ANCIENT ROME: The Roman chariot

How fast was a Roman chariot? 
These horse-drawn carriages were used by the Romans for war and racing over 2,000 years ago. Racing chariots were super fast!

Experts have guessed that these racing carriages would speed around a Roman stadium at up to 50 kilometres per hour. That’s the speed that modern cars travel around town at! They were able to work this out because they know how fast horses are, how heavy the chariots were and how long the racetracks were.

The chariots soldiers used were strong and heavy. Racing chariots were built from wood and woven sticks, so they were much lighter and faster. Charioteers had to be skilled drivers, as the tracks were sandy and had tight corners. This meant that deadly crashes between contestants could happen easily.

Bigae
The Roman name for chariot pulled by two horses. Quadrigae had four horses

The riders were protected by leather helmets and shin pads. They wore coloured team tunics and held a whip and a knife.

Horses were bred especially for the races. There were two-horse chariots, like this one, and four-horse chariots, which were even faster!

Chariots were made as lightweight and agile as possible to help cornering and speed. They were built out of wood.