Built sometime between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, this ancient sports field (244m by 50m) was once surrounded by seating for up to 15,000 spectators, 30 times the current seating capacity, and hosted mainly athletics competitions and chariot races at Jerash. Recent excavations have unearthed remains of stables and pottery workshops, plus indications that it was used for polo by invading Sassanians from Persia during the early 7th century. The stadium currently hosts twice-daily re-enactment shows .
The show, a joint Swedish-Jordanian venture, has become one of the highlights of a modern visit to the ancient city and is simply too good to miss. It begins with the parading of 40 Roman legionnaires (Jordanian special forces) who complete a range of military drills, from the tortoise manoeuvre to the use of a catapult, and is followed by gladiators fighting it out with tridents, nets and gladius (swords) and four chariots racing seven laps around the hippodrome’s central wooden spina .
