Circus (building)
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The Roman Circus was a large open-air venue used for public events in the ancient Roman Empire. Along with theatres and amphitheatres, Circuses were one of the main entertainment sites of the time. Circuses were venues for Chariot races, horse races, and performances that commemorated important events of the empire were performed there. The Circuses were comparable to the ancient Greek Hippodromes, and were inspired by those structures.
The performance space was rectangular with a strip running most of the length down to the middle of the space, creating a roughly rectangular-oval circuit for the races. The strip was called the spina and usually featured ornate columns, statues and commemorative obelisks. For events that involved re-enactments of naval battles, the circus was flooded with water. Much like the amphitheatre, the performance surface of the circus was mostly surrounded by ascending seating, though one there were sometimes interruptions in the seating at one or both ends of the circus.
There are also similar buildings, called stadia, which were typically smaller than circuses and were used for Greek style athletics. These buildings were similar in shape but smaller than circuses. However, the distinction is not always clear. An example of this type is the Stadium of Domitian.
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[edit] List of Roman Circuses
[edit] See also
- Hippodrome - a Greek arena also used for chariot racing
- Amphitheater
- Roman theatre (structure)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar John H. Humphrey: Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles 1986, ISBN 0-520049-21-7
- ^ a b c d e Raymond G. Chase: Ancient Hellenistic and Roman amphitheatres, stadiums, and theatres: the way they look now. P. E. Randall, Portsmouth 2002, ISBN 1-931807-08-6
[edit] External links
Media related to circus (building) at Wikimedia Commons
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