The valley between Rome's Aventine and Palatine hills once held rich agricultural land prone to flooding from the river Tiber. In the Regal era, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus built raised wooden perimeter seating for Rome's highest echelons. His grandson, Tarquinius Superbus, added the first seating for citizen-commoners on the Aventine side of the track. The earliest races occurred within an agricultural landscape featuring nothing more than turning posts and banks where spectators could sit. An open drainage canal likely served as a dividing barrier between the conical stone pillars known as metae. Sloping ground afforded the possibility of turf seating tiers at an early date before later sponsors replaced them with wood.
Games And Public Spectacles
Ludi were public games connected to Roman religious festivals sponsored by leading Romans or the state for the benefit of the populus Romanus. Most events were held annually or at annual intervals on the Roman calendar while others fulfilled religious vows like triumphs. A flamboyant parade called pompa circensis marked the purpose of the games and introduced participants during the greater ludi. Julius Caesar solidified his support through lavish ludi as aedile despite sometimes crippling personal costs. In 167 BC flute players scenic artists and dancers performed on a temporary stage erected between two central seating banks. A venatio held in 169 BC employed 63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants with spectators kept safe by substantial barriers.