A Roman Circus.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 4353, 26 April 1884, Page 6

A Roman Circus.

Rome is astir early—citizens and strangers, slaves and soldiers, all are hurrying toward the great pleasure-ground of Romo—the Circus Madmus. With flutes playing merrily, with swaying standards and gleaming statues, with proud young cadets, with priests, and guards with crested helms, skilled performers, restless horses, and glittering chariots, down the Sacred streot winds a long procession, led by tho boy magistrate, Marcus of Home, tho favourite of tho Emperor. It passes into tho great circus, and tiles into tho arona ; two hundred thousand oxcited people—think, boys, of a circus-tontthat hold* two hundred thousand people ! —riso to their feet and welcome it with hearty hand-clapping. T.io trumpets sound the prelude, tho young magistrato (standing in his tttttjgcsliis, or state box) flings tho mappa, or white flag, into the courso as the signal for the start; and, a.s a ringing shout goes up, four glittering chariots, rich in their decorations of gold and polished ivory, and each clrnwn by four plunging horses, burst from their arched stalls and dash around tho track. Green, bluo, red, white—the colour* of the drivers—stream from their tunics. Around and around they go. Now ono and now another ia ahead. The peoplo strain and cheer, and many a wager is laid as to the victor. Another shout! The red chariot, turning too sharply, grates against the meta, or short pillar that stands at the upper end of tho track guarding the low central wall; tho horsos rear and plunge, tho driver struggles manfully to control them, but all in vain ; over goes the chariot, while tho now maddened horses dash wildly on until checked by mounted attendants nnd led off to their stalls. " Blue ! blue !" " Green ! green !" rico the varying shouts, as the contending chariots still struggle for the lead. White is far behind. Now comes tho seventh or final round. Bluo leads ! No, green is ahead ! Neck and neck down tho home stretch they go magnificently, and then the cheer of victory was heard, as, with a final dash, tho green rider strikes the whito cord first, and the race is won ! Now, in the interval between the races, come the athletic sports—foot-racing and wrestling, rope-dancing and high leaping, quoitthrowing and javelin matches. One man runs a race with a fleet Cappadocian horse; another expert rider drives two baro-backed horses twice round the track, leaping from back to back as the horses dash round. Can you sco any very great difference between the circus performance of a.d. 138 and ono of a.d. 1884?— From "Historic Boys," by E. S. Brooks, in St. Nicholas.