A circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals,hula hoopers and other novelty 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 circumference; in the case of traveling circuses this location is most often a large tent.

The circus is thought to have had its origin in Ancient Rome, where the circus was an open-air stadium where chariot and horse races and other public exhibitions where 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.

History of the circus

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Circus in the ancient world

In Ancient Rome the circus was a building for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, displays featuring trained exotic animals, jugglers and acrobats and other amusements. The circus of Rome is thought to have been influenced by the Egyptians and Greeks where chariot racing and the exhibition of exotic animals were popular events. 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 Palatine and Aventine hills. 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, Circus Maxentius, was constructed by Maxentius; the ruins of this circus have enabled archaeologists to reconstruct the Roman circus.

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