The World of Chariots
Chariot Racing, popular public game in the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome, in which horses pulled a two-wheeled chariot, or small cart, driven by a charioteer. Often the chariot driver stood in the chariot, rather than sitting.
A chariot driver cracks his whip to encourage his horses. Chariot racing was a popular pastime in ancient Greece and Rome and was recorded as an event in the ancient Olympic Games.
At the ancient Olympic Games, which began in 776 bc, the chariot race was often the first and most spectacular of the events. The course consisted of 12 double laps, nearly 14 km (9 mi) in all. The most important race was for teams of four horses controlled by one driver. The owners of these teams were nobles, and the victory wreaths were awarded to the owners. By the early 7th century bc there were also professional charioteers from the lower classes. Greek chariots were light, two-wheeled vehicles driven with the driver standing up. Accidents were frequent, and emotions often reached a high pitch. Greek lyric poet Pindar, who sometimes wrote victory odes for the owners of winning teams, tells of one race in which 40 teams were entered but only one finished. Chariot racing was a popular theme in Greek art, appearing in sculpture, vase painting, and engravings on coins.
Chariot racing in the Roman Empire was significantly different than it had been under the Greeks. Racing stables were distinguished by the color that their drivers and horses wore. Red and white were the older colors, but green and blue gradually eclipsed them, eventually overtaking them entirely. Interest in chariot racing centered on the victory of the color rather than on the skill of the driver or the quality of the horses. Political and even religious importance came to be attached to the colors.
Chariot drivers were commoners, freedmen, or slaves who had been professionally trained from boyhood. If successful, their prestige and earnings were tremendous; unlike the Greeks, the Romans regularly awarded monetary prizes. Roman satirical poet Juvenal remarked that a certain charioteer earned a hundred times the salary of a lawyer. Honorary inscriptions in stone recorded many interesting facts about both drivers and horses.
The most prized horses came from Libya, Sicily, Spain, Thessaly, Armenia, Parthia, and Cappadocia. A team of four horses controlled by one driver was the most common, although races were run with teams of as many as ten or as few as two horses.
In both Roman and Byzantine Empire, chariot racing was very popular and there were well developed associations of sports fans. There were four major factions of chariot racing and the color of the uniform represented the favorite racing team. Two major groups in this era were ...
the Trojan War. They put together a large horse to sit and wait in, and in a
The movie gave a false representation of historical facts regarding chariots, time periods, tribes, apparel, characters, location and even the overall history of the Ninth Legion. First, the Eagle represents war chariots as a fully loaded combat machine with spinning blades firing from the sides. However, in reality, chariots were just carts on two wheels pulled by horses. The chariot was only to carry the higher end warriors during battle. The warrior was the one who did the fighting, not the chariot. Most warriors would actually leave their chariots soon after the fighting began. The chariots were not used for extreme combat weapons, but merely for transportation.
Question : Who were the spectators at Roman games? Discuss the relationship between them and the performers they watched.
a chariot racing or gladiatorial event in Rome . It was “imperial policy to occupy the populace as much as possible with games, that their minds be kept off their lost political liberties” . The games kept the minds of the citizens occupied and it served to keep the gossip in the streets of the Roman Empire from turning to politics. In the streets of the Roman Empire, the populace stuck to talking of the Roman games, as talk of politics could result in a punishment as harsh as death. The Emperors in Rome employed spies, and informers that would turn any citizen in for talking of politics. They even went so far as to employ individuals who would intentionally break the law in order to induce others into breaking the law so that they could be
These chariots were made to be very light weighted so the horse carrying it would be able to run twice as fast. With the chariots being light weighted and not having a seat for the driver to be seated, some drivers would fall out of the chariots they were driving. Some would get tangled in the reins and fall out of the chariot thus being drug to death by the horse running through the course. The driver may also have fallen out of the chariot and ended up being ran over by the rest of the chariots racing by, traveling too fast to stop. The men driving the chariots were most of the time slaves or others who simply wanted to race and enjoyed the sport.
Johnson, Michael P., and James L. Roark. "4." No Chariots Let Down. 1. ed. North Carolina: University of North Carolina, 1984. 53. Print.
held in what was called The Circus Maximus. The chariot races held in the Circus Maximus were
While the most popular games were 'chariot racing' and simulated naval battles, fights in the amphitheatres, shown in these mosaics include gladiator V gladiator, gladiator V animal (pic 2) and animal V animal, were a common feature. Less common, but not infrequent was the release of wild beasts from the pits into the arena where hundreds of criminals had earlier been positioned. These spectacles all deeming to be very entertaining to spectators.
The Circus Maximus has a lot of history due to all of the events that had happened over the years of the Circus Maximus, the concept of chariots speeding around a track to see which horse would come in first. A chariot was a two wheeled, horse drawn vehicle. It was invented in the west in about 2,000 BC. The Circus Maximus started in approximately 50 BC. The Circus Maximus was first used for public games and entertainment by the Etruscan king of Rome. He built the Circus Maximus and made it out of complete wood. It measured 621 meters in length and 150 meters in width. It was capable of holding about 270,000 spectators to watch the races ("Circus Maximus princeton.edu") In 81 AD, Emperor Domitian connected his new palace on the Palatine to the Circus Maximus so he could have an easier view of the races. This happened to be a large action because they had to change around the whole racing course to fit in his window where he could watch. In 64 BC, they had a fire started from ...
During the middle and late third century Roman republic era gave rise to the arena games and became a great phenomenon for the Romans. An amphitheater, also known as a coliseum, housed these dangerous games that potentially harmed the audience as well as those who participated in them. Gladiatorial combat originated as part of funerals for deceased influential Romans. These large gladiatorial games were held by emperors during funerals of important roman officials, but were also included during other occasions. Over time the connection among the gladiator games and funerals decreased, and the upper class put on the games mainly to raise their social standing and gain favor with the public. Many politicians held these highly known games to help them sway votes of power and popularity (Meijer 2003, 27). “The arena was the embodiment of the empire.” (Futrell 1997, 209). The contestants, or the gladiators, had more significance of the Roman Empire beyond that as their role of entertainment.
Much like today’s athletes gladiators competed with one another to decide a victor and is a form of entertainment for people spectating. But Gladiators competed much different than professional athletes do today. Gladiators were forced to fight for the entertainment of others and were considered slaves (“ The Roman Gladiator”). Gladiators did not just fight for friendly sport either they had to fight to the death. This made the gladiatorial games so exciting for the people watching. The people loved to watch others fight and the gore that they would see while the gladiators were fighting. It may sound horrible in today’s society but back then it was the most prominent form of entertainment. Different from today’s athletes and entertainers, gladiators were slaves and were told what to do against their will. Much of the gladiators were slaves, criminals, and prisoners of war. Gladiatorial games were mostly held by the Roman Republic and forced there enemy’s to fight for their lives in the...
There is, literally, a rainbow of colors horses come in. Some of the most common colors are bay (brown with black legs, mane, and tail), brown, chestnut (a subdued golden red color), black, and gray (darkish white). Some of the less common are palomino, liver chestnut (dark chestnut), bright chestnut (a very bright golden red color), pinto (piebald being black and white and skewbald being brown or tan and white), dun (tan with black legs, mane, and t...
Horseback riding can be traced back more than 15,000 years. The Romans used horses for chariot racing during Medieval Times. Jousting was another sport used during the Medieval Times. Thus consisted of horses running face to face and the riders, with swords, fighting to the riders death. Equines were used for transportation as well as part of war and agriculture. Indians used horses for transportation more than 3,000 years ago. Farmers used horses to plow fields for crops, before the invention of tractors and plows. Equines were used for many forms of transportation, such as delivering mail and hauling wagons for moving families. Arabians (the breed) were used for endurance, in the desert, because of the horses high stamina and excessive strength with lack of water. Draft horses were used for farming and and plowing. Because of their size, they can haul and pull more weight than an ordinary horse ("The Use of Horses," n.d.).
The Olympic Games were a sporting contest that are likely to have started in 776 BC. They were held every four years (every Olympiad) in Olympia, originally lasting one day but by their ban in 393 AD they could span for up to five days. As to their origin, there are many different theories that have been discussed by historians – ideas ranging from King Iphitos of Elis asking the Oracle how to end civil wars, to entertainment for the newborn Zeus – either way, the Games seem to have started for other purposes (namely religious or political purposes) as opposed to ‘just for fun’.