"Rome's Chariot Superstar" premiers on the Smithsonian Channel on April 21 at 8 p.m. 95, and "he probably died in one of those dramatic shipwrecks," Toner said. Over 10 years of racing, Scorpus' prowess earned him quantities of gold estimated to be worth $15 billion today, experts calculated in "Circus Maximus." The chariot-racing superstar was killed midrace in A.D. Itis obvious that these chariot - races could not be run without some danger for as the motion of the wheels was very rapid, and it was requisite to. Because of this crowded field, one of the most frequent risks on the racetrack was "shipwrecks," as the Romans called them - when chariots would tumble and crash on the track, becoming harrowing roadblocks for the remaining racers. When the race began, it would have resembled a stampede. including its magnificent Egyptian obelisk, can still be seen today. "It looked very dangerous - that plays into the Roman idea of theater and excitement and jeopardy," he said.Ī typical Roman race featured 12 chariots, with 48 horses lined up abreast. The Hippodrome of Constantinople was an arena for chariot races next to the Great. When Loades test-drove a reconstructed chariot, he found that while this design would have shielded the charioteer from stones and dust kicked up by the horses, if he happened to lose his balance, it would only stabilize him if he dropped to one knee on the platform, Loades explained. But in the Roman chariots, the rail was much lower - at knee height. War chariots also have waist-high rails at the front, so that an archer could brace himself while standing upright, Loades said. Wheels on Roman chariots were small, and the chariots were light, made of wood and rawhide the platform measured only about 3 feet (1 meter) from the rear axle to the front rail.Īnd unlike war chariots, which were led by at most two horses, Roman chariots were pulled by four horses, which made them trickier to control more likely to crash. Unlike the sturdier war chariots of the Egyptians and Hittites, Roman chariots were built for speed and spectacle, not battle, historical racer Mike Loades told Live Science.
His feats were so risky because racing vehicles favored swiftness over safety.
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