Roman mosaic of chariot-race uncovered in Cyprus!

Today (11th August), the Trust retweeted a Tweet by Ancient History – @ahencyclopedia – which was Tweeted yesterday and includes a link to an item on the abcnews web-site, which was also posted yesterday (10th August). A Roman mosaic showing a chariot-race in a hippodrome has been uncovered on Cyprus, in the village of Akaki not far from the capital Nicosia. Another Roman mosaic, showing the labours of Hercules, was discovered at Larnaka on Cyprus only a month ago! This ‘new’ mosaic shows seven chariots competing in a race in a hippodrome and it has been dated to the first half of the 4th century. The mosaic shows the seven quadrigae, each drawn by four horses and driven by a charioteer. It is not yet fully excavated but the excavators have already exposed an area of mosaic which measures 36 feet by 13 feet. The mosaic shows details of the hippodrome such as the central barrier and lap-counters of dolphins and eggs, and of the chariots, charioteers and teams of magnificent horses: it also includes an outrider, a groom and a water-carrier, and inscriptions of the names of the charioteers and some of the horses. It is the only such mosaic in Cyprus and it is a very important find.

Chariot-racing was the most popular and spectacular sport in Rome and, probably, throughout the Roman empire, which includes the sites and remains of many Roman circuses and hippodromes where chariot races would have been held. There is no Roman circus or hippodrome on Cyprus, but there is a well-preserved Roman stadium at Kourion on the island, which was built in about AD 138-180, for athletics races: it has eight starting-gates, like the Colchester Roman circus, which was built in the early 2nd century AD and seems to have been in use for about 150 years, until towards the end of the 3rd century AD. Athletics races may have been held at the Colchester Roman circus, as well as chariot races. The Colchester Roman circus is, of course, the only known Roman circus in Britain! The Trust has been investigating the site of the Roman circus since 2000, and we identified it as the site of a circus in 2004: it is a remarkable site of Roman Britain. In 2012, we moved to our new HQ which abuts the site of the circus and also opened a visitor centre for the circus.

Trust director Philip says that the chariot-race mosaic from Cyprus looks fabulous and shows a lot of detail – which will help the Trust with one of our planned new displays here at the Roman circus centre…

Read more about the mosaic and see image in ‘Unique 4th century mosaic of chariot race found in Cyprus’ (posted on the 10th August) at https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2016/08/unique-4th-century-mosaic-of-chariot.html#qUyZupqie0f33f3C.99 . The mosaic is now all over Twitter and the internet, where you can find further images of and reports on the mosaic. Follow the Trust and Ancient History on Twitter!

The Roman circus site and centre are open Monday-Saturday, 11.00am-4.00pm, as is our tea room. Admission is free. The circus site, centre and tea room are wheelchair-/pushchair-accessible. We look forward to seeing you!

Roman mosaics of charioteers and chariot-races have been found in Britain: the image shows a painting of a Roman chariot-race mosaic uncovered at Horkstow in Lincolnshire in the late 18th-early 19th century: painting by William Fowler (the image is published in the public domain by the Usher Gallery of Lincoln, on their web-site at www.thecollectionmuseum.com).

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