Chariot-racing was one of the most popular sporting events in Ancient Rome. Throngs of people (up to 250,000 in Rome’s Circus Maximus) would crowd the stands, supporting their favorite teams (marked by the colors blue, green, red, and white) with fervorous shouting and cheers. The charioteers were much admired, and although some drivers could make a financial killing from sponsors if they were extremely successful, many other drivers were actually killed. The first-century writer Martial records an all-too-common obituary: “Here I lie, Scorpus, the pride of the noisy Circus, the darling of Rome, wildly cheered, but short-lived”.
The Hippodromes (from “hippo” meaning “horse” and “dromos” or “race”) were long ovals witch required extremely sharp turns. The chariots or Quadriga (because they were pulled by four horses) had only flimsy and narrow boards to stand upon. To free their hands for using a whip, charioteers tied the loose ends of the horses’ reins around their waists, which could pull them out of the carts with one wrong turn.
The image you see here is of a fourth-century mosaic floor depicting a chariot race. It was uncovered on the island of Cyprus in 2016, and is one of only seven in the world to depict these events.
The second picture is from the 1959 film Ben Hur, which famously featured a chariot race. There is a spurious legend that a stuntman died filming the scene, which Snopes disproved.
Source(s): Martial, Epigrams, 10.53, 50 (5-8). _Daily Mail.com_ “Stunning 4th century mosaic floor unearthed in Cyprus illustrates scenes of ancient Roman chariot races in the hippodrome,” AP and Stacy Liberatore, 12 Aug 2016. Snopes, “Did a stuntman die in ‘Ben-Hur’?” 12 July 1997.
