Circus of Carthage

About

Built over a former necropolis at the end of the 1st century CE, Carthage's circus stretched more than 470 meters, about a third the length of the Circus Maximus, and could seat roughly 45,000 spectators for chariot races. It ranked among the largest circuses anywhere outside Rome and Antioch, reflecting Carthage's status as Africa's leading city. In use and hosting races by 117 CE, it remained active for centuries afterward, with further building work added in the early 3rd century.

What happened here

Two hundred thousand people can watch, and on race days most of them do. Four stables — Red, White, Blue, Green — supply the teams, and supporters wear the colour, bet on it, and brawl about it. Seven laps, twelve chariots, the tightest turns at either end of the central barrier where the crashes happen. Between races there are acrobats, and the barrier itself carries obelisks, statues and the lap-counting eggs and dolphins that are tipped one by one. Seating is mixed, unlike the theatre, which makes the circus the best place in the city to meet someone. Drivers start as slaves and the successful ones die rich and famous. The track is watered and raked constantly; the smell is horse, dust and food.

In ancient writing

• Salvian, De Gubernatione Dei 6.69

  Describes Carthage's citizens still packing the circus and shouting for the races as the Vandal army closed in on the city in 439 CE, calling it a mark of how far the city's morals had fallen even in its last hours.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_of_Carthage
• https://www.dainst.blog/190JahreDAI/en/day-91-the-circus-of-carthage/

Nearby

Destruction of Carthage

157 m

Byrsa Hill and the Roman Forum

187 m

Villa of the Aviary, Carthage

358 m

Roman Theatre of Carthage

539 m

Amphitheatre of Carthage

702 m

The Punic Ports of Carthage

925 m