

The dramatic scene of the chariot race was shot at Cinecittá Studios, in Rome, on an arena track that covered 18 acres, the largest single set in motion picture history at the time. Ben Hur and his splendid white horses emerge victorious. But in the end, Mesala’s chariot is wrecked, and he is dragged behind his horses and trampled on by another chariot. Mesala manages to tear several opponents apart, until he is left in a dramatic one-on-one with Ben Hur. The next time they see each other is in the arena during the chariot race. It was competition season at the Colisseum, so Ilderim invites Ben Hur to compete in the chariot races with his white horses, and take on Mesala’s unbeaten black horses.īut before the race, Ben Hur and Mesala have a rough encounter. After recovering his freedom, Ben Hur becomes a Prince, and meets Sheikh Ilderim, the proud owner of a string of splendid white horses. Following an unfortunate incident, the ambitious Mesala sends Ben Hur into exile, forcing him to become one of the galley slaves in a Roman galley flagship. Horses also play a great role during the film’s first half, particularly in one of the most memorable scenes in motion picture history: the chariot race at the Coliseum.īen Hur and Mesala used to be childhood friends, but they ended up as enemies.

In the first half, Heston’s counterpart was Stephen Boyd, who played the role of the Roman Tribune, Mesala.
CHARIOT RACES FACTS MOVIE
With a running time of over three hours, cinemas were obliged to split the movie in two. The movie, which is considered a cultural treasure today, was awarded eleven Oscars. One of the key films of this genre was “ Ben Hur” (1959), starring Charlton Heston, as the lead, Judah Ben Hur. It is a well known fact that horses were vital, both as transport and on the battlefield, for the Roman Empire, so the role horses played in these movies was extremely important. The world's highest paid athlete of all time is Gais Appuleius Diocles, a chariot racer of the Roman Empire with a modern day equivalent of a wealth of approx $15 Billion.In the 50s, there was a boom of historical and epic movies, most of them set during the early years of Christianity and the Roman Empire, and they featured some of the biggest movie stars of the time. He was reported to have offered vast sums of money to any physician who could equip him with female genitalia.At the age of 18 he was assassinated by the royal gaurd and replaced with his cousin. The Roman emperor Elagabalus married a chariot racer and tried to have him declared Caesar. Second is Michael Jordan with $1.85 billion in earnings. This means he would be the best paid athlete of all time. Gaius Appuleius Diocles, a Roman Chariot racer, is said to have earned 35,863,120 sesterces, by some estimation over $15 billion in 2011 dollars. Gaius Appuleius Diocles, a Roman Chariot racer would be the top paid athelete of all time in 2011 dollars what did chariot racers wear?Ī Roman husband was allowed to kill his wife's lover if the adulterer was in a group not entitled to legal protection (slaves, actors, prostitutes, chariot racers, and many others) Here are 8 of the best facts about Chariot Racer Gaius and Chariot Racers In Ancient Rome I managed to collect. In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what did chariot racers win. There was an ancient Greek man named Gaius Appuleius Diocles whom was a famous chariot racer whose winning, adjusted for inflation, total $15,000,000,000 making him the highest paid athlete ever. Fan loyalties were so strong, and the sport so brutal, that spectators were encouraged to sabotage the opposing teams by throwing lead amulets studded with nails at the racers. In Roman chariot racing, there were four teams named after the colours they wore – the Reds, Whites, Blues and Greens. While investigating facts about Chariot Racer Richest and Chariot Racer Highest Paid Athlete, I found out little known, but curios details like:
