The Roman Circus of Tarraco
About
Chariot teams thundered around a 325-meter track built under Domitian, seating up to 30,000 — likely more people than the city itself held. It ran directly beneath the terrace of the provincial forum, letting the governor watch races from his own portico above. In continuous use for chariot racing until the 5th century CE, its vaulted galleries still run beneath the streets and cafes of Tarragona's old town today. By 117 CE it had already been racing chariots for two decades.
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
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