Muse
Chariot Racing
The “Muse” is an article based on research for my current stories. This month I am working on a story about chariot racing in ancient Rome called “Geture.” Hopefully, you’ll see “Gesture” on my publications page one day soon. In the mean time, you can enjoy a day at the races in Rome. Use the Glossary to decipher your journey.
Disclaimer: This is in no way a scholarly work. I am not an historian, but rather an avid fan of all things classic. This article is not intended to be historically accurate, but rather, a taste what life was like for the average Roman.
Your tongue is still thick from too much wine at the collegium last night and your purse is much too light after paying for the sheet of lead for the defixiones, but they were both worth the effort. The Prasina will not win at the circus today. You come up the slope of the Mons Aventinus by way of the Clivus Publicius toward the back end of the great Circus Maximus and the Forum Boarium. You couldn’t afford to pay to have your your defixiones buried on the race track itself, so you take a moment to toss the folded lead hex into the sewer at the cloaca maxima, where it will eventually get pushed out into the Tiber river.
A colossal bull statue watches over the Forum Boarium, and many people rub it for good luck as they pass by. You make your way back to the Circus Maximus, jostled by so many unwashed bodies with eager faces, all heading toward the escape of the chariot races. Vendors shove toy chariots and sticks of roasted meat under your nose and your stomach grumbles. No time or sestertii for food right now. But that will change. The Venata will win today, and tonight at the Collegium you will collect your reward for your patient devotion all these years. Perhaps you will take home a wooden chariot for your son, to celebrate.
The Venata have to win tonight. They are long overdue. Their funalis, a monster of a black beast, could pull the chariot to a win all by himself. And your defixiones will cover any interceptions by the gods. It reads “Sol help me, help your loyal son, Gaius, Aurigae of the Venata win today, October 10th, in the Circus Maximus. Hold the reigns of his horse and guide him to victory. Bind the arms of his rivals. Twist their ankle, torment their minds, and confuse their eyes, so that their horses may stumble and fall.” That should take care of things. Of course, a thousand other pleas have been made to the gods that morning, but none as heartfelt, as necessary as yours.
The crowd pushes its way under the arches of the Circus Maximus. You find a seat high enough that Sol, himself, might pass by your ear. The pompa has already started below. Some fat dignitary is showing off his wealth by leading the Aurigae onto the field. The crowd roars when the colors appear, russata, prasina, albata and veneta. The emperor Caligula, is an avid supporter of the prasina. You can just make out his white and purple robe in the pulvinar opposite the lina alba. From this best seat in the house, the emperor watches the games with the visiting deities. Here they come now, Sol and Jupiter, carried in the parade by strong slaves. The cheering dims only slightly in reverence for the gods. The dancers and musicians follow, but you have no patience for this spectacle.
The cavea, which can hold up to 150 000 people are packed with impatient spectators, clutching their race cards. The harena has been raked flat. The euripus, with its frescoes and huge obelisk, splits the track in two. Horses shuffle and snort at the twelve carceres.
Finally, the fat dignitary sponsoring the games drops the mappa, and the crowd surges to their feet. Horses thunder from the carceres, as if they pulled Sol’s own quadrigae with the blazing sun in tow. The beating hooves splatter the sand into the riders’ faces. For a moment, you wish you had been born a slave and a charioteer so that you might know what it was like to fly.
A gasp rises as the russata second falters and drops from his chariot. He’s been drugged! His reigns are tied around his wrists and but he cannot find his knife to cut them away. His horses drag him past the metae, before slowing. Handlers usher his team off the track before the others round the spina again to trample the unconscious driver. You suspect that the red driver has just raced his last race.
One of the bronze dolphins is lowered on the lap counter and the crowd settles to watch the intricacies of this brutal dance. The trick is not to run out the horses too quickly. Even the best funalis can be destroyed by a careless driver.
Your Venata team is pushed away from the metae at the next turn, but as the dolphins shift on the lap counter, the quadrigae shift too. This race is really only between two teams, the Venata and the Prassina. Your neighbor jumps up in his seat, cheering and nearly knocking you over. In the final lap, when the horses are tired, The Venata and Prassina run shoulder to shoulder, with the Albata licking at their heals. Your hero, Gaius, swerves his quadrigae, clipping the axle of the Prassina. The final turning post is just ahead. The three leading quadrigae squeeze left, all vying for the spot closest to the metae. Just as the Prassina pulls ahead, Gaius makes his move. His funalis, is fearless, and when Gaius drags the reigns to the left, the horse does not hesitate. His quadrigae lunges left, squeezing the Prassina against the spina. Gaius wraps his reigns around his body, leans over and beats the Prassina driver with his fist, driving him back into the Albata team. He barely notices the naufragia in his wake as he crosses the lina alba.
You jump up in your seat and hug the strangers to your left and right. Tonight the wine will be on you at the Collegium.
Albata, White chariot team.
Aurigae or agitatores, charioteers
Biga, Two horse chariot.
Caligula, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the third Roman Emperor and a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 37 to 41AD
Carceres, starting gates. On each side of the end of the track closest to the Tiber stand huge archways used for processions; between these stretch a line of 12 arched openings containing wide stalls. Charioteers draw lots for gate assignments; the gates are arranged on a slight curve and have marked lanes to ensure that all teams have the same distance to travel as they thunder toward the right side of the barrier. In front of each stall is a slatted wooden gate, and the arched opening above the gate is closed by a metal grill. The gates are separated by pilasters topped by herms. Thanks to an ingenious mechanism, the 12 wooden doors all spring open at the same time when the magistrate starts the race by dropping a white cloth (called a mappa).
Cavea. Rows of stone benches three and four tiers high extend around the track; the corridors beneath the stands, punctuated with staircases leading to various blocks of seats, are crowded with shops and filled with milling people--restless spectators, vendors hawking food or cushions for the hard benches, gamblers taking bets, prostitutes looking for customers. The stands are divided according to social class, with sections of the first tier reserved for priests of the state religion (including the 6 Vestal Virgins), for Senators, and for wealthy Equestrians.
Circus Maximus, forum in Ancient Rome where chariot and gladitorial games were held.
Clivus Publicius, Clivus Publicius.
Cloaca Maxima, great sewer in Rome that drains into the Tiber river.
Collegium: any kind of association of men, brought together by mutual trade (ie: fullers and dyers collegium), religion or political factions.
Defixiones: Hex tablet. I adjure you, demon, whoever you are, and I demand of you from this day, from this hour, and from this moment that you torture the horses of the Greens and the Whites and strike down and smash their drivers Clarus and Felix and Primulus and Romanus and leave no breath in them.
Euripus (or spina) The central barrier, rounded off at each end with turning posts, extends approximately 344 yards down the middle of the track. Its high stone walls enclose water channels, statues of deities, marble altars and shrines, and lap counters. In the center. the huge obelisk brought from Egypt by Augustus towers over the other structures.
Factiones, The four Roman racing companies or stables, Red, white, blue and green. red (russata), the green (prasina), the white (albata) and the blue (veneta).
Forum Boarium, a thoroughfare between several different regions. Its name comes from its original function as a Cattle Market, still evident in the famous bronze statue of a bull, popularly attributed to the Greek sculptor Myron, which serves as its trademark and symbol.
Funalis, The horse harnessed on the extreme left. Always the best horse on the team.
Harena, designating the sand that covers the hard-packed dirt surface of the track. The racecourse is approximately 634 yards long and 86 yards wide. The seven laps of a race constitute 3-4 miles, a true test of stamina for both horses and drivers.
Jupiter, Roman god, patron deity of the Roman state, he ruled over laws and social order.
Linea alba, finish line. Half-way down the right-hand side of the barrier, a white line extends across the track; to win a race, a team must be the first to cross this line at the end of the seventh lap. In front of the finishing line a temple is built into the stands on the Aventine hill, presided over by deities with a professional interest in chariots--the Sun (Sol, whose quadriga is pulled by 4 horses) and the Moon (Luna, whose smaller biga is pulled by two).
Mappa, White cloth thrown by the magistrate to begin the race.
Metae, turning posts. At both ends of the central barrier are high semicircular platforms topped with three tall conical pillars; drivers try to round these turns as tightly as possible without hitting them, as shown in this terracotta relief. Near these turning posts are lap counters, seven bronze dolphins at one end and seven wooden eggs at the other; one counter is lowered at the completion of each lap so that the charioteers and screaming fans can keep track of how many laps remain.
Mons Aventinus, one of Seven hills that Rome was built on. The others are: Caelian (Mons Caelius), Capitoline (Mons Capitolinus), Esquiline (Mons Esquilinus), Palatine (Mons Palatinus), Quirinal (Mons Quirinalis), Viminal (Mons Viminalis)
Naufragia, literally “shipwrecks.” Crash of chariots during a race. Since charioteers wrapped the reins around their bodies, after a crash they were often unable to cut themselves free with their daggers. Crashes frequently occurred near the turning posts, and fallen charioteers were often trampled under the hooves and wheels of other chariots.
Pompa, elaborate procession that precedes a race.
Prasina, green chariot team.
Pulvinar, Imperial enclosure. A marble building resembling a temple rises from the third tier of seats on the Palatine side of the track. The statues and cult objects of the gods carried in the opening procession are placed here to watch the race; since the pulvinar is directly opposite the finish line, they get a good view! The emperor also has a special box here, so he can be seen by the people when he attends the races.
Quadrigae, four horse chariot, harnessed abreast.
Russata, red chariot team.
Sestertius (Sestertii, plural), common unit of coin
Sol, sun god, often associated with chariot racing.
Spina, see Euripus.
Venata, blue chariot team.
Albata
Prassina
Russata
Venata
Reconstruction drawings of Circus Maximus Courtesy of VRoma
