Hippodrome

[Gr. hippus, a horse, and dromos, a race-course.] ( Arch.) A place appropriated by the Greeks to the equestrian exercises, and in which prizes were contended for during the celebration of some of the Olympic games. (See GAMES.) The most remarkable of all the Grecian H. was certainly that built at Olympia, which is stated by Pausanias to have been four leagues long and one in breadth. The one at Constantinople still remains, and may well create a feeling of astonishment in the minds of travellers, as it usually does. This latter was built in imitation of the grand circus at Rome, and was adorned with statues, both of marble and bronze; among the most important of which, it may be stated, were the fine bronze horses of Lysippus, po e ed by Venice, which formerly ornamented the H. of Constantinople. The word itself is still in use, and is, even now, applied to circuses and other buildings set apart for equestrian purposes.