272 MONUMENTS OF HIPPODROME AND MUSICAL VICTORS. 
THE APOBATES CHARIOT-RACE. 
On the north frieze of the Parthenon there were originally at least 9 
four-horse chariot groups, 1 while on the south frieze there were 10 such 
groups.2. These various groups represent a ceremonial chariot-race 
called the apobates, known at Athens and in Beeotia and a favorite 
contest at the Panathenaic games.? ‘This race preserved the tradition 
of Homeric warfare, when the chieftain was driven to battle in his 
chariot, but dismounted to fight, remounting only to pursue or avoid his 
enemy. During the race, while the charioteer kept the horses at full 
speed, the apobates dismounted, ran alongside the chariot, and mounted 
again. In the last lap he dismounted and ran beside the chariot to 
the goal.4 In the North frieze we see the charioteer in the chariot, 
and the apobates, armed with shield and helmet, either stepping down 
from the chariot or standing beside it; while a third figure, a marshal, 
stands nearby. Thus on slab XIV we see the apobates about to step 
down; on slab XV he is standing up in the chariot; on slab XVII 
(Fig. 64) he is leaning back, supporting himself by means of his right 
hand, which grasps the chariot rail, and is just ready to step down;on slab 
XXII he is remounting the chariot. In the scenes on the South frieze, 
on the other hand, the apobates is not represented as dismounting, 
but is standing either inside the chariot or by its side. ‘The South 
frieze, therefore, represents preparation or the beginning of the race, 
while the North one represents the actual course. ‘here is, therefore, 
as Gardiner points out, no need to accept Michaelis’ theory that the 
two friezes portray different motives, the North one representing the 
apobates at the games and the South one representing war-chariots. 
The double character of the race 1s shown by inscriptions which make 
both charioteer and apobates equally victors. Many other reliefs show 
the apobates dismounting. Thus, on a fragmentary relief found in 1886 
at the Amphiareion at Oropos and now in Athens,® we see a nude and 
beardless youth standing in a chariot, which is moving rapidly to the 
left. He has a helmet on his head and a shield in his left hand and 
1Michaelis, Der Parthenon, 1870, slabs XI-X XIII; B. M. Sculpt., I, no. 325. . The charioteers on 
slabs XII and XIV have long, close-fitting tunics. 
*Michaelis, op. cit., slabs XXIV-XXXIV; B. M. Sculpt., no. 327. 
’Theophrastos, ap. Harpokr., s. v. amoBarns, says that it was peculiar to Athens and Beeotia, but 
there is evidence of its existence elsewhere, ¢. g., at Aphrodisias in Karia (C. J. G., II, no. 2758, G. 
col. IV, line 3, p. 507, and C. col. IV,1.3), Naples (zbid., no. 5807, 1. 4), Rome (C. J. L., VI, 2, 10047, 
b, line 8 = pedibus ad quadrigam), etc. On the race at the Panathenaia, see Michaelis, of. cit., pp. 
324 f.; Mommsen, Heortologie, 1864, pp. 153 f., and Die Feste d. Stadt Athen im Altertum, 1898, pp. 
89 f.; and for the race in general, Pauly-Wissowa, I, pp. 2814 f. 
‘For a description of the race, see Bekker, Anecd. gr., 1, pp. 425-6 and Dionys. Halikarn., VII, 73, 
2-3; the former account says that the apobates mounted the chariot in full course by setting his foot 
on the wheel and dismounted again; the latter only that he dismounted in the last lap; the two are 
apparently describing different moments of the same race. 
’National Museum, no. 1391; Svoronos, II, pp. 340-1, Tafelbd., Pl. LVI (right); noted in 
A. M., XII, 1887, p. 146, no. 1; Stais, Marbres et Bronzes, p. 237 aad fig.; Arch. Eph., 1910, 
pp. 251 f.; Reisch, p. 51. Stais gives the measurements as 0.60 meter high and 0.36 meter broad. 
