circus

The circus was essentially a racecourse that was lined, ideally, with tiers of seats along each side and curving around one end, with the opposite end squared off and provided with arrangements for chariots to enter and draw up for the start. Down the middle ran…

…two types of stadiums: the circus and the amphitheatre. The circus was the Roman version of the hippodrome, a long, narrow, U-shaped structure designed for chariot races. The largest, and doubtless the finest ever built, was the Circus Maximus in Rome. In contrast to the circus, the amphitheatre, one of…

The Roman circus and the Byzantine hippodrome continued to provide chariot racing long after Christian protests (and heavy economic costs) ended the gladiatorial games, probably early in the 5th century. In many ways the chariot races were quite modern. The charioteers were divided into bureaucratically organized factions…