Carceres
Carceres (from Latin carcer ; "barriers", "fencing") refers to the start gate system at the open end of the racetrack in the Roman circus . In contrast to carcer ("prison"), carceres always appears in the plural .
Usually the start boxes of the teams were simple wooden constructions, but the Carceres could also be considerably more complex. In the Roman Circus Maximus , the original carceres were replaced by stone buildings by Caesar . Two-story marble carceres with arcades and flanking corner towers were created under Claudius . The importance of the Carceres is also evident from the fact that the boxes of dignitaries were often on the upper floor of the Carceres.
Because of these corner towers and the gates, possibly also because of their exclusive character, the Carceres were also called oppidum ("small town").
literature
- John H. Humphrey : Roman Circuses. Arenas for Chariot Racing. University of California Press, Berkeley 1986, ISBN 0-520-04921-7 . Pp. 132-174.
Individual evidence
- ↑ In circo primum unde mittuntur equi, nunc dicuntur carceres, Naevius oppidum appellat. Marcus Terentius Varro de lingua latina 5, 32.