History of the Circus

The First Circuses

The term 'circus' comes from the Greek word 'kirkos', which means 'circle' or 'ring', and which refers to the shape of the theatre or arena in which the show takes place. The first circus spectacles took place in Ancient Rome, although they were very different from the circus entertainment we know today, perhaps being more akin to blood sport than entertainment. The first circuses featured animal slaughter, mock battles, chariot races and gladiator style feats.

The first circus in Rome was situated in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills, and was known as Circus Maximus. Other important Roman circuses included the Circus Neronis, the Circus Flaminius and the Circus of Maxentius. The Roman circus consisted of tiers of seats that ran parallel with the sides of the course, and formed a crescent-shape around one of the ends. It was the only public spectacle at which men and women were not separated; the lower seats were reserved for persons of rank, and there were also various state boxes.

Following the fall of Rome, itinerant showmen travelled the fair grounds of Europe, and animal trainers and performers appeared at local fairs.

Throughout the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, fools or jesters played a significant role in the social culture of Medieval Europe; as they were able to poke fun at and satirise social customs and more, they often acted as catalysts for social change. Although some clowns entertained at court, the vast majority were street performers proficient at an assortment of skills, such as contortion, tightrope walking, magic, juggling, handling trained animals, story telling, acrobatics, puppetry, witty dialogue and ballad singing. It was during this period that the colourful costumes associated with today's clowns had their roots. Jesters adopted a uniform of brightly coloured coats (often saffron and green), two-coloured hose and a hooded cap that was crowned by bells that rang whenever the wearer moved.

The Beginnings of the Modern-Day Circus

Although many of the elements that form part of a circus performance (for example, juggling, tumbling, rope-dancing) can trace their roots back to Ancient Rome, the modern circus was in actual fact formulated in England by Philip Astley (1742-1814), the son of a cabinetmaker.

After his discharge from the Fifteenth Light Dragoon Regiment (where he was an outstanding horse trainer and took part in the Seven Years' War), Astley decided to imitate and improve the art of trick-riding that had been popular during his time in Europe. He settled in London and opened a riding-school near Westminster Bridge in 1768, where in the morning he taught riding and in the afternoon performed feats of horsemanship. The school had a circular arena that Astley named his circus or circle, which would later be known as the ring. The ring was devised so that the audience could keep the riders in full sight during their performance, and also helped the riders keep their balance when on the back of a galloping horse (by using centrifugal force). The ring was initially 62 feet in diameter; this was later reduced to 42 feet, and is now the international standard for all circus rings. Astley soon brought other acts into his performances, including rope-dancers, acrobats, jugglers and clowns, and has since been known as the founder of the modern circus.

Circuses in the 18th and 19th Century

In the late 1700's, circuses began to appear in other countries; the first circus building in the US opened in Philadelphia in 1793, and during the first two decades of the 19th century, the Circus of Pepin and Breschard toured from Montreal to Havana, building circus theatres in a number of the cities they travelled to. The American circus was revolutionised by PT Barnum and William Cameron Coup, who launched PT Barnum's Museum, Menagerie & Circus, a travelling combination of human and animal oddities. Coup was also the first circus entrepreneur to use circus trains to transport the circus from town to town, and brought in the first multiple ringed circuses. Following Barnum's death, his circus merged with that of James Anthony Bailey, and travelled to Europe as "The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show On Earth" where it toured from 1897 to 1902. Its combination of circus acts, zoological exhibition and freak show, and its large scale tents impressed other circus owners, and this format was adopted by European circuses by the turn of the 20th century.

Circuses in the 20th Century

The influence of the American circus gave rise to a significant change in the character of the modern circus. The old-fashioned equestrian feats were replaced by more challenging acrobatic performances, and the traditional comical dialogue of the clown acquired a less important place than before. In addition, exhibitions of skill, strength and daring increased, requiring the use of huge numbers of performers and often of costly and complex machinery.

In the USSR, Lenin declared a wish in 1919 for the circus to be given status and facilities on a par with theatre, ballet and opera, to become 'the people's art-form'. The Moscow Circus School (formally the State University of Circus and Variety Arts) was founded in 1927 to train performers using methods developed from the Soviet gymnastics programme.

In Europe, the popularity of the travelling circus and menagerie reached its apex between World War I and II, particularly in Germany where tented shows put on by Sarrasani, Krone, and Hagenbeck dominated the circus market. In the larger cities, tented circus shows were fairly  rare as circus performances were still presented in permanent buildings; for example, at the peak of its popularity, Paris actually had four permanent circuses.

A number of circus producers, such as UK circus legend, Bertram Mills, and his sons, Cyril and Bernard, worked hard to modernise shows, by updating lighting, musical accompaniment and staging. However, by the 1960s and 1970s, the circus began to lose popularity as people became more interested in other forms of entertainment.

21st Century Circuses

Today, many circuses have managed to survive by merging with other circus companies. Non-traditional circuses, such as Canada's Cirque Du Soleil and Chinese circuses focus strongly on acrobatic performances, featuring synchronised swimmers, acrobats, dancers, clowns and martial arts performers. In Las Vegas, there is a circus-themed casino known as Circus Circus, which has largest permanent big top in the world, in which it presents human rather than animal performances.