2 – They Founded the Olympics
The ancient Greeks loved festivals and games and were the pioneers of the Olympics which first took place in approximately 776 BC (this date is hotly disputed however which some scholars claiming the first Olympics took place in 765 BC). The event was held every four years in the town of Olympia which is in southwest Greece and up to 50,000 people would travel there from all over the country. The purpose of the games was to honor Zeus, the king of the gods. This immensely popular event continued for over 1,000 years until Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned them as part of his strategy to make Christianity the main religion of Rome.
For the most part, only Greek men who were born free were allowed to participate although women could enter horses in the equestrian events. Winners received wreaths or crowns made of olive leaves rather than the medals athletes receive today. The first Olympics apparently consisted of just one event; a 192 meter race known as the stadion race. This is where the word ‘stadium’ comes from.
Eventually, there were 23 events in total to choose from although no Olympics ever featured more than 20 events. The longest footrace was approximately 9 kilometers and the interesting Hoplite event was added circa 520 BC; it involved running up to 800 meters in full military gear!
In terms of combat events, the pankration was one of the most popular and probably the roughest as the only rules were no biting or gouging but some competitors did both! Boxing was introduced in 688 BC and sources suggest that body punches were either not used or not permitted. Fighters wore leather strips around their hands and were allowed to punch their opponent even when he was lying on the ground! If you were caught cheating, the punishment could be severe. Those caught trying to bribe someone would have to pay for a bronze statue of Zeus for example.
Equestrian events were also popular and a famous race involved the Emperor Nero who competed in the chariot race at the 67 AD Olympics. Nero was thrown from his chariot during the event but was still declared the winner on the grounds that he would have won had he finished! The pentathlon was a real test of a person’s all-round ability as competitors had to complete 5 events in a single day: Long jump, running, javelin throwing, discus throwing and wrestling. It’s unclear as to how the Greeks decided upon the overall winner however.
Famous athletes include Milos of Croton in wrestling, Cynisca of Sparta (who owned a four-horse chariot and is the first known female listed as an Olympic winner) and Varastades who won the boxing event in the final ancient Olympics and later became king of Armenia.