Circus Maximus

About this place

The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 621 m in length and 118 m in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park. Follow the relationship between the audience area and the performance space. The layout reveals how builders gathered a crowd and focused its attention, connecting the surviving monument with the people who once came here for shared public entertainment.