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Floorplan of Circus Maximus. This design is typical of Roman circuses. The performance space of the Roman circus was normally, despite its name, an oblong rectangle of two linear sections of race track, separated by a median strip running along the length of about two thirds the track, joined at one end with a semicircular section and at the other end with an undivided section of track closed ...
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 .
Ancient Roman circuses, large open-air venues, used mainly for chariot races, although sometimes serving other purposes. They were similar to the ancient Greek hippodromes . Along with theatres and amphitheatres , circuses were one of the main entertainment venues at the time.
It is derived from the ancient Greek hippodromos (Greek: ἱππόδρομος), a stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words hippos (ἵππος; "horse") and dromos (δρόμος; "course"). The ancient Roman version, the circus, was similar to the Greek hippodrome.
Chariot racing faded in importance in the Western Roman Empire after the fall of Rome; the last known race there was staged in the Circus Maximus in 549, by the Ostrogothic king, Totila. In the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire , the traditional Roman chariot-racing factions continued to play a prominent role in mass entertainment, religion and ...
The Cerealia were celebrated in ancient Rome with a ceremony and then with the ludi cerealici in the Circus Maximus (painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1894).. The spectacles in ancient Rome were numerous, open to all citizens and generally free of charge; some of them were distinguished by the grandeur of the stagings and cruelty.
The Circus of Antioch was a hippodrome in Antioch, in present-day Turkey. Used for chariot racing , it was modelled on the Circus Maximus in Rome and other circus buildings throughout the Roman Empire .
The Circus of Carthage is a Roman circus in Carthage, in present-day Tunisia. Used for chariot racing, it was modeled on the Circus Maximus in Rome and other circus buildings throughout the Roman Empire. Measuring more than 470 m in length and 30 m in width, [1] it could house up to 45,000 spectators, roughly one third of the Circus Maximus.