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The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian: Circo Massimo) is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy.In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire.
Ludi circenses were games presented in the circus. The Circus Maximus was primarily a venue for chariot races, but other athletic events, races, and beast hunts might be offered as well. [24] The games were preceded by an opening parade, the pompa circensis. Ludi circenses were regularly featured in celebrating a triumph or
The Cerealia were celebrated in ancient Rome with a ceremony and then with the ludi cerealici in the Circus Maximus (painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1894).. The spectacles in ancient Rome were numerous, open to all citizens and generally free of charge; some of them were distinguished by the grandeur of the stagings and cruelty.
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. Chariot racing (Ancient Greek: ἁρματοδρομία, harmatodromía; Latin: ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine sports.
According to one ancient source, the games were held in the Circus Flaminius, which was associated with the common people of Rome . [4] Nearly all other games were held in the Circus Maximus. The Circus Flaminius was built by the plebeian censor Gaius Flaminius in 220 BC, and the annual games may have been instituted by him that year. [4]
The Cerealia festival included ludi circenses (circus games), which opened with a horse race in the Circus Maximus. The starting place was just below the Aventine Temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera. [7] After around 175 BC, the Cerealia included ludi scaenici, theatrical performances
5–19, Ludi Romani or Ludi Magni, "the oldest and most famous" of the ludi [19] 13 (Ides): anniversary of the Temple to Jupiter Optimus Maximus; an Epulum Iovis; an epulum to the Capitoline Triad; 14: Equorum probatio ("Approval of the Horses"), a cavalry parade of the Imperial period
Regio XI was dominated by the feature from which it derived its name, the Circus Maximus, Rome's largest venue for ludi (or public games) connected to Roman religious festivals. In extent, it was bordered by the Capitoline Hill to the north, the Palatine Hill to the east, the Aventine Hill to the south, and the Tiber River to the west.