ry, the Circus Florae and the Circus Sallustii.

Circus races were held in connexion with the following public festivals,
and generally on the last day of the festival, if it extended over more
than one day:--(1) The _Consualia_, August 21st, December 15th; (2)
_Equirria_, February 27th, March 14th; (3) _Ludi Romani_, September
4th-19th; (4) _Ludi Plebeii_, November 4th-17th; (5) _Cerialia_, April
12th-19th; (6) _Ludi Apollinares_, July 6th-13th; (7) _Ludi Megalenses_,
April 4th-10th; (8) _Floralia_, April 28th-May 3rd.

In addition to Smith's _Dictionary of Antiquities_ (3rd ed., 1890),
see articles in Daremberg and Saglio's _Dictionnaire des antiquites_,
Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopaedie der classischen
Altertumswissenschaft_, iii. 2 (1899), and Marquardt, _Roemische
Staatsverwaltung_, iii. (2nd ed., 1885), p. 504. For existing remains
see works quoted under ROME: _Archaeology_.

2. _The Modern Circus._--The "circus" in modern times is a form of
popular entertainment which has little in common with the institution of
classical Rome. It is frequently nomadic in character, the place of the
permanent building known to the ancients as the circus being taken by a
tent, which is carried from place to place and set up temporarily on any
site procurable at country fairs or in provincial towns, and in which
spectacular performances are given by a troupe employed by the
proprietor. The centre of the tent forms an arena arranged as a
horse-ring, strewn with tan or other soft substance, where the
performances take place, the seats of the spectators being arranged in
ascending tiers around the central space as in the Roman circus. The
traditional type of exhibition in the modern travelling circus consists
of feats of horsemanship, such as leaping through hoops from the back of
a galloping horse, standing with one foot on each of two horses
galloping side by side, turning somersaults from a springboard over a
number of horses standing close together, or accomplishing acrobatic
tricks on horseback. These performances, by male and female riders, are
varied by the introduction of horses trained to perform tricks, and by
drolleries on the part of the clown, whose place in the circus is as
firmly established by tradition as in the pantomime.

The popularity of the circus in England may be traced to that kept by
Philip Astley (d. 1814) in London at the end of the 18th century. Astley
was followed by Ducrow, whose feats of