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The names of the champion jockeys have been preserved for us Scorpus won 2,048 times. In addition to displaying his skill at driving, te charioteer, or aurgae agitator, might perform more purely acrobatic tricks, such as guiding two horses at once, leaping from one to the other, snatching a piece of cloth from the ground, or kneeling on his galloping horse. The chariots were normally drawn by teams of two or four horses, but on some occasions six, eight, or even ten were used.
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#Romans chariot races driver
As the driver always had the meta to his left, the best horse in the team was placed on the left, and success largely depended upon the co-operation between the driver and the two outside horses, the funales (from the Latin funis, rope) these were only attached to the chariot by rope, while the rest of the team were in harness. It was there that the driver's skill was most tested and he had to go as close as possible to the meta without actually touching it and so overturning his chariot. The critical moments in the race came during the rounding of the matae, the turning posts at each end of the spina. The normal length of a race was seven laps, and as each lap was completed a golden dolphin was lowered. The races were run round the spina, originally a mound of earth in the center of the course which was later decorated with statues and shrines. Eventually it could seat 255,000 people, many more than any modern stadium Wembley for instance, the largest in England, seats only 55,000. But the early emperors, especially Augustus, Nero (whose enthusiasm for chariot racing was so great that he himself took part in races), Domitian, and Trajan, all helped to enlarge and beautify it. It had been used for meetings from the earliest days, but at first the Romans had to be content with sitting on the bare earth. The Circus Maximus, in which these races took place, was not round, as the name might suggest, but oblong, and it lay in a valley between the Palatine and the Aventine hills, in a spot suitable for such a sport.
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A special box is reserved for the Emperor and is court. The top tier of wooden seats is reserved for the common people in front of them are the stone seats kept for members of the Senate, knights, priests, including the Vestal Virgins and other important officials. In the Circus the crowd grows steadily, and the uproar increases, as sellers of drinks and sweets peddle their wares. Some enthusiasts, in fact, have been in the Circus all night, and the Emperor has sent his guards to keep them quiet. For the Emperor himself is to preside over the races he is holding in the Circus Maximus, and we must be there very early if we are to get good seats. Although the bloodthirsty gladiatorial fights in the amphitheaters are extremely popular, today's entertainment promises to be just as exciting. We can be sure that the Emperor, or some wealthy citizen, has arranged for a show of some sort to be put on for our entertainment on one of the many amphitheaters, circuses, or theaters with Rome is packed. Let us imagine ourselves in Rome on one of the numerous holidays during the Imperial Age. He was not exaggerating, for the Roman people were fanatics of horse racing, and both successful riders and their horses enjoyed fame and fortune. In Rome the main chariot racing circus was the Circus Maximus, which, after the enlargement by Julius Caesar, could hold 250,000 people."I am no better known than the race-horse Andraemon," complained the Roman poet Martial at the height of his fame. In Rome the main Chariot Racing circus was the Circus Maximus, which, after the enlargement by Julius Caesar, could hold 250,000 people.Ĭhariot races were held at a circus.