Chariot Racing

Chariot racing was hugely popular in the Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Iranian worlds. This was in no small part due to the severe injuries and deaths that came from the frequent accidents. Now, each of these societies have some elements I suspect the Easterlings to use. The Greek racing had the generals and wealthy use their slaves to run their own chariots for their own personal gain. The Romans made them much more into blood sport which seems to fit with the Easterlings. Rome’s coordination between drivers and promotion of skilled drivers would also be in line with what I expect from the Easterlings. Here, I would see the races as practice for war – in which case the ability to coordinate in the middle of the race could be transferred to the battlefield and beneficial. Most important is the value of promoting skilled people who might perform well in cavalry roles. The Byzantines would probably lend the political and religious elements. The leaders of the Easterling society and winning racers would be promoted as divine beings blessed by and worthy of serving Sauron. Meanwhile, the racing teams influence over military and political issues would likely be continued from the Byzantines as well. After all, I suspect that the races would have an official military and religious role. The riots and violence would also probably be part of race culture for the Easterlings. Perhaps some form of regulations would be put into place to formalize and channel the behavior. The use of the clubs to channel popular support would also be likely.
Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War, 6.16.2.
Kyle 2007, p. 172.
Camp 1998, p. 40.
Waldrop 2010.
Theophanes & Turtledove 1982, p. 79.
Humphrey 1986, p. 441.
Evans 2005, p. 16.

Execution

In Greece, the drivers would also jump out of the chariot, run beside it for a short period then jump back in. This was not the only dangerous action – taking the turns often led to overturning chariots that left the drivers exposed to the oncoming racers.
Rome’s main innovation in chariot races were the scale and the bloodshed. They built much bigger race tracks and intentionally causing crashes appear to be legal and even encouraged. Also, the Romans tied the reins to their waist. This caused many to be dragged to their deaths when the crashes occurred. They did shorten the races to 7 then 5 laps to allow for up to 24 races a day for a total of 66 days out of the year. Yeah, the Romans appear to really like them some chariot races.

Components and tools

Now for the practical elements of how the races took place. The Greeks used 12 lap races around an oval track with a dividing barrier down the middle.

Participants

The Roman chariot teams were supported by groups of financial backers who also would compete for the best drivers. Owners in Greek races could have several chariots in the same race.
By the time the Byzantines were the dominant power in the Classical World, they became symbols of the emperor’s power. Races were held to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday, for example. In this, they came to reinforce and show off political and social power. Victorious charioteers were connected through symbolism and pageantry to the Church and the Emperor. Often, these races were the only times the Emperor was seen in large public gatherings. In fact, the Emperor would actually publicly support one team over others. The government also funded the racing teams.
The drivers in Ancient Greece were sometimes family members of the owners, but normally slaves or hired professionals. For them, the races were a means to demonstrate wealth and gain public fame and exposure. Of importance for us is that at least one Athenian general owned seven chariots in one race and Philip of Macedon owned some as well.
In Rome, four horse chariots were the main versions, mainly driven by professionals. Then, three chariots would race from each of 4 teams. These teams would work together to make sure other teams were shut out. Other Roman developments include armor to help protect the drivers and knives to help get free of the reins in a crash. Also important for our purposes is that these professional drivers were slaves who were paid winnings directly. This meant that these drivers could not just buy their freedom but become stars and rich in their own right. Gaius Appuleius Diocles became the highest paid sports star in history after winning the equivalent of $15 billion over 24 years.
Spectators would remain loyal to specific teams and violence would break out between supporters of the different teams. These rival groups of fans would often become associated with social and religious ideas, adding a dangerous level of underlying social tensions to these clashes around races. In fact, emperors would actually appoint team managers in an attempt to control this. Betting was popular amongst spectators in the Roman Empire.
Like the Romans, team loyalty was developed and betting was common in Byzantine spectators. The Byzantine spectators appear to be much more prone to the sort of violence akin to modern day football hooliganism – even rioting after races. The normal fighting has been compared to gang violence. But in exceptional cases, the two main rivals actually united in a failed attempt to overthrow the Emperor. They later helped some emperors kill prisoners and monks. However, in this later period, they became much less violent on average and were almost purely ceremonial.

Observance

Now, these races appear to be much more traditional mass entertainment. So regular events would be likely. On religious holidays, it would not surprise me to see some form of championship or tournament occur.