Chariot Racing in the Ancient World
Author: Dirk Bennett
History Today
Issue: Dec, 1997
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Dirk Bennett sheds new light on the origin and history of chariot racing as a sport, and explores its popular and political role from pre-classical Greece to the fall of the Roman Empire.
Antilochos the fourth driver, the glorious son of Nestor, that king of lofty heart, the son of Neleus, got ready his horses with gleaming coats. Swift horses born in the land of Pylos drew his chariot.
And his father, standing by his side, giving good advice to one who was himself naturally prudent, spoke wisely thus: `Antilochos, although you are very young, Zeus and Poseidon have both loved you and taught you all kinds of skills at driving a chariot; therefore we need not teach you, for you know how skilfully to turn around the post. But your horses are the slowest. I therefore think that the race will be sorrowful to you. True, their horses are swifter, but the drivers do not know more than you. And so, my son, contrive a plan in your heart, so that the prize will not elude you ... Drive chariot and horses so close to this (the post) as to graze it, and lean the wellwrought car slightly to the left horse, and calling upon the right horse by name, prick him with your goad and let out its reins from your hand. Let your horses graze the post so that the hub of the well fashioned wheel will seem to touch it. But avoid making contact with the stone, so that you will not injure your horses and wreck your chariot, which would be a joy for your opponents and a distress to you'.
(Homer, Iliad 23, 334-348)
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Horse racing, the ancient equivalent to Formula One, does not, however, begin here. The history of equestrian sports could change our perception of the ancient world in general, and our idea of Greece as the cradle of European civilisation in particular. In fact, when the first horses appeared from Central Asia in Mesopotamian and near Eastern societies in the 2nd millennium BC, Greece and Italy, as well as the rest of Europe, lay very much on the outskirts of the civilised world.
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In the beginning there was no question about using the animals in sport. However, a technological revolution in warfare comparable maybe to the introduction of battle tanks in the twentieth century took place that was to have a far reaching and lasting impact. The old chariots pulled by mules or oxen did not stand a chance against the swift new horse-vehicles. The armies of the empires of Sumer, Egypt, Ur, the Hittites and others increasingly relied on contingents of charioteers. In the battle of Kadesh (c. 1275 BC), the Hittite army consisted of 20,000 soldiers, 3,500 of whom were charioteers. It is roughly at this time that we get the first hint that chariots must have been known to the predecessors of the classical Greeks. In a letter to the `Wanax Agamemnon' the great Hittite king mentions that the brother of the Greek king, Eteokles, had been riding on the same chariot with his driver. Even if this is not Homer's Agamemnon, this letter is a strong indication that Homer, in the Iliad, does not simply write from the point of view of his times (ie c. seventh century BC), as some might have it, but actually describes a much older society.
All of this, however, is little proof of the use of horses in a sporting environment. There are leisurely activities like hunting or shooting at targets from chariots by the great kings of Persia, the Egyptian pharaobs or the Hittite kings, but they have little to do with what we would regard as real competitive sport. These pastimes served more as imperial propaganda, displaying the skills and strength of the rulers.
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To find the origins of actual chariot racing we have to turn to Greece and the islands of the Aegean. In the fourteenth to twelfth centuries BC, first the Minoan, and later the Mycenean, culture inhabited what was subsequently seen as the cradle of European civilisation. The ongoing excavations and exciting discoveries of the last hundred years are still changing our view of the world before the classic age. They have also shed some light on the development of horse racing as a sport. Finds in the archives of the cities of Knossos, Mycene, Tiryos and Pylos illustrate the richness of their rulers, the administration of their realms and the structure of their societies.
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The inventories of the place of Pylos for example contain not only livestock and precious goods, but -- and this is of particular importance for us -- hundreds of spoked wheels. The same applies to the tables found in Tiryos, Mycene and Knossos. We read about wheels and chariots, and of their number and condition. Additionally, discoveries of clay models give an idea of their shape and even the different types in use. Still, we could not be sure about their use other than in warfare without further proof: a number of fragments of pottery from Tiryos show two or more chariots, obviously in the middle of a race. The vehicles, a turning post and the flowing hair of the charioteers can all be seen.
This is a clear indication that chariot racing existed as a sport from as early as the thirteenth century BC. The other `evidence' is well known -- the Iliad and numerous other Greek legends that describe it. For example, the tale about the notorious King Oinomaos of Olympia is said to describe the origins of the Olympic Games: In order to win the hand of his daughter, the suitor had to beat him in a chariot race, otherwise the unlucky contestant had to suffer death at the hands of Oinomaos. The hero Pelops managed to win the attractive prize, but only by replacing the nails which held the wheels of the king's chariot with some made of wax. The result of this sabotage was the destruction of the chariot and the death of the king. Thus the most famous games in the world began with a fraud.
Illustrations and legends also make clear that many of the early races took place in funerary surroundings. In the Iliad, for example, games are held to honour the fallen Patroklos, friend of Achilles. It also gives an idea of the enormous prizes which could be won:
First he (Achilles) ordered the noble
prizes to be set aside for the swift
charioteers. The first prize was a woman
skilled in graceful handicraft and a tripod
with two handles holding twenty-two
measures. And for second, he
designated an unbroken mare, six years
old, carrying in her womb a mule foal.
And for third prize he set aside a handsome
kettle that had never been put
over the fire, holding four measures,
still as bright as it was on the day it was
made; and for fourth he set aside two
talents of gold; and for fifth he put a
double cup which had never been put
over the fire ...
Thus it seems certain that horse racing took place at least in the thirteenth to twelfth centuries BC. After that the attacks of the 'Sea People' and the `Doric Migration' put an end to Mycenean civilisation. Both terms and both phenomena have come under scrutiny recently and are nowadays only used with caution to describe events which led to the so-called `Dark Ages'. This period, characterised by a lack of sources, stretches roughly to the eighth century BC. From then on begins the Archaic Age which lays the foundations for the classical culture as we know it. From this time the archaeological sources begin to flow again: chariot races are depicted on late Geometric vases, and in 680 BC we see the official birth of chariot racing as a sport when it was included in the programme of the Olympic Games. This development is also remarkable as a turning point in social history: formerly the leisurely occupation of a few aristocrats (and before that of kings), the chariots were now increasingly driven by professionals. Nevertheless, although the chariot owners mostly did not actually drive themselves, victory always belonged to them, not to the drivers -- a parallel to racing programmes today which list owners first, then horses and lastly jockeys.
As a result of the rise of the Greek cities of the classic period, other great festivals emerged. There were literally hundreds of competitions in Asia Minor, Magna Graecia and the mainland providing the opportunity for athletes to gain fame and riches. Apart from the Olympics, the best respected were the `Crown Games', the Isthmians in Corinth, the Zeus Games at Nemea, the Pythians in Delphi and the Panatheneans. This last name derives from the attributes for the winners -- wreaths of laurel, olive, pine and wild fennel. But these were only the official signs of victory. More substantially, for example, in Athens the victorious charioteers received up to 140 amphorae of olive oil (much sought after and precious in ancient times). Prizes at other competitions included corn in Eleusis, bronze shields in Argos and silver vessels in Marathon.
In addition, the returning athletes gained various benefits in their native towns, like tax exemptions, free clothing and meals and even prize money. A winner from Athens obtained 500 drachmas, the equivalent of a year's wages for a craftsman. Statues in precious metals were erected in their honour and they were often granted political posts, priesthoods and honorary offices.
An even more professional approach to sport came when the hippodromes were taken over by the new political power, Rome, a change which was also to have deep social and cultural impact. Here horse racing had allegedly been introduced by the former Etruscan kings -- Romulus or, other sources say, Tarquinius Priscus, who after Livius laid the foundations for the Circus Maximus. For the first few centuries of the city, however, racing as sport was slow to take off, perhaps understandable in a `res publica' mostly inhabited by peasants and in constant conflict with its surrounding neighbours. After the defeat of the Carthaginians, the expansion towards the Greek south of Italy and the arrival on the Greek mainland, from the third to the second centuries BC, unimaginable riches began to flow to Rome. The privileged citizenry of the capital had to be amused and kept at bay. Thus began the rise of a `leisure industry' which was to coincide with the decline of the Greek festivals.
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The history of the first century AD is of decades of civil war, during which the changing political leaders used games as a political means to draw the support of the masses. It was also at this time that the factiones first appear; parties supporting different racing stables distinct by colour: green, blue, red and white -- and later for a short time, purple and gold. Finally, under the emperors, the phenomenon of `bread and circuses' came into play and the circus became the favourite public form of entertainment. The growing attraction of the circus is evident in the increasing use of racing motifs on items of everyday use, on mosaics, wall paintings, and in funeral art, where putt), goddesses, fauns, in short every living form, were put into the context of racing.
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The masses who gathered divided into their favourite colours. The seating order reflected the different strata of Roman society with the first rows reserved for senators, high ranking officials and the Vestal Virgins. Then came the knights, the guilds and colleges and finally the common people. Even the different orders of priests had their own place.
The more the citizens of Rome lost their former political role and influence to the emperors the more they were drawn to the races. It is no accident that circuses all over the Roman world were built close to the local palaces of the emperors or officials. The pulvinar, or kathisma, the royal box, which in the new circus of Constantinople replaced the tribunal, was the place where the emperor was expected to appear on certain occasions, and, even if he did not watch the races, at least to open them by throwing the mappa -- a piece of cloth. A number of vivid descriptions exist telling how the audience -- in the Circus Maximus between 100,000-250,000 -- noisily greeted the emperor, addressed him with thoroughly orchestrated chants, gained benefits, had officials suspended or simply expressed their dedication to their rulers. It was here where political events and personalities were discussed and approval or discontent expressed. Often enough riots broke out in the heated atmosphere of the races with horrific results.
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A number of yearly calendars listing public holidays, festivals and celebrations give us an idea of the programmes and extent of the races. One of them, the so-called calendar of Philocalus, quotes no less than 180 public holidays in Rome for the year 354 AD, all of which included races. The number increased from only a few to twelve and later up to twenty-four races a day in the fifth and sixth centuries AD. Horse racing proved no less popular in the Christian era than in the pagan centuries before. However, with the decline of the Roman empire, it eventually disappeared in the east. A print of the Hippodrome in Constantinople from the fifteenth century shows a derelict site, a few walls still standing, the spina (central reservation) robbed of its splendour. Today only obelisks and the Serpent Column stand where for centuries the spectators gathered.
One might ask why the concentration was so heavily on chariot racing? The answer is simple: horse racing was not as widespread and attractive to the ancient public. At the local Greek games some races of this kind took place -- the best known are probably the Apobatoi competitions of the Panathenians -- but compared with the masses who went to the chariot races they had comparably little attraction.
The design of hippodromes and chariots throws significant light on both the inventiveness and technical capabilities of contemporary engineers and builders. However, it was not before the Romans took up chariot racing that massive changes and improvements took place. Hardly anything is left of the Classical Greek sites, even in Olympia where the most important races took place. The ancient traveller Pausanias describes the site, which he saw in the second century AD:
As one passes out of the stadium ... one
comes to the hippodrome and the
starting gate for the horses This starting
gate looks like the forepart of a
ship, with the projecting bows pointing
towards the track. The prow is the
widest where it is nearest the Stoa of
Agnaptos; at the very tip of the projection
is a bronze dolphin on a pole.
Each wing of the gate, with the stalls
built into it, is more than 400 feet long.
The entrants for the equestrian events
consists of a cord passing through the
stalls. For each Olympiad a plinth of
unbaked brick is built at about the
middle of the prow, and on this plinth
is a bronze eagle with its wings fully
extended. The starter works the mechanism
on the plinth when it is set in
motion, it causes the eagle to jump up
so it becomes visible to the spectator,
while the dolphin falls to the ground.
The traps at each end ... open first ...
(Pausanias VI, XX. p10)
One after the other the chariots were released with the ones in the middle starting last. After 320m in straight lanes, a trumpet was blown, on which signal they were allowed to leave the lanes and the race began in earnest. Now they entered the U-shaped course itself, marked by two turning posts, in Greek `nyssa', with a distance of three stadiums between them, i.e. 576m. It seems most likely that there were short, middle and long distance races. Apart from these, there were different disciplines, like two- and four-handed races, or different animals were raced; foals, mares, stallions, mules and asses. It has been suggested that races with female drivers took place but this seems unlikely.
Many of the Greek local games survived throughout antiquity, attracting participants and spectators from far and wide. The last Olympic chariot races took place around a thousand years after they began.
The racing in the Roman era was altogether different. Its main aim was to attract and distract the masses. Although the Circus Maximus -- the most famous race course of the Roman Empire for centuries -- has disappeared under later buildings, we have a very good idea of the scale and design of these buildings. This is partly because Roman-style chariot racing spread throughout the Mediterranean. Almost every town had its own racecourse. The best preserved circuses today are probably the one in Leptis Magna in modern Libya and the Circus of Maxentius besides the by Ovid, Cassiodor, Sidonius and many others, inscriptions, the Forma many others, inscriptions, the Forma Urbis (a third century marble map of Rome) and the obelisk of Theodosius help complete the picture.
Like the hippodrome, the course resembled a stretched `U', with a long starting straight and the actual racecourse. Other than in Greece, however, the chariots started from a curved line leaving the stalls, the carceres, twelve in the Circus Maximus, in marked lanes. On contemporary sarcophagi we can see the carceres, closed by barred doors, and above them, in the middle of the stalls, the tribunal editoris, the box of the official in whose name the games were held. A white line marked the point from where the lanes could be left. Everybody then headed for the best position to enter the track at the near turning post, the meta. This was connected to its corresponding post by a highly decorative structure, called the spine, which separated the two halves of the track. A historian who witnessed the fall of Constantinople in 1204 describes the decorative objects that graced the hippodrome, such as the famous horses above the carceres, which can be seen today in Venice, the Serpent Column, statues of the `star-driver' Porphyrius, the obelisks of the Theodosian dynasties and so forth. Some places included a waterchannel, used to water the sand of the arena, a highly dangerous duty carried out by little boys, the sparsores. On the spine of the Circus Maximus there also was a counting device, a combination of rising and falling figures (silver eggs and dolphins) which indicated the laps. Around the spine the chariots made their laps, accompanied by hortatores and moratores, who had to spur on or slow down the horses of the chariots as the situation required.
It is amazing how many of the participants, horses and drivers alike, are still known to us by name -- a fact that illustrates their importance during their lifetimes. For them poems were written, statues erected, names preserved in winner's lists, or handed down by historians. In early Greek times we find the names of many local rulers on the lists, the tyrants of Sicily, kings of Sparta, of Pergamon etc, and later wealthy tradesman and politicians. In Rome the race courses and the fame clearly belonged to the jockeys. One of the earlier celebrities of the track was Scorpus, active at the end of the first century AD, who was honoured with an epitaph by the poet Martial:
I am Scorpus, the glory of the roaring
circus, the object of Rome's cheers, and
her short-lived darling. The Fates,
counting not my years but the number
of my victories, judged me to be an old
man.
And impressive his record was at the time of his premature death -- almost certainly on the race course -- for he had won 2,048 races. Racing was a dangerous sport, and a number of epitaphs tell the stories of drivers who died in their mid-twenties. The clothing of the drivers clearly did not provide enough protection: a helmet, leather cuirass over the tunic in the colours of their team, and trousers which were sometimes strengthened with leather and greaves. But then, what could have protected them when their chariots, as often happened, collided or crashed against the barriers? The drivers were lucky if they managed to cut themselves free from the reins which they usually had looped around their waists.
Probably the most famous charioteer of the Roman world was Porphyrios Calliopas. Born in Libya, he was brought up and taught his dangerous business in Constantinople shortly before 500 AD. He started racing at an early age, probably younger than eighteen (though this was not exceptionally young for a charioteer) in the great hippodrome of Constantinople which had by then taken over from the Circus Maximus in Rome as the centre of chariot racing. In the more than forty years of his career Porphyrios became so successful that at least six statues were erected for him on the spine of the hippodrome in Constantinople, three by the Greens and three by the Blues. It was not uncommon for drivers to change between the Blues and Greens and also the minor stables of the Reds and Whites during their career. A speciality of Porphyrios' was the diversium. In order to prove his outstanding supremacy over the other jockeys he used to swap chariots with them during the race -- and still win.
The drivers were well travelled. Porphyrios is reported to have raced in Alexandria, Constantinople and Antioch, where he was the catalyst to an infamous incident that took place in 507 AD. Here he had been engaged by the local Green party to help them back to a winning streak after a long row of defeats -- a turn-about he promptly achieved. Incensed by the success of their opponents the Blues rampaged through the city to the noble suburbs of Daphne where a synagogue was set alight. After a series of battles against the Greens imperial troops were brought in and the situation finally defused. We do not know of the consequences of this fracas, but for Porphyrios it did not seem to hinder his career in the long run. Years later we find him defending the Emperor Anastasius against the attempt of the usurper, Vitalian, on the walls of Constantinople. He was probably still involved in racing when the Nika incident took place in 532 AD, one of the worst riots ever to break out at the circus, which left some 30,000 dead.
The horses became almost as famous as the drivers, like one appropriately named Victor, belonging to the second-century champion, Publius Aelius Gutta Calpurnianus. The poet Martial complains about the fame of `Andraemon' (horse of the aforementioned Scorpus) being bigger than his own. On mosaics horses are often depicted with their names -- Romulus, Jubilator, Lupus (Wolf) etc. The names of his horses accompany Porphyrios on the bases of his statues, such as Nikopolemos, Radiatos, Halieus, Anthypathos, Aristides, Palaestiniarches and his two favourites, Pyrros and Euthynikos.
Now let me describe the mass of
people, unemployed and with too
much time on their hands ... For them
the Circus Maximus is a temple, home,
community centre and the fulfilment of
all their hopes. All over the city you can
see them quarrelling fiercely about the
races ... They declare that the country
will be ruined if at the next meeting
their own particular champion does
not come first out of the starting-gate
and keep his horses in line as he brings
them round the post. Before dawn on a
race day they all rush headlong for a
place on the terraces at such a speed
that they could almost beat the chariots
themselves.
(Ammianus Marcellinus, XXVIII, iv28)
However, as we have seen these were not simply disorganised masses. The factions were much more than mere `fan clubs' -- their involvement was two-fold. On the one hand, they employed the teams of charioteers, horses, coaches and provided stables, technical and medical support -- in short everything that was needed for the running of a successful winning team. On the other hand, they also rallied the fans. Originally in private hands, from the first century AD onwards, the clubs in Rome were in fact run by the emperors and their officials. They appointed the directors, known as the `domini factionum'. The factions were at their most sophisticated in the Byzantine era. The bureaucracy consisted not only of the demarchoi, the heads and their deputies, but also of notarii, factionarii, archontes, etc, all of whose functions are not entirely clear, but also, significantly, of poets, musicians and conductors, whose duty was to direct the audience in acclamations, applause, chanting and singing against the opposition.
The effect must have been breath-taking and not unlike the spectacle at football stadiums in Naples, Rome, or Milan today. Long before the races started the crowds streamed into the circus. Sun roofs protected them from the heat. While the course was prepared, the ground levelled and sprinkled with water, racing programmes were sold on the terraces, refreshments offered and cushions distributed. Maybe shortly before the event commenced the Emperor would appear in the pulvinar, to the sound of an organ accompanied by elaborate acclamations from the masses: `God is one. Victory to the Romans. Our Lord have pity on us, our Lord is victorious for ever! May the victory of Theodosius grow strong! May the victory of Valentinia Augustus increase! May the victory of our Lords increase ...'
A procession, the `pompa', opened the games. The poet Ovid describes the scene:
But now the parade is coming! Now is
the time to cheer and clap; the golden
procession is here. First is victory with
her wings spread ... Here's Neptune.
Let the sailors applaud him, terra firma
is enough for me. And leave it to the
soldiers to cheer for Mars; I loathe the
violence, I'm all for love and leisure ...
Next comes Venus; she's the one for
my money, she and her cupid with the
bow ...
(Ovid, Amores III, 2)
The procession also included the officials for the race, the umpires, their assistants and the stars of the games -- the chariots manned by the jockeys. Then the chariots of the first, the most important, race would draw lots and take up their places in the traps. All eyes would be on the tribunal or kathisma now. Here stood the steward of the games, mappa in hand -- and as he dropped it, the gates would open and hell break loose -- the chariots racing forward in the straights, towards the nearest meta, where the first collisions would occur. The noise of the crowd must have been overwhelming as the vehicles headed along the spine towards the turning point -- hortatores and moratores galloping alongside, doing their best to support their team. The spectators on the opposite side of the spine, unable to see what was happening, would greet the chariots as they turned the bend, guided by the sinstri funales, the lead horses on the left, with a tremendous roar:
When you had covered the open
stretch of the track, the part where it
narrows and is enclosed by the long
spine with its channel and lap counter
caught you from our gaze. But when
the turn round the far post restored
you to our view, your second string
was in the lead; your two opponents
had passed you, and you were lying
fourth The two drivers in the middle
hoped that the leader would swing out
to the right on one of the turns and
allow them to slip inside him and
secure the inner berth. You kept your
horses reined back, reserving your
effort for the seventh lap. Sweat flew
rom horses and drivers, and the roar
of the crowd grew louder ...
(Sidonius, Carmina XXIII, p360)
Once the horses had passed, officials hastened onto the course to clear it from debris before the chariots reappeared for the next lap and water was sprinkled onto the sand to settle it.
After the race the victorious charioteer was honoured by the actuarius. A lap of honour concluded the first part of the day. Outstanding jockeys, and we can assume that Porphyrius counted among them, additionally won the right to wear the kassidion, a silver helmet. Intervals between the races were filled with performances of jugglers, pantomimes and the dance of the factions. Sometimes a gladiatorial fight might take place, or at least a deer hunt. In the later days even death sentences were carried out in the circus. After an exhausting day watching twenty-four races spectators would leave the stadium in the afternoon. Discussions, heated arguments with members of the other colours, maybe a little fight would take place on the way home, but already expectations for the next day's racing were building up.
Ancient horse racing was much more than just a sport, as we have seen. It performed a key role -- political, social and cultural. It also serves to illustrate how civilisation spread from the old centres in the east to Greece, Rome and finally the European world. But racing in the ancient fashion perished with the decline of the ancient empires only surviving for a short time in the east with the heiress of Ancient Rome, Byzantium.
FOR FURTHER READING:
O. Olivova, Chariot Racing in the Ancient World (Nikephoros 2, 1959); H.A. Harris, Sport in Ancient Greece and Rome (Themes & Hudson, 1972). A. Cameron, Circus Factions, Blues and Greens at Rome and Byzantium (Oxford University Press, 1976).
Dirk Bennett studied ancient history and archaeology at Regensburg University.
COPYRIGHT 1997 History Today Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
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