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Team sports
One of the most common team sports was the torch race, a religious ceremony in which a torch was carried from one altar to another in a relay race. Boat-races, in which each boat was operated by a team of rowers, were an event at the Panathenaia and the Actian games. At some games, such as the Panathenaia and gymnasion-games, there were also special events with a military character, some of which were also team events.
Roman sports were generally less focused on 'being the best'. Therefore, team events are more common in the Roman world. In the chariot races, each of the racing stables (or 'circus factions') had its own colour and supporters, cheering more for the team than for the individual charioteer. At the gladiator fights or the wild animal hunts there were no factions, but also here is was not uncommon that several men fought together to beat another group of gladiators or, more frequently, some wild animals. |