A dictionary of Greek and Roman . ient reliefs, and is more clearly illustrated inthe annexed woodcut, copied from a fragment for-merly belonging to the Villa Negroni, which alsoaffords a specimen of the dress of an auriga. Thetorso only remains of this statue ; but the head issupplied from another antique, representing anauriga, in the Villa Albani. When all was ready, the doors of the carcereswere flung open, and the chariots were formedabreast of the alba linea by men called moratoresfrom their duty ; the signal for the start was thengiven by the person who presided at the gam
A dictionary of Greek and Roman . ient reliefs, and is more clearly illustrated inthe annexed woodcut, copied from a fragment for-merly belonging to the Villa Negroni, which alsoaffords a specimen of the dress of an auriga. Thetorso only remains of this statue ; but the head issupplied from another antique, representing anauriga, in the Villa Albani. When all was ready, the doors of the carcereswere flung open, and the chariots were formedabreast of the alba linea by men called moratoresfrom their duty ; the signal for the start was thengiven by the person who presided at the games,sometimes by sound of trumpet (Ovid. Met. ; Sidon. Carm. xxiii. 341), or more usually byletting fall a napkin (mappa, Suet. Nero, 22 ;Mart. Ep. xii. 29. 9), whence the Circensian gamesare called spectacula mappae. (Juv. Sat. xi. 191.)The origin of this custom is founded on a storythat Nero, while at dinner, hearing the shouts ofthe people who were clamorous for the course tobegin, threw down his napkin as the signal, (Cas- CIRCUS. 237. siodor. Var. Ep. iii. 51.) The alba linea wasthen cast off, and the race commenced, the extentof which was seven times round the spina (Var o,ap. Gell. iii. 10), keeping it alwavs on the left.(Ovid. Amor. iii. 2. 72 ; SiL Ital. xvi. 362.) Acourse of seven circuits was termed unus missus,and twenty-five was the number of races ran ineach day, the last of which was called missus aera-rius, because in early times the expense of it wasdefrayed by a collection of money (aes) madeamongst the people. (Serv. ad Virg. Georg. ; compare Dion Cass. lix. p. 908.) Upon oneoccasion Domitian reduced the number of circuitsfrom seven to five, in order to exhibit 100 missusin one day. (Suet. Dom. 4.) The victor descendedfrom his car at the conclusion of the race, andascended the spiiia, where he received his re-ward (bravium, from the Greek fipaSzlov, Corinth, ix. 24), which consisted in a considerablesum of money (Juv. Sat. vii. 113, 114, 24
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