Rome Revision - A Day at the Races
A typical day at the races :
The Circus Maximus: the day’s events. The arena, its structure, size, the seating, the track, the spina,
the metae, the carceres.
The teams and colours, the dangers, the status of charioteers and horses, public attitudes, audience
involvement, betting, the social significance of such events.
Romans called chariot racing games the ludi circenses. The Circus Maximus (The Greatest Circus)
was the largest in Rome (seating 250 000)
Features of the Circus Maximus
Seating for 250 000
A spina down the middle divided the track
Metae posts at either end of the spina were sharp turning points
Severn eggs & later dolphins indicated the number of laps
Monuments ran along the spina like an obelisk marking the conquest of Egypt & a statue of
Neptune, god of horses
Carceres were the 12 starting cages, at the curved end of the track to allow for staggered starts, the
gates were spring loaded, all released at the same time.
3 tiers of seating – lowest tier for VIPS, state priests, senators & equites. The next tier was for
anyone, segregation was limited unlike the Coloseum. Final tier was standing room only
Pulvinar was the royal box, on the Palatine side, viewable to all spectators, it also contained a shrine
to the gods.
Outside the Circus under the arches were shops & taverns, with cooks, astrologers & prostitutes
Wild animals shows also featured – on one occasion Pompey put on a show with 20 elephants they
charged the iron fence causing terror & chaos.
The Races
There were 4 teams known as factions – REDs – WHITES – BLUES & GREENS, each fielded up to 3
chariots.
Each team had an owner (dominus factionis), supervising stables, stable boys, trainers, vets, grooms,
guards, saddlers, dressers & waters & their charioteers (agitators or aurigae) the best were paid
huge amounts.
Charioteers were low born, freedman or slaves – one prize could be 60 000 sesterces – the roman
writer Juvenal complained a charioteer could earn 100 times more than a lawyers fee.
The most famous charioteer Diocles from Lusitania, had a 24 year career, 1462 wins in 4257 races.
On his death he had amassed 35 million sesterces.
Some famous charioteers had a short life, Scorpus died at the age of 26 having won 2048 races.
Busts and images of charioteers were common in towns like Pompeii & Ostia showing its popularity
Great care was taken when breeding the horses, purchased from stud farms all over the Empire, like
Spain & North Africa. Horses became as famous as the charioteers, found on inscriptions on pottery
& mosaics – such as Victor winning 429 times
A day at the races
The day began with an entry parade (pompa) led by the editor of the games, followed by the
charioteers, horses , musicians, soldiers carrying images of gods & goddesses carried to the shrine
in the pulvinar.
Each race consisted of 7 laps (about 4 miles) , there were about 24 races a day lasting 10 – 15
minutes. Most were 4 horse chariots. Lots were drawn for places in the carceres. The editor would
start the race by dropping a mappa or white cloth.
The reins were wrapped around the waist of the charioteers & steered by shifting their weight;
they carried a knife to cut themselves free, if they crashed. They carried a whip & wore a leather
helmet.
The two middle horses were yoked together, the outer horses were joined by a rope. The most
important horse was the one on the left as it was responsible for leading the turns round the metae
The most difficult part of the race was turning the metae, too close & you would crash, too wide &
you would be overtaken on the inside. Most accidents happened around the metae, they were
known as naufragia or shipwrecks
Accidents & injuries were common to charioteers & horses from concussions, broken bones, blows
tothe eyes from whips, wounds from flying wheels.
The winning charioteer was presented with a palm branch
The supporters
The supporters were fanatical, they wore their teams colours & often placed massive bets
The roman writer Pliny the Younger said ‘ It surprises me…that so many thousands of adult men
should have such a childish passion for watching galloping horses’
Curses have been found from opposing charioteers.
Some went to the races for romance, the poet Ovid suggests that the mixed seating plan gave the
perfect opportunity for chatting up & flirting with women.