Some people in the crowd looked for powerful beauty of the stallions, the richness of their accoutrements, perfection of their training and all the agility and bravery of the drivers and riders. Some people watched it because they gambled money into it. A few minorities hated chariot racing. A Roman called Pliny is one of them. He couldn’t understand the appeal of the circus. ‘Chariot races but I am not the least bit interested in that kind of entertainment.’ He explains his point of view by saying ‘There’s never anything new or different.’ He’s amazed by the amount of people who watch it and thinks those people are childish. ‘I am amazed that so many thousands of men time after time have such as childish desire to see horses and men driving chariots.’ He thinks if spectators watch the beauty and running of the horses, then that would be good but complains that isn’t the case. They are only interested in the winning horse. ‘If they were attracted by the speed of the horses or the skill of the drivers, this would not be unreasonable. But as it is, they are interested only in team uniforms.’ Spectators wouldn’t care about the driver or horse but only the colour of the tunic they were wearing which represented the team.
One man didn’t go to the chariot racing events to see the horses but to talk to woman who is sitting next to him. He has no interest in the horse races but the woman. This is taken from a poem that this man wrote. It is called Love Affairs. ‘You watch the races, and I’ll watch you.’ The man is totally obsessed with her and is paying no attention to the races. He is more concerned about her skirt than the horses. ‘Oh dear, your skirt is trailing a bit on the ground. Lift it up, or here, I will do it.’ It is a very hot and sunny day and the poet, Ovid is very uncomfortable in the big crowd. He then imagines himself as one of the charioteers and the woman is cheering for him. He explains how he successfully wins in this imagination. ‘Hurrah, he’s done it! You’ve got what you wanted sweetheart. That only leaves me-do I win too?’ By him, he refers to himself. He expects at the end that he’ll get what he wants from the lady. ‘She’s smiling. There’s a promise in those bright eyes. Let’s leave now. You can pay my bet in private.’
Each race consisted of seven laps. The number of races held in one day was increased to 12 laps in the early empire under Augustus. Under Caligula, the number was doubled to 24 races. Whatever the amount of laps, Romans were keen anyway to watch mainly for their gambling habits. Others appreciated the skills of the drivers, spills and the thrills. There were serious frequent accidents. Deadly nature of the races was one attraction for Roman spectators. They came to the circus expecting and hoping to see crashes and broken, mangled bodies of horses and drivers. Most of them really didn’t care about how they charioteers won, but whether they won. There were four teams, red, white, blue and green each called ‘factio’ which means factions. They were owned by business men like our football teams today.
The Chariot Racing drivers began their careers as slaves. When a driver won a race, his owners were awarded the purse money. These owners most likely would have given a tiny share of the money to the driver. The driver would most likely save enough money to buy his freedom. Some drivers wouldn’t want to leave. There would be successful drivers who would just continue with their driving careers like a man called Gaius Appuleius Diocles. ‘Driver for the red faction. He drove first for the white faction, beginning in AD 122 and won his first victory. In AD 128, he drove for the first time with the green faction. AD 131, he won his first victory for the red faction.’ Charioteers needed to have strength, agility, coolness, severe and early training.
Driving was dangerous. Charioteers had reins wrapped tightly round his body for greater stability. He also carried a knife to cut himself free in case of an accident. Charioteers who had flimsy chariots, with excited horses and trying to control them around sharp corners would be very unlucky.
This source shows the four colour teams in their stables. Top left is the green team, the top right is the red team, the bottom left in the white team and the bottom right is the blue team.
Confident charioteers attempted to crash other charioteers with the risk that they might fall out of the chariot and get run over. ‘His horses lose their balance and fall. Their legs become tangled in the spinning chariot wheels and are snapped and broke. The driver is hurled headlong out of the shattered chariot which then falls on top of him in a heap of twisted wreckage.’ The tactics they used to that were very dangerous. The people who avoided these crashes must have been very skilful at their driving. Others didn’t endanger their lives before the main race started. Some charioteers cursed other drivers in an attempt to win. The following source was found in North Africa.
‘I call upon you, O demon, whoever you are, and ask that from this hour, from this day, from this moment, you torture and kill the horses of the Green and White factions, and that you kill and crush completely the drivers Clarus, Felix, Primulus and Romanus, and that you leave not a breath in their bodies,’
This is a very harsh and disgusting curse and we have no clue whether it came true. I doubt though because I don’t believe in evil spirits, etc. This man obviously didn’t like the four drivers he cursed. They must have been tough competitors.
I think chariot racing in those days are much better than the modern horse racing. For one thing, more people must have liked chariot racing more than today. In those days chariot racing was very dangerous and this was mainly what attracted young viewers and the fact that the Romans loved violence. We live in a more civilized society where we don’t believe in violence and believe in animal rights making modern horse racing so boring and dull. The horses must have been treated and trained more harshly in Roman times than today. Jockeys treat their horses with respect nowadays.
The Roman spectators I think are much uncivilized. The man who was attracted by the woman next to her would have been accused of sexual assault if he did that in modern times. The crowd of modern times are similar to Roman times except the fact that we’re allowed to sit anywhere we want and everyone is equal and more civilized. In Roman times, the crowd would be more interested in the game and would go ballistic if they’re team won.
Modern horse racing follows a strictly organized procedure. Horses are saddled and jockeys mount in the paddock area in full view of the spectators. Often escorted by outriders and riders on lead ponies, the horses are positioned in individual stalls within the starting gate, located at the starting line. When the field, as the entrants are collectively called, is evenly aligned, the starter presses a button to open the stall gates. This is rather similar to Roman chariot racing.
Bibliography
‘Gladiators – the basics’ by Claire Gruzelier
Chariot Racing Sources ‘http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/circus_sources.html’
‘Daily Life in Ancient Rome’ Chapter III ‘The Races’
‘Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome’ Chapter 10 ‘The Races’
‘Sidonius, Apollinaris, Poems 23.323-424
‘Ovid, Love Affairs’ 3.2.1-14, 19-26, 33-38, 43-59 and 61-84
‘Pliny the Younger’ Letters 9.6
CIL 6.10048/10050
‘Martial, Epigrams’ 10.53, 50 (5-8)
