Ludi Apollinares at the Circus Maximus

The Ludi Apollinares (games dedicated to Apollo) were held in ancient Rome on the 6th-13th July, and were followed by markets on the 14th-19th July. The Ludi Apollinares were held in the Circus Maximus, the chariot-racing arena, and included chariot races, the hunting of wild animals, religious processions and dramatic performances. These games were a public entertainment which, apparently, became politicised because they were held just before the consular elections, when the electors were all gathered in Rome. In the Roman world, public entertainments were political because the sponsor of an entertainment would be paying for it to promote himself or to campaign for office.

Chariot races attracted the largest audiences, in Rome and across the Roman world, and they were presented during special festivals or on special occasions, to celebrate victory in war or political victory. A number of writers of the ancient Roman world attended and described chariot races at the Roman circus, eg Cicero, Pliny, Ovid, Tertullian, Martial, Dio Cassius, and Ammianus Marcellinus, who wrote of the Roman people that ‘their temple, their dwelling, their assembly, and the height of all their hopes is the Circus Maximus’ (Christesen & Kyle 2014). Even Tacitus was seen attending chariot races at the Roman circus. The Circus Maximus was the largest Roman circus in the Roman empire and it could seat about 150,000 spectators. 

‘… In its fully developed form, the Circus Maximus became a showpiece for Rome’s hallowed traditions, urban splendour, and global ambitions … as well as the prototype for dozens of similar edifices around the Mediterranean. And, unlike any other form of spectacle building, the Circus Maximus … was intertwined with the legendary foundation of Rome itself…’ (Christesen & Kyle 2014).

The Circus Maximus was the arena for extreme, large-scale public entertainments which were also political displays. During the reign of Julius Caesar, various festivals and games became associated with him, but especially the Ludi Apollinares, as he was born on a date during these ludi. Brutus tried to revive the Ludi Apollinares in July 44 BC after the assassination of Caesar in March of that year, removing associations with Caesar from the ludi and presenting a political debate in the form of the highly symbolic dramatic performances. According to G S Sumi, ‘… during this period politics was a drama that took place on several public stages [in Rome] – the Forum and comitium or saepta, theatre and circus…’ (Sumi 2005). Public entertainments were held on a much smaller scale in other places: for example, the Ludi Apollinares at Pompeii one year only included a parade, a few bullfighters and bulls, three pairs of gladiators, some boxers, and musical pantomimes, probably presented in the amphitheatre (Christesen & Kyle 2014). We haven’t uncovered any evidence of entertainments which were presented at Colchester’s Roman circus, and we can only speculate what festivals were celebrated or, perhaps, what local political dramas were played out there…

See A Companion to sport and spectacle in Greek and Roman antiquity by P Christesen & D G Kyle (2014) and Ceremony and power: performing politics in Rome between republic and empire by G S Sumi (2005).

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