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Images on pottery show that chariot racing existed in thirteenth century BC Mycenaean Greece. [a] The first literary reference to a chariot race is in Homer's poetic account of the funeral games for Patroclus, in the Iliad, combining practices from the author's own time (c. 8th century) with accounts based on a legendary past.
He received the laurel wreath many times, which is a symbol of continuous victory. Often at the end of a victorious game, fans threw him money. Eventually, he bought his freedom, becoming a libertus (freed slave). Martial, a Roman poet, refers to Scorpus twice in Book X of his Epigrams, composed between 95 and 98 AD: [1]
An auriga (plural aurigae) was a slave who drove vehicles in the Roman circuses. The position of auriga was a dangerous one as the aurigae drove with the reins wrapped around his waist. In case of accident, the auriga also wore a curved knife stuck in the waistband. [1] In ancient Rome, chariot racing was a favorite pastime. A successful ...
Gaius Appuleius Diocles (104 – after 146 AD) was a Roman charioteer. His existence and career are attested by two highly detailed contemporary inscriptions, used by modern historians to help reconstruct the likely conduct and techniques of chariot racing. He has been described in some modern sources as the highest-paid athlete of all time. [1]
However, Roman customs were influenced by the Greeks in a direct way, especially after they conquered mainland Greece in 146 BC. According to one Roman legend Romulus used the stratagem of organizing a chariot race shortly after the founding of Rome to distract the Sabines. While the Sabines were enjoying the spectacle Romulus and his men ...
Horse- and chariot-races were part of the ludi, sacred games held during Roman religious festivals, from Archaic times. A magistrate who presented games was entitled to ride in a biga. [13] The sacral meaning of the races, though diminished over time, [14] was preserved by iconography in the Circus Maximus, Rome's main racetrack.
Ancient Roman circuses (2 C, 9 P) G. Ancient Greek chariot racers (15 P) Pages in category "Ancient chariot racing" The following 19 pages are in this category, out ...
The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: Circo Massimo) is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy.In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire.