| At the height of the Roman Empire's grandeur, the | | | | BC) had a protective moat built and the wooden seats |
| Circus Maximus drew over a quarter of a million | | | | replaced with stone ones to accommodate 150,000 |
| Romans to its festivals, games, and religious | | | | people. In the first century AD, It was Trajan who |
| ceremonies. The spectacle spared no expense in | | | | increased the capacity to 250,000 marble seats. |
| glorifying the wealth and might of the empire. It must | | | | Nero became emperor in 54 AD at the age of 16. He |
| have been exhausting just to watch the twelve races | | | | found his palaces on the Palatine too crowded with |
| that began at the rise of the sun and ended with its | | | | the Forum on one side and the Circus Maximus on the |
| setting. With no lull in the activities, spectators enjoyed | | | | other-and the slums not too far away. The city had |
| boxing and wrestling matches wedged between the | | | | just grown up without foresight, each ruler adding |
| main events. To reach a crescendo of excitement, | | | | whatever he wished. He set about planning to rebuild |
| gladiators sometimes exhibited their skill and the crowd | | | | Rome and call it Neropolis. |
| could cheer for the martyrdom of Christians. | | | | But on July 18, 64, a great fire broke out in the Circus. It |
| Nothing was ever done in a small way. Chariot races | | | | spread across its level ground, up the hills and |
| claimed to be the most breathtaking event of all. | | | | throughout the city, raging for nine days. It destroyed |
| Twelve chariots raced abreast at dangerous speeds | | | | seventy percent of the Rome, consuming the palaces |
| on a tract wide enough to hold them all. Some records | | | | as well. Rumors spread as fast as the flames, claiming |
| claim that athletes would sometimes run for a whole | | | | Nero himself was to blame and had played his lyre as |
| day-up to 150 miles-to prove their endurance and skill. | | | | the fire devoured the city. Actually, Nero had been at |
| The emperor could survey it all from an especially built, | | | | his palace at Antium and rushed back. Evil as the |
| luxurious enclosure high on Palatine Hill. | | | | emperor had been in many ways, he did open the |
| The fifth king of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus, who ruled | | | | Field of Mars for those who had fled for their lives. He |
| from 616 to 578 BC, is credited with creating the | | | | had a city of tents set up and food brought to the |
| original Circus Maximus building for the purpose of | | | | destitute. But to quell the rumors he found a scapegoat |
| horseracing. The marsh between the Palatine Hill and | | | | in the new religion that was spreading throughout his |
| Aventine Hill was drained specifically for its | | | | empire. Alas, the killing of Christians would be the new |
| construction. | | | | sport in the rebuilt Circus Maximus. |
| Subsequent rulers expanded the site. The main arena | | | | After the decline of the Roman Empire in the fifth |
| was oval in shape with a flat end. Statues of various | | | | century AD, the Circus Maximus fell into ruin, its marble |
| gods were set up on a raised median. Augustus (63 | | | | stones carried off during Medieval times to build other |
| BC-AD 14) erected an obelisk. An amphitheater was | | | | structures. Its Obelisk, removed by Pope Sixtus V in |
| added for gladiator and wild beast combats. Pompey | | | | the sixteenth century, now stands in the Piazza del |
| the Great (106-47 BC) put on a grand spectacle of | | | | Popolo. |
| fighting elephants who tore down the protective bars | | | | However, in the nineteenth century, excavation and |
| between them and the crowd. | | | | partial restoration began. In late 2008 archeological |
| The Greek Olympian Games influenced the Romans | | | | work on the eastern end of Circus Maximus was |
| to expand to an even greater public entertainment | | | | begun to better understand the site. |
| center in the second century BC. Julius Caesar (100-44 | | | | |