THE HIPPODROME
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.).
[Illustration: Fig. 164. Aphesis at Olympia. (After Weniger.)]
The elaborate starting gate (ἄφεσις), 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
(ὕσπληξ) 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 165. Panathenaic amphora found at Sparta. Sixth
century.]
We have seen that the fully developed programme comprised six events,
three for full-grown horses (τέλειοι), three for colts, for each class a
four-horse chariot-race (ἅρμα, τέθριππον), a horse race (κέλης), and a
pair-horse chariot-race (συνωρίς). 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 (ἀπήνη) was introduced at Olympia, and four years later a
race for mares (κάλπη), 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 (ζύγιοι) 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 (σειραφόροι). The
details of the harness and of the chariot do not concern us here.
The two-horse chariot (συνωρίς) 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).
[Illustration: Fig. 166. Panathenaic amphora, in British Museum, B. 132.
Sixth century.]
[Illustration: Fig 167. Silver tetradrachm and gold stater of Philip II.
of Macedon, in the British Museum (enlarged).]
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 (ἀπήνη) 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 168. Silver tetradrachm of Rhegium, in British
Museum (enlarged). Early fifth century.]
[Illustration: Fig. 169. Panathenaic amphora, in British Museum, B. 133.
Sixth century.]
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 κάλπη 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 170. Silver staters of Tarentum, in the British
Museum (enlarged).]
Horses and mares were admitted alike to all races except the κάλπη,
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
(Ἀργείων δημόσιος) 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 171. Silver tetradrachms of Catana, in the British
Museum (enlarged). Fifth century.]
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.
[Illustration: Fig. 172. Decadrachm of Agrigentum, 413-406 B.C.
Decadrachm of Syracuse, 400-360 B.C.]
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 ἆθλα, 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.
Footnote 768:
_B.S.A._ xiii. pp. 174 ff.
Footnote 769:
The four-horse chariot occurs on coins of Agrigentum, Camarina,
Catana, Eryx, Gela, Himera, Leontini, Panormus, Segesta, Syracuse; the
two-horse chariot on coins of Messana; the mule car on coins of
Rhegium and Messana; numerous riding types on coins of Tarentum. In
the early coinage of Syracuse the tetradrachm bears a four-horse
chariot, the didrachm a horseman leading another horse, the drachma a
horseman, and the obol a chariot-wheel. _Vide_ Hill, _Coins of
Sicily_, pp. 43-46 and _passim_.
Footnote 770:
Gerh. _A.V._ 267.
Footnote 771:
_Mus. Greg._ ii. xxii. 1 A.
Footnote 772:
In Roman times both stadium and hippodrome merge into the circus. The
hippodrome at Constantinople is a purely Roman structure and does not
concern us; so is the hippodrome at Pessinus (Texier, _Asie Mineure_,
Pl. lxii.).
Footnote 773:
Paus. viii. 38, 5; _Expédition en Morée_, ii. p. 37, Pls. xxxiii.
Footnote 774:
Paus. vi. 16, 4; Plut. _Sol._ 23; Photius, p. 296.
Footnote 775:
Paus. vi. 20. Many of the details are much disputed. I have followed
in the main the account given by A. Martin in Dar.-Sagl. _s.v._
“Hippodrome.”
Footnote 776:
Quoted in Dar.-Sagl., _s.v._ “Olympia,” p. 177, n. 5; cp. Frazer,
_Pausanias_, v. p. 616, and Schoene in _Jahrb._ xii. p. 150. Schoene’s
conclusions as to the distances of the races seem to me quite
impossibly long.
Footnote 777:
Martin’s statement that the part of the aphesis near the base was
open, and the apex covered in, is hardly warranted by the words of
Pausanias, and seems improbable.
Footnote 778:
Alcibiades on one occasion entered no less than seven chariots of his
own. Thuc. vi. 16, 2.
Footnote 779:
Ervinus Pollack, _Hippodromika_. Leipsic, 1890.
Footnote 780:
It can hardly have been as fair; for the outside chariots had the
enormous advantage of a flying start. I conjecture, however, that the
chariots did not really start racing till they were all in line, and
that the object of the aphesis was partly to facilitate the getting
them into line, no easy matter with a large field.
Footnote 781:
Sophocles, _El._ 709.
Footnote 782:
Pindar, _Ol._ ii. 50, iii. 33, vi. 75; _Pyth._ v. 30. The passages
referring to the measurements are collected by Pollack, _op. cit._ pp.
103 ff.
Footnote 783:
Paus. vi. 13, 9.
Footnote 784:
_J.H.S._ xix. p. 8. _B.M. Guide to Greek and Roman Life_, p. 200.
Footnote 785:
In the catalogue this instrument is described as a καλαῦροψ, but I can
find no authority for this use of the word.
Footnote 786:
Paus. v. 5, 2.
Footnote 787:
Munich, 805; Schreiber, _Atlas_, xxiv. 9.
Footnote 788:
_The Horsemen of Tarentum_, _passim_.
Footnote 789:
Paus. vi. 2, 1.
Footnote 790:
_Oxyrhynchus Papyri_, ii. 222.
Footnote 791:
Paus. vi. 2, 8.
Footnote 792:
M. A. Bayfield in _Class. Rev._ xxii. p. 45.
Footnote 793:
Gerh. _A.V._ 267.
Footnote 794:
Hill, _Coins of Sicily_, p. 63.