tour 10 of 10
Chariot-racing in ancient Rome
Three bronze strigils with scenes from the Roman Circus
Before exercising or competing athletes applied
oil to their bodies to keep the dirt out of the pores of the skin
and perhaps also to avoid sunburn. Afterwards a strigil was used to
scrape off the accumulated sweat, oil, dirt, and sand from the
arena. These three strigils would have hung from a ring (part of
which still survives), probably together with an
aryballos (oil-flask)
and a sponge, forming a portable
set.
The set is decorated
with scenes from the Circus Maximus, stamped into the metal and
inlaid with silver. On one side is an altar with festoons and seven
eggs on top, referring to dedications made by competitors; then
follows a biga
(two-horse chariot) driven by a charioteer with a cap and holding a
stick, and finally three cone-shaped markers on a plinth denoting
the turning point at the end of the
spina, the barrier down
the middle of the track. On the other side are similar markers, a
domed temple, an altar with a group of the goddess Cybele and a
lion, an obelisk and another
altar.
This set probably
belonged to a successful or at least a wealthy sportsman, with a
keen interest in chariot-racing or perhaps himself a winning
charioteer.