Circus Maximus Historical Timeline

Last updated on October 2, 2026

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A valley used for racing for a thousand years, then farmed, then industrialised, then dug up, then turned into a lawn.

Chronology

legendary origins — the Circus Maximus is linked by legend to the very origins of the city: the rape of the Sabine women took place here, one of the first important events in the history of Rome. Structural impact: none — but it explains why the valley mattered before it was ever built on. What you see today: the valley floor itself.
era of the Tarquin kings — the first arrangement of the Valle Murcia, the wide valley between the Palatine and the Aventine, to adapt it as a place for chariot racing. In Roman tradition the earliest triumphal ludi here are vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter, for his victory over Pometia. Structural impact: the valley put to use; the sloping ground afforded the possibility of turf seating tiers at an early date. What you see today: those same slopes, the oldest thing on the site.
329 BCE — permanent wooden starting stalls are built: gated, brightly painted, and staggered to equalise the distances from each start place to the central barrier. Structural impact: the first permanent architecture at the flat end. What you see today: nothing of the stalls — but the staggering explains why the Circus is not symmetrical.
from 174 BCE — laps are counted off using large sculpted eggs. Structural impact: fittings on the dividing barrier. What you see today: a reminder that the barrier was furniture as much as masonry.
169 BCE — a venatio at the Circus, one of several in the 2nd century, employs "63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants", with spectators presumably kept safe by a substantial barrier. Structural impact: barriers and enclosures for beast hunts. What you see today: nothing of them — but the scale of the valley makes the number credible.
167 BCE — a smaller event: "flute players, scenic artists and dancers" perform on a temporary stage, probably erected between the two central seating banks. Structural impact: temporary structures, re-rigged per event. What you see today: the reason not to imagine the Circus permanently full — much of its use was modest.
from c. 50 BCE — it is only with Julius Caesar that a true masonry circus is built. Caesar's development extends the seating tiers to run almost the entire circuit of the track, barring the starting gates and a processional entrance at the semi-circular end. Structural impact: the Circus becomes a permanent building rather than a prepared valley. What you see today: the outline you can walk, which is essentially Caesar's.
33 BCE — an additional system of large bronze dolphin-shaped lap counters is added. Structural impact: more fittings on the barrier. What you see today: gone, but worth picturing mid-barrier as you look down the track.
31 BCE — the wooden bleachers are damaged in a fire, either during or after construction; the damage is probably repaired by Augustus. Structural impact: the first of the Circus's recorded fires. What you see today: the explanation for why nothing wooden survives.
under Augustus — the pulvinar is built on monumental scale, a shrine or temple raised high above the trackside seats; sometimes, while games are in progress, Augustus watches from there, alongside the gods. An obelisk is brought from Heliopolis at enormous expense and erected midway along the dividing barrier. Structural impact: the Circus acquires a religious and imperial focal point. What you see today: neither survives on site — which is why the empty centre line is worth imagining furnished.
late Republican or early Imperial era — there are twelve starting stalls. Structural impact: the race format fixed at twelve. What you see today: the flat end of the valley, where they stood.
36 CE — a fire seems to have started in a basket-maker's workshop under the stands, on the Aventine side. Structural impact: damage on the Aventine flank. What you see today: evidence that the stands had shops and workshops built into them — the Circus was a street as well as a stadium.
64 CE — during Nero's reign fire breaks out at the semi-circular end of the Circus, sweeps through the stands and shops, and destroys much of the city. Structural impact: catastrophic. What you see today: the curved end where it started.
late 1st century CE — the central dividing barrier comprises a series of water basins, or else a single watercourse open in some places and bridged over in others. Structural impact: the spine of the track rebuilt as water. What you see today: the centre line of the park, which the barrier once occupied.
under Trajan — devastated repeatedly by fire, the Circus is rebuilt almost entirely under Trajan, and most of the structures visible today belong to his phase; it finds its definitive form, unchanged thereafter save for some monumental additions by later emperors. Pliny claims Trajan's works gained a further 5,000 seats. Structural impact: the final building. What you see today: nearly everything standing.
357 CE — the most spectacular of the later imperial additions: the erection of the gigantic obelisk brought to Rome by Constantius II, now at the Lateran. Structural impact: a second obelisk on the barrier, after Augustus's. What you see today: not here — it stands across the city.
early 6th century — the Circus remains in use until the first decades of the 6th century; the last known races are held by Totila in 549. Structural impact: the end of its working life, after roughly a millennium. What you see today: the start of the long quarrying that removed most of the stone.
after the 6th century — the site is used as agricultural land. Structural impact: the ruins buried and ploughed around. What you see today: the reason the ancient levels survived at all — nobody built over them.
from the 19th century — the valley becomes the site of the Gazometro plant, along with warehouses, manufactories, artisan businesses and housing, until the early 1900s, when work begins on the passeggiata archeologica. Structural impact: industrial occupation of a Roman stadium. What you see today: nothing of it — which is itself the achievement.
1930s — major excavations bring to light a good part of the hemicycle and the remains of the Arch of Titus. The area is then ceded to the National Fascist Party, which used it for its events because of its high symbolic value, and the great exhibitions of 1937–40 — of textiles, of minerals, of the summer colonies — are staged in the space of the circus. Structural impact: the archaeological area as it now exists. What you see today: exactly this: the ticketed zone at the curved end is the 1930s excavation.
immediate post-war years — the site returns to being a green space, in which the ancient structures are substantially abandoned. Structural impact: neglect. What you see today: the park, and the reason its ruins look weathered rather than curated.
today — the site functions as a large park area, open to the public and often used for concerts, meetings and celebrations, while the archaeological area is open with capped entry and advance booking strongly recommended. Structural impact: none; the stone went centuries ago. What you see today: grass in the shape of a racetrack, free and open at all hours, with a ticketed window onto the building itself.

Verified against Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, October 2026.

External Resources

Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali — The first arrangement of the Valle Murcia, the wide valley between the Palatine and Aventine, to adapt it as a place for chariot racing dates to the era of the Tarquin kings, but it is only with Julius Caesar that a true circus in masonry was built, The races held in the Circus were the competitive activities most loved by the Romans, together with the gladiatorial games, and the drivers of the four-horse chariots rapidly became figures idolised by the people of Rome, Because the four-horse chariots belonged to stables distinguished by colour — green, blue, red and white — the spectators too divided themselves across the terraces of the circus according to the colour of their own favourites, who were urged on with chants and mottoes composed for the occasion, The broad space of the valley floor also lent itself to events connected with the political, social and religious life of the city, such as triumphal celebrations, processions and public executions, Devastated repeatedly by fire, the Circus Maximus was rebuilt almost entirely under the principate of Trajan, and most of the structures currently visible belong to that phase, Among the numerous interventions of later emperors at the Circus was the spectacular erection of the gigantic obelisk brought to Rome by Constantius II in 357 CE, now at the Lateran, The Circus remained in use until the first decades of the 6th century, after which it was used as agricultural land, and then from the 19th century became the site of the Gazometro plant, of warehouses, manufactories, artisan businesses and housing, until the early 1900s when work began on the archaeological promenade, In the 1930s great excavation works brought to light a good part of the hemicycle and the remains of the Arch of Titus, after which the area was ceded to the National Fascist Party, which used it for its events because of its high symbolic value, and the great exhibitions of 1937 to 1940 — of textiles, of minerals, of the summer colonies — were then staged in the space of the circus, In the immediate post-war years the Circus Maximus returned to being a green space, in which the ancient structures were substantially abandoned, The Circus Maximus, the largest entertainment building of antiquity and one of the largest of all time at 600 m long by 140 m wide, is linked by legend to the very origins of the city, since the rape of the Sabine women took place here, one of the first important events in the history of Rome (October 2026).
Checked against Wikipedia — In Roman tradition, the earliest triumphal ludi at the Circus were vowed by Tarquin the Proud to Jupiter in the late Regal era for his victory over Pometia, At the early Circus Maximus, the sloping ground afforded the possibility of turf seating tiers at an early date, Permanent wooden starting stalls were built at the Circus in 329 BC, gated, brightly painted, and staggered to equalise the distances from each start place to the central barrier, By the late Republican or early Imperial era, there were twelve starting stalls at the Circus, From at least 174 BC the laps at the Circus were counted off using large sculpted eggs, and in 33 BC an additional system of large bronze dolphin-shaped lap counters was added, A venatio held at the Circus in 169 BC, one of several in the 2nd century, employed 63 leopards and 40 bears and elephants, with spectators presumably kept safe by a substantial barrier, In 167 BC flute players, scenic artists and dancers performed at the Circus on a temporary stage, probably erected between the two central seating banks, Julius Caesar's development of the Circus, commencing around 50 BC, extended the seating tiers to run almost the entire circuit of the track, barring the starting gates and a processional entrance at the semi-circular end, The wooden bleachers of the Circus were damaged in a fire of 31 BC, either during or after construction, and the fire damage of 31 was probably repaired by Augustus, The pulvinar at the Circus was built on monumental scale, a shrine or temple raised high above the trackside seats, and sometimes, while games were in progress, Augustus watched from there, alongside the gods, Augustus had an obelisk brought from Heliopolis at enormous expense and erected midway along the dividing barrier of the Circus, A fire of 36 AD at the Circus seems to have started in a basket-maker's workshop under the stands, on the Aventine side, In AD 64, during Nero's reign, fire broke out at the semi-circular end of the Circus, swept through the stands and shops, and destroyed much of the city, By the late 1st century AD the central dividing barrier of the Circus comprised a series of water basins, or else a single watercourse open in some places and bridged over in others, Under Trajan the Circus Maximus found its definitive form, which was unchanged thereafter save for some monumental additions by later emperors, and Pliny claims that Trajan's works gained a further 5,000 seats, The last known races at the Circus Maximus were held by Totila in 549, The Circus site now functions as a large park area, open to the public and often used for concerts, meetings, and celebrations (October 2026).

Circus Maximus Historical Timeline

Chronology

External Resources

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