Roman Times
All the News Romans Need to Know
January 18, 257 AD
Rome
A Day at the Races
By: Tabacius
This is Tabacius from RCRN
live at the Circus Maximus where the
popular and dangerous chariot races
are taking place. This is the oldest,
largest and most famous circus for
chariot racing in Rome. There are
about 200,000 spectators here to see
these intense races. All of the
spectators are sitting on wooden
seats. The Vestal Virgins, senators and
knights, were able to sit in reserved
first row seating.
I am here with Julius Maximus.
Julius, why do you keep coming to
these races? “Well, when I was
younger my dad took me here each
week for the races. I guess I wanted to
carry on the tradition with my wife
and kids.” Thank you Julius for all of
your time and I hope you enjoy the
games.
Throughout the Circus, all of
the male spectators have to be
wearing togas. All of these men also
have to be citizens of Rome; therefore,
slaves are not allowed.
And the races begin. The
consul has officially dropped the white
handkerchief to start the first heat.
Each of these heats, or missus, is a
total of 7 laps or 6 miles and lasts
about 15 minutes. On a normal day
like today at the races there will be a
total of 10 or 12 heats. One of the
typical customs for chariot racing is
that the charioteers are usually slaves
or men of low class. Also, the chariots
that are used are made of wood. They
were made to be as small and
lightweight as possible. The chariots
also provided the racer with no
protection from other racers and
chariots. Unfortunately, many racers
can be seriously hurt or even killed by
the charging horses if they fall off their
chariot.
Pliny the Younger once wrote
in a letter to a friend, “The races are
on, a spectacle which has not the
slightest attraction for me. It lacks
novelty and variety. If you have seen it
once, then there is nothing left for you
to see.” I do not agree with this
statement because I find the races so
exciting to watch. As a reporter, I
always want to be at the races and
enjoy every moment of it.
This is Tabacius live from
Circus Maximus. All of us from RCRN
hope you have a great day watching
the races.
Source: www.vroma.org
The world famous Circus Maximus
1