tour 8 of 10
Chariot-racing in ancient Rome
Pottery jar with a chariot-race
This colour-coated pottery jar is decorated
with a lively, though schematized depiction of a chariot-race. The
event is for quadrigae,
four-horse chariots, and four competitors are shown in the middle
of the race. Each is helmeted, dressed in a long sleeved jerkin and
trousers, and holds whips and reins. The spirited rendering of the
scene, made more vivid by the varied postures of the charioteers,
suggests that the potter had actually been to a similar
race.
The jar was either
made in the area of Colchester, or in the Nene Valley region of
Cambridgeshire. The remains of a Roman circus were discovered in
Colchester in 2004, and excavated by the Colchester Archaeological
Trust. This is the first Roman circus ever discovered on British
soil, and shows that chariot racing was familiar to at least some
of the people of Roman Britain.