Editing Quadriga (section)

{{Short description|Chariot drawn by four horses}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Wiktionary}}
[[File:Horses of Basilica San Marco bright.jpg|thumb|310px|The [[Horses of Saint Mark]] in [[Venice]]]]
A '''quadriga''' is a car or [[chariot]] drawn by four [[horse]]s abreast and favoured for [[chariot racing]] in [[classical antiquity]] and the [[Roman Empire]]. The word derives from the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|quadrigae}}, a contraction of {{lang|la|quadriiugae}}, from ''{{linktext|quadri-}}'': four, and ''{{linktext|iugum}}'': yoke. In Latin the word {{lang|la|quadrigae}} is almost always used in the plural<ref>According to [[Aulus Gellius]] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2007.01.0072:book=19:chapter=8&highlight=quadriga#note6 19.8], Julius Caesar considered it incorrect to use the word in the singular.</ref> and usually refers to the team of four horses rather than the chariot they pull.<ref>Lewis and Short ''Latin Dictionary'', s.v. [https://logeion.uchicago.edu/quadrigae quadrigae].</ref> In Greek, a four-horse chariot was known as {{lang|grc|τέθριππον}} {{grc-transl|τέθριππον}}.<ref>Liddell, Scott, Jones ''Greek Lexicon'', s.v. [https://logeion.uchicago.edu/%CF%84%CE%AD%CE%B8%CF%81%CE%B9%CF%80%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%82 τέθριππος].</ref>

The four-horse abreast arrangement in a ''quadriga'' is distinct from the more common [[four-in-hand (carriage)|four-in-hand]] array of two horses in the front plus two horses behind those.

''Quadrigae'' were raced in the [[Ancient Olympic Games]] and other contests. They are represented in profile pulling the chariot of [[Greek mythology|gods and heroes]] on [[Greek vase]]s and in [[bas-relief]]. During the festival of the [[Halieia]], the ancient [[Rhodes|Rhodians]] would sacrifice a ''quadriga''-chariot by throwing it into the sea.<ref>[[Lewis Richard Farnell|Farnell, Lewis]], ''The Cults of the Greek States'' Vol. ΙV, [[Cambridge University Press]], 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-108-01546-2}}, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2NQF-MSICWEC&pg=PA20 20, note b].</ref> The ''quadriga'' was adopted in [[Ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] [[chariot racing]].

''Quadrigas'' were emblems of triumph. [[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]] or [[Pheme|Fame]] are often depicted as the triumphant woman driving it. In [[classical mythology]], the ''quadriga'' is the chariot of the gods. The [[Solar deity|god of the Sun]] [[Helios]], often identified with [[Apollo]], the god of light, was depicted driving his ''quadriga'' across the heavens, delivering daylight and dispersing the night.<ref>Smith, s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DH%3Aentry+group%3D6%3Aentry%3Dhelios-bio-1 Helios]</ref>

[[File:Rilievo da monumento onorario di Marco Aurelio trionfo, 176-180.JPG|thumb|[[Marcus Aurelius]] celebrating his [[Roman triumph]] in 176 AD over the enemies of the [[Marcomannic Wars]], from his now destroyed triumphal arch in Rome, [[Capitoline Museums]], 176–180 AD]]