CHAPTER VII

THE DECLINE OF ATHLETICS, 338-146 B.C.

From this time onward there is little change to record in the history of athletics. Competitions became more and more the monopoly of professionals and all the evils attendant on professionalism became rampant. The training of the athlete became more artificial and more irrational, rendering him still more unfit for practical life. The degeneration of the physical type and of the artistic ideal is evident in the statue known as the Farnese Heracles, a copy of a Lysippean original exaggerated by the copyist to suit the taste of a later and more decadent age. Those huge bulging muscles,[213] which even repose cannot relax, are a type of clumsy, useless strength, utterly foreign to the ideal of the fifth century, or to that of Lysippus himself as we know it from the Agias. Perhaps it was the type of those professional strong men who called themselves successors of Heracles as having, like Heracles, won the wrestling and pankration at Olympia on the same day.[214] The first of these was Caprus of Elis, who in the year 212 defeated, in the pankration, the redoubtable Cleitomachus of Thebes, who is sometimes supposed to be the original of the boxer of the Terme (Fig. 136).

A tale told by Polybius about the latter throws a curious light on the state of sport at the time.[215] He had, it appears, incurred the displeasure of King Ptolemy—presumably Ptolemy IV.—who went to the trouble and expense of training and sending to Olympia a rival boxer, Aristonicus, to compete with him. The contest excited great public interest, and the fickle crowd favoured the new man until Cleitomachus, exasperated at their attitude, taunted them with backing one who was fighting not for the glory of Greece but for King Ptolemy. This appeal caused such a revulsion of feeling that Aristonicus was vanquished, not, says our author, so much by Cleitomachus as by the crowd. With such hired prize-fighters it was only natural that methods became more brutal, and science deteriorated. The increasing weight of the caestus rendered boxing a contest of brute strength and fit to take its place in the Roman gladiatorial shows. The science of wrestling had also suffered. As early as 364 B.C. we read of one Sostratus of Sicyon who won the wrestling at Olympia not by skill in wrestling but by breaking his opponent’s fingers.

Corruption naturally throve under such conditions.[216] Only Olympia, thanks to its ancient prestige and sanctity, maintained the purity of sport, and though even there all sport was professional, cases of corruption were rare.

The decay of athletics was accompanied by an increased activity in the construction and improvement of gymnasia and stadia, which continued all through Hellenistic and Roman times. The stadia at Olympia and Delphi were reconstructed during the fourth century; the Panathenaic stadium at Athens was the work of the Athenian administrator Lycurgus, who also rebuilt the Lyceum Gymnasium, planted it with trees, and built a new palaestra or wrestling-school in it. But this building activity did not denote any improvement of the national athletics. The people took little interest in the games, save as a spectacle, and the improvements made in the stadia were connected solely with the accommodation and comfort of spectators. Some of these buildings were the work of a sort of athletic revival, a temporary demand for physical and military training. Such a movement occurred at Athens in the time of Alexander, under the wise leadership of Lycurgus, who, among the numerous services which he rendered to Athens, reorganized the Athenian epheboi. More often these buildings were the monuments of the generosity or vanity of wealthy princes or ambitious citizens.

But the palaestra and gymnasium, even in the fourth century were no longer devoted principally to gymnastics. The colonnades of the palaestra, the shady walks of the gymnasium were popular resorts and lounging-places. There the Athenian gentleman would betake himself in the afternoon to get an appetite for his evening meal; and a whole series of rooms was provided for his accommodation—dressing-rooms, oiling-rooms, dusting-rooms, bath-rooms, cloisters where he could take his exercise in wet weather, rooms for ball-play, and, for the more active, wrestling-rings and running tracks. Many of the rooms and the walks were provided with benches and seats for the convenience of visitors and spectators. Sophists especially resorted there in the hope of attracting pupils; some of them attached themselves to particular gymnasia. Plato delivered his discourses in the Academy; Aristotle took his morning and evening walks in the Lyceum. Gradually the social and educational side of the gymnasium became more important than the athletic. The gymnasium of Cynosarges in the fourth century was the meeting-place of a celebrated club known as the Sixty Wits. The earlier gymnasia of Athens had been outside the walls. The first gymnasium inside the walls was the gift of the versatile Ptolemaeus Philadelphia (285-247 B.C.), the founder of the museum and library of Alexandria. The gymnasium at Athens bore witness to the culture of its founder: it contained a library formed and increased by contributions from the students who attended it. Lectures continued to be given in it by philosophers and men of science down to the time of Cicero, who listened there to the lectures of Antiochus. These gymnasia were intimately connected with the life of the epheboi in whose training philosophy and literature were rapidly taking the place formerly occupied by athletics and military science. From this ephebic training grew up what has been aptly called the University of Athens, to which the young Romans of the time of Cicero resorted to study philosophy.

Our knowledge of the training given to the epheboi is mostly derived from inscriptions of this period or later. The Athenian inscriptions date from the year 334 B.C. to the third century A.D.[217] These inscriptions contain lists of the epheboi and decrees in honour of the epheboi themselves and of their officers. The physical training of the epheboi was largely military in character, and particular attention was paid to those exercises which were likely to be of service in war. This training was under the general supervision of the Kosmetes, one of whose duties was to provide the necessary oil for use in the gymnasium. Under him were subordinate officials, the hoplomachos, a sort of fencing instructor; the akontistes, toxotes, and katapaltaphetes or aphetes, who taught the use of the javelin, bow, and catapult respectively. At the local festivals competitions were held to test the proficiency of men and youths in these and other more purely athletic accomplishments. Many of these competitions, especially those for the younger, were confined to local competitors. Sometimes they took the form of squad competitions between companies representing local tribes and divisions. Torch-races between individuals or teams on foot or on horseback figure frequently on the programme. At Athens cavalry parades formed an important feature of these festivals. The most splendid of these local festivals, the Panathenaea, must be reserved for fuller discussion, but a few examples of the inscriptions dealing with the less-known festivals, will illustrate the character of the festivals and of the physical training of the young in the period.

The Thesea at Athens had been founded shortly after the Persian wars, when, in accordance with the oracle’s command, the bones of Theseus were brought from Scyros and reburied at Athens. The programme comprised parades, gymnastic, naval, and equestrian competitions, and a great public sacrifice. We have a list of the victors at this festival in an inscription recording a decree of honour to Nicogenes who held the office of Agonothetes, or official manager of the games, for the year 161 B.C.[218] Among the services rendered by Nicogenes, it is recorded that he provided prizes and money for other expenses out of his own pocket, and that he took special pains to prevent any competitor in the torch-race from “losing through foul play.” For these services, and for his goodwill towards the Council and people of Athens, Nicogenes is to be crowned with a golden crown, and proclamation thereof is to be made at the Dionysia, the Panathenaea, the Eleusinia, and—a strange fourth in such a list—the Ptolemaea!

Similar training and similar competitions are found at many other places, at Ceos, Teos, Chios, Samos, and Tralles.[219] A third-century inscription of Ceos contains arrangements for the holding of a festival at a cost of 65 drachmae. A gymnasiarch is to be chosen to organize the torch-race, take general supervision of the training in the gymnasium, three times a month to take the epheboi out to practise with the bow and javelin and catapult, and to inflict a fine on any who did not attend. The prizes for the men’s competitions are: for archery, first prize, a bow and quiver; second prize, a bow;—for the javelin, first prize, three spears and a helmet; second prize, three spears; while the boy victors in these events are to receive a portion of meat. There are prizes also for the use of the catapult and for a torch-race.

At Teos in the third century a patriotic citizen, Polythrous, presented the State with the sum of 34,000 drachmae for the education of boys and girls. The interest on this sum was used to provide salaries for various instructors, including two paidotribai or athletic instructors, at a salary of 500 drachmae each, a hoplomachos at a salary of 300 drachmae, and an instructor in the use of the javelin and the bow at 250 drachmae. The hoplomachos was required to give at least two month’s instruction. The highest paid of all the staff was the teacher of music, who received 600 drachmae. The general supervision of this education was in the hands of a paidonomos, who, it is specified, must not be less than forty years of age. In the present day, in making appointments to head-masterships it is commonly specified that candidates must not be over forty. Which is right?

Such training seems to have been universal in Greek states. The instances given suffice to show how entirely it differed from the training of athletes who competed in the great games. Unfortunately education in Greece was, except at Sparta, purely voluntary, and the training afforded only affected, therefore, a small portion of the population.

We have been anticipating; we must now return to the history of Olympia under the Macedonians. It was the policy of the kings of Macedon to encourage and support in every way the Panhellenic festival, and especially Olympia. In the first place, the Macedonians were regarded by the other Greeks almost as barbarians, and it was of supreme importance that their claim to be considered Greeks had been recognized by the most exclusively Hellenic of all festivals. It will be remembered that Alexander, the son of Amyntas, had established this claim for the royal family of Macedon at the close of the sixth century, when he had been allowed to compete in the foot-race at Olympia. A century later Archelaus won a victory in the chariot-race. This able and energetic prince aimed at spreading Greek culture through his dominions. He invited to his court Greek poets, philosophers, and artists; above all, to show his respect for Olympia, he founded at Dium a new Olympic festival of nine days in honour of Zeus and the nine Muses.[220] The precedent was widely followed during Hellenistic and Roman times, when a host of festivals sprung up bearing the title of the four great Panhellenic meetings. The new Olympia were not confined to athletic contests, which seem to have been less important than dramatic competitions, and their pomp and splendour are indications of the growing taste for spectacular effect.

Philip and Alexander had special reasons for associating themselves with the Panhellenic festivals. Like the tyrants of an earlier age, they realized that if they were to unite Greece under their rule it must be by utilizing those forces which made for unity. Two places in particular represented the spirit of national unity,—Delphi, in Northern Greece, and Olympia in the Peloponnese,—and of both festivals the Macedonians made full use.

Already in 370 B.C. the ambitious tyrant of Thessaly, Jason of Pherae, who dreamt of invading Persia as commander of united Greece, had schemed to consolidate his power by setting himself up as president of the Pythian games. He had made preparation to celebrate the festival with barbarian pomp, sending messengers to all the cities of Thessaly, to bid them provide oxen, sheep, and goats for the sacrifices, and offering a crown of gold as a prize for the finest ox.[221] But his scheme was frustrated by his assassination, which was doubtless partly due to his attempted usurpation of the sacred functions. Fortune was kinder to Philip. The Sacred war gave him an opportunity of posing as the protector and saviour of Delphi. His defeat of the Phocians and restoration of Delphi to the Delphians were rewarded by his election to the place on the Amphictionic Board, of which the Phocians were deprived, and in 346 he received the further honour of being nominated as the president of the approaching games. Thus he stood out the acknowledged head of the most ancient and influential league in Greece. Only Athens protested, but her protest was unavailing, and Philip’s newly-acquired dignity was the death-blow to her opposition.

At Olympia Philip had already ingratiated himself with the authorities by a victory in the horse-race in 356 B.C., and two victories in the four-horse chariot-race in the two following Olympiads. The news of his victory in the horse-race reached him, says Plutarch, shortly after his capture of Potidaea, and on the same day he received the news of a victory gained by Parmenio over the Illyrians, and of the birth of Alexander. Following the example of the tyrants of Sicily, he commemorated his victories in the chariot-race by representing a chariot on his coins. After the battle of Chaeronea Philip marched into the Peloponnese, and having ravaged Laconia and reduced Sparta to impotence, summoned a congress of all the Greek states at Corinth. Then he came forward as the champion of united Hellas, declaring his resolve of leading a new crusade against Persia, and was appointed by the congress sole commander of the forces of Greece. It will be remembered how time after time this policy of union against Persia had been preached at Olympia, and nowhere can Philip’s proclamation have been more welcome. Did he visit Olympia in person? It is tempting to suppose so. At least we may connect with this time the founding of the Philippeum, a small circular building consisting of a cella surrounded by eighteen Ionic columns, and containing statues in gold and ivory of Philip himself and his ancestors, and even of female members of his family, Eurydice and Olympias. The Philippeum seems to have been an offering similar in character to the treasuries of an earlier age, the founders of which by their erection sought to establish for themselves a right and _locus standi_ in the management of the festival. There was no room for further buildings on the treasury terrace itself, and a yet more honourable and unique position was found for Philip’s monument to the south-west of the Heraeum within the limits of the Altis itself, the boundary of which had to be moved westward to enclose it. It was the first such building to be placed within the Altis, the first to bear the name of its founder, who was thereby placed on a level with the mythical presidents of Olympia, Pelops and Oenomaus, and acknowledged as the freely-appointed leader of united Greece at the very centre of Panhellenism.

Philip was assassinated in the very act of celebrating the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra with Alexander of Epirus by a magnificent festival at Aegae, where the lavish prodigality of the Macedonian expended itself in banquets, gymnastic and musical contests, dramatic competitions, and every variety of attraction which could appeal to and impress the imagination of the Greek world. Even the name Olympia was given to the games at Aegae, and the statues of the twelve gods of the Olympic pantheon were carried in procession to the theatre followed by the statue of Philip himself who thus anticipated the claim of Alexander to divine honours.

Alexander’s ambition was too vast to find satisfaction in victories at Olympia. He treated with contempt the athletics of his day. Though himself vigorous and athletic of body, he had an aversion for the exercises of the palaestra, regarding them as useless for war. When asked whether he would compete in the foot-race at Olympia, he replied, “Yes, if I had kings for my antagonists.” There is no doubt that his refusal was fully justified; he could gain no honour by entering into competition with professionals. But though he despised the athletic part of the festivals, he appreciated to the full their social and political importance. He recognized the importance of amusing the people. He celebrated his victories by brilliant Olympic games at Aegae and at Dium, at which he offered prizes for tragic poets, musicians, and rhapsodists, and entertained the people not with athletic competitions but with the hunting of wild beasts, and with fencing or fighting with the staff. Similar entertainments were provided by the king at various places in his triumphal progress through Asia. Olympia itself was to him the true capital of Greece. In spite of his personal aversion to athletic competitions, he is related to have restored to liberty Dionysodorus of Thebes, whom he had taken prisoner at Issus, in consideration of his claims as an Olympic victor.[222] Thither during the course of his eastern campaigns he sent dispatches which were publicly read at the festival. There in 324 Nicanor arrived as bearer of two imperial mandates bidding the cities of Greece receive back their exiles and acknowledge Alexander as a god. This decree was publicly read by the herald in the presence of 20,000 exiles who had mustered for the occasion.

The conquests of Alexander opened the door for the extension of Hellenism over the eastern world, and of this extension, an interesting illustration was discovered at Olympia. It is the monument of Philonides of Crete, who describes himself as courier of King Alexander, and road surveyor of (βηματωτής) of Asia. On one side of the pedestal is a bronze tablet on which Curtius aptly suggests was engraved a map of Asia, enabling visitors to Olympia to trace the course of his master’s conquests.[223] Under his successors Asia and Egypt became Hellenized, and this process is illustrated by the appearance in the lists of Olympic victors of athletes from the newly-founded cities, and later on from the kingdoms and provinces of Asia. The new cities sought to reproduce the main features of the old Hellenic ideal, and from this ideal athletics and the athletic festivals were inseparable. Everywhere athletic festivals were founded bearing the names of the ancient festivals, everywhere elaborate stadia and gymnasia were erected. The athletic enthusiasm which had died out in the mother country revived in many of her daughter cities: especially was this the case in Alexandria, which under the rule of the Ptolemaei became a stronghold of Hellenism.[224] This revival of athletic interest, if somewhat artificial, must have helped to keep alive the ancient festivals of the mainland.

At Olympia the building of the Philippeum after Chaeronea was the first of a series of improvements, stimulated, no doubt, by Macedonian encouragement, perhaps paid for by Macedonian gold. The choice of a site for the Philippeum had, as we have seen, necessitated a reconstruction of the western boundary of the Altis. A similar reconstruction took place on the east, where the old Stoa was extended and rebuilt, and as part of the same scheme, the west and southern sides of the Stadium were banked up so as to provide better accommodation for the spectators. At the same time a passage was made through the north side of the western embankment on the site of the later Roman tunnelled passage and gateway giving entrance into the Stadium. The use of this entrance was probably confined to officials and athletes: for the latter the sight of the Zanes lining the steps outside the entrance served as a warning only too necessary.

The chronology of the various Olympic buildings is full of difficulty, especially from the fourth century onward. But we are probably justified in assigning to the early period of Macedonian influence the building of the Theocoleon on the west side of the Altis close to the ancient Heroum, to serve as quarters for the Olympic priesthood, and of the Leonidaeum to the south of it. The latter building was the gift of Leonidas of Naxos. The inscription on the pedestal of his statue, which has been found, is apparently contemporary with the inscription on the monument of Philonides, Alexander’s courier, which stood close by, and the architectural evidence agrees with this date.[225] In later times the building served as the headquarters of the Roman governors, and this fact renders probable the view that it was originally intended for the use of distinguished visitors. The arrangements for the entertainment of visitors, and for the requirements of the priesthood as provided in the Leonidaeum and the Theocoleon seem entirely in keeping with the pomp and state which were so marked a feature of Macedonian festivities. A record of hospitality shown at Olympia by another islander is preserved on a bronze tablet containing the decree of the Hellanodicae in honour of one Democrates of Tenedos, a wrestler whose strength was such that when he stood behind a line no man could draw him across it. He and his father had taken up their residence in Elis, and the decree, which dates about the first half of the third century, records that in consideration of his services in entertaining guests at the festival, he shall be named Proxenos and Benefactor, and shall have a place of honour in the Dionysian festival and a share in the sacrifices.[226]

On the death of Alexander, Elis joined in the general revolt of the Greek states against Macedon, but on the failure of the revolt found herself once more compelled to acquiesce in the Macedonian supremacy. From this time she seems to have adopted a wise policy of neutrality, and amid the struggles of rival kings and leagues the sanctity of Olympia was respected and her support courted by all parties. The only occasion on which this sanctity was violated was when Telesphorus, who had revolted from Antigonus, plundered the treasury of Olympia, but the plunder was restored not long afterwards by the unprincipled usurper and murderer Ptolemaeus Ceraunus, who hoped to win the support of Olympia for his ambitious schemes.

The neutrality of Elis is evident in the votive offerings of the period. Side by side with the statues of Antigonus Monophthalmus and his son Demetrius we find the statues of Spartan kings, of Areus who tried to free Greece from the yoke of Macedon, and Cleomenes who attempted to revive the military hegemony of Sparta, of Aratus of Sicyon, the founder of the Achaean league and enemy of Sparta and Macedon alike, of Ptolemaeus Philadelphus of Egypt at whose hospitable court the opponents of Macedon found shelter in defeat; lastly of that brilliant but semi-barbarian conqueror Pyrrhus of Epirus, who in his meteoric career twice occupied the throne of Macedon. Some of these statues were the gifts of the kings themselves, some of the Eleans or other states that wished to show honour to the individual or win favour at Olympia. The statue of Pyrrhus was the gift of the Elean seer Thrasybulus, who took part in the campaigns of Aratus against Sparta, and was himself honoured by a statue in the Altis. Perhaps the honour shown to Pyrrhus was due to his friendship with the Aetolians, whose connexion with Elis dates back to the earliest days of the festival. The Eleans early joined the Aetolian league, and showed their loyalty to their friends by refusing to desert them in spite of the most tempting offers of Philip V. Numerous statues in the Altis bore witness to this friendship. Especial interest attaches to that of the Aetolian Pleistaenus, whose father Eurydamus, as leader of the Aetolian forces, helped in the memorable fight near Delphi, which saved Greece from Brennus and his barbarous horde of Gauls.[227] Lastly, we may notice the significant monument of Antigonus Doson set up after the defeat of Cleomenes at Sellasia in 222 B.C. Greece was represented crowning with one hand Antigonus, with the other Philip Arridaeus the nominal successor of Alexander, while opposite stood a similar group, in which Elis crowned Demetrius Poliorketes and Ptolemaeus the son of Lagus. Both groups it seems probable, as Curtius suggests, were the gift of Antigonus Doson, recalling as they did the earlier group of the personified Ekecheiria crowning Iphitus, and setting forth in emblematic fashion the renewal of Olympic peace and restoration of unity under the beneficent rule of the princes of Macedon.

The period of Macedonian influence is marked by numerous victories gained by Macedonians, or by citizens of Macedonian towns such as Amphipolis or the newly-founded Philippi. But the Macedonian kings had little leisure or peace for competing at festivals, being occupied with more serious contests. And the same is true for the most part of the princes of Asia. From Pergamum, left in peace for a period under the strong rule of Philetaerus, we have an interesting inscription which records the victory in the chariot-race at Olympia of Attalus, brother of Philetaerus and father of Attalus I.[228] But in Egypt life was more settled, and more prosperous, and the Ptolemaei showed themselves devoted supporters of the Hellenic festivals. Ptolemaeus, the son of Lagus, won the chariot-race with a pair of colts in 314 B.C. at Delphi, where he was proclaimed a Macedonian. For, adds Pausanias, the Ptolemaei delighted to call themselves Macedonians. At Olympia he dedicated statues, one of himself and another of an unnamed athlete. His successor Philadelphus erected the statue of Areus of Sparta as a monument, says his inscription, of his goodwill to himself and to all Greece.[229] Among those who took refuge at his court was Glaucon of Athens, distinguished not only for a victory in the chariot-race 260 B.C., but for his spirited resistance to Antigonus. His statue at Olympia was erected by Ptolemy Euergetes. There, too, was the statue of Belistiche of Macedon, the mistress of Philadelphus, who won the pair-horse chariot-race for colts on the first occasion that this event was introduced, in Ol. 129. The statues of Philadelphus and Arsinoë, his wife and sister, were set up by the Samian Callicrates on lofty pillars placed upon a raised basement of stone in front of the Echo Colonnade.[230]

It has been already mentioned that Philadelphus founded a gymnasium at Athens. Curtius suggests that the palaestra and gymnasium at Olympia were the work of the same benefactor. Neither of these buildings is likely to be earlier than his time, but there is no real proof to connect them with Philadelphus. The fact recorded by Pausanias that Euanoridas, who won the boys’ wrestling match in 252 B.C., afterwards as Hellanodicas had the list of Olympic victors inscribed and set up in the gymnasium at Olympia, proves at the most that the gymnasium must have existed at the close of the third century.[231] There is still less evidence for Curtius’ view that the founding of the gymnasium and palaestra was an attempt to counteract the one-sided athleticism of Olympia by founding a sort of public school at Olympia where the youth of Greece could receive mental as well as physical instruction. Olympia was not, and was not likely to become, a residential place. This is proved by the story of the eccentric philosopher Alexinus the Litigious, as he was nicknamed, who tried to set up there a school of philosophy but failed, being deserted by all his followers owing to the want of accommodation and difficulty of obtaining supplies. The palaestra of Olympia, which will be described in a later chapter, was of the ordinary Greek type, and the fact that some of the rooms were provided with benches does not prove that the place was intended for a school. Seats and stools are no uncommon accompaniment of athletic scenes on the vases, where they serve, among other purposes, for the athletes to put their clothes upon. That the gymnasium and palaestra were intended for competitors at the festivals and were little used at other times is proved by an inscription at Delphi which contains the contracts for preparing for the festival not only the stadium and hippodrome, but also the gymnasium and palaestra.[232] Before the festival and during it these must have been thronged with athletes practising, and must have been as favourite a resort of visitors interested in their performances as is the paddock to-day at Epsom or Ascot.

I have dwelt at some length on the monuments of this period because they illustrate the extension of Hellenism and therefore of the influence of Olympia over the East. Further, while honorary statues of distinguished men are multiplied the athletic statues gradually fall off in number, ceasing almost entirely after the middle of the second century.[233] Of the thirty-two statues erected during this period no less than fifteen were erected by the Eleans, a striking testimony to the wealth of Olympia. In the list of Olympic victors the noticeable feature is the almost complete disappearance of names from Sicily and Italy,[234] and also from the old states of the mainland, such as Athens and Sparta. Their place is taken by competitors from the East, from Aetolia and Achaia and the newer cities of the Peloponnese.

Though, as we have said above, athletics were largely neglected by the upper classes, we still as at all times find a few notable exceptions. Such were Aratus, who, though his only victory at Olympia was in the chariot-race, is stated to have won various successes in the pentathlon, the competition which appealed least to professionals; on the other hand, the other great general of the Achaean league, Philopoemen, would have nothing to do with athletics, and even forbade his soldiers to take part in training which only unfitted them for the hardships of a campaign. Another notable pentathlete was Gorgus of Messene, who won considerable renown as a statesman and was sent as ambassador to Philip III. of Macedon. Besides the pentathlon he won the diaulos and the race in armour.

The falling off in competition and the growth of professionalism are shown by the number of men who won victories in more than one event at the same festival. Philinus of Cos, who won the stadium race in Ols. 129, 130, is credited with three other victories at Olympia, four in the Pythia, four in the Nemea, and eleven in the Isthmia—twenty-four in all. A still finer record is that of Leonidas of Rhodes, who won all four foot-races in three successive Olympiads 164-156 B.C., thus three times earning the title of τριαστής or triple victor given to those who won the stade-race, diaulos, and dolichos. Besides the professional runner, we have the professional fighter represented by the successors of Heracles already alluded to, with regard to whom we may add that with the exception of Caprus of Elis all holders of the title came from the East. The successors of Heracles are further honoured with the title of παράδοξος or παραδοξονίκης, and in the second century we find for the first time in Olympic inscriptions the term περίοδος or περιοδονίκης used of those who won victories in all the four great festivals which formed the athletic cycle or period. Such terms suggest the age of athletic “records” which was to come under the Romans.

Two more equestrian events were added during this period—the two-horse chariot-race for colts, and the riding-race for colts, introduced in Ols. 129 and 131 respectively. Both these events, introduced obviously with the intention of encouraging horse breeding, had been introduced half a century earlier at Delphi, doubtless owing to Macedonian influence. Lastly in Ol. 145 the athletic programme was completed by the introduction of the pankration for boys, which was won by Phaedimus, described variously as from Alexandria Troas, or from Naukratis in Egypt. The pankration was not a competition suited for boys, and it was a true athletic feeling which had so long excluded it from the boys’ events at Olympia. Its introduction is significant of the growing love of sensational and brutal displays which we associate rather with the Romans than the Greeks. It was only a few years later that Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.) introduced into Syria the Roman gladiatorial games, and though the innovation at first met with criticism and opposition, the Greeks only too soon became accustomed to such sights.

With the advent of the Romans the history of Greek athletics really ends, though the athletic festivals were destined to survive four centuries or more under their patronage. The Romans posed as the champions and kinsmen of the Greeks, and like the Macedonians fully realised the importance of these festivals. As early as 228 B.C. they had been admitted to participation in the Eleusinian mysteries and the Isthmian games, in recognition of their services in freeing the Adriatic from Illyrian pirates, though it may be doubtful if Roman citizens deigned to compete in the actual sports. Again in 196 B.C. it was at the Isthmian games that Flamininus proclaimed the liberation of Greece from the tyranny of Macedon. At Olympia Titus Manlius had appeared as ambassador in 208 B.C. to secure the support of the Sicilian and Italian Greeks against their common foe Carthage. Finally Mummius commemorated the defeat of the Achaeans, the destruction of Corinth, and the restoration of unity to Greece by dedicating at Olympia a bronze statue of Zeus and twenty-one golden shields arrayed above the colonnade surrounding the temple of Zeus. But the unity thus commemorated was secured at the cost of liberty.

It was the spirit of independence which had given life to those great athletic meetings where the free citizens of free states contended not for personal glory so much as for the honour of their states. These states were no longer free, and all the pomp and splendour lavished on the festivals by their imperial patrons could not recall to life the spirit that had fled.

Footnote 213:

Quintilian aptly contrasts the bulging muscles, “tori,” of such athletes with the “lacertus” of soldiers.

Footnote 214:

Paus. v. 21, 10.

Footnote 215:

Polyb. 27, 7 A.

Footnote 216:

A third-century inscription from Epidaurus, Dittenb. _Syll._ 2nd Ed., 689, records that three athletes, a stadiodromos, a pentathlete, and a pankratiast, were fined 1000 staters each διὰ τὸ φθείρειν τοὺς ἀγῶνας. The next inscription, 690, records a similar fine on certain actors.

Footnote 217:

Roberts and Gardner, _Greek Epigraphy_, ii. p. 145.

Footnote 218:

Roberts and Gardner, _Greek Epigraphy_, ii. 61, p. 162 ( = _I.G._ ii. 444); cp. _I.G._ ii. 445, 446. Mommsen, _Feste der Stadt Athens_, pp. 278 ff.

Footnote 219:

Ditt. _Syll._ 2nd Ed., 522, 523, 524, 672, 673, 674.

Footnote 220:

Krause, _Olymp._ p. 215. Diodorus and Ulpian assign the founding of these games to Archelaus, another account assigns it to Philip II.

Footnote 221:

Xen. _Hell._ vi. 4, 29.

Footnote 222:

Arr. _Anab._ ii. 15.

Footnote 223:

_Ol. Ins._ 276, 277. Another such courier was Deinosthenes of Sparta, who won the foot-race in Ol. 116, and set up beside his statue a pillar giving the distance from Olympia to Sparta as 630 stades, and from Sparta to the next pillar (at Amyclae) as 30 stades. Paus. vi. 16, 8; _Ol. Ins._ 171.

Footnote 224:

Alexandrian victories in 272, 256, 240, 228, 212 B.C. _Vide_ Förster, _op. cit._

Footnote 225:

_Ol. Ins._ 294.

Footnote 226:

_Ol. Ins._ 39.

Footnote 227:

This victory was commemorated by the founding of a new festival, the Soteria, which is mentioned in various athletic inscriptions of the period.

Footnote 228:

Fränckel, _Antiq. Pergam._ viii. 1, pp. 8, 10.

Footnote 229:

_Ol. Ins._ 308.

Footnote 230:

_Ol. Ins._ 306, 307.

Footnote 231:

Little weight can be attached to such a statement. The list may well have been transferred to the gymnasium when it was built. A similar list was set up by the father of Paraballon whose victory in the diaulos is placed by Hyde between Ol. 91-101, when the gymnasium certainly did not exist.

Footnote 232:

_B.C.H._, 1899, pp. 565 ff. The inscription is dated by the archonship of Dion, 258 B.C.

Footnote 233:

Of the statues seen by Pausanias none can be much later than 150 B.C. (_vide_ Hyde, _Olymp. Statues_). The Olympic inscriptions show that the custom was revived at the close of the first century B.C. _Ins._ 213, 219, 224, 225, etc.

Footnote 234:

The only statue from Sicily is that of Hieron II. of Syracuse.