Roman Chariot Racing: History, Teams, Fans, Horses and Fame | Early European History And Religion

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ROMAN CHARIOT RACING

Chariot races were among Rome's favorite entertainments. The chariots started in a staggered fashion so that those on the outside were not at a disadvantage. Competitions were held for two, three and four horse chariots, usually driven by hired professional, essentially slaves, owned by the sponsors. They lived in stables and were breed like horses from the offspring of famous charioteers. Despite their lowly background successful charioteers were celebrated heros and the best ones earned enough money to buy their freedom. [Source: “Greek and Roman Life" by Ian Jenkins from the British Museum]

The Olympics games often kicked off with a race involving 40 chariots flying through a course at one time with spectacular spills and frequent deaths. Often only a handful of the chariots that started made it to the finish line. "A two-wheeled chariot," wrote journalist Lionel Cassonin Smithsonian magazine, "was light, like a modern trotters' gig, but pulled by a team of four horses that would be driven at the fastest gallop they could generate. They made 12 laps around the course — about nine kilometers — with 180 degree turns at each end. As at our Indianapolis 500 viewers enjoyed not only the excitement of the race but the titillation that comes from the constant presence of danger: as the teams thundered around the turns, or one chariot tried to cut over from the outside to the inside, crashes and collisions were common and doubtless often fatal. In one celebrated race in the Pythian games, the competition was so lethal that only one competitor managed to finish!" [Lionel Casson, Smithsonian, February 1990]

As the size of the chariot racing venues increased and the equipment was perfected, the series of contests had become extended and enriched. Every ludus had enlarged its program; and games lasting one day gave place to those of seven or nine or fifteen days. Each race consisted of seven laps. But the number of races held in one day was increased in the early empire. Under Augustus it was customary to have a dozen a day. Under Caligula the number was doubled and a day of twenty-four races became the most common after that. Let us reckon it up: seven laps or spatia for each race (missus) makes seven times 568 meters, or 3,976 meters per chariot per race. Twenty-four races covered a distance of 85 kilometers (about 55 miles)! When we remember the rest at noon and the pause which necessarily intervened between the missus, we must admit that the circus day was filled to overflowing.

David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: Thundering hooves, spinning wheels, a cheering crowd: Envisioning an ancient Roman chariot race is easy, but many 21st-century notions of the sport come from the writings of the 19th. Adapted several times for the big screen (the 1959 film is perhaps the best known), the 1880 novel Ben-Hur climaxes with a thrilling chariot race. American author Lew Wallace meticulously researched classic texts to make his book as authentic as possible, but his passion for chariot racing comes shining through: Can we accept the saying, then these latter days, so tame in pastime and dull in sports, have scarcely anything to compare to the spectacle . . . Let the reader try to fancy it; let him first look down upon the arena, and see it glistening . . . let him then, in this perfect field, see the chariots, light of wheel, very graceful, and ornate . . . let him see the drivers—in their right hands goads . . . in their left hands held in careful separation, and high, . . . the reins . . . let him see the fours, chosen for beauty as well as speed . . . [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

Roman elites looked upon chariot racing with disapproval yet they funded the construction of massive venues for the sport such as the Circus Maximus in Rome and the Hippodrome in Constantinople (Istanbul). Chariot racing’s popularity only grew as the Roman Empire expanded. New stadiums were built in other cities, and racing became an obsession there. Hippodromes were built in the major urban centers across the empire, including Antioch (Turkey), Ceasarea (Israel), Alexandria and Oxyrhynchus (Egypt), Thugga (Tunisia), Toledo and Cordoba (Spain), Lyon (France), and Vienna (Austria). As part of his Romanizing program, the client king of Judaea, Herod the Great, had instituted chariot racing as part of formal games in 28 B.C. Sources record a hippodrome built in Jerusalem some time after, but its location has not yet been identified.

History of Roman Chariot Racing

David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: In the first century B.C., the poet Ovid, famous in his time for writing scandalous verse, used the racecourse as an arena for passion as well as sport. Book 3 of Ovid’s Amores (16 B.C.), describes an incident at the races, where a young woman is waiting for the race to start. The narrator explains to her his motive for being there: “You are looking at the race, I am looking at you; we’ll both see what delights us, and both feast our eyes.” Ovid’s verse, set in Rome’s Circus Maximus, compares the passions excited by racing with those aroused by the opposite sex. In Ovid’s time, competitive charioteering was popular and profane. [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

Chariot racing’s historic roots, however, tap deep into the sacred beliefs of ancient Greece, whose games—such as the Olympic and the Pythian events—were not considered entertainment. They were holy activities and part of solemn religious rites. The purpose of these events, which included chariot racing, was to please the gods, either through sacrifice or in presenting bodily skill as an offering in itself. Homer’s epic The Iliad features chariot races as part of the funeral games ordered by the mourning Achilles in honor of his fallen companion, Patroclus. The word “hippodrome” also comes from the Greek, with hippo meaning “horses” and dromos meaning“path.”

Games likewise formed an important religious role in the emerging power of Rome. Chariot racing was incorporated into the early Ludi Romani, the games held in honor of the chief Roman god, Jupiter Optimus Maximus. In 366 B.C. the Ludi Romani became an annual event, sponsored by the state. As Rome’s military influence grew, generals began dedicating portions of their war booty to sponsor chariot races and other games. Arguably, it is at this stage that the spirit of chariot racing began to evolve into entertainment. Sponsorship by generals boosted the popularity of racing and other sports, so by the first century B.C. the games were associated with mass culture, power, and populism.

Chariot racing at the foot of Palatine Hill has a long tradition in Rome. Although no structural elements remain today, the great U-shaped circus dominated the city. Over a third of a mile long and nearly 500 feet wide, it was the Roman Empire’s biggest venue at the end of the fourth century A.D.

By the mid-first century B.C., racing had become a major Roman spectacle. Julius Caesar commissioned a magnificent new hippodrome, the Circus Maximus, in the valley below Rome’s Palatine Hill, an area that had long been used to stage horse races. Built around 50 B.C., this venue featured a track measuring about 1,700 by 260 feet, 12 starting gates (carceres) for chariots, a decorated barrier (spina) dividing the track, turning posts (metae) at each end, and lap markers in the shape of eggs and dolphins. Each marker would be turned when a section of a race was completed. Caesar’s circus could seat as many as 150,000 spectators, but when the venue was later expanded by Rome’s emperors, it could hold as many as 250,000.

One of Rome's violent founding myths, recounted by first-century historian Livy, centers on how Rome’s legendary founder, Romulus, came up with a plan to increase the city’s female population by abducting women from a neighboring tribe, the Sabines. Romulus invited the Sabine people to attend a festival, in which chariot racing would be part of the festivities. The lure worked, and dozens of women were seized by the Romans.

Thrill of Roman Chariot Racing

The interest of the horse-races was heightened by all sorts of acrobatic tricks. In the desultores the jockeys guided two horses at once and leaped from one to the other; again they flourished weapons and made mimic warfare on horseback; now they sat astride, knelt, and lay down on their horses at the gallop; now snatched a piece of cloth from the track or jumped over a chariot harnessed to four horses. As for the chariot races, they were diversified by the teams of horses; sometimes two horses (bigae) drew them, sometimes three (trigae), most commonly four (quadrigae), occasionally even six or eight or ten (decemiuges). Each race was enhanced by the solemnity of its start and its brilliant equipment. The signal for the trumpet to sound the start was given by the presiding consul, praetor, or aedile, who threw a white napkin from the height of his tribune into the arena. The gesture was critical and the great personage in himself was a sight worth seeing. Over a tunic, scarlet like Jupiter's, he had draped an embroidered Tyrian toga. Like a living statue, he held in his hand an ivory baton surmounted by an eagle on the point of flight, and on his head he wore a wreath of golden leaves so heavy that a "slave or player at his side had to help him to hold it up." [Source: “Daily Life in Ancient Rome: the People and the City at the Height the Empire” by Jerome Carcopino, Director of the Ecole Franchise De Rome Member of the Institute of France, Routledge 1936]

At the starting line, the chariots came to take up the place which the draw had allotted to them for the start, ranging themselves in perfect order and shining trim. Each upheld the honor of the party or jactio to which it belonged. While the horses pawed the ground, branches on their heads, tail held in air by a tight knot, mane starred with pearls, breastplate studded with plaques and amulets, neck bearing a flexible collar and a ribbon dyed with the colors of their party, the auriga among his servants was the cynosure of all eyes. He stood upright in his chariot, helmet on head, whip in hand, leggings swathed round calf and thigh, clad in a tunic the color of his factio, his reins bound round his body, and by his side the dagger that would sever them in case of accident.

The public was tense even before the contest began. Each scanned with anxious eye the turn-out to which he had pinned his faith. In the packed cavea conversation hummed; neighbours of both sexes, piled on top of each other, animatedly compared their prophecies. This crowded gathering, seated according to the chance order of their entry, was not lacking in attraction either for women in search of a husband or for a libertine in search of adventure. It once happened under the republic that a beautiful young divorcee, Valeria, sister of the orator Hortensius, surreptitiously plucking a thread from the toga of Sulla in the hope of participating in his infallible good fortune, attracted the attention and won the last affections of the great dictator. 03 And Ovid, love poet of the empire, advised his disciples to learn to enjoy attendance at the circus, where the pleasant conversions which preceded the races and the fever of excitement which they roused offered so many opportunities for gallantry.

Excitement seized the public the moment dust began to fly beneath the chariot wheels, and until the last lap was ended the spectators panted with hope and fear, uncertainty and passion. What. anguish at the slightest hitch, and thrills when the posts were turned without mishap! As the metae were always on the left of the chariots, the success of the turning manoeuvre depended on the strength and handiness of the two outside horses called funales. They were not harnessed to the shaft like the two middle ones but more loosely attached by a trace (funis), the offfunalis swinging out on the right and the still more vital nearjunalis acting as pivot on the left. If the chariot hugged the turning post too closely, it ran the risk of crashing into it; if, on the other hand, it swung out too far, it either lost position or was run into by the chariot following and again ran the risk of being wrecked.

The agitator was subjected to a double strain: looking ahead, he must encourage and guide his horses; looking behind, avoid the impact of the chariot which was trying to pass him. He could breathe freely again only when he had safely reached the goal, after having fourteen times steered clear of the turning posts, kept or improved his place, escaped the snares of the track, and outwitted the stratagems of his competitors. The inscriptions which commemorate his victories conceal none of the difficulties he had overcome in achieving them he had kept the lead and won: occupavit et vie it; he had passed from second to first place and won: successit et vicit; he had been the "dark horse" whom no one expected to win and who in a supreme moment had triumphed: erupit et vicit The winner was greeted with a storm of applause and the winning driver and his beasts were overwhelmed by the outburst of the crowd's enthusiasm.

Chariot Race Sponsors and Teams

David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: What seemed to set chariot racing apart from other attractions was a strong sense of loyalty to a favorite team of charioteers. Much like sports leagues today, Roman chariot racing had teams with legions of devoted fans. The four factions—Red (Russata), White (Albata), Blue (Venata), and Green (Prasina)—existed during the republic and continued well into the empire. Third-century A.D. writer Tertullian recorded that the rivalry between Whites and Reds was the oldest. Their supporters would reinforce the sense of enmity between the two by associating White with winter and Red with summer. Teams could also be associated with divinities: White with the wind god Zephyr and Red with the war god Mars. [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

Sponsors of chariot teams were called Factiones of the Circus. There must have been a time, of course, when the races in the circus were open to all who wished to show their horses or their skill in driving them, but by the end of the Republic no persons of repute took part in the games, and the teams and drivers were furnished by racing syndicates (factiones), which practically controlled the market so far as trained horses and trained men were concerned. With these syndicates the giver of the games contracted for the number of races that he wanted (ten or twelve a day in Caesar’s time, later twice the number, and even more on special occasions), and they furnished everything needed. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

These syndicates were named from the colors worn by their drivers. We hear at first of two only, the red (russata) and the white (albata); the blue (veneta) was added in the time of Augustus, probably, and the green (prasina) soon after his reign; finally Domitian added two more, the purple and the gold. Great rivalry existed between these organizations. They spent immense sums of money on their horses, importing them from Greece, Spain, and Mauritania, and even larger sums, perhaps, upon the drivers. |+|

“They maintained training stables on as large a scale as any of which modern times can boast; a mosaic found in one of these establishments in Algeria names among the attendants jockeys, grooms, stableboys, saddlers, doctors, trainers, coaches, and messengers, and shows the horses covered with blankets in their stalls. This rivalry spread throughout the city; each factio had its partisans, and vast sums of money were lost and won as each missus was finished. All the tricks of the ring were skillfully practiced; horses were “doped,” drivers hired from rival syndicates or bribed, and even poisoned, we are told, when they were proof against bribes. Further, the aid of magicians was invoked to work a spell that should prevent a team from winning.” |+|

The factiones had been founded to defray the enormous cost entailed by the selection and training of the competitors, man and beast, and the magistrates who gave the games had to contract with them for the performers. It may well be questioned whether the dimensions of the track could conveniently permit the management of more than four quadrigae at a time; it is certain that there were normally only four factiones, and that these at any rate after the beginning of the second century were usually allied in pairs. On the one hand were the Whites (factio albata) and the Greens (jactio prasina), and on the other the Blues (factio veneta) and the Reds (jactio russata). The stables of all four factions were in the ninth region; that of the Greens seems to have been near the spot now occupied by the Palazzo Farnese. Each factio maintained a numerous staff of stable-boys and trainers (doctores et magistri), veterinary surgeons (medici), tailors (sarcinatores), saddlers (sellarii), grooms (succunditores), stable-guards (conditores), dressers and waterers (spartores), who accompanied the animals into the carceres, and of iubilatores whose duty it was to rouse their teams to eagerness by joyous cries. As for the chariot-drivers (aurigae, agitator es), the various factiones vied with each other to secure the best at whatever cost.[Source: “Daily Life in Ancient Rome: the People and the City at the Height the Empire” by Jerome Carcopino, Director of the Ecole Franchise De Rome Member of the Institute of France, Routledge 1936]

On Roman-era graffiti found at Aphrodisias in present-day Turkey, Owen Jarus wrote in Live Science: “The city had three chariot-racing clubs competing against each other, records show. “The south market, which included a public park with a pool and porticoes, was a popular place for chariot-racing fans to hang outthe graffiti shows. It may be "where the clubhouses of the factions of the hippodrome were located — the reds, the greens, the blues," said Angelos Chaniotis, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton New Jersey, referring to the namesof the different racing clubs. The graffiti includes boastful messages after a club won and lamentations when a club was having a bad time. "Victory for the red," reads one graffiti; "bad years for the greens," says another; "the fortune of the blues prevails," reads a third. [Source: Owen Jarus, Live Science, June 15, 2015]

Roman Chariot Races

Roman chariot races began with the dropping of a white handkerchief (mappa). In a standard race at the Circus Maximus, each team entered three chariots, so when the mappa fell to the ground, a total of 12 chariots burst out from the traps (carceres). There were different kinds of chariot team configurations. Some had as many as seven horses, some as few as two. The quadriga, composed of four horses, was the most common type. [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

The aurigae, or drivers, careened around the curves on their two-wheeled chariots at round the ends of the spina. The usual race was seven laps, run counterclock-wise around the arena. Races lasted around 10 and 12 minutes. As many as 24 races were held in a single day. Fans loved their teams so much they tried to disrupt rival teams by throwing tablets studded with nails onto the track.

The chariot used in the races was low and light, closed in front, open behind, with long axles and low wheels to lessen the risk of turning over. The driver seems to have stood well forward in the car; there was no standing-place behind the axle. There were teams of two horses (bigae), three (trigae), four (quadrigae), and in later times six (seiuges) or even seven (septeiuges), Two of the horses were yoked together, one on each side of the tongue; the others were attached to the car merely by traces. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

Of the four the horse to the extreme left was the most important, because the meta lay always on the left and the highest skill of the driver was shown in turning it as closely as possible. The failure of the horse nearest it to respond promptly to the rein or the word might mean the wreck of the car (by going too close) or the loss of the inside track (by going too wide), and in either case the loss of the race. Inscriptions sometimes give the names of all the horses of the team; sometimes only the horse on the left is mentioned. Before the races began, lists of the horses and drivers in each were published for the guidance of those who wished to stake their money. |+|

Bread and Circuses of Roman Chariot Racing

David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: A great deal of money and power was at stake in chariot racing. Senior public figures pumped money into the games in the hope it would increase their political standing. A central figure in the booming business aspect of the races by the first century A.D. was the dominus factionum, the entrepreneur in charge of a faction. The huge sums of money could spark bitter, state-level disputes. In the early first century, a high-ranking official was accused of trying to delay payment of the cash prizes, which could range between 15,000 and 60,000 sesterces. His name was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, whose son, Emperor Nero, would develop a singular passion for chariot racing and actually participate in races. On one occasion, Nero himself tried to pilot a chariot pulled by 10 horses. This was too much for him to handle. He was thrown, and severely injured, but managed to survive. [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

Among the cache of papyri found at the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus—about 100 miles southwest of present-day Cairo—is a program of the planned entertainment for a day at the races. Written in Greek, the document dates to the sixth century, when racing was beginning to decline across the empire. Only six races were scheduled (larger hippodromes could schedule up to 24), and other entertainments were planned for in between events. The program is written in two hands, suggesting a process in which local officers approved the running order. The day’s events, as recorded on the papyrus: 1st chariot race; Procession; Singing rope-dancers; 2nd chariot race; The singing rope-dancers; 3rd chariot race; 4th chariot race; Mimes; 5th chariot race; Troupe of athletes; 6th chariot race. Farewell.

Keeping the crowds entertained between races was an important job, and talented groups of professionals were hired to do just that. These performers, called histrions, would act out mythological scenes to keep people in their seats. In early Roman history, they were associated with ritual dancers from neighboring Etruria, but by the time of imperial chariot racing, they added dancing and acting to their repertoire. While histrions performed in groups, the pantomimus (“imitator of everything”) performed alone accompanied by instruments. They used gestures and masks to portray a series of characters. For the most part the histrions and pantomimi were either enslaved or of low-born origins. They were, nevertheless, regarded as skillful professionals, and the best of them could keep the crowd engaged and excited. A few acquired fame and considerable wealth.

Horses Used in Roman Chariot Races

Though no time was kept, the records of horses and men were followed as eagerly as now. From the nature of the course it is evident that strength and courage and, above all, lasting qualities were more essential than speed. The horses were almost always stallions (mares are very rarely mentioned), and were never raced under five years of age. Considering the length of the course and the great risk of accidents, it is surprising how long the horses lasted. It was not unusual for a horse to figure in a hundred victories (such a horse was called centenarius); Diocles, who was himself a famous driver, owned a horse that had won two hundred (ducenarius).” [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932)]

Martial wrote: “I am that Martial known to all nations and people . . . I am not better known than the horse Andraemon.” According to National Geographic History: Dedicated fans would know each horse’s lineage. The most successful would be honorably retired when the moment came, so that they could live out their last years in peace and procreate to continue their pedigree. Some even had funerary monuments dedicated to them, such as that raised to Spendusa:“[F]ast as the wind, incomparable in your life, you now . . . dwell in the realm of Lethe.” [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

Purchased in the stud farms of Italy, Greece, Africa, and more especially of Spain, put into training at the age of three and making their first appearance in the races at five, the chariot racehorses included mares which were harnessed to the shaft and stallions which were usually attached by traces. Each of them possessed its pedigree, its list of victories, its individual fame, so widespread that its name was heard from one end of the empire to the other, so imperishable that the echo of it has come down to us. [Source: “Daily Life in Ancient Rome: the People and the City at the Height the Empire” by Jerome Carcopino, Director of the Ecole Franchise De Rome Member of the Institute of France, Routledge 1936]

The famous names were incised on the rim of the earthen lamps the potters turned and on the mosaic pavements discovered by moderns in provincial houses, like those in the Numidian thermae whose proprietor Pompeianus confessed his affection for the horse Polydoxus: "Winner or not, we love you, Polydoxusl Vincas, non vincas, te amamus, Polydoxet" 1 They can still be read, carved in stone like the name of the immortal Tuscus, who won the prize 386 times, and Victor, who on 429 occasions justified his surname of good augury; or engraved on sheets of bronze which the losing betters loaded with curses and consigned to the vengeance of the infernal gods in the bottom of the tombs which have yielded them up to us.

Roman Chariot Drivers

The drivers (agitatores, aurigae) were slaves or freedmen, some of whom had won their freedom by their skill and daring in the course. Only in the most corrupt days of the Empire did citizens of any social position take actual part in the races. The dress of the driver included a close-fitting cap, the short tunic (always of the color of his factio), laced around the body with leather thongs, the straps of leather around the thighs, the shoulder pads, and the heavy leather protectors for the legs. Our football players wear like defensive armor. The reins were knotted together and passed around the driver’s body. In his belt he carried a knife to cut the reins in case he should be thrown from the car, or to cut the traces if a horse should fall and become entangled in them. The races gave as many opportunities then as now for skillful driving, and required even more strength and daring. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

What we should call “fouling” was encouraged. The driver might turn his team against another, or might upset the car of a rival if he could; having gained the inside track, he might drive out of the straight course to keep a swifter team from passing his. The rewards were proportionately great. The successful auriga, though his social station was low, was the pet and pride of the race-mad crowd, and under the Empire, at least, he was courted and fêted by high and low. The pay of successful drivers was extravagant, since the rival syndicates bid against one another for the services of the most popular. Rich presents were given the drivers when they won their races, not only by their factiones, but also by outsiders who had backed them and profited by their skill. |+|

Though they were of low-born origin, mainly slaves emancipated only after recurrent success, they were lifted out of their humble estate by the fame they acquired and the fortunes they rapidly amassed from the gifts of magistrates and emperor, and the exorbitant salaries they exacted from the domini jactionum as the price of remaining with the colors. In the city their escapades were admired rather than deplored, and if one day, for instance, a charioteer had a mind to trounce or rob a passer-by, the police turned a blind eye. [Source: “Daily Life in Ancient Rome: the People and the City at the Height the Empire” by Jerome Carcopino, Director of the Ecole Franchise De Rome Member of the Institute of France, Routledge 1936]

The extraordinary honor which the charioteers enjoyed at Rome was evidently due to the physical and moral qualities their calling demanded : their strength and imposing presence, their agility and coolness; also to the severe and early training to which they had been subjected; still more perhaps to the dangers implicit in their calling these bloody "shipwrecks" which they faced with such light hearts and which so often cut them off in the flower of their youth. Pliny the Elder described the insufferable grief felt by fans at the deaths of their favorite drivers. In his Natural History, Pliny wrote how “at the funeral of Felix the charioteer of the Reds one of his backers threw himself upon the pyre—a pitiful story.”

Their names flew from lip to lip, and if one of the champions happened to die, the poets of the court, skilled in grinding out praises of the emperor, did not think it beneath their dignity to dedicate a pathetic and well-turned farewell to the dead charioteer: Let Victory sadly break her Idumaean palms; beat, Favor, with cruel hand thy naked breast; let Honor change her garb; and do thou, sorrowful Glory, cast on the cruel flames the offering of thy crowned locks. Ah, crime of Fate! Robbed, Scorpus, of thy first youth, art thou fallen, and so soon dost yoke Death's dusky steeds! That goal whereto thy car sped ever in brief course, and swiftly won, why to thy life also was it so nigh?

Famous Roman Chariot Drivers

The names of some of the victors have come down to us in inscriptions composed in their honor or to their memory by their friends. Among these may be mentioned: Publius Aelius Gutta Calpurnianus of the late Empire (1127 victories); Caius Apuleius Diocles, a Spaniard (in twenty-four years 4257 races, 1462 victories; he won the sum of 35,863,120 sesterces, about $1,800,000); Flavius Scorpus (2048 victories by the age of twenty-seven); Marcus Aurelius Liber (3000 victories); Pompeius Muscosus (3559 victories). To these may be added Crescens, an inscription in whose honor (found at Rome in 1878). [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

Crescens, a driver of the blue syndicate, of the Moorish nation, twenty-two years of age. He won his first victory as a driver of a four-horse chariot in the consulship of Lucius Vipstanius Messalla, on the birthday of the deified Nerva, in the twenty-fourth race, with these horses: Circius, Acceptor, Delicatus, and Cotynus. From Messalla’s consulship to the birthday of the deified Claudius in the consulship of Glabrio he was sent from the barriers six hundred and eighty-six times and was victorious forty-seven times. In races between chariots with one from each syndicate, he won nineteen times; with two from each, twenty-three times; with three from each, five times. He held back purposely once, took first place at the start eight times, took it from others thirty-eight times. He won second place one hundred and thirty times, third place one hundred and eleven times. His winnings amounted to 1,558,346 sesterces [about $78,000]

bronze statue of African child charioteer, from Archaeology magazine

At the end of the first century and in the first half of the second, Rome prided herself on the presence of her star charioteers, whom she called miliarii, not because they were millionaires, but because they had won the prize at least a thousand times: Scorpus 2,048 times, Pontius Epaphroditus 1,467, Pompeius Musclosus 3,559, and lastly Diocles who, after having competed 4,257 times and won 1,462 victories, had the wisdom to retire from the arena in 150 A.D. with a fortune of 35 million sesterces. Friedlander compares these performances and these gains with those of the Epsom jockeys at the end of the nineteenth century: for example, Fred Archer, who won 1,172 prizes during six years' racing and died at 29 a multimillionaire. But while the Roman charioteer equalled the modern jockey in the number of his successes and the sums he won, he far excelled him in prestige and honor.[Source: “Daily Life in Ancient Rome: the People and the City at the Height the Empire” by Jerome Carcopino, Director of the Ecole Franchise De Rome Member of the Institute of France, Routledge 1936]

Fuscus was killed at 24 after 57 victories; Crescens at 22 after having earned 1,558,346 sesterces; M. Aurelius Mollicius at 20 after 125 victories. But the passionate devotion which they inspired in a whole people was fed also from more tainted sources. It was related to the passion for gambling for which the race course gave the opportunity and of which the charioteers were the masters. The shows of which they were the heroes and the arbiters were inseparable from the sponsio or wager. Martial exhorts his book: "Make for Quirinus' Colonnade hard by... there are two or three who may unroll you... but only when the bets on Scorpus and Incitatus are disposed of." "All Rome today is in the circus," writes Juvenal, "such sights are for the young, whom it befits to shout and make bold wagers with a smart damsel by their side."

David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: Perhaps the best known and wealthiest charioteer of his time was Scorpus, who drove for the Green faction in the first century A.D. and died at the age 27, most likely in a “shipwreck.” A former slave, Scorpus purchased his freedom with his earnings. On 'the walls of the streets, in the flats of the insulae, innumerable copies of their portraits were exhibited, and the golden nose of Scorpus twinkled everywhere. When Scorpus died, the Roman poet Martial penned his eulogy: Oh! sad misfortune! that you, Scorpus, should be cut off in the flower of your youth, and be called so prematurely to harness the dusky steeds of Pluto. The chariot race was always shortened by your rapid driving; but O why should your own race have been so speedily run? [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

Statue of a African Child Charioteer

The four-centimeter (1.8-inch) -high bronze Statuette of an Auriga (Charioteer) dates to A.D. 2nd century and was found in Altrier, Luxembourg. According to Archaeology magazine: “Chariot racing was ancient Rome's favorite pastime. It attracted millions of spectators to stadiums across the empire, inspired fierce fan loyalty, and provided its stars a chance to earn spectacular sums — a successful charioteer's single-day winnings could equal a teacher's annual salary. It is perhaps surprising, then, to learn from epigraphic evidence that most charioteers were slaves who began racing as children, and many were foreigners, who came to the sport to earn fame and fortune. [Source: Archaeology magazine, Volume 65 Number 3, May-June 2012]

But until the discovery of this figurine, according to archaeologists Sinclair Bell and Franziska Dövener, no representation of an African child charioteer had ever been found. Bronze figurines of Roman charioteers are rare — there are fewer than ten — particularly in comparison to those depicting other entertainers, including gladiators and actors.

Bell and D vener are certain that this statuette represents a charioteer on the basis of his distinctive costume — his upper abdomen and chest are corseted by three wide leather belts called fasciae, part of a charioteer's basic uniform, worn to protect the chest. That the figurine represents a child is clear from his enlarged head, large eyes, fleshy cheeks, and youthful expression. The curly hair, flat nose, thick lips, and bulging eyes are features typical of Roman depictions of Africans. The archaeologists are, however, less certain of the statuette's function. It was found near what may have been a sanctuary to mother goddesses, but it is impossible to say whether it was a votive offering or a toy.

Nero, the Great Charioteer

Suetonius wrote: “From his earliest years, he had a special passion for horses and talked constantly about the games in the Circus, though he was forbidden to do so [By his guardians and teachers]. Once, when he was lamenting with his fellow pupils the fate of a charioteer of the "Greens," who was dragged by his horses, and his preceptor scolded him, he told a lie and pretended that he was talking of Hector. At the beginning of his reign he used to play every day with ivory chariots on a board, and he came from the country to all the games, even the most insignificant, at first secretly, and then so openly that no one doubted that he would be in Rome on that particular day. He made no secret of his wish to have the number of prizes increased, and in consequence more races were added and the performance was continued to a late hour, while the managers of the troupes no longer thought it worthwhile to produce their drivers at all except for a full day's racing. [Source: Suetonius (c.69-after 122 A.D.) : “De Vita Caesarum: Nero: ” (“The Lives of the Caesars: Nero”), written in A.D. 110, 2 Vols., translated by J. C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library (London: William Heinemann, and New York: The MacMillan Co., 1914), II.87-187, modernized by J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton]

“He soon longed to drive a chariot himself and even to show himself frequently in public; so after a trial exhibition in his gardens before his slaves and the dregs of the populace, he gave all an opportunity of seeing him in the Circus Maximus, one of his freedmen dropping the napkin [the signal for the start] from the place usually occupied by the magistrates. Not content with showing his proficiency in these arts at Rome, he went to Achaia, as I have said, influenced especially by the following consideration. The cities in which it was the custom to hold contests in music had adopted the rule of sending all the lyric prizes to him. These he received with the greatest delight, not only giving audience before all others to the envoys who brought them, but even inviting them to his private table. When some of them begged him to sing after dinner and greeted his performance with extravagant applause, he declared that "the Greeks were the only ones who had an ear for music and that they alone were worthy of his efforts." So he took ship without delay and immediately on arriving at Cassiope made a preliminary appearance as a singer at the altar of Jupiter Cassius, and then went the round of all the contests. “To make this possible, he gave orders that even those which were widely separated in time should be brought together in a single year, so that some had even to he given twice.

On the parade Nero ordered up himself after his victories at the Olympics, Suetonius wrote: “Returning from Greece, since it was at Neapolis that he had made his first appearance, he entered that city with white horses through a part of the wall which had been thrown down, as is customary with victors in the sacred games. In like manner he entered Antium, then Albanum, and finally Rome; but at Rome he rode in the chariot which Augustus had used in his triumphs in days gone by, and wore a purple robe and a Greek cloak adorned with stars of gold, bearing on his head the Olympic crown and in his right hand the Pythian, while the rest were carried before him with inscriptions telling where he had won them and against what competitors, and giving the titles of the songs or the subject of the plays. His car was followed by his clique as by the escort of a triumphal procession, who shouted that they were the attendants of Augustus and the soldiers of his triumph. Then through the arch of the Circus Maximus, which was thrown down, he made his way across the Velabrum and the Forum to the Palatine and the temple of Apollo. All along the route victims were slain, the streets were sprinkled from time to time with perfume, while birds, ribbons, and sweetmeats were showered upon him.He placed the sacred crowns in his bed chamber around his couches, as well as statues representing him in the guise of a lyre-player; and he had a coin, too, struck with the same device. So far from neglecting or relaxing his practice of the art after this, he never addressed the soldiers except by letter or in a speech delivered by another, to save his voice; and he never did anything for amusement or in earnest without an elocutionist by his side, to warn him to spare his vocal organs and hold a handkerchief to his mouth. To many men he offered his friendship or announced his hostility, according as they had applauded him lavishly or grudgingly.”

Critics of Roman Chariot Racing

David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: For all its popularity, chariot racing did have its critics. Long before Christian polemicists like Tertullian singled out the immorality of the racecourse, pre-Christian Romans expressed discomfort with the games in general. In a letter written in the early second century, Pliny the Younger writes of the fans at chariot races: There might be some reason for their enthusiasm if it was the speed of the horses or the skill of the drivers that was the attraction, but it is the racing-colors which they favour . . . Such is the influence and authority vested in one cheap tunic. [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

For all the distaste they felt, influential Romans also knew that the races, and games in general, were interwoven into Roman state power. On taking the office of aedile in 69 B.C., the orator Cicero had to swear to uphold the games for the people of Rome. Later, in his treatise On Moral Duties (44 B.C.), however, he argued that the practice whereby rich rulers buy public favor through lavish entertainment is imprudent: “gratifying to boys, and weak women, and slaves, and to free men who bear the nearest resemblance to slaves.” The idea that the races, and games, were a tool for social control was most memorably expressed by the early second-century author Juvenal. In one of his satires, he writes about how easy it was for politicians to buy influence with voters, who“anxiously hope for just two things: bread and circuses.”

On the views of the great Roman emperors towards the sport, neither Trajan nor Hadrian had succumbed to this criminal mania; and the day was at hand when the philosopher Marcus Aurelius would congratulate himself on his indifference to "gaming." But the multitude of their subjects was possessed by the passion for gambling, and even the best of the emperors turned it to his own advantage. The excitement which people had sought in politics they sought now in the races. Their stakes were laid no longer in the Forum but in the circus, whose "factions" had become a substitute for the ancient political parties. This mania was unquestionably the symbol of a moral decline, and we can well understand that it cast a cloud on the patriotic pride of a Juvenal and the lofty wisdom of a Marcus Aurelius. At the same time we must recognise that it sprang from the need of the masses for something to stir their blood, and that the imperial regime showed skill in diverting it to the maintenance of its own stability and the preservation of the public peace.[Source: “Daily Life in Ancient Rome: the People and the City at the Height the Empire” by Jerome Carcopino, Director of the Ecole Franchise De Rome Member of the Institute of France, Routledge 1936]

Pliny the Younger, who says nothing about his contemporaries' passion for the theater, deplores their craze for the circus: "Such favor, such weighty influence, hath one worthless (charioteer's) tunic I say nothing of the vulgar herd, more worthless than the tunic but with certain grave personages. When I observe such men thus insatiably fond of so silly, so low, so uninteresting, so common an entertainment, I congratulate myself that I am insensible to these pleasures."

Christianity Dooms Chariot Racing

David Álvarez wrote in National Geographic History: As the Roman Empire grew larger, chariot racing expanded throughout its provinces. By the fourth century, the factional system of color-based racing teams was firmly established, especially in Constantinople, which had become the capital city of the Roman Empire in A.D. 330. Constantine the Great rebuilt the city’s hippodrome and expanded its capacity to seat as many as 100,000 people. The Circus Maximus was still bigger, but the Hippodrome became the center of life in the new Roman capital. The Reds and the Whites would eventually disappear, but the Blues and the Greens grew stronger and emerged as the leading factions. Also by the fourth century, a tradition had established itself linking certain charioteers with sorcery. Historian Ammianus Marcellinus recounts the execution of a fourth-century charioteer in Rome for this crime, perhaps reflecting the widespread belief that charioteers lived beyond the bounds of respectable society. Chariot racing was both fantastically popular and morally suspect—negative associations that also fed into the growing Christian antipathy to the sport. [Source David Álvarez, National Geographic History, June 24, 2021]

St. John Chrysostom became Archbishop of Constantinople in A.D. 398, fewer than 20 years after the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion. In a fiery homily, the furious archbishop reported that Christian believers had left the fold,“deserting us for the spectacle of horse racing.” He ended with an ultimatum: Anyone attending the races would be excommunicated. His warnings were in vain. By the fifth century, chariot racing in Constantinople underwent an evolution: As Christianity stabilized, the controversies of the new state faith were absorbed into the local charioteering rivalries.

Historians differ on the extent to which Christianity drove the intense hostility between the Blue and the Greens in Constantinople. As a general rule the Blues were associated with the establishment and orthodox Christian beliefs, while the Greens styled themselves as closer to the people. It was in this setting that the so-called Nika riots engulfed Constantinople. Factional tension was intensified by the emperor Justinian I’s allegiance to the Blues, and the fact that his wife, Theodora, belonged to a family of circus performers, formerly Greens, who had switched their allegiance to the Blues.

Tension over taxation attached itself to the Green-Blue enmity, and in A.D. 532 Justinian had people from both factions killed. Greens and Blues found common cause, and they turned the exhortatory hippodrome cry of “Nika, Nika!—Win, Win!” against the emperor himself. As disorder spread, Theodora boldly took the initiative and sent in mercenaries to slaughter Greens and Blues indiscriminately. The Nika riots left as many as 30,000 dead and effectively broke the power of the factions. Amid religious tensions and civil war in the Byzantine Empire, the appetite for racing started to decline at the end of the sixth century.

In Rome, the last official race was held at the Circus Maximus in 549, in a city then under control of the Ostrogoths. Charioteering had run a long race, but the experiences of Rome’s racing fans are a foundation for the potent mix of camaraderie and tension experienced in stadiums all over the world today.

Motorcycle Chariot Racing

Shawn Henry wrote in Backfire News: In the annals of motorcycle history, there exists a chapter so peculiar and thrilling it seems born of fiction: motorcycle chariot racing. This spectacle, which found its inception in the 1920s, saw motorcycles harnessed to chariots, racing around dirt tracks to the roar of captivated audiences. Drawing inspiration from the cinematic success of "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ," this sport ingeniously melded ancient Roman grandeur with the burgeoning era of motorization, primarily flourishing in Australia, yet captivating audiences from New Zealand to the United States and Europe. [Source: Shawn Henry, Backfire News, February 28, 2024]

The allure of motorcycle chariot racing lay not just in its speed and competition but also in its theatrical presentation. Racers, adorned in Romanesque costumes, evoked the epic tales of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, their robes billowing as they charged around the track. The chariots, sometimes powered by multiple motorcycles welded together, offered a spectacle of speed and daring maneuverability unlike any other.

However, the innovation of motorcycle chariots wasn't without its dangers. Steering these "modern steeds" was a feat of precision and bravery, achieved through ropes tied to the handlebars or, in more complex setups, by directing the rider from the chariot itself. This precarious method of control added an element of unpredictability and excitement, heightening the spectacle for an audience thrilled by the defiance of death.

Despite its popularity, the advent of World War II marked the decline of motorcycle chariot racing, and with time, its memory faded into obscurity. Yet, its spirit endures, with modern enthusiasts attempting to revive the sport, albeit on a smaller scale. These contemporary renditions, incorporating minibikes and other modern twists, suggest a lingering fascination with the daring and spectacle of motorcycle chariot racing.

Motorcycle chariot racing stands as a testament to human creativity and our eternal quest for entertainment that pushes the boundaries of adrenaline and spectacle. As we look back on this unique chapter in motorcycle history, we're reminded of the timeless allure of speed, competition, and the theatrical display of human courage and ingenuity. Perhaps, in an era ripe for the reimagining of entertainment, the revival of motorcycle chariot racing could recapture the hearts of a new generation, eager to witness the fusion of history, technology, and sheer audacity.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901) ; “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932); BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history/ ; Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Live Science, Discover magazine, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, The New Yorker, Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com and various other books, websites and publications.

Last updated November 2024