The Greatest Show On Earth
We visit the Circus every few years!
The Circus
We love the circus and as we get older, we go with the grandkids. Please join us for the circus in 2000 and 2007.
About The Circus
A circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, trapeze acts, hula hoopers and other fun acts and the word also describes the performance that they give. A circus is held in an oval or circular arena with tiered seating around its edge; in the case of traveling circuses this location is most often a large tent.
The circus originated in Ancient Rome, where the circus was an open-air
stadium where chariot and horse races and other public exhibitions were
held. Briton Philip Astley is thought of as the father of the modern
circus, establishing permanent and travelling circuses in Britain and
Europe in the late 18th century.
Ancient Circus In Rome
In Ancient Rome the circus was a building for the exhibition of horse
and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, displays featuring
trained animals, jugglers, and acrobats. The circus of Rome is thought
to have been influenced by the Egyptians and Greeks where chariot racing
and the exhibition of animals. The Roman circus consisted of tiers of
seats running parallel with the sides of the course, and forming a
crescent round one of the ends. The lower seats were reserved for
persons of rank; there were also various state boxes, eg. for the giver
of the games and his friends. In Ancient Rome the circus was the only
public spectacle at which men and women were not separated.
The first circus in Rome was the Circus Maximus, in the valley between
the Paletine and Apaline. Next in importance to the Circus Maximus in
Rome was the Circus Flaminius, the Circus Neronis, from the notoriety
which it obtained through the Circensian pleasures of Nero. A fourth,
the Circus of Maxentius, was constructed by Maxentius; the ruins of this
circus have enabled archaeologists to reconstruct the Roman circus.