Circus Gerasae
About
Gerasa's circus was the smallest in the Roman world, a track 245 metres long by 52 wide holding about 15,000 spectators. Work began around the middle of the second century and finished before 212 CE, so it postdates the 117 CE snapshot by decades. Its foundations cut straight through the rock-cut tombs of the earlier necropolis. By the late third century potters had moved in and were mass-producing pottery between the starting gates.
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.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →