All language subtitles for Romes Chariot Superstar Series 1 Part 1 Slave to Star 1080p EN SUB

Narrator: Rome.

The year is 90 ad.

The city rules the greatest
empire the world has ever known.

To us, roman sporting
spectacle usually

Means one thing, in one place.

Gladiators in the colosseum.

50,000 people cheering
on fights to the death.

But less than a mile away,

And for over 1000 years,

Crowds three times that size,

Were hooked on a much,
much bigger spectacle.

Chariot racing.

The sport's biggest supporter
is the emperor, domitian.

And from the speed,
danger, noise, and death,

One man emerges as the greatest
charioteer of them all.

Flavius scorpus.

A slave, but who was scorpus
and how did he escape

Almost hopeless odds to become
arguably the most talented

And successful competitor
in the sport's history?

We'll dig deep into the world
of rome's chariot superstar.

Bell: This is not a
profession respectable

Roman citizens would take up.

Narrator: Build
and test his chariots.

Loades: Trying to keep
them all straight

Is really challenging,
especially on the bends

Narrator: Investigate
how races really worked.

Bockmann: This is the turning
point for the chariots,

You have to imagine three
big cones standing on there,

This is the crucial point
where the race is won or lost.

Narrator: And discover
the pomp and spectacle

Of race day in the biggest
arena the world has ever seen.

Rome's mighty circus maximus.

And the man who
conquered it all.

Scorpus.

90 years after the birth of
jesus christ, emperor domitian

Is on the throne and rome is
the greatest city on earth.

Bell: Rome in this period
was at the height

Of its imperial power
and the trappings

Of that wealth were
on display everywhere.

Toner: It's a huge city,
a million inhabitants

Which by pre-industrial
standards is enormous,

There were huge
numbers of slaves.

Perhaps, uh, 30% of the
population was slaves.

When we think of rome we
tend to think of the great

Classical buildings with
their clean white marble

But the reality would
have been much grubbier.

There were very few
toilets for example

The city must have smelt.

There are records
of people going

To the toilet behind
imperial statues.

Narrator: Emperor
domitian is a member of

The flavian dynasty, the
family who built the flavian

Amphitheater, now known
as the colosseum in rome.

Toner: The first flavian
emperor, verspasian,

Builds the colosseum and
it's a powerful statement

Of how he wants to be seen
as an emperor who is giving

People the entertainment
that they really want.

The colosseum's finished
by his son titus

After he dies and titus
only lives for two years

And the younger brother,
domitian comes to the throne.

Narrator: Domitian needs
to gain popularity fast after

The death from fever of his
more charismatic brother titus.

So he keeps up the
family tradition

Of lavishing money on
mass entertainment.

Toner: He chooses
the circus maximus,

As a great opportunity
to expand the site,

Make it more luxurious,
somewhere where

Every roman wants to
go and have some fun.

Narrator: Like his brother
and father before him,

Domitian is famous for
exploiting the power of what

The romans called bread and
circuses, keeping the people

Of rome on his side by
spending a fortune giving

Them free grain and
lavish entertainment.

Willekes: One of the most
famous terms to come out

Of roman world is panem et
circenses, bread and circuses.

Which basically means
keep the masses fed,

Keep them entertained
and they will be happy

And they're not going to
revolt or riot against you

Because they'll be
too distracted by

Everything that's going on

And they're not going to
have empty stomachs to be angry.

Grig: So it's a very important
part of the relationship

Between the emperor and
the people to take part

In the give and
take so famously.

The games are a place where the
emperor and the people meet,

They can make demands
of the emperor, they can

Demand things, he can
give them concessions,

It's important to
see and be seen.

Narrator: Rome was home to
a million people and a large

Proportion crammed into the
circus maximus on race day.

When the emperor joined
150,000 screaming

Fans, roaring on their heroes.

Grig: 150,000, for comparison
that's something like three

Times as many people who can
sit in the yankee stadium.

It's the largest built
structure in the roman world.

The circus maximus is massive.

Narrator: The
heroes of this gigantic

Stage were the charioteers.

They came from all
across the roman world.

In domitian's time
the empire stretched

From north africa to
britain, from Spain to syria.

Across this vast
area we can still

See the places where
charioteers trained.

Where they raced and
constantly risked their

Lives to get to the biggest
stage of them all in rome.

Hidden away among the
tombstones in the museo urbino,

There's a remarkable
clue to the identity of

The biggest start of
the circus maximus.

It's found on the
humble tombstone

Of an ordinary bureaucrat.

Bell: At first sight
this monument doesn't

Look like anything special.

At the top, what we see is

The deceased himself
at a funerary banquet.

Like other romans,
the idea seems to be

That he wants to be seen
celebrating the high life.

But what makes this
monument really special,

Is the scene that we have here.

Narrator: Beneath the
civil servant is a charioteer

And his four horses, but this
isn't just any charioteer

Bell: The charioteer's
name is inscribed

Over his image, scorpus.

Along with that we have the
names of his four horses,

Ingenues, admeto,
pasorinos and admeto's.

So here we have the tombstone
for a roman bureaucrat

With the image of a sports
hero of his day, but why?

The image of scorpus
is actually acting

As a kind of good luck
charm or talisman.

Meijer: Many people have a
gravestone with a picture

Of a charioteer and
that's not so strange.

Imagine that a man who
died and he was his whole

Life a supporter of scorpus
that on his gravestone

He had a small picture of the
famous charioteer he adored.

Narrator: Scorpus
would become the michael

Jordan or babe ruth of his age.

More clues about
scorpus' fame can be

Found in the
writings of martial.

He was domitian's court
poet and he captured rome's

Infatuation with scorpus
and his perilous profession.

"oh rome, I am scorpus, the
glory of your noisy circus,

"the object of your applause,
your short lived favorite."

Scorpus was born
in ad68 and he was

Certainly not born
in to the high life.

Like so many he had to
work his way up from

The very bottom, almost
certainly beginning as a slave.

Toner: Rome was undoubtedly
a violent society,

There were huge numbers
of slaves who were

Treated often with
casual brutality.

But the romans did not
see that as cruelty,

They thought it was
just simply necessary

To maintain stability
and social order.

Narrator: Analysis of
rome's ancient inscriptions

Gives a detailed insight
into the humble origins

And precarious lives
of charioteers.

Bell: One of the things that
this book does is tell

Us about the social and legal
background of charioteers,

Including information that we
can glean from their names.

For example, we have the
inscription of crescens

And this inscription tells
us that the was a charioteer

For the blue faction,
he died at the age of 22

And so we can work out
that he began racing at

The age of just 13, and
thus his career probably

Would have started when
he was about age 10.

We can also get information
about his legal background.

All roman citizens would
have had a three part name

Or trianamana, but crescens
has just one name, which

Tells us that he was born a
slave and that he died a slave.

Narrator: We know
from the records that

The great charioteer
scorpus had two names,

Flavius scorpus, it gives
away his lowly background.

Bell: Even a
short name like flavius

Scorpus is really informative.

He lacks the three part
name of a roman citizen.

Flavius refers to his
former master and scorpus

Tells us that he's probably
of eastern european origin.

Narrator: The evidence
suggests that young scorpus

Was a slave in the
eastern roman empire.

He would likely have
grown up on a stud farm

Or stables, charged with
menial back breaking work.

Toner: Nearly all charioteers
were bought into

The business by stable
owners, and it was

An opportunity to win
money, to win glory.

And to get out of
the daily grind

Of being an ordinary slave.

Narrator: For
slaves like scorpus,

There were two options.

Grind out a life of hard
labor or find a way out.

And if you were
prepared to take risks

There was a glimmer of
hope in the roman empire.

Grig: One of the distinctive
features of slavery

In rome is that a
slave had a possibility

Of freedom so slaves
could be bought and sold,

They could be bred on
your own estate but also

You could hope, if you got
lucky that you might work

Your way up and buy your
freedom at the end of it all.

Narrator: We know
little about scorpus'

Early life but he must have
shown a special ability

With horses, it separated
him out from the crowd

And could make his owner some
extra money on the race track.

It was the first
step on the road

To stardom and
potential freedom.

Bell: The majority of slaves in
rome wouldn't have been free

Before the age of 30 but
charioteers were an exception

Especially if they were
favorites of the crowd.

Narrator: By his mid
teens scorpus must have made

His decision, train to be
a charioteer or die trying.

In ancient rome in 90 ad,
chariot racing was the empire's

Most popular sport and one
of the greatest drivers was

Scorpus, a superstar
with legions of fans.

The design of the chariots used

For racing was all about
strength and speed.

But chariots had
already been around

A long time, over 2000
years before scorpus.

A combination of two
great human advances,

The domestication of horses
and the invention of the wheel.

Ancient art shows that they
began as four wheeled carts but

Evolved into swifter two wheeled
machines used from central

Asia to europe and egypt,
they were built for war.

Loades: They evolved incredibly
high status battlefield

Vehicles and they were used
in their tens of thousands,

Then round about 700 bc,
gradually chariots were

Phased out and it's around
that time that we start

To find hard evidence
of chariot races.

Around about that time, 7th
century bc the olympic games

Start in greece, and
they had chariot racing.

Narrator: By the time scorpus
was driving, around 90 ad,

Chariot racing had been
going for at least 700 years.

But what was his roman
racing chariot exactly like.

The design had been
perfected over centuries

Of competition, but no original
racing chariots survive.

Fortunately the romans
left other clues,

They made models
for sale to fans.

To make an exact replica
of scorpus' chariot,

Coach builder robert
hurford has come to

The british museum to
examine an ancient roman toy.

Hurford: This is a contemporary
model, beautifully made,

You can see by its details
that the man who made

That knows exactly
what he was looking at

And is very skilled in
making a copy of what he saw.

Luckily he chose bronze
so it's lasted this long.

It's showing us how they
made the full size ones.

The floor is obviously straps
of something which lay over

One another, the wheels are
a small diameter so that the

Center of gravity is low so
that it doesn't tip over, you

Could hardly ask for anything
better to follow than that.

Because it's so finely
made I think we can

Really rely upon it
telling us exactly

How they made the
full size ones.

Narrator: Armed
with a blue print of

The british museum toy
chariot, robert is starting

To build a racing replica
of scorpus' machine.

It's going to be driven by
chariot historian mike loades.

Loades: So we've got a couple of
images of roman chariots here,

They look very similar to
each other, but they look

Completely different to any
other chariot I've driven.

I mean I've driven egyptian
chariots, assyrian chariots,

Hittite chariots, mycenaean
chariots, celtic chariots,

I've driven the lot, except
this and they all have

Something in common, they
are battlefield vehicles.

They have a driver
and a warrior.

Usually an archer.

And they have
reasonably big wheels

To go over rough terrain.

This is a different
species all together.

Hurford: It's not
for two people is it.

It's just a little
platform for him

To control those horses on

Loades: It's got that low
wheel-base,

It's a formula 1 racing car,

Is that going to grip the
track is that going to help

Me slide the thing around that
hairpin bend do you think?

Hurford: We'll have to see.

Light weight, minimalist
design, yeah it

Should be easy for
those animals to pull.

Narrator: Step one,
steaming the wood so it

Can be bent into the frame
of the drivers cockpit

Hurford: We're steaming some
timber to make the frame

Of the chariot, we've
got two bits of different

Thicknesses there, one piece
makes the sort of handrail part

And the other is the frame
for the floor and it'll have

Rawhide thongs woven across
it which will make the floor.

The bit we're steaming
into shape here

Is going to be the curved
outside of that frame.

We've got to be fast
with this because if

The heat goes out on the
wood it will start to crack.

We've put several clamps
in positions on this thing

And it's compressing the
timber in some parts.

Okay that's enough I think.

Narrator: The clamps hold
the bent wood in place until

Two hours later it cools
into the new shape.

Hurford: So we've got a nice
frame for our d shaped floor.

Narrator: Next the
wheels, racing chariot

Wheels were small and chunky.

Robert believes that for
strength they were made

From a single piece of
wood, steamed into a circle.

Hurford: This has the grain

Running through the
length of it.

Which means that it makes
the whole thing a stiff unit.

These small wheels,
with very few spokes

Work better if you've
got a long piece

Of continuous grain
as being the rim.

Narrator: With the
wheels taking shape,

Mike tries out the skeleton
of the driving platform.

Loades: So this is an
outline of what

The body is going to be like.

You can see how the
design's working, that angle

Is going to be very braced
and strong, it'll take

Me leaning my weight against
it, of that I'm sure.

It's different to the
chariots I'm used to which

Sit up here and you feel
very secure, but I've got

Good freedom where I need
it to operate the reigns

On the four horses,
this a specialist racing

Machine, can't do anything else
and I can't wait to try it.

Narrator: Flavius scorpus
rose from slavery to become

A superstar in the most
popular sport of ancient rome,

In the greatest arena of
them all, the circus maximus.

But he began his career working
his way up from poverty.

While the evidence
is limited, by age 12

Or 13 the young slave
must have shown he had

The first sparks of the
right stuff to be a racer.

An affinity with
horses, strength,

Balance, and the will to win.

Meijer: Slaves had an
opportunity

To become
charioteer,

Most of them were the sons
of charioteers or they were

Scouted somewhere that
they had special abilities.

And for them it was
an opportunity to

Escape the slave life.

Bell: The skills you would
need as a charioteer included

A natural ability around
horses, as well as an ability

To navigate the chariot at
the dangerous turns or metai,

The turning posts in the circus.

Narrator: The
sport scorpus was

Entering was a lethal one.

Using inscriptions as
evidence, sinclair bell has

Calculated that the average
lifespan of a charioteer was 25

Years and there are records of
racers dying as young as 19.

But despite the overwhelming
odds against success

Or even survival, plenty of
young men like scorpus wanted

To try their skill and luck,
they just needed a break

Bell: There were scouts all
over the roman empire,

Scouring for new talent
because charioteers

Were literally dying to
get to the circus maximus.

Narrator: Chariot racing was
dominated by four

Commercial teams or
factions, each with their own

Identifying color, the reds,
blues, greens, and whites.

A young charioteer had to gain
the factions attention before

He could make any progress on
the racing circuit, but their

Scouts were always looking
out for new talent to replace

Drivers who were either too
old or too injured to race.

Along with finding and
training young chariot drivers,

The factions needed another
vital component, horsepower.

Some of the best chariot horses
were not native to Italy.

They were across the
mediterranean sea,

In rome's african
territories, evidence shows

This was a rich breeding
ground for race horses.

Willekes: One of the reasons we
know north africa was

Producing some of the
best, the largest number

Of race horses but also
some of the best race horses

In the roman world, is because
of inscriptions like this

One right here, and it's
basically recording part

Of the career of a charioteer
named auvillius terrias

And it's from the 1st
century ad and it's a list

Of horse names and they
have names like romulus,

Dromo and 37 of these 42
names have the initials

Af after them
which means africa.

We know that given
the importance of

The circus throughout the
roman empire, thousands

Of horses were being
produced because you needed

A huge volume of horses to
run a single day of races.

Narrator: For scorpus,
and all charioteers,

There was one particular
type of horse that had

The speed, strength,
and stamina they needed.

A horse so tough that it's
been the breeding stock

For the modern thoroughbred,
standard bred and

The american quarter horse,
it's called the berber, or barb.

Driss: They can resist to the
cold, the heat, they can

Live in the desert, in
the mountain, everywhere.

They have good cardiac rhythm
willekes: Oh, yeah, their heart.

Very strong heart
driss: Very strong heart.

Willekes: What are
the physical characteristics

That identify a barb
from other horses?

Driss: The first
thing is the head,

So the head is a convex profile

Willekes:
The head comes out?

Driss: Yeah,
and the eye is like

An almond, with this
neck which is large

And is very strong, they
can pull the chariots.

And they have a very
strong hoof too.

Narrator: But the supply
of berber horses was

Only one part of the equation,
like indy car or formula 1,

Behind the charioteer were
the all powerful factions.

Huge teams that approached
racing like a business.

Willekes: The anatomy of a
stable or the idea of

The horse world in
antiquity, getting a horse

To the racetrack, this
is where it started.

You have the whole faction's
stable which is just

An incredible beehive of
workers, you have the stable

Managers who are in charge of
the whole operation, you have

Their assistants, you have
the trainers, you have grooms

Working with the horses,
you have veterinarians

And doctors, you have the
chariot makers, the harness

Makers, the blacksmiths,
the senior charioteers

And the junior charioteers,
apprentices, all working

Together in this environment
to try and produce

The race horses, so it's this
huge industry just to get

One team of horses from
basically birth to the circus.

Narrator: For scorpus
to realize his ambition

To become a charioteer he
would need expert guidance

And only one kind of
man could provide it.

A former charioteer.

Drivers who survived
until retirement

Age might have a second
career overseeing

Younger charioteers
within a faction.

Bell: One charioteer who
survived till retirement

Age after 1000
wins was communis.

Even though communis
had won enough money

To buy his freedom and
retire, he still stayed

In the industry
of chariot racing,

Presumably because
it was in his blood.

Toner: Most charioteers
started racing quite young

When they were probably
in their late teens,

So if they survived for 10
years they were probably

Doing quite well so most
trainers would probably be

Retired charioteers in their
late 20s in their 30s perhaps

Their 40s but hugely experienced
in the whole industry

Narrator: By his
late teens scorpus was

A promising driver, ready to
rest his skills and courage

In the ancient roman equivalent
of the minor leagues.

Races in the outer edges of
empire, from africa to judaea.

The stakes could not be higher.

He could die a forgotten
rookie, or win the chance

For fame, fortune, and freedom
in rome's circus maximus.

On the outskirts of the
roman empire, flavius

Scorpus is starting to make
his name as a chariot racer.

As his reputation gradually
rises, another roman at the

Other end of the
social hierarchy

Is enjoying the high life.

Emperor domitian is the source
of lurid rumors about his

Love life and is busy lavishing
money on rebuilding rome.

At the heart of his
city is the massive

Circus maximus, every
chariot racers dream.

Robert hurford is rebuilding
the chariot of scorpus,

The man who would become
domitian's racing superstar.

Robert is entering
the final stages,

Reconstructing a machine
that can be track tested.

The toy chariot robert
examined in the british

Museum seemed to show rims
on the chariot wheels.

Hurford: In the early iron age,
the invention of a band

Of metal, iron, shrinking
around the wheel

To keep all the joints tight
was a big breakthrough.

Narrator: Roberts
calculations have allowed

A quarter of an inch of
shrinkage once he attaches

The iron tire, too much and
it could come off at high

Speed, too little and the
wheel will be squeezed apart.

Hurford: We've measured the
metal tire, so it's slightly

Smaller than the wheel,
and we put the tire

In the fire to expand
the metal in the heat.

Then we place that tire around
our wheel and cool it down

Quickly and it has compressed
the wheel as it shrinks.

The chariot's going to be
whizzing along on tight bends

So there are forces on the
wheel from all sorts of

Angles and we've squeezed the
joints together with metal.

Narrator: With the
wheel complete robert can

Now turn his attention
to how the chariot will

Support and protect its driver.

Hurford: This is half
a cow's hide.

This point if you
dry it, it becomes hard

And then shrinks quite a
bit and those two properties

Are what make it useful
for us at this stage

Narrator: With a leather
hide wrapped around the frame

For some driver protection all
that's left are the wheels.

The chariot's complete, ready
for mike loades to drive.

But with such a lightweight
design and a floor made

Of just woven leather
strands, how could scorpus

Have survived in
such a tiny vehicle

And gone on to win
over 2,000 races?

Loades: This is the sports car
I've always dreamed of.

This is a sleek racing machine.

I want to get in it.

And suddenly now
inhabiting the space

It's already starting
to tell me things.

Up here without any protection,
that's really roman.

When I saw it schematically,
I thought oh well

You've got to be in and
I'll rest against this

Front rail, that's all
wasted space behind.

Nobody wastes anything
on a design like this.

When I think of the
mosaics and the art

And actually you tend
to see them back here,

Look at where the axle
is beneath my feet.

If I'm back here then I'm
going to be lifting that weight

Off the horses necks almost
like letting the break off.

So we've got this wonderful
chariot and now we've put the

Engine in and as you can see
it's a big powerful engine.

Narrator: Mike has
decided to make the test

As authentic as possible
so along with his

Genuine chariot, he's
using a roman harnessing

System too, it's completely
different from a modern one.

Loades: The way a regular
horse and carriage works

Is you've either got the
horse between two wooden

Shafts that come down here
either side of the horse,

Or you've got a horse collar
or breast harness which

Attach to the chariot with
a strap called a trace,

The trouble is, the roman's
early chariot cultures did not

Have these straps, the real
challenge of driving with this

Yolk and pole system is to
keep your horses parallel.

Narrator: With the
components assembled all that

Remains now is to put this
racing machine to the test.

Loades: It's a bit like
getting into a new car.

Always exciting
going to see how it's

Going to perform,
lets give it a go.

Alright lads, walk on.

Here we go, good lads, trot
on, trot, trot trot, good lads.

Even at the walk
I can feel shock

Waves going through my knees.

Those little wheels
give me a low center

Of gravity but I feel
secure by putting my

Feet out the sides
there, I'm wedged in.

And we're going round the bend
now and you can really feel

Those forces, I'm having to
lean into that and the horses

Are staying together round
the bend, this is terrific.

Woah, good lads.

Well that was thrilling I
mean to drive two magnificent

Horses like that at speed
without traces and I can't tell

You how significant that
without traces is, they've been

Trained, they stayed together,
they stayed parallel.

I found it great standing at
the back of the chariot here.

Just behind the axle there,
so I'm lifting the weight

Of their backs and letting
them use their power

And go on and I found that
my feet were pushing into

The sides of the rail as
it comes down to the floor

And that actually gave me
a good bit of stability,

And I also found myself
really leaning back on them,

Just like we see in
some of the mosaics.

When you build it as it
was built, and use it

As it was used, it starts to
tell you things and it starts

To confirm all the clues
that you can see in the art.

Narrator: By his late
teens scorpus was making

A name for himself racing
two horse chariots.

But to make the leap to
stardom, he would have

To master four horse
racing, and risk his life

On the greatest stage
of the ancient world.

Flavius scorpus had
grown up a slave,

But now he was
learning his trade in

The most dangerous races
in the roman world.

Thousands of slaves
tried to make it

And hundreds died
in the process.

Thrown from their machines,
tangled in their reins,

Trampled by horses,

Killed in the pile ups that
romans called shipwrecks.

But an ambitious
slave like scorpus

Had to do more than survive.

He needed to win, and to
do it with four horses.

Loades: Romans certainly had
two horse chariot races,

But they were junior league.

The real grand prix was
the four horse race.

This is still the engine
they're being pulled by the yoke

Because the outside horses
are only being attached at the

Head, they are not pulling
the chariot at all and that is

Going to make the driving of
them very, very challenging.

So many bits of leather.

I have driven four
horses before, but that's

When they're two in front
of the other in sort

Of very polite single
file for carriage driving.

This is a completely
different sensation.

Those outside horses,
there is no attachment to

The chariot at all so
trying to keep them all

Straight is really challenging,
especially on the bends.

Narrator: The question
mike wants to answer

Is why the romans went to
the expense and difficulty

Of racing four
horses, was it faster,

More spectacular or
just more challenging?

Loades: Whoa, easy now, whoa.

Wow, that was quite the
experience, I have never done

Anything with horses
quite like that before.

There are so many bits
of leather, you have

To keep this one short so
he's turning round like

That and let this one
out so he's going round

The outside, and make sure
you're not ignoring the middle

Two who are the engine
doing all the pulling.

So many things.

My little brain talking
to those four brains

And negotiating the track it's
really, really challenging.

Narrator: Controlling
four horses instead

Of two is without doubt
much harder but it's also

Clear that the two outside
horses provide no direct

Pulling power, so
why were they added?

To answer that question,
mike's going to reconstruct

The path scorpius took
from two to four horses,

Starting with a speed trial.

Loades: When we think of the
roman circus it conjures

Up images of a circus
ring and chariots just

Going round and round in
a circles, but of course

The romans wouldn't have
anything quite so dull.

What they did was they put a
barrier up the center, it was

Called a spina so a spine, right
up the center of the track.

So what you had, you had
broad straights where

A mass of chariots would
come hurtling down.

Then they would come to
this sharp, hairpin bend,

They had to swing
and slew round here.

This is where most of the
accidents would happen,

This is where men and horses
were injured and killed,

This was the danger zone
and then they come out

Of here and made a mad
dash up to the other end.

It was the spina that
gave the roman circus

Its theater, its spectacle,
and it's jeopardy.

So, the big question is why
four horses and not two.

The only way to find out
is to do a time trial,

So here comes the
two horse chariot.

And I'm going to give him a, go!

Narrator: 21st century
charioteer ben tries

To get around two laps
as fast as he can.

Loades: They are a sprightly
pair aren't they,

Look at that corner.

Terrific how he can
get around the corner

With two horses, I wonder
if four can do that.

Really tight round
the hairpin bend,

That was just under 20
seconds at the first turn

And here he goes around
the top corner again,

Hurtling around there, they
come charging down that

Back straight, here they
come, here they come,

And it's 35 seconds and a
nudge, that's pretty quick,

That's going to be something
for a four horse chariot

To match that but let's see.

Go!

Narrator: Now
there are four beasts

And 16 plunging
hooves to control.

Loades: He's really
pushing them on.

He has to slow for the corner
to bring those four horses

Around the corner, coming down
the straight, watch, he belts

Down the straight but he'll
have to collect them here.

Yeah slowing, slowing.

21 seconds on the first round.

Looks fast but he's
slowed them, 26.

That was 42 seconds and it's
telling us this is not only

No faster, it's a
tiny bit slower than

The two horse chariot.

Narrator: So the time
trial is fairly conclusive,

Two horses are faster than four.

So perhaps pure speed was not
what the fans craved most.

Loades: The question remains,
why four horses,

It's not as fast as two.

It's certainly no
faster than two.

It's harder to drive,
so why did they do four?

Well I think that
it's about spectacle.

Narrator: Evidence like
this freize on a roman

Sarcophagus shows that the
racetrack was a crowded place,

With frequent crashes that
the romans called shipwrecks,

Often caused as chariots
piled into each other.

Loades: It becomes an obstacle
course, because everywhere

Are dotted these shipwrecks
as they call them.

These crashes and you
have to negotiate and get

Around them, you have
to race towards them

And if you've got four horses
you're commanding more ground.

The circus maximus was a
theater, it was sporting

Entertainment and it
delivered a spectacle

In three ways, majesty,
supremacy, and jeopardy.

Narrator: Scorpus'
growing talent with four

Horse racing would have taken
him across the roman world.

The teams, or
factions, would show up

At regional race tracks
like this, caesarea

In the roman province of
judaea in modern day israel.

It's a magnificent
circuit, a slightly scaled

Down version of
rome's circus maximus.

It was at places like this that

Scorpus won his racing stripes.

We know that he spent much or
all of his career racing for

The green faction, drivers
were decked out in the bright

Colors of their factions,
green, white, red and blue.

♪

Toner: The races would have
been hugely competitive.

Very violent, lots of
jostling for position

And the charioteers
would often cheat.

♪

All of which was trying
to make the opponents

Lose control of their
horses and of getting

Themselves into a better
tactical position.

Narrator: Over and over
again, race after race,

Scorpus will test his mettle,
risk his life, and win.

But he's still a slave.

He already knows that
the life of the average

Charioteer is short
and frequently deadly.

Scorpus must have
already seen many

Of his friends and rivals
killed on the track,

A brief cremation and
then racing resumed.

To realize his ambitions
scorpus now has only one option.

He must travel to rome and get
ready to race on the greatest

Stage in the entire empire,
the mighty circus maximus.

In the next episode, scorpus
gets a chance to pit himself

Against the best charioteers
from across the empire.

But to succeed he
must win the support

Of the emperor domitian
who controls the races,

He must out muscle vicious
competition on the track,

Become the hero of over
150,000 screaming fans,

And defy an entire
industry built

On superstition and dark magic.

All in the greatest sporting
arena the world has ever seen.