The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park.
An amphitheatre or amphitheater is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ἀμφιθέατρον, from ἀμφί, meaning "on both sides" or "around" and θέατρον, meaning "place for viewing".
The Pythian Games were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held in honour of Apollo at his sanctuary at Delphi every four years, two years after the Olympic Games, and between each Nemean and Isthmian Games. The Pythian Games were founded sometime in the 6th century BC. In legend they were started by Apollo after he killed Python and set up the oracle at Delphi. They continued until the 4th century AD.
Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. In Greece, chariot racing played an essential role in aristocratic funeral games from a very early time. With the institution of formal races and permanent racetracks, chariot racing was adopted by many Greek states and their religious festivals. Horses and chariots were very costly. Their ownership was a preserve of the wealthiest aristocrats, whose reputations and status benefitted from offering such extravagant, exciting displays. Their successes could be further broadcast and celebrated through commissioned odes and other poetry.
A race track is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals. A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also used in the study of animal locomotion.
The Hippodrome of Constantinople, was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square in Istanbul, Turkey, known as Sultanahmet Square.
A hippodrome was an ancient Grecian horse and chariot racing course and arena. Hippodrome or Hipódromo may also refer to:
A Roman circus was a large open-air venue used mainly for chariot races, although sometimes serving other purposes. It was similar to the ancient Greek hippodrome. Along with theatres and amphitheatres, circuses were one of the main entertainment venues at the time.
The Roman circus of Mérida is a ruined Roman circus in Mérida, Spain. Used for chariot racing, it was modelled on the Circus Maximus in Rome and other circus buildings throughout the Empire. Measuring more than 400 m in length and 30 m of width, it is one of the best preserved examples of Roman circus. It could house up to 30,000 spectators.
In Ancient Roman religious tradition, Actia was a festival of Apollo, celebrated at Nicopolis in Epirus, with wrestling, musical contests, horse racing, and sea battles. It was reestablished by Augustus, in commemoration of his victory over Mark Antony off Actium in 31 BC; that it was probably the revival of an ancient festival is suggested by the celebrated temple of Apollo at Actium, which is mentioned by Thucydides, and Strabo, and which was enlarged by Augustus. The games instituted by Augustus were celebrated every five years ; they received the title of a sacred agon and were also called Olympia.
In Greek mythology, the Taraxippus was a presence, variously identified as a ghost or dangerous site, blamed for frightening horses at hippodromes throughout Greece. Some taraxippoi were associated with the Greek hero cults or with Poseidon in his aspect as a god of horses who brought about the death of Hippolytus. Pausanias, the ancient source offering the greatest number of explanations, regards it as an epithet rather than a single entity.
Porphyrius the Charioteer, also named Porphyrius Calliopas was a celebrity Byzantine-Roman charioteer in the late 5th and early 6th century, during what Alan Cameron has described as the "golden age" of Byzantium's hippodrome, and of the Byzantine charioteer.
Mirobriga or Mirobriga of the Celts was an ancient town in the westernmost part of Lusitania during the Iron Age and Roman Times that was mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy.
The ancient Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and were one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece. They were held at the Panhellenic religious sanctuary of Olympia, in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin. The originating Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC. The games were held every four years, or Olympiad, which became a unit of time in historical chronologies. They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule in the 2nd century BC. Their last recorded celebration was in AD 393, under the emperor Theodosius I, but archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held after this date. The games likely came to an end under Theodosius II, possibly in connection with a fire that burned down the temple of the Olympian Zeus during his reign.
The Trigarium was an equestrian training ground in the northwest corner of the Campus Martius in ancient Rome. Its name was taken from the triga, a three-horse chariot.
Brighton Hippodrome is an entertainment venue in Brighton, England. It was built in 1897 and closed in 2007.
The Hippodrome of Olympia housed the equestrian contests of the Ancient Olympic Games. According to Pausanias, it was situated to the south of the Stadium and covered a large area about 600 meters long and 200 meters wide. The hippodrome was a wide, flat, open space where the starting point and the finish line were designated with a pole and a second smaller pole called nyssa designated the turning point.
The hippodrome of Berytus was a circus in the Roman colony of Berytus. It is one of two hippodromes in Beirut.
The Lageion also known as the Hippodrome of Alexandria, was a hippodrome situated in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, below the Serapeum. It is named after the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt, Ptolemy I Soter. Other sources cite that it was named after a figure called Lagos, who was believed to be the father of Ptolemy I.
