ancientpeoples:Roman Chariot Teams and Their SportIntroductionIn Ancient Rome, entertainment had a d
ancientpeoples:Roman Chariot Teams and Their SportIntroductionIn Ancient Rome, entertainment had a dual effect: it allowed the ruling class to distract the mass of unemployed lower class citizens who had nothing else to do except cause trouble, or so they thought, and it genuinely entertained the Romans and gave them something to cheer for. What were they cheering for you may ask? Their favorite chariot team or even chariot driver. The chariot teams of ancient Rome were not unlike sports clubs of the modern era: scouting, training, and even trading drivers. In the later empire, chariot racing became big business and if a driver was lucky and successful enough he could become a very wealthy man, even catch the eye of the emperor! However, chariot racing was not all pomp and circumstance, it was as dangerous, if not more so than fighting in the gladiatorial arena. With little protection and lots of opportunity for danger, the life expectancy of chariot drivers was extremely low. The arena he raced in was designed to bring the chariots as close as possible, causing inevitable collisions that led to the crushing of limbs and loss of life. And yet the risk was worth it for the glory, fame, and riches one would receive if victorious.Welcome to the CircusThe circus was the Roman arena used for chariot racing, and the most important was the Circus Maximus in Rome. It is estimated that the Circus Maximus could seat nearly 150,000 people. The Circus Maximus had a distinctive form with parallel sides and one semi-circular end fitted with tiered seating, and with twelve starting gates (carceres) at the open end. The carceres were spring-loaded allowing a simultaneous start for each chariot. Down the center of the racecourse ran a long central barrier (spina) marked at the end with conical turning-posts (metae) and decorated by Augustus with obelisks and other monuments, including the movable eggs and dolphins which marked the ends of the seven laps in each race. The skilled charioteer would attempt to corner the meta as tightly as possible sometimes grazing it and sometimes causing a collision. The first chariot to complete seven laps was the victor.Suit Up, Your Chariot AwaitsSurviving figurines and other representations show that the typical racing chariot was more like a basket on wheels. Racing chariots were designed to be as small and lightweight as possible, which afforded little support or protection for the charioteer, who basically had to balance himself on the axle as he drove. The most commonly raced were the four-horse chariots (quadrigae), however two-horse (bigae) and three-horse (trigae) chariots were raced as well. The best and most experienced horse on a team was usually harnessed on the left, where he could help the other horses negotiate the tight turns. The charioteers (aurigae) drove standing upright in their chariots, wearing a belted, short tunic, protective bands around his waist, and a light helmet or cap. A charioteer wrapped the reins around his waist, therefore, in the event of a crash, he had a curved knife fastened to his tunic in order to cut himself free. He would brace his entire body against the reins, steering the chariot by shifting his weight, and using the left hand to correct the course while holding the whip in his right hand.Choose Your Favorite ColorThe four Roman racing companies or stables (factiones) were known by the racing colors worn by their charioteers: the greens (Prasini), the reds (Russata), the whites (Albata) and the blues (Veneta). According to Tertullian, the colors represented the four seasons, which possibly corresponded to four different gods: the Reds to Mars, the Whites to the West Wind (Zephyrus), the Greens to Mother Earth (Terra Mater), and the Blues to the Sky and Sea (Iuppiter et Neptunus). By 70 BC, the Reds and Whites were established factiones. The Blues and Greens were formed during or after the reign of Augustus. Two other factiones were created by the emperor Domitian, the Purples and Golds, however they disappeared soon after his death. Each factio had its own scouts for finding talented drivers and horses, and each stable was passionately supported. Much like modern sports, drivers did not stay on one team throughout their entire career. A certain Gaius Appuleius Diocles began driving for the Whites at the age of eighteen; after six years, he switched to the Greens for three years, and then drove fifteen years for the Reds before retiring at the age of forty-two. In addition, some emperors were major supporters of specific factiones; the emperor Caligula was a huge fan of the Green factio. It is said that Caligula spent long periods of time with the horses and charioteers of the Greens, even eating with them in their stable. Nero was also a huge fan of chariot racing and even raced a chariot himself on occasion.Agitaturi Te Salutant (Those Who are About to Drive Salute You)When the maximum amount of chariots participated in a race, twelve, things could get dangerous. Three chariots from each factio would race together, working as a team to make sure that their best driver claimed the victory. Ramming other chariots outright was seen as bad form and would lose a driver points with the fans, therefore drivers on the same team would work together to cut other teams off when making their tight turns at the meta. The tight corners of the metae could make or break a driver, if he was going too fast he may collide with the meta instead of grazing it and gaining the inside track. The driver needed to be skilled in managing the precise speed and control over his horses, especially his best horse on the far left, the inability to do so could lead to an early death. Several chariot drivers died at a young age: Scorpus, who the Roman poet Martial wrote two epigrams about (Book X, L & LIII), died at the age of twenty-seven most likely from a crash at the meta. Other ages of deaths are recorded for chariot drivers, “Fuscus at 24, Crescens at 22, Aurelius Mollicius at 20,” which shows that many chariot drivers did not make it out of their mid-twenties. However, the risk was well worth it: very successful charioteers became some of the richest men in Rome. Diocles, who was mentioned before, earned 35,863,120 sestertii over his entire racing career.The Fans“I am the more astonished that so many thousands of grown men should be possessed again and again with a childish passion to look at galloping horses, and men standing upright in their chariots. If, indeed, they were attracted by the swiftness of the horses or the skill of the men, one could account for this enthusiasm. But in fact it is a bit of cloth they favor, a bit of cloth that captivates them. And if during the running the racers were to exchange colors, their partisans would change sides, and instantly forsake the very drivers and horses whom they were just before recognizing from afar, and clamorously saluting by name.” — Pliny the Younger.For the audience, the sequence of events about to unfold before their eyes were both enormously popular and highly partisan, which gave way to a sense of high drama and compelling spectacle. The audience had to sit closely packed together in narrow rows, and therefore there would have been a physical sense of unity; in the Circus, men and women were allowed to sit together, and the social orders intermingled. This blurring of social barriers represented the entire Roman people coming together for unparallelled spectacle. The public adored their favorite factio and stayed loyal to their colors no matter what, a point that Pliny makes clear. The fanatic partisanship of the fans led them to make curse tablets against rival factiones: “Help me in the Circus on the eighth of November. Bind every limb, every sinew, the shoulders, the ankles and the elbows of Olympus, Olympianus, Scortius and Juvencus, the charioteers of the Red. Torment their minds, their intelligence and their senses so that they may not know what they are doing, and knock out their eyes so that they may not see where they are going—neither they nor the horses they are going to drive.” Also, the public could gamble at the chariot races, one of the few places betting was legal, therefore lots of money exchanged hands at the circus. The fans enthusiasm for their favorite factio, the high stakes riding on the races, and the free flowing wine led to furor circensis (Circus Madness), which gave way to a hooligan like atmosphere. There are recorded instances of charioteers being arrested and as a result fans rioting throughout the city. The most famous example of this is the Nika Riot in Constantinople, however this was not the only instance. -- source link