Editing Circus Maximus (section)

=== Republican era ===
The games' sponsor (Latin ''editor)'' usually sat beside the images of attending gods, on a conspicuous, elevated stand (''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#pulvinar|pulvinar]]'') but seats at the track's perimeter offered the best, most dramatic close-ups. In 494 BC (very early in the [[Roman Republic|Republican era]]) the [[Roman dictator|dictator]] [[Manius Valerius Maximus]] and his descendants were granted rights to a [[curule chair]] at the southeastern turn, an excellent viewpoint for the thrills and spills of chariot racing.<ref>In the earliest exercise of the right, a curule chair would have been brought to the spot; its permanent positioning there is unlikely. See {{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=61}}</ref> In the 190s&nbsp;BC, stone track-side seating was built, exclusively for senators.<ref>Livy has the plebs seated "promiscuously" (''antea in promiscuo spectabant'') up to then: see {{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=70}}</ref>

Permanent wooden starting stalls were built in 329 BC. They were gated, brightly painted,<ref>Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, 8.20.1</ref> and staggered to equalise the distances from each start place to the central barrier. In theory, they might have accommodated up to 25 four-horse chariots ([[Quadriga]]s) abreast but when team-racing was introduced,<ref>Racing teams might have been used as early as the Regal era (according to some later Roman traditions), or as late as the end of the Punic Wars.</ref> they were widened, and their number reduced. By the late Republican or early Imperial era, there were twelve stalls. Their divisions were fronted by [[herma|herms]] that served as stops for spring-loaded gates, so that twelve light-weight, [[Quadriga|four-horse]] or [[Biga (chariot)|two-horse chariots]] could be simultaneously released onto the track. The stalls were allocated by lottery, and the various racing teams were identified by their colors.<ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=171}}; the gates probably used the same animal-sinew torsion springing as the Roman [[ballista]]; ''Ibid'', pp. 137–138: opposing teams of Reds and Whites are prominent in late Republican literature, and Greens and Blues in the Imperial era. Some Roman authors held that team-racing in multiple colors dated back to the regal era. ''Ibid,'' p. 175 for allocation of stalls by lottery.</ref> Typically, there were seven laps per race. From at least 174&nbsp;BC, they were counted off using large sculpted eggs. In 33&nbsp;BC, an additional system of large bronze dolphin-shaped lap counters was added, positioned well above the central dividing barrier ''(euripus)'' for maximum visibility.<ref name="auto2">{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|pp=261–265}}</ref>

[[File:Sestertius-Caracalla-Circus Maximus-RIC 0500a.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sestertius]] depicting [[Caracalla]], and the Circus Maximus, with Augustus' obelisk midway along the central dividing barrier ''(euripus'' or ''spina'')]]
[[Julius Caesar]]'s development of the Circus, commencing around 50&nbsp;BC, extended the seating tiers to run almost the entire circuit of the track, barring the starting gates and a processional entrance at the semi-circular end.<ref>A processional entrance at the semi-circular end,. prior to the erection there of Titus' triumphal arch, is assumed by most modern sources. See {{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|pp=69, 97ff}}</ref> The track measured approximately {{convert|621|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|150|m|ft|abbr=on}} in breadth. A&nbsp;canal between the track perimeter and its seating protected spectators and help drain the track.<ref>{{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|pp=75, 84}}</ref> The inner third of the seating formed a trackside ''[[cavea]]''. Its front sections along the central straight were reserved for senators, and those immediately behind for ''equites''. The outer tiers, two thirds of the total, were meant for Roman plebs and non-citizens. They were timber-built, with wooden-framed service buildings, shops and entrance-ways beneath. The total number of seats is uncertain, but was probably in the order of 150,000; [[Pliny the Elder]]'s estimate of 250,000 seating places is unlikely. The wooden bleachers were damaged in a fire of 31&nbsp;BC, either during or after construction.<ref>As far as is known, there was no significant expansion of seating between Caesar's improvements and Pliny's estimate of 250,000 seats. His estimate ignores the necessary interruptions of seating rows by access stairways and corridors. It might represent a per foot run seating estimate, or include those watching from the nearby heights, outside the building proper. In late Imperial regionary catalogues, seating estimates for the Circus become even wilder; one gives an impossible 450,000 seats. Discussion is in {{harvnb|Humphrey|1986|p=126}}</ref>