Hippodromus (composed of ἵππος, horse, and δρόμος, course), in Antiquity, a list or course where chariot and horse races were performed, and horses exercised. The Olympic hippodrome or course was a space of ground of six hundred paces in length, surrounded with a wall, near the city Elis, on the banks of the river Alpheus. It was uneven, and in some degree irregular, on account of the situation; in one part there was a hill of a moderate height, and the circuit was adorned with temples, altars, and other embellishments. Constantinople had a famous hippodrome, which was begun by Alexander Severus, and finished by Constantine. This circus, called the Turks Atmeidan, is four hundred paces in length, and above a hundred paces in breadth. At the entrance of the hippodrome there is a pyramidal monolith obelisk of granite, about fifty feet in height, terminating in a point, and charged with hieroglyphics. The Greek and Latin inscriptions on its base show that it was erected by Theodosius; the machines which were employed to raise it are represented on it in basso-rilievo.