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In addition to gladiatorial fights, the Romans also loved horse racing. The fans were divided into specific factions (factiones), depending on the colours. In ancient Rome, four fan clubs were classically distinguished: Red (russata), Green (prasina), White (albata) and Blue (veneta). In the times of Domitian, two additional teams were introduced: Purple and Gold; but soon after his death in 96 CE, they disappeared. Certainly, the most popular factions were the Blues and Greens – supported by the Emperor’s entourage – as evidenced by the small number of sources regarding Red and White.
But where exactly did these colours represent the teams? In the third century CE, Tertullian mentioned that the Reds were consecrated to Mars, the White Marshmallow, the Greens to Mother Earth or spring, and the Blue to sky and sea or autumn1.
As a curiosity, it is worth mentioning that the admirer of green was emperor Caligula, who spent hours sitting in their stables. Due to the colour of the carriage drivers’ tunes, parties were formed among the audience, whose members often behaved similarly to modern football fans. The viewer who thought that the race should be repeated got up and waved his gown or tunic – when the majority did, the race was interrupted and repeated. Importantly, each team had a maximum of three teams for each race.
The best drivers were great stars in Rome. They have often won a great fortune and worship of Roman women. Most of the coachmen were recruited from slaves. It happened, however, that some impoverished citizens decided on this path to gain wealth and fame. During the race, in order not to let the reins go, they tied them up (and that’s why they always wore knives so that they could cut the reins in the event of an accident – which did not always work).
During the races, there was often cooperation between individual teams to push one of the coachmen onto a spin. Interestingly, in Rome, the exchange of players was also popular, as players now move to other clubs.
The carriage took place in a standing position. The coachmen wore a tunic in a colour matching the colours of the party they represented. The arena of Circus Maximus had its great heroes. Gaius Appuleius Diocles won in 1462, and in 1437 races he came in second place.
The chariot (currus) was built for maximum speed and the weight was low. The chariots were drawn to two (biga) or four horses (quadriga), but there were also teams with more horses. The quadriga was driven from a standing position and was used mainly for racing and as a car serving during triumphal marches (currus triumphalis) during various ceremonies. Woźnica was called auriga, and the best horse was funalis.
The normal distance was 7 laps, which in the Great Circus gave a distance of 4000 meters. However, the number of laps was changed between 5 and 14 laps.
Chariot races took place in a building called circus. The Roman circus resembled a Greek hippodrome. It consisted of an audience and an arena. The latter was very elongated. One of the two short sides had a semicircular shape, and the other had an arch whose chord ran diagonally to the long sides. In the middle of this arch was the main entrance gate, and on both sides of it rose six rooms, so-called carceres for racing cars.
