The Latin is cavea. Rows of stone benches three and four tiers high extend around the track; the corridors beneath the stands, punctuated with staircases leading to various blocks of seats, are crowded with shops and filled with milling people--restless spectators, vendors hawking food or cushions for the hard benches, gamblers taking bets, prostitutes looking for customers. The stands are divided according to social class, with sections of the first tier reserved for priests of the state religion (including the 6 Vestal Virgins), for Senators, and for wealthy Equestrians. These fragmentary foundations and staircase are all that remain of the once massive structures of the Circus Maximus. This model shows the stands at the curved end of the track, opposite the starting gates.
