Chariot Racing: A Precursor to modern day Motorsports
Chariot racing in Ancient Rome was a spectacle like no other. It was an event to rival modern day Olympics, a Formula 1 race and a rock concert all merged together. The arenas that the races were held in were known as circuses and the grandest one of all was the Circus Maximus. Chariot racing was one of the most brutal, entertaining, dangerous and exciting sporting events to take place in the ancient world. Due to their nature they also directly contributed to our modern day motorsport races. Today’s Formula 1 pales in comparison to the grandeur and scale of the chariot races of Ancient Rome.
There is evidence that chariot racing took place during the sixth century BCE. An advanced ancient civilisation called the Etruscans used to have a form of chariot racing which was borrowed by the ancient Romans along with many other aspects of their culture. Chariot racing originally took place only during religious ceremonies in Rome. But once the races came under the rule of magistrates and governors, they decided to hold them during non religious times and they were then held year round, (Barbara F. McManus, 2003). Even during their early days, chariot races were very popular but once they started to take place regularly throughout the year, their popularity skyrocketed.
Chariots were initially used by the military in battle. These were sturdy, heavy, well built contraptions able to withstand blows and remain sturdy and resilient. In times of peace chariots were designed in a similar fashion to the military issued ones but they were lighter and able to travel at a faster pace. Chariot drivers were usually slaves or from the lowest class of society. They drove standing up with very little protection, like maybe a light helmet and some protective plates.
The races were extremely violent with many drivers getting killed in the process of a race. The drivers were the true sports stars of their day, fans would go crazy when watching them race and each fan had their own favourite team and driver. There was even a term for the frenzy that ancient fans of the sport would get before a race; it was called ‘furor circensis’. It was akin to modern day football hooliganism where supporters of a particular team would start fights with rivals and also cause mayhem outside the circus, (Giovanni Milani-Santarpia, 2010). Over time the races had six different teams which were denoted by a particular colour; red, green, blue, white, purple and gold.
There were a lot of factors that showed similarity between chariot races and modern day motorsport races. If we look at the two forms of sports; firstly chariot races were extremely popular and had racing as their main theme. Today’s motorsport races such as Formula 1 are very popular as well and have very fast cars racing around a track. In both types of sport, the skill of the driver was tested during turns and bends in the track and from keeping other drivers at bay and not letting them overtake. Although modern racing tracks have a lot more twists and turns in them than did ancient ones, the concept is the same. A driver’s skill was in getting into the corner first and making a very tight turn while avoiding the other chariots around the track, (Spurius, 2008). A race consisted of seven laps on average and even though there was a referee, fair play and sportsmanship were not really the order of the day, it was all about winning, much like it is today in Formula 1.
There were several chariot racing drivers who were idolised and made heroes by fans. They were also extremely well paid, much more than today’s athletes are paid. One particular charioteer was named Gaius Appuleius Diocles and he was mainly known as a driver for the red team. In a twenty four year career as a chariot driver he amassed a fortune of 35,863,120 sesterces in prize money. This colossal amount is almost equal to $15 billion today, (Peter Struck, 2010). So if the salaries of athletes today seem a bit high at least we can be thankful that they do not earn as much as a chariot driver in ancient times.
This very exciting and interesting sport was the forerunner to all modern forms of motorsports and many other sports as well. We have moved on greatly in our pursuit of safety but we have managed to retain the entertainment levels of the ancient event. Chariot racing will forever be a part of history and we can learn a lot about modern sports from it.
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