During my trip to the ancient Roman Empire, I thought it would be a good idea to take part in what the civilians participate in for leisure and fun. I had learned in History 101 about Circus Maximus, but wasn’t sure what it was actually used for. I made friends with a patrician who took me to the site.

The patrician told me that the arena is used for entertainment and that it was recently repaired by Augustus himself. It is mostly used for chariot racing. There was actually one going on while I was there. There were people yelling and cheering, rooting for their favorite chariot to win. One can see in the picture that it is set in the valley by Palatine Hill. Circus Maximus was also used as a venue. There were gladiator fights, recitals, beast fights, and celebrations with special feasts.

Just as the patrician was telling me about the uses of Circus Maximus, we looked over at the field and heard a lot of commotion. Due to the rainstorm, the place started to flood and the chariots stopped racing. Using my time travel machine, I traveled to the years of Trajan’s rule. I traveled directly to the time that Trajan made the decision to rebuild Circus Maximus. This was because there had been bad fire damage to the Circus before. I watched as the people rebuilding the circus moved stone all across the field. They were also very busy building a new pulvinar in the stands. I’m assuming this is where the future Roman Emperors will sit when they want to watch the events that take place. I can compare Circus Maximus to the Colosseum which is also used for entertainment here in the Roman Empire. Both hosted many events such as chariot racing and were used as entertainment for the people of the empire. I personally like the colosseum better.