She fed his horses magic water which caused them to turn on him during a chariot race, crushing him, and then eating him. Most deaths came from the use of a wire device to trip up galloping horses during a major chariot race sequence.Ī man named Glaucus once insulted Aphrodite. Over a hundred horses were killed during the production of the 1925 Ben-Hur film. In the 1930s in Australia, people used to have chariot races but with motorcycles instead of horses Fan loyalties were so strong, and the sport so brutal, that spectators were encouraged to sabotage the opposing teams by throwing lead amulets studded with nails at the racers. In Roman chariot racing, there were four teams named after the colours they wore – the Reds, Whites, Blues and Greens. He didn't finish the race but he was still proclaimed the winner on the grounds that he would have won had he been able to complete the race.Īustralia had chariot races in the 1930s but instead of horses, they used motorcycles In the Olympics of 67 A.D., Emperor Nero competed in the 4-horse chariot races with a 10-horse team, only to be thrown from his chariot. Nero did terribly and was nearly killed in a chariot race, but was nonetheless declared the winner in every event he competed in. The most lethal sport riot in history happened in Constantinople AD 532, was over chariot racing, and saw tens of thousands dead and half the city destroyed.Įmperor Nero competed in the Olympic Games. In 532 AD 30,000 rioters were killed and half of Constantinople was destroyed in the Nika Riots, over a conflict with chariot racing. Here are 36 of the best facts about Chariot Races In Rome and Chariot Race Venue I managed to collect. In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what was not a danger of the chariot races in the circus maximus. The biggest sports riot in history occurred in the Byzantine Empire in 532 AD, between fans of opposing chariot racing teams. He was removed from the list of winners after his death. Nero won every contest, even one which he left the race after being thrown off his chariot. In 67 AD, the Roman Emperor Nero participated in the Olympics, bribing the organizers to postpone the games for a year. While investigating facts about Chariot Races and Chariot Race Ben Hur, I found out little known, but curios details like: