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{{Short description|Circus in ancient Rome}}

[[File:Circus Flaminius by Giacomo Lauro (5798907).jpg|thumb|300px|Fanciful engraving of the Circus Flaminius by [[Giacomo Lauro]] in 1641]]
The '''Circus Flaminius''' was a large, circular area in [[ancient Rome]], located in the southern end of the [[Campus Martius]] near the [[Tiber River]].<ref>Pier Luigi Tucci, 'Nuove ricerche sulla topografia dell’area del circo Flaminio’, ''Studi Romani'' 41 (1993) 229-242</ref> It contained a small race-track used for obscure games, and various other buildings and monuments. It was "built", or sectioned off, by [[Gaius Flaminius (consul 223 BC)|Gaius Flaminius]] in 221 BC.<ref name="Humphrey1986">{{cite book|author=John H. Humphrey|title=Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=couetXBQO9AC&pg=PA543|date=1 January 1986|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04921-5|pages=543–}}</ref> After [[Augustus]] divided the city into [[14 regions of Augustan Rome|14 administrative regions]], the Circus Flaminius gave its name to [[Regio IX Circus Flaminius|Regio IX]], which encompassed the Circus and all of the Campus Martius west of the [[Via Lata (Rome)|Via Lata]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Atlas of Ancient Rome| author=Andrea Carandini| publisher=Princeton University Press| year=2017| pages=493–495}}</ref>

==Topography and structures==
[[File:Maquette de Rome (musée de la civilisation romaine, Rome) (5911809378).jpg|thumb|The plaza of the Circus Flaminius (left of the Theatre of Marcellus in the center), according to [[Italo Gismondi]]'s model]]
In its early existence, the Circus was a loop, approximately 500 meters in length stretching across the Flaminian Fields (''Prata Flaminia''). [[Varro]] states that the actual Circus was built around the Fields, which were already a hallowed site for games by the time the Circus was laid in 220 BC.<ref>Varro, ''De Lingua Latina'', 5.153</ref> The ''[[Taurian Games|ludi Taurei]]'' were hosted in the Fields since they were inaugurated by Rome's last king [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus]] (d. 495 BC).<ref>{{cite book| title=Atlas of Ancient Rome| author=Andrea Carandini| publisher=Princeton University Press| year=2017| pages=498–500}}</ref>

During the 2nd century BC, this broad space was encroached upon by buildings and monuments.  The circus had no permanent seating, nor were there any permanent structures to mark the perimeter of the race track. By the early 3rd century AD, the only open space that remained was a small piazza in the center, no more than 300 meters long, where the ''[[ludi]]'' (public games) had always been held.

There were many structures in the vicinity of the circus (“in circo Flaminio”). The [[Temple of Pietas]] lay on the edge of the [[Forum Holitorium]] to the southeast. The Temple of Mars was situated in the northwest. It is estimated that by 220 BC there were six temples, including one to [[Apollo]], in the Flaminian Fields. A theatre dedicated to Apollo was also set up in 179 BC, close to the temple of Apollo, and later rebuilt under the dictatorship of [[Caesar]]. The rebuilding of the theatre necessitated shortening the Circus itself, and required that several temples be destroyed.<ref>{{cite book| title=Atlas of Ancient Rome| author=Andrea Carandini| publisher=Princeton University Press| year=2017| page=507}}</ref>

The temple of Apollo "''in circo''" acquired special significance under Augustus, as a popular legend developed that he had been sired by the god while his mother [[Atia (mother of Augustus)|Atia]] was visiting the temple.<ref name="Andrea Carandini 2017 506">{{cite book| title=Atlas of Ancient Rome| author=Andrea Carandini| publisher=Princeton University Press| year=2017| page=506}}</ref> Augustus undertook myriad new constructions around the Circus, and probably had it paved for the first time. Most notably Augustus demolished the small theater dedicated to Apollo, as well as the temples of Diana and Pietas, to build the [[Theatre of Marcellus]] on the eastern side of the Circus.<ref name="Flaminius">{{cite book| title=Atlas of Ancient Rome| author=Andrea Carandini| publisher=Princeton University Press| year=2017| pages=510–511}}</ref> Augustus also built the [[Porticus Octaviae]], which hemmed in the Circus on its northeastern side.<ref name="Peter Aicher 2004">{{cite book| url=http://archive1.village.virginia.edu/spw4s/RomanForum/GoogleEarth/AK_GE/AK_HTML/GF-008.html|title=Rome Alive: A Source Guide to the Ancient City, Vol. 1| author=Peter Aicher| publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci| year=2004}}</ref> Augustus' relation [[Lucius Marcius Philippus (consul 38 BC)|Lucius Marcius Phillipus]] restored the [[Temple of Hercules Musarum]] with a surrounding portico that could be accessed from the Circus.<ref name="Flaminius"/>

In AD 15, statues to the deified Augustus were erected, dedicated by [[Gaius Norbanus Flaccus (consul 15)|C. Norbanus Flaccus]]. In the early Principate two monumental arches were added at the north and south ends of the Circus, the northern one dedicated to [[Arch of Germanicus (Rome)|Germanicus]] in the year of his death (19 CE), and the southern one to the stepson of Augustus, [[Nero Claudius Drusus|Drusus]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Atlas of Ancient Rome| author=Andrea Carandini| publisher=Princeton University Press| year=2017| page=515}}</ref>

===Location===
Beginning in the Renaissance, the Circus Flaminius was identified with the ancient arcades facing onto the ''Via delle Botteghe Oscure'' ("Street of Dark Shops"), so-called because in the Middle Ages the arcades had sheltered the workshops of artisans. This placed the Circus north of the ''porticus Phillipi'' between the Piazza Paganica and Piazza Margana.<ref name=UrbanLegacy>{{cite web| url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/nash/feature/c| title=The Urban Legacy of Ancient Rome| date=26 September 2018| publisher=Stanford.edu| access-date=2020-04-14}}</ref> In the 1960s, this long-held identification was challenged by the joining of new fragments to the [[Forma Urbis]], which identified the arcades as in fact belonging to the [[Theatre of Balbus]] and its connecting portico (the "Crypta Balbi" as the archaeological site is known). New excavations combined with the new configuration of the Marble Plan altered the understanding of where the Circus Flaminius was located, moving it southwest closer to the Tiber and placing it on a southeast–northwest axis.<ref>{{cite journal| title=The Circus Flaminius| author=T.P. Wiseman| journal=Papers of the British School at Rome |volume=42| year=1974| pages=3–26| doi=10.1017/S0068246200008114|jstor = 40310726| s2cid=163195883}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Atlas of Ancient Rome| author=Andrea Carandini| publisher=Princeton University Press| year=2017| page=500}}</ref>

A previously disregarded reference in the ''[[Mirabilia Urbis Romae]]'' ("Circus Flammineus Ad Pontem Ludeorum"), which placed it near the [[Pons Fabricius]], and a fragment of the Marble Plan labelled "CIR FLAM" which fitted south of the Portico of Octavia, confirmed the Circus to be roughly located between the Tiber to the south and the Porticos of Octavia and Phillipus to the north, and hemmed in by the Theatre of Marcellus to the east.<ref name=UrbanLegacy/><ref>{{cite web| url=http://formaurbis.stanford.edu/fragment.php?plateindex=27&record=8| title=Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project| publisher=formaurbis.stanford.edu| access-date=2020-04-14}}</ref>

==Use==
The Circus Flaminius was never meant to rival the much larger [[Circus Maximus]], and, unlike the Circus Maximus, it was not just an entertainment venue. It almost certainly lacked a track designed for [[chariot racing]].<ref>[[T.P. Wiseman]], ''Remus: A Roman Myth'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 211</ref> The only ''ludi'' held there were the [[Taurian Games]], which featured horseback racing around turning posts ''(metae)''.<ref>[[Varro]], ''De lingua latina'' 5.154; also recorded by the ''[[Fasti Ostienses]]''.</ref> The obscure Taurian Games were held to [[propitiation|propitiate]] the gods of the underworld ''([[Di Inferi|di inferi]])'', and seem to have been symbolically grounded in the site itself, as they were never moved to a different circus. Equestrian events were also associated with underworld deities in other rituals and festivals in the Campus Martius. [[Strabo]] makes no mention of equestrian activities taking place in the Circus Flaminius. [[Valerius Maximus]], who is likely to be in error, is the only ancient source that claims the ''[[Ludi Plebeii]]'' ("Plebeian Games") were held there. In 2 BC, the circus was flooded for the slaughter of 36 crocodiles to commemorate the building of the [[Forum of Augustus]].<ref>Cassius Dio ''Roman History'' 55.10</ref>

The Circus also hosted ceremonies related to the [[Roman triumph]], as the Flaminian Fields traditionally figured along the triumphal route towards Capitoline Hill. In 63 BC [[Lucullus|Lucius Licinius Lucullus]] celebrated his triumph in the [[Third Mithridatic War]] and exhibited his spoils in the Circus, including a solid gold statue of [[Mithridates VI of Pontus|Mithridates]].<ref name="Andrea Carandini 2017 506"/> Augustus did the same when he exhibited the captured insignia of the enemy armies from his campaigns in [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]] in the northern part of the Circus.

According to [[Plutarch]], the Dictator [[Sulla]] massacred 6,000 prisoners in the Circus Flaminius after the [[Battle of the Colline Gate (82 BC)|Battle of the Colline Gate]] in 82 BC. Prisoners of war from the nearby town of [[Antemnae]] were rounded up in the Circus and slaughtered while the Senate met in the adjacent [[Temple of Bellona, Rome|Temple of Bellona]]; the screams which could be heard from the Temple were a way of intimidating the senators.<ref>Plutarch, ''Parallel Lives''; XXX.II</ref>

The Circus Flaminius was also used as a market. [[Roman assemblies|Assemblies]] were often held within it. In 9 BC, it was the venue where [[Augustus]] delivered the ''Laudatio'' of Drusus.

==Later history==
The buildings remained in use until the end of the fourth century, when the area was finally abandoned. In the Middle Ages the ruins of the [[Stadium of Domitian]] (the [[Piazza Navona]]) were often incorrectly identified as the Circus Flaminius. In the 16th century the "Castrum Aureum" ("golden camp") mentioned in a [[papal bull]] of [[Pope Celestin III]] in 1192, was also identified as the Circus.<ref name="UrbanLegacy"/>

In 1555, [[Pope Paul IV]] formed the [[Roman Ghetto|Jewish Ghetto]] in the area encompassing much of the former Circus Flaminius. The [[Great Synagogue of Rome]] stands roughly where the southern end of the arena was located.<ref name="Peter Aicher 2004"/>

==See also==
* [[List of ancient monuments in Rome]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book
  | last = Platner
  | first = Samuel
  | authorlink = Samuel Platner
  | title = A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | year = 1929 }}
*{{cite encyclopedia
  | title = Civilization of the ancient Mediterranean: Greece and Rome
  | volume = II
  | publisher = Scribner's
  | year = 1998 }}
*{{cite book
  | last = Humphrey
  | first = John
  | authorlink = 
  | title = Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing
  | publisher = Butler & Tanner Ltd.
  | year = 1986
  | pages = 540–545
  | isbn = 0-520-04921-7 }}

[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd century BC]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman circuses in Rome]]
[[Category:Topography of the ancient city of Rome]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC establishments in Italy]]