Chariot and horse races were so important a part of most Greek festivals that, though we cannot strictly describe them as athletics, a brief account of the hippodrome and the events which took place there will not be out of place.

Hippodromes must have abounded in all parts of Greece which offered any facilities for riding or driving. The fifth-century inscription of the Spartan Damonon^[768] enumerates sixty-eight victories won by himself and his son in the chariot-race and the horse-race at no less than eight distinct festivals, all of them in Laconia or in the immediate neighbourhood. The plains of Argos, Athens, Euboea, and Thessaly were famed for their breeds of horses, while the passionate devotion of the Sicilian and Italian Greeks to horse-racing is proved by the constant occurrence of the racing-chariot or the race-horse on the coins of various cities from the beginning of the fifth century onwards.^[769]

Yet of all the hippodromes which must have existed hardly a trace is left, and we are forced to fall back on the scattered notices of Pausanias and other writers. The fact is that the Greek hippodrome as a rule was a very simple affair, hardly more elaborate than the course selected on the plains of Troy for the funeral games of Patroclus or the course of a local race meeting to-day. All that was necessary was a fairly smooth open plain, if possible, in a valley or at the foot of some hill, the slopes of which formed a natural stand for spectators.

At either end of the track a pillar was erected to mark the place where chariots and horses turned. These pillars are generally represented on coins and vases as Ionic or Doric columns; sometimes, it appears, movable pillars^[770] were used, perhaps for safety, like the posts used in modern driving competitions. Occasionally we see a pillar which has been knocked over by a chariot.^[771] But usually the pillars were fixed, and then it was the chariot that suffered. There is not a particle of evidence for the existence in any Greek hippodrome of the low wall (spina) which ran down the middle of the course between the pillars in the Roman circus, though this wall regularly appears in the fanciful plans of the hippodrome which adorn our works of reference. There were no stone seats, and as a rule no permanent structures of any kind.^[772] Given the ground, the necessary arrangements for the start or the turn could be readily made in a few days whenever required. In the intervals between one festival and another the ground might be let out for pasturage, as it was at Delos.

The only hippodrome of which any remains exist, almost the only one which can be located, is that mentioned by Pausanias on Mount Lycaeus in Arcadia.^[773] It is 240 metres long by 105 broad. Possibly the actual course was exactly a stade in length. It seems likely that the usual course was two stades long, and that from this circumstance the four-stades foot-race was called the “horse-race” (hippios).^[774]

The hippodrome at Olympia was larger and more elaborate than the ordinary hippodrome. Unfortunately, the floods of the Alpheus and other catastrophes have removed every trace of its remains, and we must be content with what we learn from Pausanias and other writers.^[775] The hippodrome lay between the stadium and the river. On its north side it was bounded by the southern embankment of the stadium, and farther east by a projecting spur of Mount Cronius. To the south a long embankment protected it from the floods of the Alpheus. The western end was formed by the portico of Agnaptus, but we do not know whether this portico extended along the whole end. Here presumably was the official entrance; there was another entrance at the south-east end of the course through the embankment.

The dimensions of the hippodrome are given in a manuscript discovered in the old Seraglio at Constantinople.^[776] The circuit of the course was 8 stades (1538·16 m.), or nearly a mile. The width was 1 stade 4 plethra (320·45 m.), and the length of the sides was 3 stades 1 plethron (608·85 m.). It is not clear how the circuit is measured, but the fact that twice the long side + the short side gives the desired result suggests that half the short sides only are counted, and that 1 stade 4 plethra is the outside measurement, 5 plethra the inside measurement. The actual course traversed by the horses measured from pillar to pillar and back was, however, only 6 stades (1153·62 m.).

The elaborate starting gate (?fes??), devised by Cleoetas probably in the fifth century, and improved at a later date by Aristides, has been described in a previous chapter (Fig. 164). It consisted of a triangular structure like the prow of a ship, the apex pointing down the course.^[777] The base joined the portico of Agnaptus. Along the two sides of the triangle which pointed down the course a number of stalls were arranged in pairs on either side. In these stalls the chariots were placed with a rope in front of each. At the signal the ropes in front of the pair of chariots nearest the base were dropped or withdrawn; in what way, we do not know. As these chariots drew level with the next pair, the next pair of ropes were withdrawn, and so on till the whole field was started. It is obvious, of course, that if the whole number of stalls was not required, the unoccupied ones were those nearest the base. The length of each side was 400 feet; we do not know how many stalls there were. At Delphi, Pindar speaks of forty competitors in the chariot-race. This must surely have been an exceptional field, and we are not surprised to hear that of the forty the chariot of Arcesilas alone reached the goal in safety. Still, the size of the aphesis at Olympia implies large fields,^[778] and if the base of the triangle was 400 feet, there would have been ample room for twenty stalls on either side.

The general arrangement of the aphesis is clear enough, but the absence of all details renders it impossible to reconstruct the hippodrome with any certainty. In view of its great width we may certainly reject the old view that the base of the aphesis extended the whole width of the course. We cannot for a moment imagine the pair of chariots near the base starting at a distance of some 300 or even 150 yards from one another. But if the inside measurement of the width of the hippodrome was 5 plethra (168 yards), the base of the aphesis may quite well have extended over half this distance, and a base of this width agrees well with the length of the sides. We may assume, then, that the aphesis occupied the whole or part of the southern half of the course. Positions were, of course, assigned by lot, and undoubtedly the chariots on the left had a slight advantage in point of distance, but this advantage seems to have been greatly exaggerated, and was perhaps more than compensated by the wider sweep which the outside chariots could take in turning at the farther end of the course. Still, it is possible that, as Pollack^[779] suggests, the apex of the aphesis was turned slightly to the left, so as to equalize the distance for all. In the circus of Maxentius, where the carceres occupy the whole breadth, they are for a similar reason inclined towards the right. There is no proof that this arrangement was adopted at Olympia, much less that the imaginary line joining the two pillars was inclined like the spina at the circus, so that the pillar nearest the start was farther from the south side of the hippodrome than from the north, and thus more room was provided at the points where the chariots were most crowded. The width of the Olympic course made such an arrangement quite unnecessary.

This elaborate aphesis prevented the confusion and delay inevitable in starting a large field all together; but it is hard to see how it secured a fairer start than the ordinary plan of starting in a straight line.^[780] Probably, as Martin suggests, its object was chiefly spectacular. At all events, though it was one of the wonders of Olympia, it does not seem to have been imitated anywhere else.

Another notable feature of the hippodrome at Olympia was the altar called Taraxippus—the terror of horses—which was supposed to inspire horses as they passed it with a sudden panic, and so to cause the numerous accidents for which the chariot-race was notorious. A mass of superstition grew up about this altar, which was held to be the home of some unfriendly demon. The altar seems to have been near the turn, where accidents were most frequent. Some writers have supposed that, as the horses turned the goal, they were frightened at the sight of their own shadows cast in front of them by the morning sun. If so, the Greek horse must have been a far less intelligent animal than the modern, which has shown an extraordinary faculty of becoming accustomed rapidly to trains, bicycles, motors,—sights far more disturbing than a shadow! Really, there is no need for any such theory to explain the numerous accidents which happened at the turn, and which superstition naturally ascribed to some spirit; and we may therefore accept the rationalistic explanation of Pausanias that Taraxippus was merely a name of Poseidon Hippios. There was also, he tells us, a Taraxippus at the Isthmus, the spirit of Glaucus the son of Sisyphus who was killed by his horses at the games of Adrastus, while at Nemea the panic of the horses was caused by a gleam like fire reflected from a red stone near the turn. But nowhere was there any Taraxippus which inspired such terror as the Taraxippus at Olympia!

The Olympic aphesis was something exceptional. Usually horses and chariots were started much in the same way as runners. Lots were drawn for places, and they drew up in line.^[781] It appears that a rope (?sp???) was stretched in front of the whole line, which was dropped, or removed at the moment of starting. How this rope was dropped without risk of entangling the horses’ feet, is a mystery; there is no record of any accident caused at the start. The signal for the start was given by a trumpet. The horse-races, being mostly of the diaulos type, finished at the start. The only place where we hear of straight races is at Athens. The starting-line, as in the stadium, was probably marked by pillars at either end. The pillars represented on coins and vases may be either these pillars or the pillars round which the horses turned. On a fine Panathenaic vase (Fig. 165) recently discovered at Sparta there is a spirited drawing of a four-horse chariot passing a pillar on its right. As the turn always took place to the left, it is clear that unless the artist has made a mistake, the pillar represents the finish.

We have seen that the fully developed programme comprised six events, three for full-grown horses (t??e???), three for colts, for each class a four-horse chariot-race (??a, t????pp??), a horse race (?????), and a pair-horse chariot-race (s??????). The last event, which was really perhaps the oldest of all, was not revived at Olympia till Ol. 93 (408 B.C.), but we learn from the Panathenaic vases that it existed as well as the other two races in the sixth century; indeed the earliest of these vases existing, the Burgon vase in the British Museum, was a prize for this event. The three events for colts were not introduced either at Olympia or Delphi till the fourth century. In 500 B.C. a mule chariot-race (?p???) was introduced at Olympia, and four years later a race for mares (???p?), in which the rider dismounted and finished the race on foot. Both events were abolished in 444 B.C., perhaps from lack of competition. At Athens we find a far more elaborate programme, including races for war-horses and processional horses, the apobates’ race (Fig. 34), and a torch-race on horseback.

The four-horse chariots ran twelve times round the course, the pair-horse chariots and colts’ four-horse chariots eight times, the colts’ synoris three times. These are the figures given by the Constantinople Manuscript, and they agree with what we learn from Pindar and the scholia.^[782] The four-horse chariot-race at Olympia was therefore no less than seventy-two stades, nearly nine miles. The length of the course, which at first sight seems excessive, undoubtedly checked the pace, and thereby made for safety, but it makes it extremely improbable that heats were ever allowed in chariot-races. All equestrian events took place on the same day, and no team could be expected to race seventy-two stades twice on a day. The riding races consisted of only a single lap or six stades. This is the obvious conclusion of the story told by Pausanias of the Corinthian mare Aura, who, having thrown her rider at the start, continued her course, turned the pillar, and on hearing the sound of the trumpet, spurted and came in first, and then knowing that she had won, stopped.^[783] There is of course nothing remarkable in the story; indeed, I recollect seeing a very similar incident on the Totnes racecourse, but modern racing rules do not allow a horse thus to get rid of its rider’s weight.

From this story we learn that at some point, perhaps at the turn of the last lap, a trumpet was blown. Perhaps the number of laps were marked by a blast of the trumpet. Some means must certainly have been employed for the information of the drivers. In the Roman circus the laps were marked by figures of dolphins and eggs set upon pillars at either end. At each lap one of the dolphins was turned round and one of the eggs probably removed, but we know of no such arrangement in the hippodrome.

Two distinct types of chariot were used in Greek racing. The four-horse chariot was a modification of the Homeric war-chariot. This war-chariot consisted of a low car mounted on two wheels with a high framework in front and at the sides, iii which the chieftain and the driver stood side by side. It was open behind, so that the chieftain could readily dismount to fight, and remount when he found it desirable. The racing car was very similar, but was usually drawn by four horses instead of two, had a lighter framework, and had only room for the charioteer. One of the earliest representations of a racing car occurs on an eighth-century vase in the British Museum.^[784] The artist probably intended to represent a two-horse car, but finding this too difficult contented himself with one horse. The drivers are standing and wear the regulation dress of the Greek charioteer, a long white chiton such as is worn by the Delphi charioteer (Fig. 18). The type of racing car remains the same, with but little difference, on Panathenaic vases from the sixth to the fourth century, and on coins of Macedon and Sicily. On some of the later vases, such as a Panathenaic vase B. 606 in the British Museum, the car seems to be decidedly lighter, and the wheels higher than on earlier vases. The driver has usually a whip or goad, and he holds the reins with his left hand or with both hands. The two middle horses (??????) were harnessed to the yoke, which was attached to the pole, and further supported by a strap fastened to the front rim of the car. The other two horses were the trace-horses (se??af????). The details of the harness and of the chariot do not concern us here.

The two-horse chariot (s??????) as represented on Panathenaic vases is not really a chariot at all, but a sort of cart, the body of which has been reduced so that nothing is left but the driver’s seat and a square open framework on either side. The driver sits with his feet resting on a footboard suspended from the pole. On the Burgon vase he wears a short, sleeveless, purple chiton, and carries in one hand a goad, in the other a long curved rod like a fishing-rod, to the end of which are fastened certain pieces of metal, which we may suppose made a jingling noise like bells.^[785] On the two other Panathenaic vases in the Museum connected with this race the drivers wear short, tight-fitting drawers, which are not visible in our illustration (Fig. 166).

This type of synoris seems to have been peculiar to Athens, for on coins the two-horse chariot is similar to the four-horse chariot, and the driver stands. Such a chariot appears on the gold coins of Philip II. of Macedon (Fig. 167). Philip won victories at Olympia, in the riding-race and in the four-horse chariot-race. The two-horse chariot must, therefore, refer to some other victory, perhaps at the games of Dium, or it may be merely an allusion to his name.

The mule car (?p???) differs little from the Athenian synoris. It is represented on the coins of Rhegium and Messana. Sicily was famous for its mules; and the introduction of this event at Olympia was probably due to Sicilian influence. Of the four winners whose names we know one was a Thessalian, three were Sicilians. The event evidently found no favour with the Eleans, who abolished it at the first opportunity, perhaps alleging as an excuse an ancient curse which prevented mules from being bred in Elis.^[786] The coin in our illustration (Fig. 168) commemorates the victory of Anaxilas of Rhegium early in the fifth century. On it the mule-car appears as little more than a box-seat perched above two wheels.

In the horse-races the jockeys rode without stirrups or saddle. On the Panathenaic vase (Fig. 169) in the British Museum they appear as naked youths with long hair; those on the Amphiaraus vase (Fig. 3) wear a short chiton girt in closely. In a red-figured vase-painting in Munich^[787] one of the jockeys has been thrown from his horse in making the turn, and is being dragged along still holding the rein. The victories of Philip II. of Macedon have already been mentioned. His victory in the horse-race at Olympia is commemorated by a coin bearing on one side the figure of his victorious jockey holding in his hand the palm (Fig. 167).

Of the Olympic ???p? I know no illustration, but something very similar to it occurs on the coins of Tarentum. The didrachms of Tarentum,^[788] from the fifth century to the end of the third century B.C., present a wonderful variety of equestrian types which, as Dr. Evans says, “give artistic expression to the passionate love of the turf which was so distinguishing a feature of Tarentine public life.” The coin in our illustration (Fig. 170), which belongs to the beginning of the third century, represents a common type, a naked youth armed with a small round shield in the act of vaulting off his horse. As was pointed out in a previous chapter, the exercises of the apobates, whether in chariot or on horseback, are really military; and this military character is marked on the Tarentum coins by the addition of a shield. Another type represented on the coins of Tarentum is the torch-race on horseback. The coin selected (Fig. 170) is slightly later than the last, and is ascribed by Dr. Evans to the hegemony of Pyrrhus.

Horses and mares were admitted alike to all races except the ???p?, which was confined to mares. The distinction between colts and horses was one of the points decided by the Hellanodicae in the preliminary dokimasia before the games. Pausanias cites the case of a Spartan Lycinus, who had entered a team for the colts’ race, but as one of his team was rejected by the judges, he entered them for the open chariot-race, and won it.^[789] The story is open to suspicion, because the statue of Lycinus was made by Myron, and in Myron’s time the colts’ race had not been introduced.

Women, even if they could not be present in person at Olympia, were allowed to enter their horses for the races. Cynisca, the sister of Agesilaus, won two victories in the chariot-race about the year 380 B.C. Horse-breeding and racing were growing very fashionable among the Spartan nobles, and according to Plutarch, Agesilaus, wishing to read his countrymen a lesson, persuaded his sister to try her fortune in the chariot-race. “This he did to show the Greeks that a victory of that kind did not depend upon any extraordinary spirit or abilities, but only upon riches and expense.” It is to be feared that this lesson failed of its effect, if we may judge from the honours paid to Cynisca. A bronze representation of her horses was dedicated in the Heraeum, and her own statue stood in the Altis, while at Sparta she was worshipped at a heroum built in her honour. Shortly after her another Spartan lady, Euryleonis, was victorious with the two-horse chariot. Belistiche, the mistress of Philadelphus, was the first to win the two-horse chariot-race for colts in 264 B.C. An Olympic inscription of the first century mentions, among the victories won by Antiphanes of Elis and his family, the victory of his daughter Theodota in the four-horse chariot-race for colts. Numerous victories of women are recorded in Athenian inscriptions.

Horses and chariots were sometimes entered not in the name of individuals, but of states. In 480 B.C. the public horse of the Argives (???e??? d??s???) was successful at Olympia, and two Olympiads later their public chariot won.^[790] An Olympic victory not only shed honour on the state, but must have been an excellent advertisement for all who were interested in horse-breeding.

The drivers and jockeys were usually paid servants; but sometimes we hear of the owner himself, or one of his family acting in this capacity. Damonon, in the inscription referred to above, records with pride certain races where he was his own charioteer. Pindar, in the first Isthmian Ode, congratulates Herodotus of Thebes on not entrusting his chariot to the hands of strangers. Thrasybulus probably drove his father’s chariot in the victory commemorated in the sixth Pythian ode. Carrhotus, the charioteer of Arcesilas of Cyrene, was his brother-in-law. Next to the statue of Timon at Olympia was the statue of his youthful son, Aepytus, who had ridden his horse to victory.^[791] Though the owner took the prize, the victory was due in no small degree to the skill of the charioteer, and the latter was not undeservedly sometimes associated with his master in the hymn of victory, or represented in the monument which commemorated the victory.

No event could compare in brilliance or in excitement with the four-horse chariot-race, the sport of kings in the Greek world. Each turn in the course was fraught with danger, and there were twenty-three turns. Every reader is familiar with the description of the chariot-race, with its shifting fortunes, and its catastrophes, in the Electra of Sophocles. The danger of the turn was twofold, there was the danger of striking the pillar with the chariot wheel in trying to turn too close, there was the danger of collision with other chariots. Both dangers are illustrated in the Electra. The first accident occurred at the turn between the sixth and seventh round; “The Aenian’s hard-mouthed horses bolt, and at the turn dash headlong into the Barcaean car.” The Barcaean car was leading on the outside; to make the turn, it had to sweep round in front of the Aenian car, thereby forcing the latter to check its pace for fear of collision. Unfortunately, the Aenian horses had bolted, and could not be checked, and therefore charged into the back of the other chariot. The accident is perfectly intelligible if we realise that the chariots were not racing in a line, one behind the other, but were often side by side. The chariot on the inside would naturally make a wide sweep after the pillar; the outside chariot would make the sweep first, and try to turn close to the pillar on the other side.^[792] One accident leads to others. All the chariots came to grief except that of Orestes, who drove last, keeping himself for the finish, and the chariot of the Athenian, who cleverly pulled aside, and checked his pace, letting the crowd of chariots rush on to their destruction. Orestes started off in quick pursuit of him, but in making the last turn he was too quick. The left-hand trace-horse had been reined in to make the turn; the horses had already turned round the pillar, but the chariot itself was not yet clear when Orestes gave the rein to the left-hand horse. The horses dashed off down the straight, and the wheel of the chariot caught the pillar, Orestes was thrown from the chariot, and dragged along by the horses still entangled in the reins.

Accidents of a milder character are often depicted on coins and vases. On a red-figured hydria in WÜrzburg, one of the horses has broken his traces and runs away.^[793] A broken rein tangled round the forefoot of a horse is a favourite motive on the fifth-century coins of Syracuse, bearing the signature of Euaenetus.^[794] It occurs also on one of the coins of Catana shown in Fig. 171. The other coin has in the exergue an object which seems to represent a broken chariot-wheel.

The chariot-race is depicted on the FranÇois vase, and also in the Amphiaraus vase (Fig. 3). The scene on the latter is a particularly fine picture of the crowding and confusion of the race. It represents the finish. Three tripods are set for the prizes, and beyond them sit the three judges.

The finest representations of the chariot occur on the coins of Sicily (Fig. 172). It is impossible to dwell on them in detail, and interesting as they are artistically, they add little to our knowledge of the race. Two examples must suffice; two decadrachms of Agrigentum and Syracuse respectively. The former shows a spirited rendering of a four-horse chariot, as the driver reins in his horses. The driver, contrary to usual custom, is almost naked, probably he is the personification of the river Acragas. Above him is an eagle flying away with a serpent in its claws; below is the city emblem, a crab. Still more interesting is the coin of Syracuse belonging to the series of medallions connected with the defeat of the Athenians at the river Assinarus. This defeat was commemorated by the festival of the Assinaria, which was celebrated for the first time in 412. The coin in our illustration is the work of an unknown artist, usually called “the New Artist.” The chariot is represented in full career, and above the chariot floats a figure of Victory holding a crown. The most interesting feature of the coin is the group of objects in the exergue. They are a shield and helmet on either side, in the middle a cuirass flanked by a pair of greaves. These form the panoply of a heavy-armed soldier. Above the shield on the left is the word ???a, prizes, and there can be little doubt that these arms are the spoils taken from the Athenian hoplites, which were offered as prizes at the Assinarian games.

Chariot-racing was a costly amusement, and in the century before our era it disappeared from the programme of Olympia, doubtless because of want of competitors. It was restored spasmodically under the Empire, but never recovered its old position in Greece. The racing of the hippodrome had given place to the races of the rival factions in the Roman circus. The account of the circus and its games belongs not to Greek history but to Roman.