
structure. In view of what is said of the burning of the gymnasium
(Tac.
Ann. xv. 22), it is more probable that they were separate buildings.
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