John Harrop (Truman State University)
Spectating a sport is a full body experience. Today, the crack of two colliding football helmets is as thrilling as any visually spectacular catch; know the rumble a roaring rally car rolls through your chest is as electric as the speed; consider a sweet, sinking swish, the scent of the seventh inning stretch, and even the breathless silence of an eighteenth golf green. These features of sport scenes construct the spectator’s experience, and while the visuals of a game might be the most extensive, they are not always the most fascinating. Attending a Roman spectacle was a similarly, wholly immersive affair, and the study of chariot racing can be assisted by considering the entire perspective of the audience. An analysis of chariot racing spectatorship through primary sources like Ovid, Martial, and Calpurnius will consider the entire sensory experience—sight, sound, smell, feel, and even taste. Since no technology was available to broadcast or report with any immediacy the action of an event, citizens needed to welcome the entirety of the circus experience to witness a race; however, today, the capabilities of the broadcasting industry eliminate the need to participate in a sensation as immersive as stadium spectating. In fact, some of the feelings listed at the beginning of this essay might be foreign to a digital fan, a circumstance exacerbated by the current Corona Virus pandemic. Thus, a review Roman chariot racing, without visual, electronic reference, relies on analysis of all the senses to comprehensively explore the race environment.
When helpful, a sense will be compared to the same sense in a modern sporting context. Architecture and venue economics are the basis for inferences on the sensation of modern spectatorship. Together, this paper will fully immerse its reader into an imagined Roman chariot race by explaining each of its sensory experiences, providing detailed examination of the most fascinating culprits of sound, smell, taste, feel, and sight.