CIRCUS, a space in the strict sense circular, but sometimes oval or even oblong, intended for the exhibition of races and athletic contests generally (Lat. circus, Gr. KIpKoS or rcpLi;os, a ring or circle; probably "circus" and "ring" are of the same origin). The circus differs from the theatre inasmuch as the performance takes place in a central circular space, and not on a stage at one end of the building.
The oldest building of this kind in Rome was the Circus Maximus, in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills, where, before the erection of any permanent structure, races appear to have been held beside the altar of the god Consus. The first building is assigned to Tarquin the younger, but for a long time little seems to have been done to complete its accommoda tion, since it is not till 329 B.C. that we hear of stalls being erected for the chariots and horses. It was not in fact till under the em pire that the circus became a conspicuous public resort. Caesar enlarged it to some extent, and also made a canal io ft. broad be tween the lowest tier of seats (podium) and the course, as a precaution for the spectators' safety when exhibitions of fighting with wild beasts, such as were afterwards confined to the amphi theatre, took place. When these exhibitions were removed and the canal (euripus) was no longer necessary, Nero had it filled up. , Augustus is said to have placed an obelisk on the spina between the metae and to have built a new pulvinar, or imperial box; but if this is taken in connection with the fact that the circus had been partially destroyed by fire in 31 B.C., it may be supposed that besides this he had restored it altogether. Only the lower tiers of seats were of stone, the others being of wood, and this, from the liability to fire, may account for the frequent restora tions to which the circus was subject; it would also explain the falling of the seats by which a crowd of people were killed in the time of Antoninus Pius. In the reign of Claudius, apparently after a fire, the carceres of stone (tufa) were replaced by marble, and the metae of wood by gilt bronze. Under Domitian, again after a fire, the circus was rebuilt, and the carceres increased to twelve instead of eight as before. The work was finished by Trajan. See further for seating capacity, etc., ROME : Archaeology, § "Places of Amusement." The circus was the only public spectacle at which men and women were not separated. The lower seats were reserved for persons of rank; there were also various state boxes, e.g., for the giver of the games and his friends (called cubicula or suggestus). The principal object of attraction apart from the racing must have been the spina or low wall which ran down the middle of the course, with its obelisks, images and ornamental shrines. On it also were seven figures of dolphins and seven oval objects, one of which was taken down at every round made in a race, so that spectators might see readily how the contest proceeded. The chariot race consisted of seven rounds of the course. The chariots started abreast, but in an oblique line, so that the outer chariot might be compensated for the wider circle it had to make at the other end. Such a race was called a missus, and as many as 24 of these would take place in a day. The competitors wore different colours, originally white and red (albata and russata), to which green (prasina) and blue (veneta) were added. Domi tian introduced two more colours, purple and gold (purpureus et auratus pannus), which probably fell into disuse after his death. To provide the horses and large staff of attendants it was neces sary to apply to rich capitalists and owners of studs, and from this there grew up in time f our companies (factions) of circus purveyors, which were identified with the four colours, and with which those who organized the races contracted for the proper supply of horses and men. The drivers (aurigae, agitatores), who were mostly slaves, were sometimes held in high repute for their skill. The horses most valued were those of Sicily, Spain and Cappadocia, and great care was taken in training them. Chariots with two horses (bigae) or four (quadrigae) were most common, but sometimes also they had three (trigae), and exceptionally more than f our horses. Occasionally there was combined with the chariots a race of riders (desultores), each rider having two horses and leaping from one to the other during the race. At certain of the races the proceedings were opened by a pompa or procession in which images of the gods and of the imperial family deified were conveyed in cars drawn by horses, mules or elephants, at tended by the colleges of priests, and led by the presiding magis trate (in some cases by the emperor himself) seated in a chariot in the dress and with the insignia of a triumphator. The proces sion passed from the capitol along the forum, and on to the circus, where it was received by the people standing and clapping their hands. The presiding magistrate gave the signal for the races by throwing a white flag (mappa) on to the course.
Next in importance to the Circus Maximus in Rome was the Circus Flaminius, erected 221 B.C. in the censorship of C. Flamin ius, from whom it may have taken its name ; or the name may have been derived from Prata Flaminia, where it was situated. The only games that are known to have been celebrated in this circus were the Ludi Tourii and Plebeii. There is no mention of it after the ist century. Its ruins were identified in the i6th century at S. Catarina dei Funari and the Palazzo Mattei.
A third circus in Rome was erected by Caligula in the gardens of Agrippina, and was known as the Circus Neronis, from the no toriety which it obtained through the Circensian pleasures of Nero. A fourth was constructed by Maxentius outside the Porta Appia near the tomb of Caecilia Metella, where its ruins are still, and now afford the only instance from which an idea of the ancient circi in Rome can be obtained. It was attributed to Caracalla, till the discovery of an inscription in 1825 showed it to be the work of Maxentius. Old topographers speak of the six circi, but two of these appear to be imaginary, the Circus Florae and the Circus Sallustii.
Circus races were held in connection with the following public festivals and generally on the last day of the festival, if it extended over more than one day :—(1) The Consualia, Aug. 21, Dec. 15; (2) Equirria, Feb. 27, March 14; (3) Ludi Romani, Sept. 4-19; (4) Ludi Plebeii, Nov. (5) Cerialia, April 12 19 ; Ludi Apollinares, July 6-13 ; (7) Ludi Megalenses, April 4-10; (8) Floralia, April 28–May 3.
In addition to Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities (3rd ed., 189o), see articles in Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire des antiquites, Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyklopc die der classischen Altertumswissen schaft, iii. 2 (1899) , and Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, iii. (2nd ed., 1885), P. 504. For existing remains see works quoted under ROME: Archaeology.
The popularity of the circus in England may be traced to that kept by Philip Astley (d. 1814) in London at the end of the 18th century. Astley was followed by Ducrow, whose feats of horse manship had much to do with establishing the traditions of the circus, which were perpetuated by Hengler's and Sanger's cele brated shows in a later generation. The influence of P. T. Barnum (United States), whose claim to be the possessor of "the greatest show on earth" was no exaggeration, brought about a consider able change in the character of the modern circus. In arenas too large for speech to be easily audible, the traditional comic dialogue of the clown assumed a less prominent place than formerly, while the vastly increased wealth of stage properties relegated to the background the old-fashioned equestrian feats, which were re placed by more ambitious acrobatic performances and by exhi bitions of skill, strength and daring requiring the employment of immense numbers of performers and often of complicated and expensive machinery. These tendencies are, as is natural, most marked in shows given in permanent buildings in large cities, such as the London Hippodrome, which was built as a combina tion of the circus, the menagerie and the variety theatre, where wild animals such as lions and elephants from time to time ap peared in the ring and where convulsions of nature such as floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have been produced with an extraordinary wealth of realistic display. At the Hippodrome in Paris, a circus of the true classical type in which the arena is entirely surrounded by the seats of the spectators, chariot races after the Roman model were held in the latter part of the 19th century, at which prizes of considerable value were given by the management. In accordance with the developments just described, the circus may at the present time be divided into three distinct types. The British is a caravan, the continental a music-hall fitted with arena and stables, and the American a mobile arsenal of amusements. In none of these are the traditions of Philip Astley, father of the modern circus, strictly upheld. His amphi theatre, a combination of riding school and music house, re tained much of the ancient dignity of horsemanship.
Since about 1920, interest in the circus has been re-awakened in several countries, including Russia, where the Soviet has per mitted companies to be reorganized. In France where the vogue took long to die, as the building of the handsome Cirque de Paris a few years before the World War proves, the revival came quickly, partly because of the enthusiasm for the ring shown by the modern school of painters. This return to popularity was first marked by the redecoration of the Cirque Medrano in 1921 ; in the same year the Nouveau Cirque, which from 1914 had been an ordinary music-hall, was occupied by a menagerie, and, as the next step, the American bar was abolished so that the stables could be restored; the Cirque d'Hiver, the scene of Gemier's production of Oedipe Roi, in the season 1919-2o and afterwards a cinematograph theatre, once more became a circus in 1923-24; and this upward progression was crowned in 1923 when the French Minister of Public Instruction made the three Fratellini, the most popular clowns of France, officers of the Academy.
In Australia the Wirth Brothers have conducted a railroad circus on the American model (see below) for many years, but the mammoth show has yet to establish itself in Europe despite the success of Barnum and Bailey's visits between 188o-1900. In 1925, however, the Circus Krone aroused keen interest in Berlin as the only three-ring tent on the Continent, and three rings were installed in the stadium of the British Empire Ex hibition, Wembley, but here the space was found in experience to be too large for the romantic smell of sawdust and tanbark to reach the audience.
To-day they still perform the tricks that amused the country before the circus was invented. Thus, in 1925, dogs and monkeys were acting in Bostock's Royal Italian Circus a scene called The Deserter, ending with the execution of a Pomeranian by a monkey seated on a pony, which recalls the drama of The Deserter acted by dogs and a monkey at Sadler's Wells in 1785. After most of the buildings installed by Hengler, Sanger and others, in the chief towns and cities of the United Kingdom had been put to other uses, the "tenting" companies became more like the old fair folks than Astley's performers. They exhibited per sonal skill instead of combining to present "equestrian dramas," of which the last relic was the Wembley stag hunt and Roman chariot races, two favourite circus items since Astley's was first built. Likewise the jester is disappearing, the fun now being provided mainly by silent clowns wearing the one-piece garment of the French "grotesque," the ill fitting evening clothes of the "Auguste" or the costume of Charlie Chaplin of the films.
Entertainments of a character similar to the circus include the International Rodeo, held under C. B. Cochran's management at the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, which was a contest in steer wrestling and buck-jumping between cowboys who were showmen in the sense that prize money was their livelihood. In July 1925 a band of Cossacks gave an exhibition of horseman ship in London and Paris, including a dramatic spectacle enlivened by comic tumbles from horseback.
Early American Circus.—During colonial days several Eng lish showmen brought small troupes to the United States. Among the first was Ricketts' Circus which exhibited in the Greenwich theatre near the Battery, New York, in 1795. Probably the first American born showman of note was Rufus Welch, who in 1818 managed a wagon show and later directed larger outfits. In Nov. 1826, the Mt. Pitt Circus opened on Broome street, New York, in a building seating 3,500 persons, said at that time to be the largest place of amusement in America. Early circuses, but subsequent to the foregoing, were those of "Old" John Robinson, Dick Sands and Van Amburgh, the two last named making European tours in the '4os.
Notable among American tent showmen may be named L. B. Lent, Adam Forepaugh, Dan Rice, the Sells brothers, W. C. Coup, P. T. Barnum, James A. Bailey and the Ringling brothers. Lent's historic New York circus played winter engagements in i4th street opposite the old Academy of Music, and toured under canvas during the summer months of the '6os and early '7os, his being the first show of size to travel by rail. Forepaugh was one of the tent world's most picturesque characters and the reputed precursor of the modern beauty contests. In 188o he offered a prize for America's most beautiful woman, resulting in the selection of Louise Montague who thereafter rode in his street parade as "the $Io,000 beauty." Rice was the most famous of American clowns and operator of boat shows on the Mississippi. The Sells brothers, Ephraim, Allen, Lewis and Peter, in 1872 founded the show bearing their name, giving distinct impetus to the "brother idea" in the circus world. Coup, a remarkable organizer who, in 1869, projected the largest circus known up to that time, originated performances in two rings, and assisted by Dan Costello persuaded P. T. Barnum to enter the circus field. Barnum, in his 6oth year, brought his internationally ad vertised name and ability as a proprietor of museums, impresario, lecturer and author to the tent show world, thereby giving it in calculable publicity and advancement. Bailey, generally acknowl edged to have been the master showman both past and present, introduced a third ring and devised intervening stages. Brilliant alike as an organizer, originator and financial genius, he directed superb productions throughout America and toured European countries at the head of the largest circus ever sent across the Atlantic. The Ringling brothers, August G., Otto, Albert, Alfred T., Charles, Henry and John were remarkable for their individual ability to direct separate departments of their show. Beginning in 1882 the Ringlings brought the show bearing their name to a size equalling that of the largest. Upon the death of Bailey they in 1907 purchased the Barnum and Bailey "Greatest Show on Earth," but conducted it as a separate institution until 1919 when they combined it with that bearing their name.
The consolidation was directed by John Ringling, until his death in 1936.
The Modern Circus.—Unlike European circuses, the modern American circus sells a ticket which includes admission to both the menagerie and circus performance. Following the "big show" programme an after show is given in the main-tent for which there is an additional charge.
This is called the "concert," though it has frequently taken on the character of a "wild west" entertainment. The "big show" programme appeals largely to the eye, since the greater size of the modern main-tent has rendered impossible a continuance of the "talking clown" and like audible features of the former one ring circus.
Today the feats of human equestrians, aerialists, gymnasts, acrobats and clowns, interspersed with a number of trained jungle beasts and domestic animals are presented in ground rings, on ground platforms ("stages"), from aerial apparatus and from steel arenas so distributed as to be enclosed within or above the confines of an oval course-way ("hippodrome track") with the spectators seated in chairs ("grand stand") and on bleachers ("the blues") in such a manner as practically to surround the entire area of action.
An average of 3o different tent shows (the largest requiring approximately ioo railway cars to transport it and the smallest using but a single car) tour more or less extensively through the United States each year. The touring season usually begins in April or May and continues into November. The intervening time is spent in "winter quarters." A few small shows tour con tinuously, exhibiting in southern territory during the winter months. To advance their season, some circuses that are essen tially tent shows open in buildings as early as March and then go out under canvas. Once on tour they exhibit only in tents. Among these have been the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus and the Sells-Floto show which for many years opened in Madison Square Garden, New York, and in the Coliseum, Chicago, re spectively. The indoor winter circus is practically non-existent in the United States. Creditable shows frequently play in armories and other buildings but none of these are permanent in character. (E. P. N.)