At that point, they would then turn around and race back to the starting point. They would then race down a long stretch until they reached a spot marked by a tree stump and a bunch of white stones.
The charioteers would all begin a predesignated spot. The race was to take place in the countryside. Five chieftains by the names of Diomedes, Eumelus, Antilochus, Menelaus, and Merione, were to drive two-horse chariots as the first event in the funeral games arranged by Achilles for his late friend, a Greek warrior by the name of Patroclus. Greek poet Homer wrote in the 8th century BCE about one such chariot race in his epic poem The Iliad. Chariot racing was the drag racing of ancient times. Charioteers would often stand rather than sit when driving the chariot. Chariot racing was a public game in which horses pulled a two-wheeled cart that was driven by a charioteer. Although unlike the games, this event was popular not only in Rome, but also ancient Greece. A more humane alternative to the cruel and brutal gladitorial games of ancient Rome was chariot races.