HIPPODROME, (from the Latin, hippodromus, com posed of irra-oc, horse, and dponoc, course, of the verb dpep.w, curro, I run.) in antiquity, a list, or course, wherein chariot and horse-races were performed, and horses exercised.
The Olympian hippodrome, or horse-course, was a space of ground 600 paces lung, surrounded with a wall, near the city Elis, and on the banks of the river Alpheus. It was uneven and in some degree irregular, on account of the situ ation; in one part was a hill of moderate height, and the circuit was adorned with temples, altars, and other embellish ments. Pausanias has given us the following account of this hippodrome, or horse-course :—" As you pass out of the stadium, by the seat of the Hellanodics, into the place appointed for the horse-races. you come to the barrier (cupectg) where the horses and chariots rendezvous before they enter into the course. This barrier, in its figure, resembles the prow of a ship, with the rostrum or beak turned towards the course. The other end, which joins on to the portico of Agaptus, (so called from him who built it) is very broad. At the extremity of the rostrum or beak, over a bar that runs across the entrance (em sarovoc,) is placed a figure of a dolphin in brass. (This dolphin is a symbol of Neptune, sur named I i ppian or Equestrian, for his having produced a horse by striking the earth with his trident, according to the fable ; without the recollection of this circumstance, the reader might be surprised to meet with the figure of a dolphin in a horse-course.) On the two sides of the barrier, each of which is above 400 feet in length. are built stands or lodges, as well for the riding-horses as the chariots, which are distributed by lot among the competitors in those races; and before all these lodges is stretched a cable, from one end to the other, to serve the purpose of a barrier. About the middle of the prow is erected an altar, built of unburnt brick, which, every Olympiad, is plastered over with fresh mortar; and upon the altar stands a brazen eagle, n hich spreads out its wings to a great length. This eagle, by means of a machine, which i4 put in motion by the president of the horse-races, is made to mount up at once to such a height in the air, as to become visible to all the spectators ; and, at the same time, the brazen dolphin before mentioned sinks to the ground. Upon
that signal, the cables stretched before the lodges, on either side of the portico of Agaptus, arc first let loose, and the horses there stationed move out and advance, till they come over against the lodges of those who drew the second lot, which arc then likewise opened. The same order is observed by all the rest, and in this manlier they proceed through the beak or rostrum ; before which they are drawn up in one line, or front, ready to begin the race, and make trial of the skill of the charioteers and fleetness of the horses. On that side of the course, which is formed by a terrace raised with earth, and which is the largest of the two sides, near to the passage that leads out of the course across the terrace, stands an altar, of a round figure, dedicated to Taraxippus, the term-or of the horses, as his name imports. The other side of the course is not by a terrace of earth, but a hill of moderate height, at the end of which is erected a temple, consecrated to Ceres Chamyne, whose priestess has the privilege of seeing the Olympic games." There is a very famous hippodrome at Constantinople, which was begun by Alexander Severus, and finished by Constantine. This circus, called by the Turks Ahneidan, is 400 paces long, and above 100 paces wide, i. e. geometrical paces of five feet each. Wheeler says, it was in length about 550 ordinary paces, and in breadth about 120; or, allowing each pace to he five feet, 2;750 feet long and 600 broad. At the entrance of the hippodrome there is a pyramidal obelisk of granite, in one piece, about 50 feet high, terminating in a point, and charged with hieroglyphics, erected on a pedestal of eight or ten feet above the ground. The Greek and Latin inscriptions on its base show that it was erected by Theodo sius; the machines that t% ere employed to *raise it were represented upon it in basso.relievo.