Big circus

It is believed that chariot races were held for the first time here by Tsar Tarquinius Priscus (c. 500 BC). The valley between the Palatine and Aventine, 600 meters long and about 150 meters wide, since ancient times, due to its position in the most ancient part of the city and extremely convenient terrain configuration, served as a horse riding site associated with the ancient games of Rome (the so-called lat. Ludi Romani ). Until 329 BC. er devices for racing in this place were not mentioned; Obviously, apart from the arena and temporary venues for honored spectators, there were no buildings on the circus site. It is quite possible that the valley was processed and yielded, as shown by the oldest sanctuaries of rural gods - (the altar of Kons , the sanctuary of the triad of Seia, Segetia, Tutilina), preserved even after the formation of the circus.

It is very likely that the games were given only after the end of the harvest (in 366 BC. Ludi Romani were fixed for September). Only in 329, the start was set up - lat. carceres - from a tree with motley coloring. Permanent spina was not, meta were wooden. References to the production of statues, the construction of the gate, the resumption of carceres and metas , the setting of the apparatus with eggs for counting tours ( Latin missus ), the acquisition of cages for animals, etc., appear after the Punic Wars . Under Caesar , the circus area was expanded and a canal was dug ( lat. Euripus ) around the arena.

In those days, the chariot races were held in a straight line - reaching the end of the arena, the chariots turned and raced in the opposite direction. Later, with the development of the sewer system in Rome, a large tunnel was laid under the arena (approximately 4.5 meters high and 2.5 meters wide), with the result that a ridge was formed in the arena. The leveling of the land in the arena before each competition cost significant labor costs, and therefore the competition could no longer be held according to the old scheme. The competition rules were changed, and the chariots began to ride not in a straight line, but in a circle, bending around the "ridge" of the arena. A new way of horse races quickly got accustomed, and since then horse races began to be held on ring hippodromes .

Julius Caesar expanded the Big Circus to 600 meters in length, so that 250 thousand spectators could fit on it (as many as could watch the competitions standing). In the middle of the short and semicircular sides of the arena fence described were the gates through which the winners of the races ( lat. Porta triumphalis ) left the Circus. At the opposite end of the arena there were three towers ( Latin oppida ); in the middle, the gates were also made, which served to bring the chariots inside the Circus ( Latin porta pompae ); between it and the side towers a row of stalls ( lat. carceres ) for chariots and horses was arranged, on the right and left, along an arc of a circle. In the middle of the arena, a long and narrow platform ( lat. Spina ) with semicircles at both ends and cone-shaped pillars ( lat. Metae ) stood on it. This platform was decorated first with one and then with two obelisks ; both of them survived and survived to this day; the first, exported from Egypt and set up by Augustus , now stands on Piazza del Popolo ; the second, still larger, erected by Constantine the Great , was moved in 1588 to the square in front of the Lateran Palace . In addition to the obelisks, on the platform in two places was placed on small pedestals (no doubt, in honor of the patron saint of Neptune's Eqnestris lists ) on seven sculptures of dolphins , spewing water in small pools, and separately from these figures, on special stands, on seven balls ( lat .ova ).

The big circus owes its constant architectural form to Augustus. A number of seats on the nearest steps were provided to senators and horsemen ; Spectators were allowed on the basis of special, unnumbered bronze stamps . The description of Dionysius of Halicarnassus dates back to this time. According to this description, the lower floor of the spectacle places was stone, the upper two were wooden; external arcades were one-story, they were located shops, taverns, etc. Carceres was a portico with twelve arches for the gate and the middle portal. Claudius created marble carceres and gilded meta; In 63, Nero ordered the Caesarean Canal to fall asleep in order to give more space to the riders. The fire of 64 years probably destroyed only wooden parts; in 68 circus, luxurious festivals are again given. In 81, Titus built a magnificent gate on the southern short side of the circus.

An epoch in the life of the circus was the rule of Trajan , which expanded the seats for the spectators to a very large extent, partly on the site of the imperial lodge built by Domitian and now destroyed by the imperial box. Domitian paved the road from the circus to his palace. ^[4] And after Trajan, a considerable part of the places was entirely wooden, as repeated cases of landslides show, which cost the lives of thousands of spectators. Under Constantine, the circus was thoroughly restored; spina was decorated with a new obelisk, taken out of Heliopolis .

Even in the VI century, Theodoric supported the circus; The last games gave Totila in 549 . The most massive circus structure - the arch of Titus - stood until the XII century. , but in the XVI century. from the circus there was no more than it was left to the XIX century , when the valley of the circus was built up with the buildings of a gas factory. In the Middle Ages, the stone buildings of the circus were dismantled for the construction of new buildings. Nevertheless, the territory of the circus has never been fully built, and until now public events are held here (for example, rock concerts).

• Rostovtsev M.I. , Somov A.I. Circus // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1890-1907.