The ancient athlete
In a recent article I mentioned some events which formed the backbone of many an ancient games. But what about the athletes? Probably the main myth to debunk is of the noble amateur. An athlete at the more prestigious games (and not the small local events) would have received extensive training and dietary advice. The chances are he’d be drawn from the more elite class that could spend their days training and not working in the field.
Being an athlete was a full time profession. In addition the idea that they weren’t paid is a moot point when you consider what they received. Athenians had a law which allowed winners to receive a free meal for life when they won an event in a Pan-Hellenic event. Indeed, the Panathenaic games had a tidy menu of assorted prizes, from gold, to cash and (obviously) olive oil. Though the winners of events at the Pan-Hellenic games only received a wreath, what they would receive at home makes up for it by far. Winners were feted and treated as returning heroes. It’s unlikely they wanted for anything.
Some (in)famous athletes
Milo: Milo of Croton was a legendary wrestler. He was active in the latter part of the 6th century BC and won events in the boys’ competitions and then as an adult. He was also barking mad, a party trick of his being the ability to tie a cord round his forehead and flex his veins to snap it. He could eat 20 pounds of meat, 20 pounds of bread and then down eight quarts (around 16 pints) of wine.
Things were never going to end well for Milo, though it wasn’t through diet issues that he met his end. Apparently he happened upon a tree trunk which had been wedged open (to split it). Thinking he could hold it open he stuck his arm in and trapped himself. Then the wolves came. End of Milo.
Kleomedes: There’s losing, losing badly and losing as badly as Kleomedes. At Olympia in 492BC he killed his opponent in the boxing match, though not an unusual thing he was convicted of doing so by foul means. He didn’t take this well – returning to his home town he wandered into a school and pulled down a main column - killing about 60 kids.
The townspeople chased him into a sanctuary where he hid in a box. When they opened the box he’d disappeared. Consulting the Oracle the townspeople were told he was part god, as such they started worshipping him.
Theagenes: This prodigy was discovered after he stole a statue from the marketplace as a child and carried it home. He was about to be executed when it was pointed out that here was a child exhibiting an amazing feat of strength. Eyebrows were duly raised. Roll on a few years and Theagenes was beating everyone in wrestling and the pankration. He then turned his attention to running and duly beat everyone in the dolichos.
He was reported to have won over a thousand victories. When he died a statue was erected in his home town, as you’d expect. Perhaps you wouldn’t expect one of his rivals to attack it. Each night he’d flog the statue senseless. He soon stopped when the statue fell on him and killed him. The sons of the man then prosecuted the statue (as you would).
Eurydamas: In a boxing match his opponent smashed in his teeth. Not wanting to give his opponent any satisfaction he swallowed them. Classy.
Marcus: This chap ran in the hoplitodromos. He was still running come midnight and the custodians locked him in the stadium thinking he was a statue. When they opened it again in the morning he hadn’t finished.
a general progression of nero’s portraiture on roman aurei, 54-68 CE [x]
Nero’s depiction on coins throughout his reign..
(via fuckyeahancientclassics)
My Ajax/Achilles tattoo (its 10th anniversary this summer). The image is from the Francois Vase, an amazing piece which dates to c570BC. Ajax carries the body of Achilles which as been stripped. It’s a fantastic image, it does get the odd “is he naked?” comment, but what the heck.
(image of vase from here)
The Hellenic Ancient Kingdom of Macedonia, This is the homeland of Alexander the Great.
The old kingdom of Macedonia - Alex’s original stomping ground.
(via fuckyeahancientclassics)
Oak Wreath - Greek, 4th Century B.C.
nice wreath, forget gold medals - this is the sort of thing a victor might get.
(via hellenistic-beauty)
worryingly this took a few minutes before I worked out what was wrong.
(Source: polyfloisbos, via afacethatsunk1000ships)
The hoplitodromos (foot race in armour) usually ran over two stades (300-400 metres). This was the range of the Persian archer, so it may have been more practical than fancy. It was an event in the various games held in ancient Greece. For more see my article.
Vase mid 6th century BC
Pan-Hellenic or Panathenaic?
Continuing my Olympic theme (see my left hand menu) I’m going to kick off with a few bits about what we would consider the Olympics to have been in ancient Greece.
Back in the day there were four Pan-Hellenic games, these were the Olympic (at Olympia), Pythian (at Delphi), Nemean and Isthmian (both in Corinth). Traditionally the first Olympic games were held in 776BC, so over twenty years before the traditional founding of Rome the Greeks had organised sporting festivals. No wonder the Romans always had a chip on their shoulder concerning the Greeks. The Nemean, Isthmian and Pythian games were formally started later on in the 6th centuries and gradually incorporated the central core of events.
Starting a lot later (566BC) were the Panathenaic games, held every four years in Athens. These were actually based on the Pan-Hellenic ones, with a few events borrowed from each. They were also far more restrictive - whereas Pan-Hellenic games saw anyone who was Greek able to participate, the Panathenaic games had Athenian-only competitions (it also had mixed ones).
No Ball Games
Apart from the chariot-racing and one type of race we’ll come to the athletes were naked. But naked doing what exactly? This is a significant problem facing anyone trying to draw up a typical ‘menu’ as differing Pan-Hellenic games enjoyed different contests, for example the Pythian games had poetry and the Panathenaic had a beauty contest. Take these cultural inflections and multiply them by the timescale the games enjoyed (say 8th century BC till mid 4th century AD) and you are talking about a lot of games.
That said here are some of the ones you might be familiar with.
Dolichos. A medium distance race of about 4,800 metres introduced in the 720s BC. Unlike the other races this one went outside the main race track before ending in it.
Stadion. The race actually gave its name to the measurement the Greeks used (stade) which was about 180 metres. It then became the name for the race track and eventually where we get stadium from. In the case of a dead heat the race was run again. Much like the modern Olympics the short sprint was the most prestigious of its day.
Diaulos. This was a double stadion race, in some locations (Athens and Olympia) this was the lap of the stadion.
Pentathlon. This came about in 708 BC and was really a set of five disciplines which reflected the military ethos of the day (much like the modern pentathlon). The original line up was the long jump, javelin throw, discuss, stadion and wrestling.
Boxing. Not so much as surprise really, the boxers used leather strips as gloves. There was no time limit but there was the option of ending it with the boxers standing still and landing a punch, then swapping until one was either knocked out or surrendered.
Wrestling. It’s something idealised in many Greek myths so it’s no surprise this is here. It was a very well regulated sport, the winner requiring three points which came from the opponent’s back touching the ground, the opponent tapping out, the opponent’s body making contact outside the wrestling area or being carried outside it. Referees were allowed to whip anyone breaking the rules. Who needs a whistle?
Chariot Racing. This was added in 680BC and seems to have been a big hit. Both two-horse and four-horse races were competed it. These were quite advanced, they were run in the hippodrome and even had starting gates (hysplex).
And here are some you may not have heard of
Pankration. Ouchy. Think mixed martial arts is a modern invention? Nuh-uh, the pankration was all in wrestling mixed with boxing. Anything except eye-gouging and biting was allowed. One pankration saw the eventual winner die whilst winning. The ‘victor’ was in a choke hold and snapped his opponent’s ankle, the opponent tapped out but by that point the winner was dead. Did they have a boy’s competition for this? Of course they did.
Hoplitodromos. This was one of the last additions to the menu of events in 520BC. It was also generally the last race. Hough still largely nude the runners wore greaves, helmet and carried the aspis (shield) of the hoplite. The distance seemed to vary, it was often run in the same manner to the diaulos, but at the Nemean games could be doubled to four stades (700-800m).
As ever there might me method in this seeming madness, the length of the diaulos was around the effective range of a Persian archer. Perhaps this was a rehearsal in either closing with the enemy quickly or retreating out of range.
Euandria. This was a ‘manly’ contest, which occurred at the Panathenaic games. Little is known about it but it seems that it was an early version of Miss World. Looks were important, but skills would need to be demonstrated in order to win. We have no records of sashes.
Arts and crafts. Ok, I’m being a bit facetious but an essential element to the Pythian games was singing, acting, playing music and even painting. These predated the athletic contests, but when you consider that the games were in honour of Apollo it’s not that much of a revelation.
So - a few things to think about, hopefully a few of interest to. My next article will focus on the athletes. Who they were, what they did and examples of the more ‘interesting’ ones.
Still working on a couple of new articles (Olympics theme, apologies - they’ll be up soon). Till then here’s another cartoon, with the Olympic flame going out it’s sort of topical….almost.
The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World
Fascinating interactive site regarding travel in the ancient world…
This is Google Maps for the Roman Empire complete with journey planner. ORBIS allows us to express Roman communication costs in terms of both time and expense. By simulating movement along the principal routes of the Roman road network, the main navigable rivers, and hundreds of sea routes in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and coastal Atlantic, this interactive model reconstructs the duration and financial cost of travel in antiquity.
Taking account of seasonal variation and accommodating a wide range of modes and means of transport, ORBIS reveals the true shape of the Roman world and provides a unique resource for our understanding of premodern history.
(via fuckyeahancientclassics)
