"Circus (building) The Roman circus (from Latin, ""circle"") was a large open-air venue used for public events in the ancient Roman Empire. The circuses were similar to the ancient Greek hippodromes, although circuses served varying purposes and differed in design and construction. 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. According to Edward Gibbon, in Chapter XXXI of his work ""The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"", the"
"Hippodrome The hippodrome () was an ancient Grecian stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ""hippos"" (ἵππος; ""horse"") and ""dromos"" (δρόμος; ""course""). The term is used in the modern French language and some others, with the meaning of ""horse racecourse"". Hence, some present-day horse racing tracks also include the word ""hippodrome"" in their names, such as the Hippodrome de Vincennes and the Central Moscow Hippodrome. The Greek hippodrome was similar to the Roman Circus. The hippodrome was not a Roman amphitheatre which was used for spectator sports, games and displays, or a"
"Hippodrome of Olympia The Hippodrome of Olympia housed the equestrian contests (horse racing and chariot racing) 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. Horse and chariot races were one of the most popular and spectacular sports of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. The equestrian"
"sport throughout the Roman Empire; the track would have been surrounded by seating tiers for spectators. The Berytus hippodrome is mentioned in the anonymous, late 4th century ""Expositio totius mundi et gentium"" (""A description of the world and its people"") as one of the five best racing circuits in the Levant, the others being at Antioch, Laodicea, Caesarea and Tyrus. During the 6th and the 7th centuries of the Byzantine Empire, violent factional and poitical disturbances at circuses (such as the Nike riots in Constantinople) led to their gradual abandonment as places of costly, officially subsidised mass entertainment. The hippodrome"
"the southeast of the Stadium. Hippodrome of Olympia The Hippodrome of Olympia housed the equestrian contests (horse racing and chariot racing) 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. Horse and chariot races were one of the most popular and spectacular sports of the Olympic Games"
"Hippodrome of Constantinople 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 named ""Sultanahmet Meydanı"" (""Sultan Ahmet Square"") in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. The word ""hippodrome"" comes from the Greek ""hippos"" (), horse, and ""dromos"" (δρόμος), path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called ""Atmeydanı"" (""Horse Square"") in Turkish. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities"
"to Taraxippus (disturber of horses) there to show the spot where many chariots wrecked. A large ancient hippodrome was the Hippodrome of Constantinople, built between AD 203 and 330. However, since it was built to a Roman design, it was actually a circus. 19th Century: Modern: Hippodrome The hippodrome () was an ancient Grecian stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ""hippos"" (ἵππος; ""horse"") and ""dromos"" (δρόμος; ""course""). The term is used in the modern French language and some others, with the meaning of ""horse racecourse"". Hence, some present-day horse racing tracks"
"1953–1976. Hippodrome of Constantinople 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 named ""Sultanahmet Meydanı"" (""Sultan Ahmet Square"") in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. The word ""hippodrome"" comes from the Greek ""hippos"" (), horse, and ""dromos"" (δρόμος), path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called ""Atmeydanı"" (""Horse Square"") in Turkish. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek"
"""Circus."" Greek stadia were for foot races, whereas the Roman circus was for horse races. Both, however, had similar shapes and bowl-like areas around them for spectators. The Greeks also developed the theatre, with its seating arrangements foreshadowing those of modern stadiums. The Romans copied the theatre, then expanded it to accommodate larger crowds and more elaborate settings. The Romans also developed the double-sized round theatre called amphitheatre, seating crowds in the tens of thousands for gladiatorial combats and beast shows. The Greek stadium and theatre and the Roman circus and amphitheatre are all ancestral to the modern stadium. Domed"
"the Circus Maximus in 549 AD. Chariot racing Chariot racing (, ) was one of the most popular Iranian, ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports. Chariot racing was dangerous to both drivers and horses as they often suffered serious injury and even death, but these dangers added to the excitement and interest for spectators. Chariot races could be watched by women, who were banned from watching many other sports. In the Roman form of chariot racing, teams represented different groups of financial backers and sometimes competed for the services of particularly skilled drivers. As in modern sports like football, spectators"
"arena for blood sports in Rome after it opened in 80 AD. The circus races continued to be held more frequently. The Circus Maximus could seat around 150,000 spectators, and the Colosseum about 50,000 with standing room for about 10,000 more. Many Roman amphitheatres, circuses and theatres built in cities outside Italy are visible as ruins today. The local ruling elite were responsible for sponsoring spectacles and arena events, which both enhanced their status and drained their resources. The physical arrangement of the amphitheatre represented the order of Roman society: the emperor presiding in his opulent box; senators and equestrians"
"were designed for horse and chariot racing. The stadium of the Circus Maximus in Ancient Rome could hold 200,000 spectators. Racing facilities existed during the Middle Ages, and there are records of a public racecourse being opened at Newmarket in London in 1174. In 1780 the Earl of Derby created a horse-racing course on his estate at Epsom; the English Derby continues to be held there today. Racecourses in the British Isles are based on grass, known as turf tracks. In the United States, the race tracks are dirt. With the advent of the automobile in the late nineteenth/early twentieth"
"in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine era. Although the Hippodrome is usually associated with Constantinople's days of glory as an imperial capital, it actually predates that era. The first Hippodrome was built when the city was called Byzantium, and was a provincial town of moderate importance. In AD 203 the Emperor Septimius Severus rebuilt the city and expanded its walls, endowing it with a hippodrome, an arena for chariot races and other entertainment. In AD 324, the Emperor Constantine the Great decided to move the seat of the government from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Nova Roma (New Rome)."
"Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus (Latin for ""greatest"" or ""largest circus""; Italian: Circo Massimo) is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated 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 in length and in width and could accommodate over 250,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park. The Circus was Rome's largest venue for ""ludi,"" public games connected to Roman"
"Roman amphitheatre Roman amphitheatres are amphitheatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, ""venationes"" (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found across the area of the Roman Empire. Early amphitheatres date from the republican period, though they became more monumental during the imperial era. Amphitheatres are distinguished from circuses, hippodromes, which were usually rectangular and built mainly for racing events and stadia, built for athletics. But several of these terms have at times been used for one and"
"attraction of a newly developed neighborhood. On February 27, 1825 the first ever Hippodramatic show on American soil premiered at the Lafayette when last two acts of Richard III were staged with horses. Hippodrama, part drama and part circus, the intended main event, was a recent invention that evolved from circus and horsemanship shows of the 18th century. It emerged in England and France and quickly spread to the United States. Lafayette Circus was the first American theatre specifically designed for hippodrama, followed by the Philadelphia Amphitheater and the Baltimore Roman Amphitheatre. The shows attracted lower classes, laborers and seamen,"
"which gradually came to include harness racing, synoris (a chariot drawn by two horses), chariot drawn by four horses, and racing with a horse (without a chariot), held in a hippodrome in the plain of Krisa, not far from the sea, in the place where the original stadium was sited. (ref: Pindar) The other athletic contests took place in the Stadium. In the Roman period theatrical competitions were introduced, carried out in the late-Hellenistic theater. The musical disciplines included: No monetary prizes were awarded to winners in the Games. Instead they received a wreath of bay laurel, sacred to Apollo,"
"hippodrome was also used for other types of sport, and it is likely that at least some of the events of the Tyrian Games were celebrated at this place. It may have been the place where, during the Diocletianic Persecution, Christians were tortured to death . Tyre Hippodrome The Tyre Hippodrome is an UNESCO World Heritage site of the city of Tyre in south Lebanon dating back to the II century C.E.. The Expositio, a description of the world written in the second half of the fourth century by an unknown writer about circuses in the Roman empire, names the"
"tour. The Circus has also hosted victory celebrations, following the Italian World Cup 2006 victory and the A.S. Roma Serie A victory in 2001. Circus Maximus The Circus Maximus (Latin for ""greatest"" or ""largest circus""; Italian: Circo Massimo) is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated 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 in length and in width and could accommodate over 250,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses"
"or several persons or animals. These skills had to be exhibited on foot and on horseback. Fancy roping was the event most closely identified with the vaqueros, who invented it. In trick and fancy riding, athletes performed gymnastic feats on horseback while circling the arena at top speed. Athletes in these events were judged, much like those in contemporary gymnastics. The most popular races included Roman standing races wherein riders stood with one foot on the back of each of a pair of horses, and relays in which riders changed horses after each lap of the arena. Both were extremely"
"horses can be experienced in several ways: horse racing at the ""Hipódromo Argentino de Palermo"" racetrack, polo in the ""Campo Argentino de Polo"" (located just across Libertador Avenue from the ""Hipódromo""), and pato, a kind of basketball played on horseback that was declared the national game in 1953. Polo arrived in our country right along with the English, largely landlords, who arrived in our territory in the second half of the 19th century. With the hand of these immigrants, polo was able to find the men and horses in Argentina to bring it to its top level. Buenos Aires native"
"usually in keeping with the mood of the watching crowd. Shows of exotic animals were popular in their own right; but sometimes animals were pitted against human beings, either armed professionals or unarmed criminals who had been condemned to a spectacular and theatrical public death in the arena. Some of these encounters were based on episodes from Roman or Greek mythology. Chariot racing was extremely popular among all classes. In Rome, these races were usually held at the Circus Maximus, which had been purpose-built for chariot and horse-racing and, as Rome's largest public place, was also used for festivals and"
"many as ten horses or even by dogs, tigers, or ostriches. There were four divisions, or ""factiones"", of charioteers, distinguished by the colour of their costumes: the red, blue, green and white teams. The main centre of chariot racing was the Circus Maximus, situated in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills in Rome. The track could hold 12 chariots, and the two sides of the track were separated by a raised median termed the ""spina"". Chariot races continued to enjoy great popularity in Byzantine times, in the Hippodrome of Constantinople, even after the Olympic Games had been disbanded,"
"as the amphitheatre, which became the characteristic Roman spectacle venue, and stadium. Greek-style athletics included footraces, boxing, wrestling, and the pancratium. Aquatic displays, such as the mock sea battle ""(naumachia)"" and a form of ""water ballet"", were presented in engineered pools. State-supported theatrical events ""(ludi scaenici)"" took place on temple steps or in grand stone theatres, or in the smaller enclosed theatre called an ""odeum"". Circuses were the largest structure regularly built in the Roman world, though the Greeks had their own architectural traditions for the similarly purposed hippodrome. The Flavian Amphitheatre, better known as the Colosseum, became the regular"
"it was the meeting place of the gentry and aristocracy of the time. The northern extension of the Paseo de la Castellana resulted in the closure of the facility, which was demolished in 1933. The main horse racing venue for Madrid, since the mid-twentieth century, has been the Hippodrome de la Zarzuela. At the beginning of the twentieth century the Estadio del Hipódromo hosted football matches. As a football venue it was replaced by the Campo de O'Donnell, which hosted 4 finals before it too closed. Matches at the ""Estadio del Hipódromo"" included: In some cases air shows were held."
"common stories and plays in a way where they could be performed on horses. Not only that, but the horses were the main actors. The horses had their own business, or leading actions, to perform that helped carry out the plot. Also at this time, gradual closing of country fairs and discharge of cavalrymen and horse grooms after the end of the Continental Wars provided both experienced staff and public interest to the new show. Early hippodrama were presented in London at Astley's Amphitheatre, Royal Circus and Olympic Pavilion; and in Paris at Cirque Olympique, where 36 horse riders could"
"a political role in addition to their traditionally ceremonial role. The two factions continued their activity until the imperial court was moved to Blachernae during the 12th century. The Hippodrome in Constantinople remained in use for races, games, and public ceremonies up to the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In the 12th century, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180) even staged Western-style jousting matches in the Hippodrome. During the sack of 1204, the Crusaders looted the city and, among other things, removed the copper quadriga that stood above the ""carceres""; it is now displayed at St."
"popular in the United States, as well as in England and France, and the Lafayette Circus in New York City, inaugurated in 1825, was the first American theatre building specifically designed for hippodrama, followed by the Philadelphia Amphitheater and the Baltimore Roman Amphitheatre. Hippodrama shows attracted working class audiences that included labourers and seamen, ""ready to riot at the slightest provocations""; ""in fact, much of recorded rowdyism of the mid-1820s in New York City took place at Lafayette Circus. Hippodrama also traveled all the way to Australia. Hippodromes were built in Sydney and Melbourne in the 1850s. “The year 1854"
"New York Hippodrome The Hippodrome Theatre also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater in New York City from 1905 to 1939, located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It was called the world's largest theatre by its builders and had a seating capacity of 5,300, with a 100x200ft (30x61m) stage. The theatre had state-of-the-art theatrical technology, including a rising glass water tank. The Hippodrome was built by Frederick Thompson and Elmer Dundy, creators of the Luna Park amusement park at Coney Island, with the backing of Harry"
"The hippodrome was filled with statues of gods, emperors and heroes, among them some famous works, such as a Heracles by Lysippos, Romulus and Remus with their wolf and the Serpent Column of the Plataean tripod. In his book ""De Ceremoniis"" (book II,15, 589), the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus described the decorations in the hippodrome at the occasion of the visit of Saracen or Arab visitors, mentioning the purple hangings and rare tapestries. Throughout the Byzantine period, the Hippodrome was the centre of the city's social life. Huge amounts were bet on chariot races, and initially four teams took part in"
"the early Ptolemaic Period. Lageion The Lageion (Greek:Λαγεῖον, Layeῖon) 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. The structure was covered up completely during the end of the 19th Century. The size of this structure is 615m with curvature on both ends and its tracks are 568m in length as indicated by the records during the Napoleonic expeditions. Records show that the Lageion was used as a stadium for athletic events and a"
"sports of the time were the tethrippon, the apene, the synoris, the tethrippon for foals, the synoris for foals, the perfect keles race, the kalpe and the pole horse race. According to mythology, the first chariot race took place in Olympia between King Pelops and King Oenomaos of Pisa. In the ancient Olympic Games the jockeys were not the owners of the horses. The owners of the horses were declared winners, they were awarded the wreath and enjoyed all the honors although they did not take part in the race. The jockeys won only a small portion from the glory"
"varying purposes and differed in design and construction. 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. For events that involved re-enactments of naval battles, the circus was flooded with water. The performance space of the Roman circus was normally, despite its name, an oblong rectangle of two linear sections of race track, separated by a median strip running along the length of about two thirds the track, joined at one end with"