Circus Maximus: Your Essential Guide

Visit the Circus Maximus today and all you can make out is a large grassy valley between the Palatine Hill and the Aventine Hill, with a few scattered ruins embedded into the earth. It's hard to imagine that this was once home to a huge chariot racing stadium that was able to accommodate 300,000 spectators.

What was the Circus Maximus?

The Circus Maximus was Rome's first and foremost chariot-racing stadium. Its translation from Latin is 'Greatest Stadium', and although other racing tracks in the area — most notably the no-longer existing Circus Flaminius on the banks of the Tiber near the Theatre of Marcellus, and the Circus of Caligula which now lies beneath the Vatican — it was in fact both the largest and the oldest.

When was the Circus Maximus Built?

According to Livy, the Circus Maximus was built in the 6th century BC by Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the first of Rome's Etruscan kings. It was originally used for the annual Ludi Romani ‘(Roman Games), which consisted of fifteen days of chariot racing and military displays.

The Circus Maximus became the largest circus or racetrack in the Roman Empire, extending to more than 600 metres in length by the 4th century CE.

The Circus Maximus today

The games were held throughout the year and featured all of the entertainment venues with different sports/attractions, much like modern music festivals with different stages; these had at least one day of races at the Circus Maximus. The stadium also hosted other types of shows for large audiences like grand venationes (animal hunts), mass executions and before the colosseum, gladiator contests. As the largest meeting place of the city it was also used for religious and triumphal processions.

Today visitors are more interested in the gladiator games perhaps because the ‘Colosseum’ - the amphitheatre where they were held is still here to see. But to the Roman people, the chariot races were more available and exciting. There were more than 60 racetracks across the Roman Empire, with Carthage in North Africa being the largest outside of Rome. This was also where the Romans got the Strong necked Berber horses for the races

Reconstruction of the Circus Maximus

The structure of the Circus Maximus was enormous. The outside of the Circus consisted of stone arches like the Colosseum's, almost one kilometre of arches surrounding the stadium housed stalls, and shops – making it the largest commercial complex in Rome.

Bars, restaurants, betting shops, brothels, and souvenir shops serviced the spectators; there were also shops for daily life, like butchers, bakers, and laundries. When the stadium wasn’t used for racing it was still a busy area with all the shops on the outside and prostitutes who plied their trade under the arches.

But so much activity carried risks. It was here in these among the shops that the Great Fire of 64 AD broke out, raging for nine days and destroying two-thirds of the imperial capital. Though the fictitious event the fire is most famous for is the emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

Inside the stadium, the seating that stretched around the track went up to 28 metres in height and like other entertainment venues, the seating was made of marble at the bottom, stone and then wooden bleachers at the top. At its largest (under Trajan in the 100s AD) the circus held around 250,000 - more than four times the people that could fit in the Colosseum. 

The racing track (9 metres below the current level) measured 540 x 80 m and was originally covered in sand. Down the middle of the track was a raised barrier called the spina (still visible) - this was richly decorated, in 10BC Augustus brought an obelisk from Heliopolis to decorate the spina (that now stands in Piazza del Popolo).

Also, on the spina were the lap markers shaped as bronze dolphins and eggs which were visible to the crowd and functional water troughs used by the sparori who sprinkled the track with water to reduce the clouds of dust that would obscure the track for the drivers and the spectators. At the end of the spina was the meta - three cones that were the turning point which was the most dangerous and exciting part of the race.

At the flat end of the Circus (closest to the river) there were 12 ornamental starting gates, which were arranged in an arc, these would snap open at the start of a race releasing the chariots onto the track.

Model Reconstruction of the Circus Maximus

The Races

Races were held on at least 60 days a year, not including special occasions like extraordinary games or triumphs. There would be several races per day, charioteers on average had around 500 races a year! Each race consisted of seven laps (around 3.5 miles), the laps were counted with the markers on the spina which were turned to mark the completion of each of the seven circuits. The chariots were drawn by 4 or 6 horses, sometimes more on extraordinary occasions.

Charioteers competed in factions or teams which represented the seasons; the reds (summer), whites (winter), greens (spring), and blues (autumn). Much like in football today the fans were fiercely devoted to their team and fights often broke out among the spectators, some were deadly. 

The aim was to be the first to finish - you needed to outrun the other chariots or force them onto the central spina or off the track. The chariot races were a dangerous and exciting spectacle, everyone had their favourite spot, mostly seated around the turning end where there was a great view of the crashes as the charioteers raced to make the curve.

Roman Pottery Depicting a Chariot

The chariots used in the races were not the sturdy high-fronted chariots we see in the movies. Mosaics and images on graves and small replica toys give us an idea of how they looked. They resembled a basket made of leather and wood, low to the ground with small wheels which stopped the chariot from flipping over; there was no handhold for the drivers. Charioteers needed incredible strength, balance and stamina; the challenge was staying balanced whilst keeping the horses parallel using only the reins at 20 miles up to around 50 miles per hour.

The Charioteers were mostly slaves (as with the gladiators) they started training in their late teens, with an expected lifespan of ten years. They could win enormous sums of money if they won, more than Formula One drivers today (estimated at around £4 million per race) but their manager owner would take a huge cut. If they were successful, they could buy their freedom and continue racing (for a larger cut). Charioteers could be fabulously rich but were never really accepted into polite Roman society, they were the sports stars of their day and adored by men and women.

Famous Charioteers

The most famous charioteer we know of is Scorpus who drove at Domitian’s games in 95 AD; in 10 years he won 2048 races (earning around £10 billion. Scorpus’ was a rags-to-riches story, he started in Carthage and made it to Rome, he bought his freedom and then at the height of his success, he died at 26 – probably in one of the huge crashes or (shipwrecks) as the Romans called them.

Another celebrity charioteer was Gaius Apuleius Diocles, who is widely regarded as history's highest-paid athlete. Thanks to an inscription dating from 146 AD, we know exactly how much Gaius Appuleius Diocles earned during his 24 years as a charioteer: well in excess of 35 million sesterces (or 35,863,120 to be exact) which an academic has calculated at $15 billion in today’s money.

And these were his net earnings.

The charioteer didn’t have to shell out for sponsorship, line the pockets of promoters, or funnel any of his money into marketing fees. It goes without saying that Diocles wouldn’t have wanted for anything. But what, in real terms, could he have done with his vast personal fortune?

Racing was a huge industry: There were drivers, trainers, grooms, doctors and scouts always looking for new driving talent. As in horse racing, betting was a huge attraction of the games, in a society where most people were living meagre lives the possibility and thrill of winning big was a huge attraction. So much so it seems fans would place curses on the opposing teams, curse tablets have been found near racing sites.

Chariot Races in the Circus Maximus

A Day at the Races: the Circus Maximus in Antiquity

Because of its size, the Circus Maximus could host huge gatherings and so was a popular venue during the games. Like in the Colosseum's games, there were races and entertainment all day, it was about the races but also being at the venue and mixing with a wider section of society. Games here were more relaxed in terms of who could go and where they sat.

At the races, the crowd was more mixed with no gender segregation as in the Colosseum. The crowd was larger, with a different social range of spectators; according to the love poet Ovid (whose poetry gives us the phrase Carpe Diem) the Circus Maximus was the place to pick up girls!

Like football or Formula One fans went to support their favourite teams or charioteers, they went for the excitement and the adrenaline of the race, the crashes or shipwrecks were also a macabre part of the attraction. The crowd also went for the atmosphere, for a day out with friends, for food and drinks and to shop and of course bet. Chariot racing with the Charioteers in their fine-coloured uniforms and the horses with decorated bridles was a sight in itself. It represented Rome just as the gladiator games - it was truly a spectacle in majesty, supremacy and jeopardy.

Procopius tells us that the last games to take place in the Circus Maximus were held in 550 CE, the same century in which its destruction began. Following the Fall of Rome and the transfer of power to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), covering the cost of circus racing in Rome was no longer cost-effective. Instead, this spectacle shifted to Constantinople's Hippodrome, which is pictured below.

Reconstruction of Constantinople and its Hippodrome (4th century CE)

Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square stands above the ancient chariot racing track

Luckily, the valley of the Circus Maximus has never been filled in, rendering its former greatness instantly recognisable.

The Circus Maximus in Popular Culture

• While the Circus Maximus famously featured in the 1959 movie Ben-Hur, the scene was not filmed there. In reality, more than 1,000 people constructed a set from scratch, making it the most expensive movie set of its day. And still

What is the Circus Maximus used for today?

As one of the largest open spaces in the city centre, the Circus Maximnus is still used for mass gatherings, demonstrations, and concerts. International acts like the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and the Italian glam-rock global sensation Måneskin have played here in recent years.

The Rolling Stones performing at the Circus Maximus in 2014

Gone are the days of horseracing; the closest you might see today is Rome's mounted police unit training their steeds. Instead, the Circus Maximus is now a recreational area where you can walk your dog, go jogging, or perhaps relax with a picnic and a copy of Livy's Roman History.

How to get to Circus Maximus

The easiest way to get to Circus Maximus is to take the Metro B line to Circo Massimo. From Termini, take the line south towards Laurentina and get off at the third stop.