Maritza

= **__Circus Maximus__** =

picture from [|bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2009/04/circus-maximus.html]

__Appearance __
The Circus Maximus was located in a valley formed by the Palatine and Aventine hills. It looks like a really really big oval with a with a long barrier (//spina//) running down it's middle. And has two columns: one has marble eggs and the other has Neptune's sacred dolphins.In the middle of the //spina// is a huge obelisk that's 132 feet high and another that is 88 feet tall. It was dedicated the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses the Great. It's measured 621 meters or 2,037 feet long with 118 meters or 387 feet of width. The Circus maximus has lots of rows of seats for the Roman citizens to watch from plus a reserved box like thing ( sky box) for the current rulers that was on the Platine hill. The circus maximus had things that looked like stalls, and in front of the stalls are two small statues of Mercury holding a chain to keep the horses. The circus maximus has 12 gates; 6 on either side. The turning points were called //metea// each were adorned at the end of each course.

__ Events __
The Circus Maximus was used for processions or gladiator combats, but on most days only chariot races were held. These chariots were pulled by four fast horses. Before each game images of gods were in carriges and on men's shoulders. Behind the parade of godly images are attendants on foot or horseback. After each processesion consuls and priests preformed sacred rites. Horses were also held at the Circus Maximus.The winners would get palms like how the Greeks rewarded their victors, but later the the victors were crowned and were given prize money.

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At first the circus maximus was made of wood; it burned down a few times before the Romans decided to rebuild it. They later used cement, which they invented, and marble. Before the Romans made it out of marble the Circus Maximus burned down twice then the stands broke one time and killed many watchers. In 363 B.C. the Tiber river flooded and made the circus games stop. After the======

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flood (199 B.C) Lucius Stertinius made an arch or //fornix// in the circus. In 194 or 5 the censors for the Roman games ordered the circus be made that the senators to be separate from the commoners. The circus maximus is able to hold 250.000 people, at a time plus the ruler or rulers after Caeser rebuilt it. The circus maximus developed political influence. Junius Bassus, a consul in 331 CE had himself painted on a mosaic where he had himself riding a chariot and behind him were four horsemen wearing the colors of the four original fractions: red, green, blue, and white. The Circus Maximus was the first and the biggest circus in Rome.======

__ Chariot Races __
17 days of circus activities or //Ludi// with 24-25 races a day, four contestants each. Each race in the Circus Maximus was a 7 lap race ,equivalent to four miles, in each race the racers ran the danger of being trampled to death when their chariot tipped over. The last race in the Circus Maximus was used was in 549 A.D. a full millennium after it was built. The charioteers were divided into groups based on the color they wear: the whites, the reds,the blues and the greens. An emperor named, Domitian, added two more groups: the golds, and the purples the audience rooted for the team color so they pick a color and start cheering for that fraction.There were lots of openings in the Circus Maximus called the //ostia// from were the horses and the charioteers start from the race started when a white cloth or //mappa// was dropped.The charioteers start from the //alba linea// or a line that is marked with chalk, bot they came from the //ostia//.

Fun facts:

A very unusual thing happens in the stands in the Circus Maximus first women attended and second they could sit with the men.