{"id":4349,"date":"2016-10-28T16:01:53","date_gmt":"2016-10-28T16:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visionpubl.com\/en\/?p=4349"},"modified":"2016-10-28T17:10:59","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T17:10:59","slug":"circus-maximus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visionpubl.com\/en\/cities\/circus-maximus\/","title":{"rendered":"Circus Maximus"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Circus Maximus<\/strong> can be considered as the largest building ever put up for entertainment purposes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Indeed, when the circus<\/em><\/strong> attained its greatest size, in the heyday of the imperial age, it measured no less than 600m in length and 200m in width<\/strong>, and could accommodate up to 300,000 spectators<\/strong>.<\/p>\n


\nPhoto credits by Google Maps.<\/p>\n

The last of the major reconstructions of the circus<\/em><\/strong> was undertaken by Trajan<\/strong> at the beginning of the 2nd <\/sup>Century AD, though it was later enlarged by Caracalla<\/strong> and restored by Constantine<\/strong>, while Constans<\/strong>, as late as 357 AD, had it adorned with an Egyptian obelisk<\/strong> (attributed to Thutmosis III), which thus came to make a pair with the one (bearing the cartouche of Ramses II) that Augustus<\/strong> had erected at the centre of the spina<\/em>, the characteristic barrier that ran down the middle of the arena, thus defining the circuit that the chariots had to complete seven times before reaching the finishing line.<\/p>\n


\nPhoto credits by Jeremy Thompson<\/a> under CC-BY license.<\/p>\n

The seating area was divided into three sections<\/strong> by horizontal gangways, interrupted on Palatine<\/strong> side by the great imperial ‘box’, which was in direct communication with the palaces on the top of the hill. But a part of the seating, presumably the topmost rows, must have been sustained by wooden structures, because the records apprise us of frequent collapses: one such disaster killed 1,112 spectators in the time of Antoninus Pius<\/strong> and another, under Diocletian, no less than 13,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Circus Maximus had a long life<\/strong>. Races were still being organized there in the 5th<\/sup> Century AD, the last spectacle to be put on being the one sponsored by Totila<\/strong>, King of the Ostrogoths<\/strong>, in 549.<\/p>\n

The two obelisks were unearthed in 1588 and Pope Sixtus V<\/strong> had them removed and re-erected, one in Piazza del Popolo<\/strong> and the other in front of the side entrance of St. John in Lateran<\/strong>, where they can still be seen today.<\/p>\n

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Do you want to know more about the history of the\u00a0Circus Maximus<\/strong>\u00a0and see how it was originally?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out our guidebook to Rome<\/a>, with detailed history and Past & Present images of the Pantheon<\/strong>, the Colosseum<\/strong>, Trajan’s Market<\/strong> and all the greatest historical and archaeological sites of the eternal city.<\/p>\n

Check out our Rome Guide Book now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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How to get to the\u00a0Circus Maximus<\/h2>\n

The Circus Maximus\u00a0Area is located here:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n