Chariot racing facts for kids
Chariot races were a popular sport in Ancient Greece and Rome. 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.
Images for kids
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Modern depiction (1876) by Jean Léon Gérôme of a chariot race in Rome's Circus Maximus, as if seen from the starting gate. The Palatine Hill and Imperial palace are to the left
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The Charioteer of Delphi, an anonymous charioteer who probably drove in the Pythian Games for Polyzalus, tyrant of Gela, in Sicily (480-470BC)
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A plan of the Circus Maximus. The starting gates are to the left, and a conjectured start-line cuts across the track, to the right of the nearest meta.
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Bas-relief of a quadriga race in the Circus Maximus (2nd–3rd century)
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Chariot race of Cupids; ancient Roman sarcophagus in the Museo Archeologico (Naples). Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection
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A charioteer of the White team; part of a mosaic of the third century AD, showing four leading charioteers from the different colors, all in their distinctive gear
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Charioteers in the red tunics of their faction from the Charioteer Papyrus (c. 500)
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A winner of a Roman chariot race, from the Red team
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Mosaic from Lyon illustrating a chariot race with the four factions: Blue, Green, Red and White
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The Hippodrome of Constantinople in Istanbul is more or less levelled, apart from some structures on the spina. The Walled Obelisk in the foreground and Thutmose's Obelisk is on the right
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The Triumphal Quadriga is a set of Roman or Greek bronze statues of four horses, originally part of a monument depicting a quadriga. They date from late Classical Antiquity and were long displayed at the Hippodrome of Constantinople. In 1204 AD, Doge Enrico Dandolo sent them to Venice as part of the loot sacked from Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade.
See also
In Spanish: Carreras de carros para niños
