Alan Cameron
Oxford University Press (Clarendon Press), 1999 (reprint of 1976 edition).
cloth, dj., 374 pp.
Book Number 20949
Conceived as a companion volume to Porphyrius the Charioteer, this study traces the history and significance of what are generally known as 'Circus factions' from the principate of Augustus to the eve of the Crusades, dealing mainly with the late Roman to early Byzantine periods. Earlier historians have analysed the activities of the factions, particularly the urban riots, in social, political and religious terms, ignoring their sporting allegiances. Cameron offers a thorough-going criticism of the 'traditional' presupposition "that racing was a thin facade for social and religious conflict." In its place, he presents what is essentially the history of chariot racing, its organisation, participants and spectator supporters. He shows how circus entertainments developed from privately mounted games to publicly funded entertainments; he examines the role of the hippodrome and theatre within political life; and he studies the changing nature of factions - from sporting rivalry, through 'partisan' gangs and hooliganism, to their incorporation in the games' imperial ceremonial and consequent decline.