Circus Maximus
Encyclopedia
The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman
chariot racing
stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome
, Italy
. Situated in the valley between the Aventine
and Palatine
hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome
and its later Empire
. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width, and could accommodate about 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park.
The Circus Maximus was sited on the level ground of the Vallis Murcia (Valley of Murcia), between Rome's Aventine
and Palatine Hill
s. In Rome's early days, this would have been rich agricultural land, prone to flooding from the river Tiber
and the stream which divided the valley. The stream was probably bridged at an early date, at the two points where the track had to cross it, and the earliest races would have been held within an agricultural landscape, "with nothing more than turning posts, banks where spectators could sit, and some shrines and sacred spots".
The southeastern turn of the track ran between two shrines which may have predated the Circus' formal development. One, located at the outer perimeter, was dedicated to the valley's eponymous goddess Murcia
, an obscure deity associated with a sacred spring, the stream that divided the valley, and the lesser peak of the Aventine Hill. The other, at the southeastern turning-post, was an underground shrine to Consus
, a minor god of grain-stores, connected to the grain-goddess Ceres
and to the underworld
. According to Roman tradition, Romulus
discovered this shrine shortly after Rome's foundation, invented the Consualia
festival, and invited Rome's Sabine neighbours to the celebrations. These included horse-races, which distracted the Sabine men and provided the opportunity for Rome's abduction of the Sabine women. In this quasi-legendary era, horse or chariot races, or possibly both, would have been held at the Circus site. The track width may have been determined by the distance between Murcia's and Consus' shrines at the southeastern end, and its length by the distance between these two shrines and Hercules
' Ara Maxima, supposedly older than Rome itself and sited behind the Circus' starting place. In later developments, Consus shrine was incorporated into the fabric of the south-eastern turning post as one of the Circus' patron deities. When Murcia's stream was built over to form a dividing barrier (spina or euripus) between the turning posts, her waters were drained into a culvert beneath it and her shrine retained, or rebuilt. In the Late Imperial period the southeastern turn, and the circus itself, were sometimes known as Vallis Murcia.
Temples to several other deities overlooked the Circus; most are now lost. Those to Ceres
and Flora
stood close together on the Aventine, more or less opposite the Circus' starting gate, which remained under Hercules' protection. Further southeast along the Aventine was a temple to Luna
, the moon goddess. Aventine temples to Venus Obsequens
, Mercury
and Dis
(or perhaps Summanus
) stood on the slopes above the southeast turn. On the Palatine hill, opposite to Ceres's temple, stood the temple to Magna Mater and, more or less opposite Luna's temple, one to the sun-god Apollo
. Sun and Moon cults were probably represented at the Circus from its earliest phases. Their importance grew with the introduction of Roman cult to Apollo, and the development of Stoic
and solar monism as a theological basis for the Roman Imperial cult
. In the Imperial era, the Sun-god was divine patron of the Circus and its games; his sacred obelisk towered over the arena, set in the central barrier, close to his temple and the finishing line. The circuit reflected the heavenly course of the sun from rising to setting, and the sun-god, represented in a four-horse chariot (quadriga
), was the ultimate, ever-victorious charioteer. In Imperial ideology, the emperor was his earthly equivalent.
, public games connected to Roman religious
festivals. Ludi were sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people (populus Romanus)
and gods. Most were staged as regular calendar
fixtures, and were held annually or at annual intervals. Of those held at the Circus in historical times, some are of uncertain foundation and date; Romulus' first, semi-mythical Consuallia and Ceres' major festival, the Cerealia
were probably older than the earliest historically attested Ludi Romani
(Roman Games) of 366 BC, held at the Circus in honour of Jupiter
. In the early Imperial era, Ovid
describes the opening of Cerealia
(mid to late April) with a horse race at the Circus, followed by the nighttime release of foxes into the stadium, their tails ablaze with lighted torches. Other ludi might be given to fulfill a vow
, such as the games in celebration of a Triumph
; the earliest known triumphal ludi at the Circus were vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter
in the late Regal era
for his victory over Pometia.
Ludi ranged in duration and scope from one-day or even half-day events to spectacular multi-venue celebrations held over several days, with religious ceremonies and public feasts, horse and chariot racing, athletics, plays and recitals, beast-hunts and gladiator
contests. These greater ludi at the Circus began with a flamboyant pompa circensis
(circus procession), which served – much as a triumphal procession – to dedicate the games and introduce their participants. The more complex ludi would have tested the skills of the aedile
s who organised them; the results would have measured – unsparingly and in full public view – their competence, generosity and fitness for higher office. Some Circus events seem to have been relatively small and intimate affairs; in 167 BC, "flute players, scenic artists and dancers" performed on a temporary stage, probably erected between the two central seating banks. Others were swelled – at enormous expense – to fit the entire space. A venatione held there in 169 BC – one of several that century – used "63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants", with spectators presumably kept safe by a substantial barrier.
As Rome's empire expanded, existing ludi were embellished and new ludi invented, by politicians who competed for divine and popular support. By the late Republican era, ludi were held on 57 days of the year; an unknown number of these would have required full use of the Circus. On many other days, charioteers and jockeys would need to practice on its track but otherwise, it would have made a convenient corral for the animals traded in the nearby Forum Boarium
, just outside the starting gate. Beneath the outer stands, next to the Circus' multiple entrances, were workshops and shops. When no games were being held, the Circus of Catullus
' time (the late Republican era) was likely "a dusty open space with shops and booths... a colourful crowded disreputable area" frequented by "prostitutes, jugglers, fortune tellers and low-class performing artists."
With the end of the Republic, Rome's emperors met the ever-burgeoning popular demand for regular ludi and the need for more specialised venues, as essential obligations of their office and cult
. By the late 1st century AD, the Colliseum had been built to host most of the city's gladiator
shows and smaller beast-hunts, and most track-athletes competed at the purpose-designed Stadium of Domitian
; long-distance foot races were still held at the Circus. Eventually, 135 days of the year were devoted to ludi. Even at the height of its development as a chariot-racing circuit, the circus remained the most suitable space in Rome for grand-scale religious processions, and was the most popular venue for large-scale venationes; in the late 3rd century, the emperor Probus laid on a spectacular Circus show in which beasts were hunted through a veritable forest of trees, on a specially built stage.
In Livy
's history of Rome
, the first Etruscan
king of Rome provided raised, wooden perimeter seating at the Circus for Rome's higher echelons (the equites and patricians), and his grandson, Tarquinius Superbus, provided lower seating for citizen-commoners (plebs
, or plebeians). The elevated, high status seats were probably near the finishing post, midway along the Palatine straight, with an awning against the sun and rain. Seating for lesser citizens would have been adjacent, or on the opposite, Aventine side. Otherwise, the Circus of the late Regal era
was probably still little more than a trackway through surrounding farmland. By now, it may have been drained but the wooden stands and seats would have frequently rotted and been rebuilt.
) the dictator
M. Valerius Maximus and his descendants were granted rights to a curule chair
at the southeastern turn, an excellent viewpoint for the thrills and spills of chariot racing, and prestigiously close to Murcia's shrine. The games' sponsor (editor) had a right to sit near or alongside the images of attending gods, whose images were placed on couches (pulvinaria) to "watch" the games from a conspicuous elevated stand, known as a pulvinar. High seats implied high status but those at the track perimeter offered the best and most dramatic close-ups. In the 190s BC, by order of the censors, track-side stone seats were built, and reserved for senators.
In 329 BC permanent wooden starting stalls were built. They were gated, brightly painted, and staggered to equalise the distances from each start place to the central barrier. In theory, they might have accommodated up to 25 four-horse chariots abreast but when team-racing was introduced, they were widened, and their number reduced. By the late Republican or early Imperial era, there were twelve stalls, their divisions fronted by herm
s that served as stops for spring-loaded gates. Twelve light-weight, four-horse chariots
could thus be simultaneously released onto the track. Stalls were allocated by lottery, and the various teams were identified by their colours. Typically, there were seven laps per race. From at least 174 BC, they were counted off using large sculpted eggs; Castor and Pollux
, who were born from an egg
, were divine patrons of horses, horsemen, and the Roman equites. In 33 BC, an additional system of large dolphin-shaped lap counters was added, placed high up in the spina for maximum visibility.
Julius Caesar
's development of the Circus, commencing around 50 BC, extended the seating tiers in a continuous run from the starting gates, around the south-east turn and back to the start, around a track that measured approximately 621 m (2,037 ft) in length, 150 m and (387 ft) in breadth. A canal was cut between the track perimeter and its seating to protect spectators and help drain the track. Inner stone-built tiers (a third of the total, forming a trackside cavea
); the front sections along the central straight reserved for senators and those behind for equites. The outer tiers were for plebs and non-citizens. They were timber-built, with wooden-framed service buildings, shops and entrance-ways beneath. The number of seats is uncertain. Pliny the Elder
's 250,000 is unlikely; at this time, the Circus probably seated around 150,000. The wooden bleachers were damaged in a fire of 31 BC, either during or after construction.
at enormous expense, and erected it midway along the spina, the first obelisk brought to Rome, an exotically sacred object and a permanent reminder of Augustus' victory over his Roman foes and their Egyptian allies in the recent civil wars. Thanks to him, Rome had secured both a lasting peace and a new Egyptian Province. The pulvinar
was built on monumental scale, a shrine or temple (aedes) raised high above the trackside seats. Sometimes, while games were in progress, Augustus watched from there, alongside the gods. Occasionally, his family would join him there.
The site remained prone to flooding, probably through the starting gates, until Claudius
' made improvements there; they probably included an extramural anti-flooding embankment. Fires in the crowded, wooden perimeter workshops and bleachers were a far greater danger. A fire of 36 AD seems to have started in a basket-maker's workshop under the stands, on the Aventine side; the emperor Tiberius
compensated various small businesses there for their losses. In AD 64
, during Nero
's reign, fire broke out at the semi-circular end of the Circus, swept through the stands and shops, and destroyed much of the city. Games and festivals continued at the Circus, which was rebuilt over several years to the same footprint and design.
In AD 81 the Senate built a triple arch honoring Titus
at the semi-circular end of the Circus. The emperor Domitian
built a new, multi-storey palace on the Palatine, connected somehow to the Circus; he likely watched the games in autocratic style, from high above and barely visible to those below. Repairs to fire damage during his reign may already have been under way before his assassination. The risk of further fire-damage, coupled with Domitian's fate, may have prompted Trajan
's decision to rebuild the Circus entirely in stone, and provide a new pulvinar in the stands where Rome's emperor could be seen and honoured as part of the Roman community, alongside her gods. Under Trajan, the Circus Maximus found its definitive form, which was unchanged thereafter save for some monumental additions by later emperors, and their repairs and renewals to existing fabric.
The spina functioned to divide the track between the turning posts. It was a low masonry rib 344 m in length, set at a slight diagonal to the track. Statues of various gods were set up on the spina. Each end of the spina terminated in a turning post (called a meta), around which chariots made their turns. Laps were marked by a series of rotatable metal dolphins, seven in all; one was turned downwards each time the leading chariot completed a lap.
was an extremely dangerous sport, frequently resulting in spectacular crashes and the death of one or more of the contestants. One end of the track extended further back than the other, to allow the chariots to line up to begin the race. Here there were starting gates, or carceres, which staggered the chariots so that each travelled the same distance to the first turn. During these chariot races, bribery of the judge in order to fix the start of the race was very common. The race went for a total distance of about 6.5 km (4 mi).
The last known chariot race at the Circus was held by Totila
in 549.
Very little now remains of the Circus, except for the grass-covered racing track and the spina. Some of the starting gates remain, but most of the seating has disappeared. After the 6th century, the site fell into disuse and gradual decay. Some of its stone was recycled, but many standing structures survived for a time. In 1587, two of the spina obelisks were removed by Pope Sixtus V
; one of these was re-sited at the Piazza del Popolo
. The lower levels of site, ever prone to flooding, were gradually buried under waterlogged alluvial soil and accumulated debris; the original level of track is now buried 6m beneath the modern surface. In the 12th century, a watercourse was dug to drain the soil and by the 1500's the area was used as a market garden. Mid 19th century workings uncovered the lower parts of a tier and outer portico. Since then, a series of excavations has exposed further sections of seating, curved turn and spina, but further exploration has been limited by the scale, depth and waterlogging of the site.
The Circus still occasionally entertains the Romans; being a large park area in the centre of the city, it is often used for concerts and meetings. The Rome concert of Live 8
(July 2, 2005) was held there, as was the Italian World Cup 2006
victory celebration.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
chariot racing
Chariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...
stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Situated in the valley between the Aventine
Aventine Hill
The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.-Location and boundaries:The Aventine hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills...
and Palatine
Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...
hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and its later Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width, and could accommodate about 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park.
Site
Aventine Hill
The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.-Location and boundaries:The Aventine hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills...
and Palatine Hill
Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...
s. In Rome's early days, this would have been rich agricultural land, prone to flooding from the river Tiber
Tiber
The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...
and the stream which divided the valley. The stream was probably bridged at an early date, at the two points where the track had to cross it, and the earliest races would have been held within an agricultural landscape, "with nothing more than turning posts, banks where spectators could sit, and some shrines and sacred spots".
The southeastern turn of the track ran between two shrines which may have predated the Circus' formal development. One, located at the outer perimeter, was dedicated to the valley's eponymous goddess Murcia
Murcia (mythology)
Murcia was a little known goddess in ancient Rome. Her name occurs as a surname of Venus.According to Livy she had a temple at the foot of the Aventine Hill near to the Palatine Hill...
, an obscure deity associated with a sacred spring, the stream that divided the valley, and the lesser peak of the Aventine Hill. The other, at the southeastern turning-post, was an underground shrine to Consus
Consus
In ancient Roman religion, the god Consus was the protector of grains and storage bins , and as such was represented by a grain seed....
, a minor god of grain-stores, connected to the grain-goddess Ceres
Ceres (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, Ceres was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres"...
and to the underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
. According to Roman tradition, Romulus
Romulus
- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...
discovered this shrine shortly after Rome's foundation, invented the Consualia
Consualia
The Consuales Ludi or Consualia is a festival instituted by Romulus, which honors Consus, the god of counsel, and the one who protects the harvest which is in storage at the time of the festival, which took place about the middle of Sextilis . According to Livy the festival honors Neptune...
festival, and invited Rome's Sabine neighbours to the celebrations. These included horse-races, which distracted the Sabine men and provided the opportunity for Rome's abduction of the Sabine women. In this quasi-legendary era, horse or chariot races, or possibly both, would have been held at the Circus site. The track width may have been determined by the distance between Murcia's and Consus' shrines at the southeastern end, and its length by the distance between these two shrines and Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
' Ara Maxima, supposedly older than Rome itself and sited behind the Circus' starting place. In later developments, Consus shrine was incorporated into the fabric of the south-eastern turning post as one of the Circus' patron deities. When Murcia's stream was built over to form a dividing barrier (spina or euripus) between the turning posts, her waters were drained into a culvert beneath it and her shrine retained, or rebuilt. In the Late Imperial period the southeastern turn, and the circus itself, were sometimes known as Vallis Murcia.
Temples to several other deities overlooked the Circus; most are now lost. Those to Ceres
Ceres (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, Ceres was a goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad, then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres"...
and Flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
stood close together on the Aventine, more or less opposite the Circus' starting gate, which remained under Hercules' protection. Further southeast along the Aventine was a temple to Luna
Selene
In Greek mythology, Selene was an archaic lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. In Roman mythology, the moon goddess is called Luna, Latin for "moon"....
, the moon goddess. Aventine temples to Venus Obsequens
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
and Dis
Dis Pater
Dis Pater, or Dispater was a Roman god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Hades. Originally a chthonic god of riches, fertile agricultural land, and underground mineral wealth, he was later commonly equated with the Roman deities Pluto and Orcus, becoming an underworld deity.Dis Pater...
(or perhaps Summanus
Summanus
In ancient Roman religion, Summanus was the god of nocturnal thunder, as counterposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal thunder. His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid....
) stood on the slopes above the southeast turn. On the Palatine hill, opposite to Ceres's temple, stood the temple to Magna Mater and, more or less opposite Luna's temple, one to the sun-god Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
. Sun and Moon cults were probably represented at the Circus from its earliest phases. Their importance grew with the introduction of Roman cult to Apollo, and the development of Stoic
STOIC
STOIC was a variant of Forth.It started out at the MIT and Harvard Biomedical Engineering Centre in Boston, and was written in the mid 1970s by Jonathan Sachs...
and solar monism as a theological basis for the Roman Imperial cult
Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State...
. In the Imperial era, the Sun-god was divine patron of the Circus and its games; his sacred obelisk towered over the arena, set in the central barrier, close to his temple and the finishing line. The circuit reflected the heavenly course of the sun from rising to setting, and the sun-god, represented in a four-horse chariot (quadriga
Quadriga
A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
), was the ultimate, ever-victorious charioteer. In Imperial ideology, the emperor was his earthly equivalent.
Uses of the Circus
The Circus was Rome's largest venue for LudiLudi
Ludi were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people . Ludi were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festivals, and were also presented as part of the cult of state.The earliest ludi were horse races in the circus...
, public games connected to Roman religious
Religion in ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult practices regarded by the Romans as indigenous and central to their identity as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from other peoples brought under Roman rule. Romans thus offered cult to innumerable deities...
festivals. Ludi were sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the Roman people (populus Romanus)
SPQR
SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus , referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official emblem of the modern day comune of Rome...
and gods. Most were staged as regular calendar
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
fixtures, and were held annually or at annual intervals. Of those held at the Circus in historical times, some are of uncertain foundation and date; Romulus' first, semi-mythical Consuallia and Ceres' major festival, the Cerealia
Cerealia
In ancient Roman religion, the Cerealia was the major festival celebrated for the grain goddess Ceres. It was held for seven days from mid- to late April, but the dates are uncertain....
were probably older than the earliest historically attested Ludi Romani
Ludi Romani
The Ludi Romani were a religious festival in ancient Rome. They were held annually starting in 366 BC from September 12 to September 14, later extended to September 5 to September 19. In the last 1st century BC, an extra day was added in honor of the deified Julius Caesar on 4 September...
(Roman Games) of 366 BC, held at the Circus in honour of Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
. In the early Imperial era, Ovid
Ovid
Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
describes the opening of Cerealia
Cerealia
In ancient Roman religion, the Cerealia was the major festival celebrated for the grain goddess Ceres. It was held for seven days from mid- to late April, but the dates are uncertain....
(mid to late April) with a horse race at the Circus, followed by the nighttime release of foxes into the stadium, their tails ablaze with lighted torches. Other ludi might be given to fulfill a vow
Votum
In ancient Roman religion, a votum, plural vota, is a vow or promise made to a deity. The word comes from the past participle of the Latin verb voveo, vovere, "vow, promise." As the result of this verbal action, a votum is also that which fulfills a vow, that is, the thing promised, such as...
, such as the games in celebration of a Triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
; the earliest known triumphal ludi at the Circus were vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
in the late Regal era
Roman Kingdom
The Roman Kingdom was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a monarchical form of government of the city of Rome and its territories....
for his victory over Pometia.
Ludi ranged in duration and scope from one-day or even half-day events to spectacular multi-venue celebrations held over several days, with religious ceremonies and public feasts, horse and chariot racing, athletics, plays and recitals, beast-hunts and gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
contests. These greater ludi at the Circus began with a flamboyant pompa circensis
Pompa circensis
In ancient Rome, the pompa circensis was the procession that preceded the official games held in the circus as part of religious festivals and other occasions.-Description:...
(circus procession), which served – much as a triumphal procession – to dedicate the games and introduce their participants. The more complex ludi would have tested the skills of the aedile
Aedile
Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...
s who organised them; the results would have measured – unsparingly and in full public view – their competence, generosity and fitness for higher office. Some Circus events seem to have been relatively small and intimate affairs; in 167 BC, "flute players, scenic artists and dancers" performed on a temporary stage, probably erected between the two central seating banks. Others were swelled – at enormous expense – to fit the entire space. A venatione held there in 169 BC – one of several that century – used "63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants", with spectators presumably kept safe by a substantial barrier.
As Rome's empire expanded, existing ludi were embellished and new ludi invented, by politicians who competed for divine and popular support. By the late Republican era, ludi were held on 57 days of the year; an unknown number of these would have required full use of the Circus. On many other days, charioteers and jockeys would need to practice on its track but otherwise, it would have made a convenient corral for the animals traded in the nearby Forum Boarium
Forum Boarium
The Forum Boarium was the cattle forum venalium of Ancient Rome and the oldest forum that Rome possessed. It was located on a level piece of land near the Tiber between the Capitoline, the Palatine and Aventine hills. Here, too, is where the first bridges were built...
, just outside the starting gate. Beneath the outer stands, next to the Circus' multiple entrances, were workshops and shops. When no games were being held, the Circus of Catullus
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...
' time (the late Republican era) was likely "a dusty open space with shops and booths... a colourful crowded disreputable area" frequented by "prostitutes, jugglers, fortune tellers and low-class performing artists."
With the end of the Republic, Rome's emperors met the ever-burgeoning popular demand for regular ludi and the need for more specialised venues, as essential obligations of their office and cult
Imperial cult (ancient Rome)
The Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State...
. By the late 1st century AD, the Colliseum had been built to host most of the city's gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
shows and smaller beast-hunts, and most track-athletes competed at the purpose-designed Stadium of Domitian
Stadium of Domitian
The Stadium of Domitian , also known as the Circus Agonalis, was located to the north of the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy. The Stadium was commissioned around 80 AD by the Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus as a gift to the people of Rome, and was used mostly for athletic contests.- Construction and...
; long-distance foot races were still held at the Circus. Eventually, 135 days of the year were devoted to ludi. Even at the height of its development as a chariot-racing circuit, the circus remained the most suitable space in Rome for grand-scale religious processions, and was the most popular venue for large-scale venationes; in the late 3rd century, the emperor Probus laid on a spectacular Circus show in which beasts were hunted through a veritable forest of trees, on a specially built stage.
Regal era
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
's history of Rome
Ab Urbe condita (book)
Ab urbe condita libri — often shortened to Ab urbe condita — is a monumental history of ancient Rome written in Latin sometime between 27 and 25 BC by the historian Titus Livius. The work covers the time from the stories of Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c....
, the first Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
king of Rome provided raised, wooden perimeter seating at the Circus for Rome's higher echelons (the equites and patricians), and his grandson, Tarquinius Superbus, provided lower seating for citizen-commoners (plebs
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
, or plebeians). The elevated, high status seats were probably near the finishing post, midway along the Palatine straight, with an awning against the sun and rain. Seating for lesser citizens would have been adjacent, or on the opposite, Aventine side. Otherwise, the Circus of the late Regal era
Roman Kingdom
The Roman Kingdom was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a monarchical form of government of the city of Rome and its territories....
was probably still little more than a trackway through surrounding farmland. By now, it may have been drained but the wooden stands and seats would have frequently rotted and been rebuilt.
Republican era
In 494 BC, (early in Republican eraRoman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
) the dictator
Roman dictator
In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
M. Valerius Maximus and his descendants were granted rights to a curule chair
Curule chair
In the Roman Republic, and later the Empire, the curule seat was the chair upon which senior magistrates or promagistrates owning imperium were entitled to sit, including dictators, masters of the horse, consuls, praetors, censors, and the curule aediles...
at the southeastern turn, an excellent viewpoint for the thrills and spills of chariot racing, and prestigiously close to Murcia's shrine. The games' sponsor (editor) had a right to sit near or alongside the images of attending gods, whose images were placed on couches (pulvinaria) to "watch" the games from a conspicuous elevated stand, known as a pulvinar. High seats implied high status but those at the track perimeter offered the best and most dramatic close-ups. In the 190s BC, by order of the censors, track-side stone seats were built, and reserved for senators.
In 329 BC permanent wooden starting stalls were built. They were gated, brightly painted, and staggered to equalise the distances from each start place to the central barrier. In theory, they might have accommodated up to 25 four-horse chariots abreast but when team-racing was introduced, they were widened, and their number reduced. By the late Republican or early Imperial era, there were twelve stalls, their divisions fronted by herm
Herm
Herm is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Cars are banned from the small island just like its Channel Island neighbour, Sark. Unlike Sark, bicycles are also banned...
s that served as stops for spring-loaded gates. Twelve light-weight, four-horse chariots
Quadriga
A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
could thus be simultaneously released onto the track. Stalls were allocated by lottery, and the various teams were identified by their colours. Typically, there were seven laps per race. From at least 174 BC, they were counted off using large sculpted eggs; Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
, who were born from an egg
Leda (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Leda was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus , of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan...
, were divine patrons of horses, horsemen, and the Roman equites. In 33 BC, an additional system of large dolphin-shaped lap counters was added, placed high up in the spina for maximum visibility.
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's development of the Circus, commencing around 50 BC, extended the seating tiers in a continuous run from the starting gates, around the south-east turn and back to the start, around a track that measured approximately 621 m (2,037 ft) in length, 150 m and (387 ft) in breadth. A canal was cut between the track perimeter and its seating to protect spectators and help drain the track. Inner stone-built tiers (a third of the total, forming a trackside cavea
Cavea
In Roman times the cavea were the subterranean cells in which wild animals were confined before the combats in the Roman arena or amphitheatre....
); the front sections along the central straight reserved for senators and those behind for equites. The outer tiers were for plebs and non-citizens. They were timber-built, with wooden-framed service buildings, shops and entrance-ways beneath. The number of seats is uncertain. Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
's 250,000 is unlikely; at this time, the Circus probably seated around 150,000. The wooden bleachers were damaged in a fire of 31 BC, either during or after construction.
Imperial era
The fire damage of 31 was probably repaired by Augustus (Caesar's successor and Rome's first emperor), who modestly claimed credit only for an obelisk and pulvinar at the site. Both of these were major projects. Ever since its quarrying, long before Rome existed, the obelisk had been sacred to Egyptian Sun-gods. Augustus had it brought from HeliopolisHeliopolis
-Placenames:*Heliopolis , the ancient city in Egypt*Heliopolis , a suburb in modern Cairo, Egypt* Heliopolis of Phoenicia, modern Baalbek, Lebanon...
at enormous expense, and erected it midway along the spina, the first obelisk brought to Rome, an exotically sacred object and a permanent reminder of Augustus' victory over his Roman foes and their Egyptian allies in the recent civil wars. Thanks to him, Rome had secured both a lasting peace and a new Egyptian Province. The pulvinar
Pulvinar
The pulvinar nuclei are a collection of nuclei located in the pulvinar thalamus. The pulvinar part is the most posterior region of the thalamus....
was built on monumental scale, a shrine or temple (aedes) raised high above the trackside seats. Sometimes, while games were in progress, Augustus watched from there, alongside the gods. Occasionally, his family would join him there.
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
' made improvements there; they probably included an extramural anti-flooding embankment. Fires in the crowded, wooden perimeter workshops and bleachers were a far greater danger. A fire of 36 AD seems to have started in a basket-maker's workshop under the stands, on the Aventine side; the emperor Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
compensated various small businesses there for their losses. In AD 64
Great Fire of Rome
The Great Fire of Rome was an urban fire that occurred beginning July 19, AD 64.-Background:According to Tacitus, the fire spread quickly and burned for six days. Only four of the fourteen districts of Rome escaped the fire; three districts were completely destroyed and the other seven suffered...
, during Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
's reign, fire broke out at the semi-circular end of the Circus, swept through the stands and shops, and destroyed much of the city. Games and festivals continued at the Circus, which was rebuilt over several years to the same footprint and design.
In AD 81 the Senate built a triple arch honoring Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
at the semi-circular end of the Circus. The emperor Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
built a new, multi-storey palace on the Palatine, connected somehow to the Circus; he likely watched the games in autocratic style, from high above and barely visible to those below. Repairs to fire damage during his reign may already have been under way before his assassination. The risk of further fire-damage, coupled with Domitian's fate, may have prompted Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
's decision to rebuild the Circus entirely in stone, and provide a new pulvinar in the stands where Rome's emperor could be seen and honoured as part of the Roman community, alongside her gods. Under Trajan, the Circus Maximus found its definitive form, which was unchanged thereafter save for some monumental additions by later emperors, and their repairs and renewals to existing fabric.
Track and spina
Chariot races
Chariot racingChariot racing
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death, but generated strong spectator enthusiasm...
was an extremely dangerous sport, frequently resulting in spectacular crashes and the death of one or more of the contestants. One end of the track extended further back than the other, to allow the chariots to line up to begin the race. Here there were starting gates, or carceres, which staggered the chariots so that each travelled the same distance to the first turn. During these chariot races, bribery of the judge in order to fix the start of the race was very common. The race went for a total distance of about 6.5 km (4 mi).
The last known chariot race at the Circus was held by Totila
Totila
Totila, original name Baduila was King of the Ostrogoths from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the territories in Italy that the Eastern Roman Empire had captured from his Kingdom in 540.A relative of...
in 549.
Modern status
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
; one of these was re-sited at the Piazza del Popolo
Piazza del Popolo
Piazza del Popolo is a large urban square in Rome. The name in modern Italian literally means "People's Square", but historically it derives from the poplars after which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in the northeast corner of the piazza, takes its name.The piazza lies inside the northern...
. The lower levels of site, ever prone to flooding, were gradually buried under waterlogged alluvial soil and accumulated debris; the original level of track is now buried 6m beneath the modern surface. In the 12th century, a watercourse was dug to drain the soil and by the 1500's the area was used as a market garden. Mid 19th century workings uncovered the lower parts of a tier and outer portico. Since then, a series of excavations has exposed further sections of seating, curved turn and spina, but further exploration has been limited by the scale, depth and waterlogging of the site.
The Circus still occasionally entertains the Romans; being a large park area in the centre of the city, it is often used for concerts and meetings. The Rome concert of Live 8
Live 8 concert, Rome
On 2 July 2005, a Live 8 concert was held at the Circus Maximus, Rome, Italy.The event is also referred to as "Live 8 Rome" or "Live 8 Italy"-Lineup:Past Live Aid performers are listed with an asterisk...
(July 2, 2005) was held there, as was the Italian World Cup 2006
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
victory celebration.
See also
- AmphitheatreAmphitheatreAn amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
- Forma Urbis RomaeForma Urbis RomaeThe Forma Urbis Romae or Severan Marble Plan is a massive marble map of ancient Rome, created under the emperor Septimius Severus between 203 and 211...
- List of closed stadia by capacity
Further reading
- Humphrey, John, Roman circuses: arenas for chariot racing, University of California Press, 1986. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=couetXBQO9AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=John+Humphrey+roman&source=bl&ots=jV8GGSH0RO&sig=V7OmTfVoZKx6MhlCBw_-vBrhc2w&hl=en&ei=3VGvTfy6FYOZ8QPp_rWQDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
External links
- James Grout: Circus Maximus, part of the Encyclopædia Romana
- Circus Maximus Ipix 360° panorama
- Circus Maximus Art & History