Circus.

Circus comes from the latin word "CIRCVLVS", which means "circle". And in fact this is a circus: a great circle in which many artistic shows are performed. But circus is much more. When a circus comes to town, we all know that a great universe is comming: trapeze performances, clowns, fire eaters, knive throwers... If you go to the circus, you will not be disappointed. 

On this report, I will tell you a bit about circus: History, shows, polemics... Let's start.

Origins.

Circus started in ancient Rome. The CIRCVS MAXIMVS was a great building for 200.000 people, where races of many types took place: chariot races, athletic competitions with the best runners from all over the Empire, horse races...  This is the starting point: a rounded / elliptical place for watching events. However, on that Circus there weren't any clowns, fire eaters or trapeze artists. That would come much later.

Medieval times.

During Medieval times there weren't any circuses. But this fact does not mean that there were not spectacles. From town to town jugglers, contortionists, fire eaters or knife throwers travelled, showing their abilities to villagers for some coin. Plays and animal shows were also very popular, being frequent tamed bears, tamed wolves or dog fighting. 

Modern circus.

The modern circus started in the 1768 with Philip Astley, an Englishman who decided to gather a variety of shows and perfromances in one common place. He built an amphitheatre, and he became very rich and famous. Other people followed his example, building amphitheatres that finally would be called "Circus". Circuses spreaded all over Europe and America.

From building to tent.

But amphitheatres had a problem: people from a concrete area usually got bored very soon, stopping visiting them. So in 1825 Joshuah Purdy, a circus businessman, decided to adopt to a more dynamic form of circus. He designed a big portable tent for the shows. The tent was very useful, because it allowed to change from one place to another, looking for new audience. From that very moment, circus became in what actually is: a travelling show which visits different locations. However, there is a problem with animals...

Animals and circus.

Although today we still find some circuses with animals in their shows, these are gradually being banned. Why? Well, the conditions in which the animals live are not the best ones: narrow cages, bad nourishment, illnesses, tamers that punish the animals during the training... Many cities like Madrid, Barcelona or Zaragoza have forbidden circuses with animals; and many other ones are considering the option of doing it.

What do you think? Should circuses with animals be forbidden? Or not?