For each chariot, the normal number was four horses. If you had 12 chariots racing, that would mean you would have three chariots from each team that would be fielded for a typical race. This is a transcript from the video series The History of Ancient Rome. The fans followed the team color more than they followed the individual drivers or horses, similar to modern sports. There were four teams, often called factions, which were identified by their colors: blue, green, red, and white. Generally, the format had 12 chariots racing in teams. The chariot races were immensely popular, and historical accounts tell us that the city would be virtually deserted when they would take place. The Romans, in their inimitable fashion, took this habit and turned it into the most popular of the mass entertainment staged spectacles in ancient Rome. It was a feature of the heroes’ seasonal games in Homer, and it was also a feature of the ancient Greek Olympic Games. (Image: Nenad Basic/Shutterstock)Ĭhariot racing has a long heritage going into the Greek past. The Circus Maximus, in Rome could seat approximately 200,000 people. It could seat about 200,000 people, making it the largest sporting arena ever erected anywhere at that point in human history. Circus Maximus means “Biggest Circus.” It was an enormous structure, standing four stories in height, half a Roman mile down each side, with a central large spine up the center of the racing arena where the chariots raced around. The circus was a specific arena, shaped like a bullet, for the staging of chariot races, the largest of these was the Circus Maximus in Rome.

(Image: Raffaello Sorbi/Public domain) Chariot Racing in the Circus Maximus

It was a feature of the heroes’ seasonal games in Homer and the ancient Olympic Games. Fagan, PhD, The Pennsylvania State University Chariot racing has a long heritage going back into the Greek past.

Rome total war chariots