Fig. 164. Aphesis at Olympia. (After Weniger.)
The elaborate starting gate (ἄφεσις), devised by Cleoetas probably in the fifth century, and improved at a later date by Aristides, has been described in a previous chapter (Fig. [164]). It consisted of a triangular structure like the prow of a ship, the apex pointing down the course.[[777]] The base joined the portico of Agnaptus. Along the two sides of the triangle which pointed down the course a number of stalls were arranged in pairs on either side. In these stalls the chariots were placed with a rope in front of each. At the signal the ropes in front of the pair of chariots nearest the base were dropped or withdrawn; in what way, we do not know. As these chariots drew level with the next pair, the next pair of ropes were withdrawn, and so on till the whole field was started. It is obvious, of course, that if the whole number of stalls was not required, the unoccupied ones were those nearest the base. The length of each side was 400 feet; we do not know how many stalls there were. At Delphi, Pindar speaks of forty competitors in the chariot-race. This must surely have been an exceptional field, and we are not surprised to hear that of the forty the chariot of Arcesilas alone reached the goal in safety. Still, the size of the aphesis at Olympia implies large fields,[[778]] and if the base of the triangle was 400 feet, there would have been ample room for twenty stalls on either side.
The general arrangement of the aphesis is clear enough, but the absence of all details renders it impossible to reconstruct the hippodrome with any certainty. In view of its great width we may certainly reject the old view that the base of the aphesis extended the whole width of the course. We cannot for a moment imagine the pair of chariots near the base starting at a distance of some 300 or even 150 yards from one another. But if the inside measurement of the width of the hippodrome was 5 plethra (168 yards), the base of the aphesis may quite well have extended over half this distance, and a base of this width agrees well with the length of the sides. We may assume, then, that the aphesis occupied the whole or part of the southern half of the course. Positions were, of course, assigned by lot, and undoubtedly the chariots on the left had a slight advantage in point of distance, but this advantage seems to have been greatly exaggerated, and was perhaps more than compensated by the wider sweep which the outside chariots could take in turning at the farther end of the course. Still, it is possible that, as Pollack[[779]] suggests, the apex of the aphesis was turned slightly to the left, so as to equalize the distance for all. In the circus of Maxentius, where the carceres occupy the whole breadth, they are for a similar reason inclined towards the right. There is no proof that this arrangement was adopted at Olympia, much less that the imaginary line joining the two pillars was inclined like the spina at the circus, so that the pillar nearest the start was farther from the south side of the hippodrome than from the north, and thus more room was provided at the points where the chariots were most crowded. The width of the Olympic course made such an arrangement quite unnecessary.
This elaborate aphesis prevented the confusion and delay inevitable in starting a large field all together; but it is hard to see how it secured a fairer start than the ordinary plan of starting in a straight line.[[780]] Probably, as Martin suggests, its object was chiefly spectacular. At all events, though it was one of the wonders of Olympia, it does not seem to have been imitated anywhere else.
Another notable feature of the hippodrome at Olympia was the altar called Taraxippus—the terror of horses—which was supposed to inspire horses as they passed it with a sudden panic, and so to cause the numerous accidents for which the chariot-race was notorious. A mass of superstition grew up about this altar, which was held to be the home of some unfriendly demon. The altar seems to have been near the turn, where accidents were most frequent. Some writers have supposed that, as the horses turned the goal, they were frightened at the sight of their own shadows cast in front of them by the morning sun. If so, the Greek horse must have been a far less intelligent animal than the modern, which has shown an extraordinary faculty of becoming accustomed rapidly to trains, bicycles, motors,—sights far more disturbing than a shadow! Really, there is no need for any such theory to explain the numerous accidents which happened at the turn, and which superstition naturally ascribed to some spirit; and we may therefore accept the rationalistic explanation of Pausanias that Taraxippus was merely a name of Poseidon Hippios. There was also, he tells us, a Taraxippus at the Isthmus, the spirit of Glaucus the son of Sisyphus who was killed by his horses at the games of Adrastus, while at Nemea the panic of the horses was caused by a gleam like fire reflected from a red stone near the turn. But nowhere was there any Taraxippus which inspired such terror as the Taraxippus at Olympia!
The Olympic aphesis was something exceptional. Usually horses and chariots were started much in the same way as runners. Lots were drawn for places, and they drew up in line.[[781]] It appears that a rope (ὕσπληξ) was stretched in front of the whole line, which was dropped, or removed at the moment of starting. How this rope was dropped without risk of entangling the horses’ feet, is a mystery; there is no record of any accident caused at the start. The signal for the start was given by a trumpet. The horse-races, being mostly of the diaulos type, finished at the start. The only place where we hear of straight races is at Athens. The starting-line, as in the stadium, was probably marked by pillars at either end. The pillars represented on coins and vases may be either these pillars or the pillars round which the horses turned. On a fine Panathenaic vase (Fig. [165]) recently discovered at Sparta there is a spirited drawing of a four-horse chariot passing a pillar on its right. As the turn always took place to the left, it is clear that unless the artist has made a mistake, the pillar represents the finish.
Fig. 165. Panathenaic amphora found at Sparta. Sixth century.
We have seen that the fully developed programme comprised six events, three for full-grown horses (τέλειοι), three for colts, for each class a four-horse chariot-race (ἅρμα, τέθριππον), a horse race (κέλης), and a pair-horse chariot-race (συνωρίς). The last event, which was really perhaps the oldest of all, was not revived at Olympia till Ol. 93 (408 B.C.), but we learn from the Panathenaic vases that it existed as well as the other two races in the sixth century; indeed the earliest of these vases existing, the Burgon vase in the British Museum, was a prize for this event. The three events for colts were not introduced either at Olympia or Delphi till the fourth century. In 500 B.C. a mule chariot-race (ἀπήνη) was introduced at Olympia, and four years later a race for mares (κάλπη), in which the rider dismounted and finished the race on foot. Both events were abolished in 444 B.C., perhaps from lack of competition. At Athens we find a far more elaborate programme, including races for war-horses and processional horses, the apobates’ race (Fig. [34]), and a torch-race on horseback.
The four-horse chariots ran twelve times round the course, the pair-horse chariots and colts’ four-horse chariots eight times, the colts’ synoris three times. These are the figures given by the Constantinople Manuscript, and they agree with what we learn from Pindar and the scholia.[[782]] The four-horse chariot-race at Olympia was therefore no less than seventy-two stades, nearly nine miles. The length of the course, which at first sight seems excessive, undoubtedly checked the pace, and thereby made for safety, but it makes it extremely improbable that heats were ever allowed in chariot-races. All equestrian events took place on the same day, and no team could be expected to race seventy-two stades twice on a day. The riding races consisted of only a single lap or six stades. This is the obvious conclusion of the story told by Pausanias of the Corinthian mare Aura, who, having thrown her rider at the start, continued her course, turned the pillar, and on hearing the sound of the trumpet, spurted and came in first, and then knowing that she had won, stopped.[[783]] There is of course nothing remarkable in the story; indeed, I recollect seeing a very similar incident on the Totnes racecourse, but modern racing rules do not allow a horse thus to get rid of its rider’s weight.