Chariot teams This became so common that curse tablets were made to spook the opposing teams. But not everyone was such a fan. Like the gladiators, chariot races were popular sports for the Roman masses, not the social elites, who disliked the mob behavior of the fans and found the sport unremarkable and childish.

The race was made up of seven laps (8.4 kilometres) and usually lasted about fifteen minutes. Each lap was marked by the lowering of an egg from a platform. Each faction would provide one, two or three chariots for every race.

In addition to entertainment for the masses, chariot races took place in the Byzantine and Roman empire for social status and political reasons, often used as a proxy for skirmishes.

Spectators gathered to watch as horse teams pulled drivers in two-wheeled carts around a track with hairpin turns at each end. Chariot races were held in a specially built arena, or hippodrome, with posts marking the turning points. As many as 10 chariots raced at a time, each pulled by two- or four-horse teams.

The two-wheeled horse-drawn chariot was one of the most important inventions in history. It gave humanity its first concept of personal transport, and for two thousand years it was the key technology of war – for most of humanity’s recorded history, the number of chariots signified the strength of an army.

According to John Peter Oleson, both the compartmented wheel and the hydraulic noria may have been invented in Egypt by the 4th century BC, with the Sakia being invented there a century later.

Early men used the wheel to move heavy objects, as a means of transport & for pottery. People even today make great use of this invention. The invention of the wheel brought about new ways of doing things. This made work easier and inspired even more new ideas for inventions.