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Hippodrome

Hippodrome / © Foto: Haupt and Binder, Universes in Universe

Hippodrome and Church of Marianos

Just beyond Hadrian's Arch, on the left (west) side of the walkway, you can see the Hippodrome, about 265 meters long and 76 meters wide. According to the archaeologists who excavated and reconstructed it, it is the smallest of the 48 Roman circus buildings known today, but "the best preserved in its functional and technical elements." (I. Kehrberg, 2009) To the right of the path are the remains of the small Marianos church (more on this below).

Hippodrome / © Foto: Haupt and Binder, Universes in Universe

Since late Hellenistic and early Roman times there had been a quarry and a cemetery on this site. They were shut down when Emperor Hadrian visited Gerasa in the winter of 129/130 AD and developed ambitious plans for the expansion of the city and a new southern quarter (which was not built - see Hadrian's Arch). These included the Hippodrome, construction of which began soon after the imperial visit around the middle of the 2nd century AD and was completed before 212 AD.

That chariot races actually took place here is evidenced by wheel tracks on the rocky ground beneath the sand, as well as the remains of dedicatory altars that were once placed on the starting boxes (carceres).

Carceres – starting boxes

In the 10 vaulted carceres on the south side of the hippodrome, on which consecration altars of the respective teams stood, the chariots had to wait for the start of the race until the gates were opened. Since archaeologists found such altars only for the starting boxes east (left) of the middle pavilion, the five western ones may not have been fully operational (Ostrasz, p. 70). The carceres were destroyed by an earthquake in 749, but could be reconstructed in detail by the excavators down to the cornice that crowned the structure, which was not possible for the pavilion.

The wooden frame on the right of the photo marks the spina (spine), which divided the arena in the middle and had to be circled seven times by the wagons.

The outside of the carceres, just to the left of Hadrian's Arch.

Cavea (spectator stand) and arena

Through such tunnels, the vomitoria (lat. from vomere: to spit out, to vomit), the audience reached the inner area of the Hippodrome and their seats in the cavea, the spectator stand. The cavea had a substructure of vaults that were later used for different purposes (see further below).

The cavea of the Hippodrome of Gerasa with 16 or 17 rows of seats provided space for up to 15,000 spectators. Of the total of about 650 m long stands, about two thirds of the masonry has been preserved at various heights, of the remaining third only the foundations have been found. Thus there is quite precise evidence of the architecture of the cavea and the arrangement of the vomitoria leading to the rows of seats.

On the east side of the cavea, the public can nowadays watch the shows of the Roman Army and Chariot Experience, RACE for short, organized since 2005. Chariot races, imitations of gladiator fights and marches of "Roman" soldiers are performed in historical costumes.

On the left of the photo you can see a wooden scaffold as a spina (backbone) in the middle of the arena, around which the race course went. In ancient races, this dividing barrier had to be circled seven times. The spina could be a flat wooden or stone construction or a long water ditch with turning marks (metae) at both ends.

End of chariot races, new usage

Already towards the end of the third, or at the latest at the beginning of the 4th century, chariot races could no longer take place in the Hippodrome. Shortly after its completion, the first damage to some parts of the structure came to light because their foundations were inadequate and could not withstand the heavy loads caused by racing.

Wall remains of rooms in the vaults under the spectator stand.

After the Hippodrome had to abandon its actual purpose, pottery workshops, tanneries and other trades settled in the vaults under the cavea. Archaeologists found many remains of kilns, workshop equipment and pottery waste, disposed in the chambers, as well as evidence of simple shelters. The hippodrome was the manufacturing area of the city at that time, and Gerasa developed into probably the largest center of pottery production among the Decapolis cities in the Byzantine period.

Three chambers were covered with mosaic floors, and as an inscription indicates, a deacon Elias lived there. He was related to the Marianos Church, built in 570 AD by or for craftsmen living in the Hippodrome (more on this below).

When the Sassanids also conquered Gerasa in 614, they used the arena for their equestrian games. In 629 they were defeated and expelled by the troops of the Byzantine ruler Herakleios.

In the early 7th century the last users left the Hippodrome. Later it served as a cemetery, as evidenced, among other things, by the mass burial of over two hundred plague victims in two chambers of the cavea around the middle of the 7th century.

But already since the 4th century the damaged parts of the building served as a quarry for the repair of the city wall and other buildings. After an earthquake in 659/60 left severe destruction, individual parts of the complex have always been inhabited or occupied only briefly. Then, during another severe earthquake in 749, the last remaining parts collapsed and the Hippodrome was abandoned for good.

Church of Marianos

About 30 meters north of Hadrian's Arch, on the right side of the walkway, the remains of a small church can be visited. Thanks to a well-preserved inscription, it is known that it was built in 570 AD during the term of the bishop Marianos.

Map from information on the site

The single nave was entered from the main street through a narthex (narrow porch). It has a geometrically patterned mosaic floor, still intact in large parts, which includes the dedication inscription in the form of a tabula ansata in front of the step leading to the altar chamber.

A part of the mosaic floor of the Marianos Church with the inscription in the form of a tabula ansata in front of the step to the altar area. The semicircular bench in the apse (synthron) was reserved for the clergy.

The Marianos Church stands amidst several subterranean tombs dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. and was probably built by or for a group of craftsmen, potters and dyers and their families who had settled in the ruins of the Hippodrome on the opposite side of the road in the 6th and 7th centuries.

Three chambers of the hippodrome had been converted into living quarters with mosaic floors, and an inscription decorated with birds indicates that a deacon named Elias lived here. The dwelling was abandoned in the early 7th century, more than a century before the earthquake of 749 destroyed the church.

(From information on a sign at the place)

(© Text by Universes in Universe from information in different sources, including I. Kehrberg and A. Ostrasz)

Location:

Hippodrome
Jerash Archeological City
Location on map


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Contemporary art, archaeology, art history, architecture, cultural heritage.

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