hippodrome

Dictionary: hip·po·drome (hĭp'ə-drōm') pronunciation

Sports. An arena for equestrian shows.
An open-air stadium with an oval course for horse and chariot races in ancient Greece and Rome.

[French, from Old French ypodrome, from Latin hippodromos, from Greek : hippos, horse + dromos, racecourse.]

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Architecture: circus, hippodrome

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In ancient Rome, a roofless enclosure for chariot or horse racing and for gladiatorial shows; usually a long oblong with one rounded end and a barrier down the center; seats for the spectators usually on both sides and around one end.

circus

Classical Literature Companion: hippodrome

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hippodrome in Greece and Rome, track for horse- and chariot-races.

Archaeology Dictionary: hippodrome

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[MC]

A course for horse and chariot racing, similar in form to the stadium, but larger. The hippodrome was the model for the Roman circus which also involved chariot racing.

Wikipedia: Hippodrome

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For other uses, see Hippodrome (disambiguation).

A Hippodrome was a Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. Some present-day horse racing tracks are also called hippodromes, for example the Central Moscow Hippodrome.

The Greek hippodrome corresponded to the Roman Circus, except that in the latter only four chariots ran at a time,^{[citation needed]} whereas ten or more contended in the Greek games, so that the width was far greater, being about 400 ft (120 m)., the course being 600 to 700 ft (210 m). long. The hippodrome was not a "Roman amphitheatre" which was used for spectator sports, games and displays, or a Greek or Roman semi-circular theater used for theatrical performances.

Biga chariot rounding a terma: Attic black-figure amphora, ca. 500 BC, found at Vulci

The Greek hippodrome was usually set out on the slope of a hill, and the ground taken from one side served to form the embankment on the other side. One end of the hippodrome was semicircular, and the other end square with an extensive portico, in front of which, at a lower level, were the stalls for the horses and chariots. At both ends of the hippodrome there were posts (termai) that the chariots turned around. This was the most dangerous part of the track, and the Greeks put an altar to Taraxippus (disturber of horses) there to show the spot where many chariots wrecked.

A large ancient hippodrome was the Hippodrome of Constantinople, built between AD 203 and 330. However, since it was built to a Roman design, some would classify it as a circus.

List of Greek Hippodromes

		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hippodrome". Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more

	–drome (suffix)
	Gong Est Morte, Vive Gong (1977 Album by Gong)
	Europe's Big Top Circus Stars Live from Hippodrome! (2007 Theater Film)

hippodrome

List of Greek Hippodromes

See also