Chariot Racing in the Roman Empire

Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8018-9697-2
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, 208 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 233 mm, Gewicht: 426 g

A massive crowd of people, cloaked in the colors of their beloved athletes, slowly fill a 150,000-seat arena to cheer on their favorite teams. Athletes enter the stadium amid great pomp and circumstance as opposing fans hurl insults at one another and place bets on the day’s outcome. Although this familiar scene might describe a contemporary football game, it also portrays a day at the chariot races in ancient Rome, where racers were the sports stars of the ancient world.

Following close on the heels of his successful book on gladiators, Fik Meijer reveals all there is to know about chariot racing in the Roman Empire. After recounting the Nika riot of 532 AD—where tens of thousands of people were killed after a politically heated tournament of races—Meijer reviews the historical background, organization, and popularity of these games. He profiles the sport’s famous teams, jockeys, and horses and discusses how the whole business fed into the strategy of Juvenal’s “bread and circuses” to keep the citizenry happy.

Expertly translated by Liz Waters, Chariot Racing in the Roman Empire also examines the political importance of these spectacles, where patricians and plebeians alike filled the stadiums. Meijer sees these contests not so much as an opiate for the people but as a political barometer: the Circus Maximus was the only place in the Empire where the supreme leader was confronted with the approval or disapproval of his people.

Meijer makes use of scarce and obscure sources in this lively narrative, describing an exciting race with such enthusiasm readers will feel they are in the stands themselves. From the length of the track and the need to ride small horses, to the risks, techniques, and training methods involved in racing, Meijer recreates ancient Rome’s favorite pastime in impressive detail.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Meijer, Fik

Weitere Mitwirkende

Waters, Liz

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Sport Pferdesport, Tiersportarten Pferderennen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Römische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Chronology
Introduction
1. The Nika Riot: Thirty Thousand Dead in the Hippodrome
2. Chariot Races of the First Century BC and Earlier
3. The Circus Maximus
4. Preparation and Organization
5. A Day at the Circus Maximus
6. The Heroes of the Arena
7. The Spectators
8. Changes around the Racetrack
9. The Heroes of the Hippodrome
10. The Disappearance of Chariot Racing
11. Ben-Hur: Chariot Racing in the Movies
List of Racetracks
Notes
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Meijer, Fik
Fik Meijer is a professor of ancient history at the University of Amsterdam and author of A Sideways Look at Antiquity, St. Paul’s Voyage to Rome, Emperors Don’t Die in Bed, and Gladiators.

Fik Meijer is a professor of ancient history at the University of Amsterdam and author of A Sideways Look at Antiquity, St. Paul’s Voyage to Rome, Emperors Don’t Die in Bed, and Gladiators.