To figure out what Scorpus’s chariot looked like, historians have used toy chariots surviving from the period, because they seem to have functioned as souvenirs bought by fans of the races. This first episode spends a good chunk of time on what chariots were and how people came to use them around the Mediterranean world first for warfare and then for racing. We know that most freed charioteers stayed in the racing field as trainers. This did not mean the former slave could go anywhere or do anything he wished. Of course, some slaves were so admired that their masters even granted them their freedom. Even though a slave would most likely always retain that status no matter what he did, there were certain activities where success brought a greatly improved style of life. Why would a slave risk his life? The show touches on the reasons but does not expand upon them as much as I think it should. Charioteers had a short lifespan, averaging around 25 years of age at death. At some point, he must have proven his skills and talents with horses and been given a chance to learn to become a charioteer. He was probably bought to work in stables or with charioteers while still a child. Scorpus was likely born into slavery in the eastern part of the empire. Records indicate that both racers and horses could come from around the world, but some locales were more famous than others for their skills and talents. While the charioteers were, of course, popular, it is somewhat surprising to learn that their horses were often named in inscriptions and artwork, too. It also uses data about slaves and other charioteers for comparison. The program recounts Scorpus’s life through multiple pieces of evidence, including inscriptions, literature, and visual evidence. Disappointingly, the episode dives right into the background of the facilities, not the charioteer, as I had hoped given the episode’s title, but it does eventually get around to Scorpus. Recreations of ancient Rome are interspersed with the ruins of today, where we see experts telling us or actors showing us what happened. As important as this information is, it feels out of place, given that the next episode is titled “Circus Maximus.” We meet several historical experts, and I recognize some of them from other documentaries and historical reenactments concerning ancient Rome. As big as the Colosseum was, it was not the largest arena in Rome the Circus Maximus held that honor. Immediately, the show addresses our popular understanding of Roman sports and corrects it. How does this show address the modern disconnect between slave and star when that was not the case in the ancient world? Most “stars” of entertainment and sports in ancient Rome were slaves and remained slaves until they died, no matter how many mentions we have of them in literature or graffiti. Today on Rome Reborn ® we are going to review each of the two episodes.Įpisode 1, “Slave to Star,” has a slightly misleading title, because it suggests that the status of slave was different from that of star they were not necessarily different at all. Through his life, Smithsonian also shows us the world of first-century Rome. Yes, they were quite famous, but they were slaves all the same. Scorpus was a slave, which was true of the vast majority of sports or entertainment figures in the Roman world. The two-part show looks at the life and career of Flavius Scorpus, the most successful charioteer we know from the ancient Roman world. This past Easter on April 21, 2019, the Smithsonian Channel presented Rome’s Chariot Superstar, and from the ads it was unclear if this was a documentary or a docudrama. Around Easter there are always a lot of television shows about Jewish history, Jesus, or ancient Rome in general.
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