Editing Circus Maximus (section)

== Events and uses ==
{{See also|Chariot racing|Ludi}}
[[File:Plan Rome Caen Circus Maximus Colisée.jpg|thumb|Model of Rome in the 4th century AD, by [[Paul Bigot]]. The Circus lies between the [[Aventine Hill|Aventine]] (left) and [[Palatine Hill|Palatine]] (right); the oval structure to the far right is the [[Colosseum]].]]
The Circus was Rome's largest venue for ''[[ludi]]'', public games connected to [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman religious]] [[Roman festival|festivals]]. ''Ludi'' were sponsored by leading Romans or the Roman state for the benefit of the [[SPQR|Roman people (''populus Romanus'')]] and [[List of Roman deities|gods]]. Most were held annually or at annual intervals on the [[Roman calendar]]. Others might be given to fulfil a [[Votum|religious vow]], such as the games in celebration of a [[Roman triumph|triumph]]. In Roman tradition, the earliest triumphal ''ludi'' at the Circus were [[Votum#Military vota|vowed]] by [[Tarquin the Proud]] to Jupiter in the [[Roman Kingdom|late Regal era]] for his victory over [[Suessa Pometia|Pometia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|pp=66–67}}</ref>

''Ludi'' ranged in duration and scope from one-day or even half-day events to spectacular multi-venue celebrations held over several days, with religious ceremonies and public feasts, horse and chariot racing, athletics, [[Theatre of ancient Rome|plays]] and recitals, [[Venationes|beast-hunts]] and [[gladiator]] fights. Some included public executions. The greater ''ludi'' (meaning sport or game in Latin<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/noun:ludus|title=Ludus - the Latin Dictionary}}</ref>) at the Circus began with a flamboyant parade ''([[pompa circensis]])'', much like the [[Roman triumph|triumphal procession]], which marked the purpose of the games and introduced the participants.<ref>Described by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 7.72.1–13, supplemented by [[Quintus Fabius Pictor]]'s history.</ref>

During the [[Roman Republic]], the [[aedile]]s organized the games. The most costly and complex of the ''ludi'' offered opportunities to assess an aedile's competence, generosity, and fitness for [[Executive Magistrates of the Roman Republic|higher office]].<ref>Aedileship was a rung on the [[cursus honorum]], available to [[patricians]] and [[plebeians]] of wealth and high standing. Despite the sometimes crippling personal cost of running for office and providing "extras" for the ''ludi'', a successful aedile could secure popular favor and a substantial share of the vote at election time. [[Julius Caesar]] was among those who solidified his support through his lavish ''ludi'' as aedile.</ref> Some Circus events, however, seem to have been relatively small and intimate affairs. In 167 BC, "flute players, scenic artists and dancers" performed on a temporary stage, probably erected between the two central seating banks. Others were enlarged at enormous expense to fit the entire space. A ''[[venatio]]'' held there in 169 BC, one of several in the 2nd century, employed "63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants", with spectators presumably kept safe by a substantial barrier.<ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=71}}, A later iron cage-work barrier is evident at [[Pompey]]'s ''venatione'' of 55 BC.</ref>

As Rome's provinces expanded, existing ''ludi'' were embellished and new ''ludi'' invented by politicians who competed for divine and popular support. By the [[Roman Republic#From the Gracchi to Caesar (133–49 BC)|late Republic]], ''ludi'' were held on 57 days of the year; an unknown number of these would have required full use of the Circus.<ref name="auto1">Bunson, Matthew, ''A Dictionary of the Roman Empire'', Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 246.</ref> On many other days, charioteers and jockeys would need to practise on its track. Otherwise, it would have made a convenient corral for the animals traded in the nearby [[Forum Boarium]], just outside the starting gate. Beneath the outer stands, next to the Circus' entrances, were workshops and shops. When no games were being held, the Circus at the time of [[Catullus]] (mid-1st century BC) was probably "a dusty open space with shops and booths ... a colourful crowded disreputable area" frequented by "prostitutes, jugglers, fortune tellers and low-class performing artists".<ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=72}}, citing [[T. P. Wiseman]], "Looking for Camerius. The Topography of [[Catullus 55]]," ''Papers of the British School at Rome'', 1980, pp. 11–13 with footnotes.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=72}}</ref>

[[File:CircusMaximusNorthEast2019.jpg|thumb|upright|View of the Circus site from the south-east in 2019]]
Rome's emperors met the growing popular demand for regular ''ludi'' and the need for more specialised venues, as obligations of [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|their office and cult]]. Over the centuries of its development, the Circus Maximus became Rome's paramount specialist venue for chariot races. By the late 1st century AD, the [[Colosseum]] had been built for most of the city's [[gladiator]] shows and smaller beast-hunts, and most track-athletes competed at the purpose-designed [[Stadium of Domitian]], though long-distance foot races were still held at the Circus.<ref>Extraordinarily long races of up to 128 miles, if [[Pliny the Elder]] is to be believed; see {{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=71}}</ref> Eventually, 135 days of the year were devoted to ''ludi''.<ref name="auto1" />

Even at the height of its development as a chariot-racing circuit, the circus remained the most suitable space in Rome for religious processions on a grand scale and was the most popular venue for large-scale ''venationes''; in the late 3rd century, the emperor [[Marcus Aurelius Probus|Probus]] laid on a spectacular Circus show in which beasts were hunted through a veritable forest of trees, on a specially built stage.<ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|pp=71–72}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=128}}, citing ''Historia Augusta'', Probus, 19.2–4.</ref> With the advent of Christianity as the official religion of the Empire, ''ludi'' gradually fell out of favour. The last known beast-hunt at the Circus Maximus took place in 523, and the last known races there were held by [[Totila]] in 549.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bowersock|first1=Glen Warren|last2=Brown|first2=Peter|last3=Grabar|first3=Oleg|title=Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World|url=https://archive.org/details/lateantiquitygui00bowe|url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-51173-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/lateantiquitygui00bowe/page/674 674]}}; citing Procopius, ''The Gothic Wars'', 3. 37. 4. For the last known beast-hunt at the Circus, see {{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=131}}. Humphrey describes the last known Circus event (549) as "games".</ref><!-- Similar claims elsewhere, though Procopius doesn't seem to specify the nature of the games or their venue; if any editor has access to Procopius' Bell. Goth. in anything like the original, input here would be useful. -->