The idea of the circus has been around for 251 year. This idea of the circus has evolved and changed over time, in the Roman era the circus meant entertaining fights to the death, chariot races, staged battles and gladiator combat. It was in this time that men and women would have been separated when at a public event... but not when at the circus, men and women could freely sit next to each other exclusively at the circus. It was in Rome when the first circus was built, in its final version it was made out of stone and could house around 250,000 people.
A cavalryman, Philip Astley was a master horse rider and could perform standing on the back of his horse while they did tricks. It was Philip who helped forge the circus that we know today. Astley was the first to ride his horse in a 42ft ring, this was the reason why modern circus' use a ring as their stage. In 1770, other acts where introduced. Philip introduced acrobats, clowns and other acts such as a tightrope walker. At this point, circus performances took place in buildings built specifically for the performances.
The idea of the circus then began to take off in America as well. A Scottish man called John Bill Ricketts travelled from England to Philadelphia in 1792 to start running a circus in America. The idea of the circus in America suddenly evolved and expanded when P.T .Barnum and William Cameron Coup started a travelling show that contained "Freaks" and moved between locations on a circus train which carried everything and everyone who was to be in the performance.
In the 1880's the circus started using tents as it was portable. In later years China and Russia both adopted the idea of the circus. The current leader of the USSR, Lenin wanted to use circus as propaganda to reach out the people and gain their favour. He wanted to send the message that the circus was the art of the people and that he liked it. The circuses here used wooden buildings ready for the acts performances.
Circuses within China used acts that linked back to their traditional acrobatics.
The idea of the circus and what it means has drastically changed over time, from a gruesome display of death and battling, to a performance to awe any viewer of young or old.
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