ABSTRACT
Sagina (plural saginae) ‘‘stuffing’’, a coarse mash which was the staple food of Roman gladiators.
Sagittarius (plural sagittarii), ‘‘archer’’, type of gladiator.
Salpinkte¯s (plural salpinktai), ‘‘trumpeter’’, participant and competitor in Greek festivals. A competition for trumpeters (won by timaeus of Elis) entered the Olympic programme in 396. Like that for ke¯rykes, ‘‘heralds’’, it took place from an altar in the altis, on the way to the stadium, on the first day of the festival. The winner, clad in a short mantle or tunic, a broad-brimmed hat, and sandals, then carried out a trumpeter’s duties: attracting attention for the heralds, signalling the start of races and their bell lap, and accompanying officials. They needed to produce a tone which was passionate, piercing, shrill, urgent and above all loud. The most famous, herodorus of Megara (a periodonike¯s and ten-time Olympic champion, perhaps from 328 to 292), gave rise to tales worthy of the wrestler milon: he ate and drank mightily – sitting instead of reclining like others – slept on a lion skin, could blow two trumpets at a time in a military emergency and was so
loud that no-one could stand next to him. Another, (?) Epistades, could be heard 50 stades (10km, about 6 miles) away. Despite these feats, there is evidence that trumpeters, like heralds, earned less prestige than other victors: they are omitted on extant Olympic victory lists and drew smaller prizes at local festivals.
