When did chariot racing first appear in ancient Greek history?
Images on pottery from thirteenth century BC Mycenaean Greece show chariots racing. The first literary account appears in Homer's Iliad during the funeral games for Patroclus.
Images on pottery from thirteenth century BC Mycenaean Greece show chariots racing. The first literary account appears in Homer's Iliad during the funeral games for Patroclus.
Chariot races were added to the program by 680 BC according to Pausanias. A four-horse chariot called the tethrippon ran twelve laps around a track that stretched approximately 780 meters long and 320 meters wide.
Julius Caesar rebuilt it around 50 BC to a length of about 480 meters. Seating capacity reached roughly 150,000 spectators before later expansions.
Gaius Appuleius Diocles won 1,462 out of 4,257 races during his career. His lifetime winnings reportedly totaled over 35 million sesterces excluding driver fees.
The Nika riots of 532 AD saw thousands killed by military retribution after factions united against imperial rule. Procopius viewed the affair as a failure of imperial troops to govern their people effectively.
The last known race at the Circus Maximus was staged in 549 by Ostrogothic king Totila. Public entertainments in Italy ended in all but a few towns by the fourth century.