Please join us for on Monday, February 12 at 6 pm for:
CHARIOT AND HORSE
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
An illustrated
lecture by Dr. John R. Hale, University of Louisville
AIA Joukowsky
Lecturer, Spring 2018
The lecture will be held at the Penn Museum, 3260 South St.,
Philadelphia, PA
Admission to the lecture is free.
After wild horses were first domesticated on the grasslands
of the Eurasian steppes, troops of nomadic riders began to conquer agricultural
communities to the south and east, thus establishing some of the world’s
earliest empires. Although such equids
as the donkey and mule (a horse-donkey hybrid) played essential roles in the
development of farming, horses were mainly utilized in hunting, in displays of
status, and in war, becoming in time the ultimate status symbol of male
dominance from Celtic lands in Atlantic Europe to Chinese kingdoms and empires
in eastern Asia. Chariots were first
used in raids and battles, as platforms for archers and spearmen. But their potential for sport and racing
ultimately overshadowed their military role, particularly in the Roman
Empire. Lecturer John R. Hale has
directed fieldwork at the extensive Roman horse farm of Torre de Palma in
Portugal (modern Lusitania), where mosaic artists created portraits of five
famous stallions. In this illustrated
lecture, he shows how chariot-racing become the most popular sport in the Roman
world, with such hippodromes as the Circus Maximus in Rome becoming the largest
of all Roman public structures.
Program sponsored by the Archaeological Institute of America
Philadelphia Society.
https://www.penn.museum/calendar/eventdetail/774/chariot-and-horse-in-the-ancient-world
Chariot racing mosaic from the Roman villa at Piazza Armerina, Sicily (ca. 4th century AD)
