Roman Chariot Racing
Latin students do as the Romans do
LINWOOD – Mainland Regional High School’s Latin students hit the track behind the school on Monday for the Latin program’s annual chariot races, a hands-on aspect of the language classes started a few years ago by Latin teacher Sarah Mench that continues as a popular event today.
“It’s a wonderful day,” Mench said Monday, June 6 as the students ran around the track, classmates in tow.
“The idea is to create – as authentic as possible – a Roman experience,” explained Latin teacher Brantley Cesanek. “This is a tradition at Mainland. We get all of the Latin students involved.”A select group of Latin students constructed the racing machines for extra credit and then brought them to the track Monday to determine the school’s chariot champion. Latin students of all grade levels participated, each one pairing up with a classmate or friend and partaking in one of five heats of preliminary races.
“In the Roman times, they had chariot races,” Cody Shook, 14, said. “It’s fun to get to race.”
The students also learned Latin words and phrases relating to chariot races, and demonstrated their Latin knowledge at the track. Many made shirts with Latin phrases on them, such as “Ite Prasini,” or “Go Green” emblazoned on the chest of the green team’s members.
“I like the racing,” sophomore Sydney Dawkins said as she climbed out of a homemade chariot.
After the five preliminary races, the championship race was held with 17-year-old juniors Shane Walsh of Somers Point and Donnie Kneisel of Linwood claiming the crown.
Win or lose, all of the students had a great time.
“They love it,” Cesanek said.
Roman Chariot Racing - News
Much the same thing had happened more than 2000 years before. The sport wasn't polo or soccer, it was chariot racing. Like modern cycle racing, it was a team sport with an individual winner. During the Roman era, two competing teams, the Reds and the
Much the same thing had happened more than 2000 years before. The sport wasn't polo or soccer, it was chariot racing. Like modern cycle racing, it was a team sport with an individual winner. During the Roman era, two competing teams, the Reds and the
Latin students of all grade levels participated, each one pairing up with a classmate or friend and partaking in one of five heats of preliminary races. “In the Roman times, they had chariot races,” Cody Shook, 14, said. “It's fun to get to race.
The 25-year-old pop star sang 'Born This Way' and 'The Edge of Glory' at the event held at the Circus Maximus site -- a former ancient Roman chariot racing stadium -- and addressed the huge crowd to highlight the need for homosexual people to have
One suggestion is to incorporate some of the fan-wowing attractions that used to pack the Roman Coliseum with raucous home crowds. Feed the losing pitcher to the lions, for example. In-between innings hold whip-cracking chariot races around the base
342 is a Lie: Chariot Racing in the Roman Empire by Fik Meijer
Chariot racing was already well established when Homer wrote about it, and it was a passion in Rome from at least the time of the kings. By imperial times it was massively popular. There were race days around twice a week - far more than gladiatoral contests. And the numbers involved beggar belief. A conservative estimate puts the capacity of the Circus Maximus at 150,000. To put that in perspective, Wembley (the English Hampden) holds 90,000. It wasn't even the only circus in Rome, and there were many others across the empire. It sounds incredibly exciting. A very light chariot, usually with four horses, and seven laps with two long straights to get your speed up and two 180 degree turns. The reins were tied around the charioteer's waist so he could have his whip hand free. Useful, except when there was a crash and you were dragged along behind your horses. Crashes seem to have been pretty common. The way the racing was organised is fascinating. There were stables named after colours, with the Greens and the Blues being the most prominent. Charioteers often transferred between stables, but the fans never did. The supporters were fanatical, and knew all the stats of their favourite charioteers and even horses. And it crossed all the rigid social divides in Roman society. Even emperors had a side, and were expected to by the crowd. Mostly they were for the Greens, at least in the early Roman Empire. But the reasons for supporting one stable over another are murky. We don't know if it was geographical, or possibly to do with different professions. Family allegiance presumably played a part, but it seems politics and religion did as well. Chariot racing gradually died out when the empire's capital moved to Constantinople. But it went out with a bang. The introduction of paid "clappers" (nasty cheerleaders, presumably) for each stable saw the hatred and violence cranked up even more, as did the religious controversies of the time. Fighting between Greens and Blues under Justinian led to the destruction of much of the city. The crackdown in the Hippodrome under the legendary general Belisarius was hardcore - more than 30,000 fans killed.
Roman Chariot Racing - Bookshelf
Chariot Racing in the Roman Empire
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Chariot racing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chariot racing (Greek: ἁρματοδρομία/harmatodromia, Latin: ludi circenses) was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine sports. ...
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Offers a reconsruction the Circus Maximus and the history of the activities within it during the Roman Empire.
Chariot racing - Wikimedia
In the Roman form of chariot racing, teams represented different groups of financial backers and sometimes competed for the services of particularly skilled drivers. ...