|
|
According to Pausanias, the games were reestablished (from mythical
times) to celebrate the peace treaty among three kings, Iphitos, Lycourgos,
and Kleosthenes. This peace, later known as the Sacred Truce, was
remembered and honoured during each Olympic festival. Those who broke
this truce were fined and often banned from the games and refused
oracles by Delphi.
During the height of the prestige of Olympia, events and basic chronology
were dated by the Olympiads, which were in turn named after the winner
of the foot race. The first Olympic festival was titled the Koroibos
Olympiad after the first winner. The Eleans maintained a list (doubted
by some, such as Plutarch) which recorded all of the winners of all
of the competitions ever held. The three Olympiads conducted by Pisa
as well as the Olympiad organized by Nero were not recorded by the
Eleans and were considered "non-Olympiads." The games took place every
four years. The exact time of the games is not known, but they were
held during the summer and during a full moon, probably in the hot
months of July or September.
The Olympian Senate (all from Elis) met in the Bouleuterion and controlled
both the revenue and officials of the games. The priests and magistrates
lived in the Prytaneion while the high priests lived in the Theokoleon..
|
|