Romans watched chariot racing only because it was dangerous Essay

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‘Romans watched chariot racing only because it was dangerous.’ to what extent do you think that this statement is accurate?

Personally, I think there is a lot of truth in the above statement, but it’s not entirely accurate. I think that the dangerous parts of the race played a large part in people wanting to watch the races, but they did not just go because of it.
The starting procession was extremely extravagant and most likely exciting for spectators. It began with trumpeters and flute players parading around the track, followed by all the chariots, their riders and their horses, followed by soldiers carrying images of the gods. This would have been exciting for spectators because they got to see their favourite charioteer or an image of their favourite god parade around the track.
The chariots would then be loaded into their starting gates (carcares) and wait until the person who put on the games (usually an emperor or magistrate who wanted to gain favour) dropped a white handkerchief. The springy gates would fly open and the chariots would rush out. This must have built lots of suspense in the stadium, as the cheering and atmospheric crowd would have been desperate to watch their favourite team or charioteer start the race well and ultimately win.
The actual racing part of the day was both extremely exciting and dangerous.
The Circus Maximus was oval shaped, meaning it had 2 long straights to build up speed and 2 very sharp corners at each end. The sharp corners would mean that chariots going at an incredibly fast pace would have to either cut a wide corner and most likely stay safe (but be last or a low place in the running order) or, cut a sharp corner near to the metae (turning post). This is risky because many other chariots would be taking the fastest, shortest route, so hitting another chariot, or cutting too close and risk crashing into the spina (wall in the middle of the track), is a very real reality. It was an extremely dangerous decision to make, and many charioteers would choose to cut a closer corner as it showed courage and skill in front of the crowd.
There were 4 teams that took part in the race, white, red, green and blue. Some races were multi-chariot, meaning that 3 or 4 chariots raced per team. As there were no rules in chariot racing the teams would use tactics such as the fastest chariot would race ahead while the other chariots would sabotage the other chariots by making them crash or fall out of their chariot. This was extremely dangerous because if they crashed and fell out, they would either be dragged to their death by their reins or trampled by the multitude of horses. This made it exciting for spectators because it meant that they were always on the edge and even if
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