The Roman Times
All the News Romans Need to Know
45 B.C.
Rome
Come to the Circus Maximus
By Mattilaous Kranzacus
The Circus Maximus is the place all people want to go for entertainment if
they do not go to the Coliseum for free food and entertainment. The Circus Maximus
is very fun place to be. There is a lot of seating so there is a seat for basically
everyone to sit at the Circus Maximus. You can watch the Chariot Racers and see
which person wins. Chariot Racing is a competitive sport. Any competitive sport will
hold a large audience like it does at the Circus Maximus. Chariot Racing is a great
sport, and its drama widely thrills the population of Rome.
We Romans are good at borrowing from others, so we borrowed chariot
racing from our Greek neighbors. The Greeks chariot racing was characterized by
private or family teams and was very popular in the Etruscan period and early
Roman Republic. Back then, the racers wore leather helmets and jerkins the colors
of red, green, blue and white, in whose name teams were entered. The chariot would
be as light as possible so they could go really fast. A charioteer would wear a sharp
knife so if he was thrown from his chariot, he could cut himself out. Today, these
chariot races are the most popular sport in Rome, even more popular that gladiator
combats.
Instead of going to the gladiator fights at the Coliseum to watch people die,
come to the Circus Maximus to watch chariot racers. This is less dangerous, and
there is less blood, and not many people die. According to a Roman civilian who goes
to the Coliseum and went to the Circus Maximus once, “I liked it way better than
gladiators killing themselves at the Coliseum. I didn’t like to see people die all the
time. Now, I’m having fun watching Chariot Racers battle for first place on horses.”
Now everyone, go to the Circus Maximus and not the Coliseum.
The Circus Maximus today.
This is a diagram of the Circus Maximus
in the 1st century AD (from The
Charioteer of Delphi).
This is what a chariot racer looks
like at the Circus Maximus.
Source: www.mariamilani.com/
www.jerashchariots.com/project/racing.html.
webloc
www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/chari
ot.html.webloc
www.romanmysteries.com/charioteer-facts