Man has always loved to be entertained. From the very beginning of civilization there have been jugglers, acrobats, animal trainers and clowns to entertain people. In ancient Greece there were chariot races, in China there were contortionists, and in Egypt there were trainers of wild animals.

But it was the Romans who first had the idea of combining such acts and other events into a circus. Actually, the word “circus” comes from the Latin pertaining to races rather than to a type of show. So the circus started with races, and the structures built by the Romans for these races were called circuses. The Circus Maximus was the first and largest of these. It was started in the third century B.C. and was enlarged until it could seat more than 150,000 people!

When the Romans came to these circuses, it was much like arriving at a modern circus or fair grounds. There were vendors of pastry, wine (like our soft drink sellers), and various other merchandise. Admission was free, because the government used these circuses as a way of keeping the masses content.

Meanwhile, in Rome there were all sorts of other entertainment going on which eventually became part of what we call the circus. Some theaters had jugglers, acrobats, rope-walkers and animal trainers. Some of them even had boxing bears! And at the race courses, they had people performing such tricks as riding two horses at once, riders jumping from one running horse to another, and riders jumping their teams over chariots, all of which we have in the modern circus.

During the Middle Ages there was no organized circus as such, but troupes of performers would wander about doing various acts. The first circus, as we know it today, was organized by an Englishman, Philip Astley, in 1768. He set up a building in London with a number of seats and a ring. He did trick riding on horses and had acrobats, clowns, and rope-walkers. After him, a great many other people had the same idea, and the circus became a popular entertainment all over the world.