Meta (circus)

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Meta

The meta ( Latin , plural: metae ) designates in the singular or in the plural the three pillars, which each mark the turning marks of a chariot racing track, especially the two turning marks in the Roman circus , the pillars of which are tapered upwards. The meta corresponds in ancient Greek to the καμπή = kampé (bend or turn at the end of the racetrack) or the νύσσα = nýssa (turning column at the end and beginning of the racetrack). Diminutive : metula .

etymology

Meta is related to the Greek metron (measure) and the Latin metari (measure) and originally denotes the boundary marking of a measured route and, as such, the sign set up for marking. In the circus, this symbol is an object with a broad, round base that tapers upwards in a cone.

Circus des Maxentius, C = meta prima, B = spina, D = meta secunda

Circus

Since the 3rd century BC, the meta denotes In the circus the turning mark at the beginning and at the end of the racetrack, i.e. the point where the race participants turn around. It consisted of a group of three conical columns arranged side by side or in a triangle on a raised base at the ends of the spine , which acted as a barrier separating the two sides of the path and was circled a total of seven times (see B on the map). So there were two metae , one on the straight side of the racetrack ( meta prima = "the first turning mark", see C on the map), where the cars started and reached their destination after seven laps, and one at the circular end ( meta secunda = "The second turning mark", see D on the plan). In the base of the meta there was a small opening to a room in which the altar of the god Consus stood.

The charioteer had the metae when turning on his left side and his driving technique consisted in bending these tight curves so tightly that no one else could use the space between his own car and the meta. He had to be careful not to hit the base of the pillars and knock the car over.

The form of the meta is mainly known from ancient representations. Originally made of wood, the metae were gilded by Emperor Claudius .

Mill in Ostia, the lower stone = meta
meta foeni = haystack

Transfers to other objects

The form of the metae results in the transfer of the term to other areas and also denotes:

  • the lower stone of the grain mill, which had the shape of a cone on which the upper stone ( catillus ) turned ( meta molendaria or molendinaria = "the grinding stone cone")
  • a haystack in the shape of a cone that tapers at the top ( meta foeni or faeni , feni )
  • a fountain in the shape of a cone ( Meta Sudans )
  • a grave pyramid in Rome ( Meta Romuli ) that existed up to the 16th century
  • a cone-shaped glass for distilling ( meta distillatoria )
  • a cone-shaped cheese: meta lactans , meta lactis

imagery

Since the race began and ended at the meta prima, the meta was generally used in ancient times to designate the limit, the end or the end of a thing. Another metaphorical use arises from the critical and dangerous turning situation at the foot of the meta. Examples:

  • Ovid , Amores 3,2,11: stringam metas interiore rota = "I will touch the pointed columns with the inner wheel" (ie be daring in love as in a chariot race)
  • Ovid, Tristia 1,9,1: metam tangere vitae = "to reach the goal of life" (ie to die)
  • Virgil , Aeneid 3,714: longarum haec meta viarum = "this turning point of the long ways" (i.e. the turning point on Aeneas' wandering, since he landed in Carthage); 10.472: ad metas aevi pervenire = "to reach the turning point of life" (ie to die soon); 12,546: hic tibi mortis erant metae = "here you (= Aeolus) was the goal of death".

Remarks

  1. ↑ Compare Pliny , Epistulae 5,6,35 about the garden of his country house in Tuscany: alternis metulae surgunt, alternis inserta sunt poma "alternately small (boxwood) cones rise , alternately fruit trees are interspersed."
  2. ↑ Compare Livius 37,27,7: ipse collis est in modum metae , in acutum cacumen a fundo satis lato fastigatus "the hill itself has the shape of a cone , rising from a sufficiently wide base to a pointed summit."
  3. ↑ Tertullian , De Spectaculis 5: Et nunc ara Conso illi in circo demersa est ad primas metas sub terra = "and now an altar for that Consus in the circus is set in at the first turning marks under the earth."
  4. ↑ Ovid , Amores 3,2,12: interiore rota = "on the inner wheel".
  5. ↑ Ovid, Amores 3,2,11 (Ovid puts himself in a charioteer): et modo lora dabo, modo verbere terga notabo, nunc stringam metas interiore rota = "and I will soon give reins, soon mark the backs with a whip, soon touch the pointed pillars with the inner wheel . "
  6. ↑ See Willy Zschietzschmann : Hellas und Rom. The culture of the ancient world in pictures . Tübingen 1959, T. 71.1; 72/73; 75.
  7. ↑ Suetonius , Divus Claudius 21.3: circo uero maximo marmoreis carceribus auratisque metis , quae utraque et tofina ac lignea antea fuerant, exculto but = "the Circus Maximus was equipped with marble barriers [= starting point of the race] and with gold turning points that before both were made of tuff and wood. "
  8. ↑ Digest 33,7,18,5: est autem meta inferior pars molae, catillus superior = "the meta is the lower part of the mill, catillus the upper."
  9. ↑ Columella , De re rustica 2,18,2: foenum ... in metas exstrui conveniet = "it will be correct that the hay is correctly piled up in cones ."
  10. ↑ Martial 3,58,35: meta lactis = "cone made of milk" (cheese); 1,43,7: rustica lactantis nec misit Sassina metas = "and rural Sassina did not send the milky cones (= cone-shaped cheeses)".