We had the good fortune to arrive just in time for the gladiator show and chariot race, which I must confess I have been anticipating for months. There were a bunch of guys in Roman army uniforms chilling out at the ticket table and they were happy to take pictures with audience members. The show was created by a bunch of Roman history enthusiasts (including one of the consultants for Gladiator) who wanted to geek out, and I got the impression that the performers were pleased to have such a fun job.
The show began with Roman army drills, followed by a hilarious set of mock gladiator battles. It was clear that nobody was actually out for blood, but it was still pretty hilarious. The audience got to choose whether the losers lived or died, and while we were by and large merciful, we did demand that one guy receive a killing blow—and we were surprised when there was a sudden spray of fake blood! The sand was drizzled with red, and the gladiator fell down with a bright stain on his tunic. He was unceremoniously hauled away by two of his compatriots.
After the gladiators came the charioteers, the guys I was really waiting for. Chariot racing was the premier sport of ancient Rome, and everyone had a favorite team. There were four main colors, red, white, blue, and green, but the blues and greens were the wildest. They were frequently responsible for rioting in the streets and identified themselves with special hair and clothing styles. Unfortunately, the representative of the green team was pretty lame, but blue and red were a ton of fun to watch. There wasn't a real "race" because chariot racing is possibly the most dangerous sport possible—charioteers were known to strap themselves into their vehicles, which meant that they might be dragged to death in case of an accident. They were also heavily associated with magic, partially because you had to have a little something special to survive a sport that dangerous, and partially because circus enthusiasts were in the habit of burying curse tablets beneath the floor of the hippodrome to ensure victory for their chosen teams. Here is a delightful example from John Gager's Curse Tablets and Binding Spells:
…Bind the horses whose names and images I have entrusted to you on this implement . . . bind their power, their soul, their onrush, their speed. Take away their victory, entangle their feet, hinder them, hobble them, so that tomorrow morning in the hippodrome they are not able to run or walk about, or to win, or go out of the starting gates, or advance either on the racecourse, or circle around the turning point; but may they fall with their drivers . . . bind their hands, take away their victory, their exit, their sight, so that they are unable to see their rival charioteers, but rather snatch them up from their chariots and twist them to the ground so that they alone fall, dragged along all over the hippodrome, especially at the turning points, with damage to their body, with the horses whom they drive. Now, quickly!
Aaah, such sweet sentiments. Audollent's Defixionum Tabellae even contains a curse written by a charioteer as though he were casting a love spell on Lady Victory, which is pretty awesome:
Cause Victory, that bitch, not to see sleep out of love for me until she comes to me. . . may Desecus Ballincus of the Lollii, having fallen from his chariot, be unable to get ahead of me, and you, whatever demon you are, I beg you to make [Victory] come to me out of love and desire for me.
Anyway, now that I've bored you to death (I'd apologize but I wouldn't mean it), I can tell you that the show was a blast. If you are ever in Jerash, I highly recommend it! Just seeing an intact hippodrome was amazing, but the show made it extra fun. Afterwards, they even let us play around with some of the equipment for photos. Dan looks rather intimidating, don't you think?
The ruins themselves are wildly impressive. Jerash features multiple churches, two theaters, temples to Artemis and Zeus, and the ruins of a Roman bathhouse. Even though it was viciously hot today, I had a great time just being in a real Roman city. The amount of stuff just sitting out there is staggering. I have to say that I wish the Nymphaeum, a gorgeous public fountain, had still been in working order. A little running water would have been so refreshing!
When we got back to Amman, Dan and I went to a delicious schawarma place near Rainbow Street, which is in the fancy part of town. Until today I had only seen downtown Amman, which is stuffed with shops selling wrestling t-shirts, soccer jerseys, keffiyehs, bootleg DVDs, and traditional embroidered dresses. The women rarely wear pants downtown—long dresses and relatively plain headscarves are all the rage. Uptown, there are western-influenced coffee houses and flocks of giggling girls wearing designer head coverings, families out together licking ice cream cones, schools and libraries. It's a totally different scene. Nowhere in town do you see huge numbers of keffiyehs that aren't being sold as souvenirs. Apparently they do not represent the "international" image that Amman residents generally prefer to cultivate. Men wearing very tight clothes are ubiquitous, but by now that's no surprise.
My favorite food here has definitely come from Hashem, a downtown place that only sells three things: foul, falafel, hummus. But they do it so, so well.
Dan has also introduced me to an absolutely incredible dessert food called kunaifa, which consists of cheese topped with some kind of pastry and drizzled with honey. It comes to you hot, melty, and delicious. Try it if you can.
It would be fun to spend more time exploring Amman, but tomorrow Dan and I are going to catch a ride to Damascus. Syria, here we come!
2 comments:
sounds exactly like uchicago chariot races! although red/white/blue/green isn't nearly as cool as the lincoln chariot or the...whatever else we did.
and by exactly like the uchicago race, i mean possibly the most dangerous thing we did, ever.
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