Circus (ancient)

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Site plan and view of the ancient Circus Maximus

Circus (from Greek κίρκος or κρίκος "circle") was the name of an elongated arena in ancient Rome in which primarily chariot races and, less often, animal fights of gladiators took place. Horse tracks in ancient Greece were called the hippodrome .

architecture

The basic shape of the circus, an elongated rectangle, one narrow side of which is replaced by a semicircle, was adopted from the Greek hippodrome. In contrast to this, however, ran an elongated wall in the center of the circus, the spina , which the participants in the race had to walk around. In addition to the turning marks ( metae ), there were seven egg-shaped stones on the spina , with which the laps to be traveled were indicated. The ground was made of sand to ease the impact of the horses' horseshoes.

At the front of the circus was the straight entrance wall with the gate. On the inside, the gate was flanked by the start boxes ( carceres ) and the seats for the organizers and judges; before that there was the start and finish. The winner left the arena through the Porta triumphalis on the semicircular opposite side. There and on the two long sides of the circus were the often multi-story structured, steeply rising rows of seats, which were easily accessible from the outside through a system of outlets, stairs and corridors with refreshment rooms. The lowest rows of seats, separated from the other seats, were reserved for high officials (imperial box).

Course of the circus games

The ludi circenses were an extremely popular attraction among the city's population, and they probably took place much more frequently than gladiator fights. Several written records testify that a large number of people waiting for the free seats in front of the circus often gathered before dawn.

The main attraction of the chariot races was usually preceded by a solemn procession, the so-called pompa circensis . The organizing official led these, followed by a retinue, the charioteers and other athletes (who appeared after the race) as well as priests who carried or had images of deities or emperors carried with them.

After the procession was over, the organizer went to his box of honor, from where he directed the races for the next few hours. These were usually carried out with four teams; the start was signaled by the organizer - mostly the emperor, his governor or a consul - dropping a cloth. Usually there were four cars in the colors green, white, blue and red at the start, but larger races with up to 16 teams are rarely recorded. The races were not particularly fair and sporty in today's sense. Obstacles to the opponents, such as zigzag driving or touching the opponent's car with the aim of bringing him down, were allowed and the order of the day.

At the ends of the spina had to be avoided in a very tight curve radius. The driving style in the corners was often decisive for the race. Because of the high centrifugal force in the curves, the charioteers harnessed their best horse on the inside of the curve. Nevertheless, there were often injuries-prone falls in these areas.

Animal hunts and chariot races remained extremely popular in the entire Mediterranean world until the end of late antiquity ; the last attested ludi in the Circus Maximus took place at the beginning of 550 AD, in Constantinople the tradition was continued in the Middle Ages . Since the Principate there have been organized groups of supporters of the four racing teams; these circus parties were consequently called the greens, blues, reds and whites. They also increasingly took over the organization of the competitions and maintained "branches" in all cities with a circus or hippodrome. While the reds and whites later lost their importance, the greens and blues not infrequently played an important role, especially in the Byzantine Empire .

The special importance of the circus and hippodrome in Roman imperial times and late antiquity is not only explained by the popularity of chariot races; but with the increasing withdrawal of the emperor from the public, the ludi became more and more the most important opportunity on which the population could see the ruler or - in the governor's seats - his representatives and get in contact with them. In spite of a long-term tendency towards hereditary emperors and divine right, the emperors were basically, from a formal point of view, champions of the people right up to the end, who had to watch over the res publica ; As a rule, the necessary approval of the population was demonstrated by acclamations at ludi . But there could also be actual communication in which the crowd confronted the emperor or his governor with demands. If the ruler behaved negatively, unrest could break out - the most famous and perhaps also the most serious was undoubtedly the Nika uprising against Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople in 532.

Circus buildings in the Roman Empire

The largest circus was the Circus Maximus in Rome.

There were other circus buildings in Rome:

The Stadium of Domitian was, though it had a similar shape, not a circus.

Remains of circus buildings are visible above ground

There are other circus buildings in

The notion Circus , the modern term derives circus from.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The chronograph of 354 lists fencing games on 10 days for 354, while circus games took place on 64 days; Weeber 1994, p. 40.
  2. ↑ The course of this procession is described in Tertullian , de spectaculis 7, 2–4.