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ably of wood, for a century later they were painted (Enn. ap. Cic. de div. i. 108:omnes avidi spectant ad carceris oras quam mox emittat pictis e faucibus currus). For further mention of the fori publici, see Liv. xxix. 37 (204 B.C.); CIL i 2. 809 (first century B.C.). It is probable that after the carceres the next permanent part of the circus to be constructed was the spina (see below), and that on it were placed those statues of which we have record, one of Pollentia (Liv. xxxix. 7. 8 (189 B.C.): malus in circo instabilis in signum Pollentiae procidit atque id deiecit), and others (Liv. xl. 2. I: signa alia in circo maximo cum columnis quibus superstabant evertit). It is also possible that the arch of Stertinius (see FORNIX STERTINII) with its gilded statues, erected in 196 B.C. (Liv. xxxiii. 27. 4), may have stood in the line of the spina, but the temple of IUVENTAS (q.v.) of 191 (Liv. xxxvi. 36. 5) was on one side. A permanent spina presupposes the covering over of the stream,
which to record the number of laps run in the races for the benefit of the spectators-an arrangement that became permanent (Varro, RR i. 2. II; Cassiod. Var. iii. 51. 10). In 55 B.C., at the dedication of the temple of Venus Victrix, Pompeius caused twenty elephants to fight in the circus, and they broke down the iron railing with which he had intended to protect the spectators (Plin. NH viii. 20, 21). More effective protection was afforded by the moat or euripus which Caesar constructed in 46 B.C. between the arena and the seats (Plin. loc. cit.; Suet. Caes. 39: circensibus spatio circi ab utraque parte producto et in gyrum euripo addito... venationes editae... quingenis peditibus elephantis vicenis tricenis equitibus hinc et inde commissis. nam quo laxius dimicaretur, sublatae metae inque earum locum bina castra exadversum constituta erant). This passage seems to mean that Caesar lengthened the circus and removed the goals temporarily, but does not justify the conclusion (HJ 123)
t after the carceres the next permanent part of the circus to be constructed was the spina (see below), and that on it were placed those statues of which we have record, one of Pollentia (Liv. xxxix. 7. 8 (189 B.C.): malus in circo instabilis in signum Pollentiae procidit atque id deiecit), and others (Liv. xl. 2. I: signa alia in circo maximo cum columnis quibus superstabant evertit). It is also possible that the arch of Stertinius (see FORNIX STERTINII) with its gilded statues, erected in 196 B.C. (Liv. xxxiii. 27. 4), may have stood in the line of the spina, but the temple of IUVENTAS (q.v.) of 191 (Liv. xxxvi. 36. 5) was on one side. A permanent spina presupposes the covering over of the stream, which flowed through the circus. This came from the valley between the Caelian and Esquiline, passing through the (marshy ?) depression which later on Nero converted into the stagnum of the domus Aurea and then traversed the valley between the Caelian and Palatine. It was converted into
ad sedem CCL inter magna opera dicamus). At any rate, our definite information about the monument, whether due to Caesar or Augustus, begins with the Augustan period, and subsequent changes probably did not affect materially its general plan. Besides building the pulvinar, Augustus set up on the spina the obelisk from Heliopolis (Plin. NH xxxvi. 71; Ammian. xvii. 4. 12), which is now in the Piazza del Popolo (see OBELISCUS AUGUSTI). According to Dionysius's description (iii. 68), written in 7 B.C., the circus was then one of the most wonderful monuments in Rome, three and one-half stadia (621 metres) long and four plethra (118 metres) wide, a euripus or water channel, ten feet wide and ten feet deep, surrounding the arena except at the carceres end. The seats rose in three sections, the lower story being built of stone, and the two upper of wood. The short side, opposite the carceres, was crescent-shaped, and the total seating capacity was 150,000. The carceres, or chariot stalls, we
f the carceres was the box of the magistrate presiding over the games, from which he gave the signal for the start with a mappa (Cassiod. Var. loc. cit.; Suet. Nero 22). At each end of the carceres were towers and battlements suggesting a walled town, and this part of the circus was sometimes called oppidum (Varro, cit.; Fest. 184). The east end of the circus was curved, with a gateway in the centre through which the procession seems to have usually entered at the beginning of the games. In 81 A.D. this gateway was replaced by a triple arch, erected by the senate in honour of Titus and his capture of Jerusalem (CIL vi. 944). It is represented on the Marble Plan (fr. 38). A podium, or raised platform, surrounded the arena. On this were the chairs of high officials, and from it the cavea rose gradually. On the spina were the two obelisks, the eggs and dolphins (see above), and at each end the metae or goals, three cones of gilt bronze (Cassiod. Var. iii. 51. 7). The altar of CONSUS (q.v
onjecture: the text is corrupt. cf. Chron. 145), but the first definite statement is that of Livy for 329 B.C. (viii. 20. 1: carceres eo anno in circo primum statuti), which makes it plain that there had been nothing permanent before that date. These carceres were probably of wood, for a century later they were painted (Enn. ap. Cic. de div. i. 108:omnes avidi spectant ad carceris oras quam mox emittat pictis e faucibus currus). For further mention of the fori publici, see Liv. xxix. 37 (204 B.C.); CIL i 2. 809 (first century B.C.). It is probable that after the carceres the next permanent part of the circus to be constructed was the spina (see below), and that on it were placed those statues of which we have record, one of Pollentia (Liv. xxxix. 7. 8 (189 B.C.): malus in circo instabilis in signum Pollentiae procidit atque id deiecit), and others (Liv. xl. 2. I: signa alia in circo maximo cum columnis quibus superstabant evertit). It is also possible that the arch of Stertinius (se
ibus spatio circi ab utraque parte producto et in gyrum euripo addito... venationes editae... quingenis peditibus elephantis vicenis tricenis equitibus hinc et inde commissis. nam quo laxius dimicaretur, sublatae metae inque earum locum bina castra exadversum constituta erant). This passage seems to mean that Caesar lengthened the circus and removed the goals temporarily, but does not justify the conclusion (HJ 123) that up to this time there had been no permanent section of the spina. In 33 B.C. Agrippa placed on the spina seven dolphins, probably of bronze, which served with the ova to indicate the laps of the races (Cass. Dio xlix. 43. 2). How extensive and how permanent the circus had become before the Augustan period, it is impossible to say. In 31 B.C. a fire destroyed a considerable part of it (Cass. Dio 1. 10. 3). Augustus himself records only the construction or restoration of the pulvinar ad circum maximum (Mon. Anc. iv. 4), a sort of box on the Palatine side of the circus
to be inferred from Ovid (Ars Am. i. 103-104: tunc neque marmoreo pendebant vela theatro nec fuerant liquido pulpita rubra croco; cf. Calp. Ecl. 7. 69-aet. Neronis). Augustus is said to have assigned separate seats to the senators and knights (Cass. Dio lv. 22. 4), but apparently not in any fixed section, for Claudius did this for the senators (Cass. Dio lx. 7. 3-4; Suet. Claud. 21), and Nero for the knights (Suet. Nero II; Tac. Ann. xv. 32; Plin. HN viii. 21; cf. Calp. Ecl. 7. 26-29). In 36 A.D. part of the circus on the Aventine side was burned (Tac. Ann. vi. 45; Cass. Dio lviii. 26. 5). This is called pars circi inter ultores in a fragmentary chronicle of Ostia (BC 1916, 211-212), where ultores probably refers to certain di ultores whose shrines were in this part of the circus. The reading' inter vitores' (basketmakers) is preferable (Eranos, 1926, 86-88). The damage was probably repaired at once, for Caligula celebrated the ludi circenses, evidently with considerable pomp (Suet
ituta erant). This passage seems to mean that Caesar lengthened the circus and removed the goals temporarily, but does not justify the conclusion (HJ 123) that up to this time there had been no permanent section of the spina. In 33 B.C. Agrippa placed on the spina seven dolphins, probably of bronze, which served with the ova to indicate the laps of the races (Cass. Dio xlix. 43. 2). How extensive and how permanent the circus had become before the Augustan period, it is impossible to say. In 31 B.C. a fire destroyed a considerable part of it (Cass. Dio 1. 10. 3). Augustus himself records only the construction or restoration of the pulvinar ad circum maximum (Mon. Anc. iv. 4), a sort of box on the Palatine side of the circus from which the imperial family could view the games, but Cassiodorus attributes to him much more (Var. iii. 51. 4: mundi dominus ad potentiam suam opus extollens mirandam etiam Romanis fabricam in vallem Murciam tetendit Augustus). Pliny, on the other hand, speaks v
cus. This came from the valley between the Caelian and Esquiline, passing through the (marshy ?) depression which later on Nero converted into the stagnum of the domus Aurea and then traversed the valley between the Caelian and Palatine. It was converted into a cloaca, and discharged into the Tiber about 100 metres below the Cloaca Maxima, where its mouth may still be seen (LF 30, 35; cf. our Ill. 5). In KH iv. it is wrongly connected with the mediaeval Marrana Mariana (see AQUA IULIA). In 174 B.C. the censors, Q. Fulvius Flaccus and A. Postumius Albinus, added considerably to the equipment of the circus, but owing to the fragmentary condition of the text in Livy (xli. 27. 6), nothing can be made out with certainty except that they restored the carceres, and set up ova, or sets of seven large eggs of wood, with which to record the number of laps run in the races for the benefit of the spectators-an arrangement that became permanent (Varro, RR i. 2. II; Cassiod. Var. iii. 51. 10). In
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