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The Hippodrome of Olympia housed the equestrian contests (horse racing and chariot racing) of the Ancient Olympic Games.According to Pausanias, [1] it was situated to the south of the Stadium and covered a large area four stadia (780 meters) long and one stade four plethora (220 meters) wide.
Married women were banned from watching any Olympic events but a Spartan noblewoman is known to have trained horse-teams for the Olympics and won two races, one of them as driver. In ancient Rome, chariot racing was the most popular of many subsidised public entertainments, and was an essential component in several religious festivals.
396 BCE and 392 BCE — Cynisca, a Spartan princess, was the first woman to win an event at the Ancient Olympic Games, although she was not allowed to enter the stadium. She owned a successful four-horse chariot racing team that won at successive Olympics. [26] 2nd century BCE — the Olympics continued to be celebrated when Greece came under ...
Horse racing and chariot racing were the most prestigious competitions in the games, due to only the wealthy being able to afford the maintenance and transportation of horses. These races consisted of different events: the four-horse chariot race, the two-horse chariot race, and the horse with rider race, the rider being hand picked by the owner.
A depiction of an ancient Greek four-horse chariot, c. 530-520 BC. While most women in the ancient Greek world were kept in seclusion and forbidden to pursue athletic activities such as riding or hunting, Spartan women of the elite spartiate class [note 1] were trained to excel in sports.
By 648 BCE, both chariot and mounted horse racing events were part of the ancient Greek Olympics, [12] and were important in the other Panhellenic Games. Chariot racing was dangerous to both driver and horse, often leading to serious injury and even death. In the Roman Empire, chariot and mounted horse racing were major industries. [13]
The statues of Cynisca (also spelled Kyniska from the ancient Greek Κυνίσκα) were two ancient Greek statues which commemorated Cynisca of Sparta’s Olympic victory in chariot racing at the 396 B.C. and 392 B.C. Olympic Games. Cynisca was the first woman to win at the Olympic Games.
Pherenikos (Greek: Φερένικος; Latin: Pherenicus) was an Ancient Greek chestnut racehorse victorious at the Olympic and Pythian Games in the 470s BC. Pherenikos, whose name means "victory-bearer", was "the most famous racehorse in antiquity". [1]