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Egyptians were the first known
jugglers! Although much has been
said about this, one of
the most informative accounts appears in the 1938
February and March issues of Linking Ring magazine. In this magic
publication, the
article by Dr. Henry R. Evans, "Jugglers and
Juggling," gives us specific names and locations:"We see
representations of it (jugglery) in wall paintings of the E
gyptians, particularly
in those of Beni-Hassan tombs on the
east bank of the Nile
near Speos Artemidos." Dr. Evans further informs us that, "an
inscription to Septimus Spika, evidently a popular juggler of ancient Italy,
appears in the Royal museum at Mantua,"
and that, "he is represented keeping seven balls in movement." A
statue in the National Museum
in Athens, Greece,
which was found in the Pyrénées, also attests to the antiquity of juggling. In
Greek history we learn that itinerant minstrels, or bards, had traveled through
Sparta, possibly to take part in
the popular contests in music and diversions displayed there in 675 B.C. To
increase the pleasures of Rome, it
was fashionable to import entertainers from the Orient. No doubt there were
jugglers among them, though they were almost always slaves or not socially
accepted. Hermann Sagemüller writes of an officer in a Roman Legion who
entertained his troops by performing juggling tricks with balls. The name of
the officer is given as Sidonius Apollinaris.
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