Hippodrome of Berytus
About
Berytus built a hippodrome for chariot racing soon after Augustus founded the colony, first raising its stands and starting gates in timber. Excavators traced a central barrier, seating banks, and gate foundations across a 3,500-square-meter track near the ancient harbor. Masons rebuilt the venue in stone as the city grew through the 2nd century AD. Later writers ranked it among the finest racing circuits of the Roman Levant.
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
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