Circus Maximus: The Racetrack of Two Hundred Thousand
Why is it significant?
Stand at the edge of this long, empty valley of grass and gravel and let your eyes run all the way down to the far end, more than six hundred metres away. On your left, the brick ruins of the emperors' palaces on the Palatine. On your right, the green slope of the Aventine.
Key Facts
| Place | Circus Maximus: The Racetrack of Two Hundred Thousand |
|---|---|
| Address | Via del Circo Massimo, 00186 Roma RM, Italy |
| Geo Coordinates | 41.88620, 12.48530 |
| Part of Walk | The Keyhole and the Amphora Hill: Aventine Secrets & Testaccio's Roman Soul |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand at the edge of this long, empty valley of grass and gravel and let your eyes run all the way down to the far end, more than six hundred metres away. On your left, the brick ruins of the emperors' palaces on the Palatine. On your right, the green slope of the Aventine. Between them, nothing... and once, everything.
This was the Circus Maximus, the biggest entertainment venue ever built in the ancient world. Ancient writers claimed it held a quarter of a million people. Even modern, cautious estimates speak of around a hundred and fifty thousand... more than any stadium on earth today. The emperor watched from his palace on the hill, and the crowd watched him back.
Chariot racing was Rome's true obsession. The teams were known by their colours, the Reds, the Whites, the Greens and the Blues, and fans were loyal to a colour for life, betting, brawling and even burying curse tablets to cripple the rival horses. The greatest star of them all was a charioteer from Spain called Gaius Appuleius Diocles. Over a twenty-four year career he won more than fourteen hundred races and earned around thirty-five million sesterces, a fortune that makes him, by some reckonings, the best-paid athlete in history.
Down the middle of the track ran a long central barrier, the spina, decorated with statues, shrines and two Egyptian obelisks. Those obelisks did not vanish. One now stands in Piazza del Popolo, the other in front of the Lateran basilica... you may well walk past them later in your stay without knowing they once watched chariots crash.
It was also here, in the wooden shops at the eastern end of the circus, that a fire broke out one summer night in the year 64. It burned for days and destroyed much of the city, and it gave the emperor Nero the space for his golden palace. The last races were held here around 549, under a Gothic king. Today the valley fills again only for concerts and for football victories. Walk to the foot of the Aventine slope, where a garden hides a story that has nothing to do with chariots.