Museum Explorer
Birds and beasts in Roman Britain
Chariot racing beaker
From: Colchester, Essex
Date: 1st century AD
This glass beaker may have been bought as a souvenir of a trip to the races. On the lowest band you can see two 4-horse chariots racing around a track. On the middle band are lap markers and other features of race-tracks. The upper band lists the names of the charioteers, and says that Cresces was the winner. His name was probably well known to his fans, just like Lewis Hamilton or Paula Radcliffe today.
