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HIPPODROME

Volume 10 · 221 words · 1823 Edition

Hippodromus (composed of ἵππος, "horse" and ῥάγος, "course," of the verb ῥέω, "run"), in antiquity, a list or course wherein chariot and horse races were performed, and horses exercised.

The Olympian hippodrome or horse-course was a space of ground of 600 paces long, surrounded with a wall, near the city Elis, and on the banks of the river Alpheus. It was uneven, and in some degree irregular, on account of the situation; in one part was a hill of a moderate height, and the circuit was adorned with temples, altars, and other embellishments. See Stadium. There is a very famous hippodrome at Constantinople, which was begun by Alexander Severus, and finished by Constantine. This circus, called by the Turks atmeican, is 400 paces long, and above 100 paces wide. At the entrance of the hippodrome there is a pyramidal obelisk of granite in one piece, about 50 feet high, terminating in a point, and charged with hieroglyphics. The Greek and Latin inscriptions.

a sort of race-course, built in the form of a semicircle, with a bank of earth at each end, and a goal or post at the eastern extremity. The hippodromes of ancient Greece were generally situated near the sea-shore, and were used for horse-races. Hippodrome is also the name given to a race-course in London, where horse-races are held.