Dissertation help

V

velcro

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Hi

I'm doing a dissertation on chariot racing in Rome and I was wondering if anyone here would be able to help me with it.

I need to find out how much land would be needed to feed around 700 race horses. They were fed on a mixture of beans, grain and hay. They would have been raced only about 15 days a year, living in stables within Rome during this time and being kept on large ranches in training when not in Rome.

The horses were aged 5-20 and were around 14 hands
The yield from an average field would be about half that of a modern field.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Rachel
 
They also found remains of Chariot Racing in Colchester as well - if that's to any use for you?
Click to expand...

Are you referring to Great Leighs?


Welcome to the forum, Rachel. I'm sure someone here will be able to help.
 
Grey said:
Are you referring to Great Leighs?
Click to expand...

Archaeologists believe that they may have unearthed the world's biggest Roman chariot-racing track outside Italy.

Excavations of part of the garrison in Colchester, Essex, Britain's oldest recorded town, have revealed traces of a track that are being examined by English Heritage. The garrison is the home of the 16 Air Assault Brigade and is the longest-established garrison in the country.


A massive investment programme to rebuild most of the garrison under the Private Finance Initiative has begun to support the Brigade and other units. It is that preliminary work that has opened the way for experts from Colchester Archaeological Trust to unearth its Roman origins.

A spokesman for Taylor Woodrow, the house-builder, said: "At the moment there are a couple of areas where we are not 100 per cent sure what we have found and we have sent reports to English Heritage."

Up to 2,500 homes are being built on the 209-acre redevelopment site. Colchester, which was first mentioned by Pliny the Elder in AD77, was sacked by Boadicea and her Celtic army, which was renowned for its war chariots.
Queen of the Iceni, she led the ultimately ill-fated rebellion against the Roman authorities as a result of their mistreatment of her family and people after the death of her husband, Prasutagus, who may have been a Roman client- ruler, in AD60.

Major Ian Marlow, Army chief of staff, said: "There is not a huge amount left, but the archaeological chaps have drawn up a rough plan of what it would have looked like. It is quite a find and there have been discussions with the council about how we go forward."

English Heritage confirmed that it is investigating the find. If confirmed as a sizeable chariot-race track, the site will be of international importance. A spokeswoman said: "An inspector has visited the site and we are awaiting her report."

Philip Wise, of Colchester Museums Service, said that if the find was verified, it could stop the housing development plans. He added: "I would hope we would be able to work something out with the developers so it could still go ahead."


Source: Michael Horsnell, The Times (2005)
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I would say that a modern horse would require approx. 1.5 acres per 14 hand horse. Obviously it would depend on the quality and the management of the pasture so you may need to factor that in, but I'd guess if they were used for racing then they would have given them the best available.
 
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