The origin of the ancient Olympic Games is lost in the midst of pre-history, but for many centuries they were only a festival of the Greek people. The Games were fest held in honour of the Greek god, Zeus in 776 BC in the plain of the kingdom of Elis, nestled in a lush valley between the Alpheus River and Mount Kronion, 15 km from the lonian Sea. The Olympiad celebrated that year was considered as the first and was used to date subsequent historic events. But religious ceremonies and games were held in Olympia before that time. The oldest sanctuary of Greece was there, the alter of the Great Mother of Gods, Rhea (Earth). On the day of the feast, the priest stood in front of the altar, ready to perform a sacrifice. Women were forbidden to be present on one stadium (about 200 yds.) As soon as a signal was given they ran and the first to arrive at the altar received the torch from the priest's hand and lit the sacrifice fire.
The old Olympiads were held after every four years and the Greeks measured time in terms of Games started on the first new moon after the summer solstice, around mid July. The ancient Olympic Games lasted for five days and the events took place in a precise order. On the first day, there were sacrifices and opening ceremonies. On the second day there were special competitions for the 'ephebians'. The third day was devoted to events for adult competitors: dromos, diaulos, dolichos, pugilism, wrestling, race with arms.
The games came to a sudden end when the Rome Emperor Theodosius banned the competitions and their attendant sacrificial offerings as pagan manifestations. From 395 AD onwards the fall of Olympia was very rapid. In that year the first damage was caused by the invasion of Alaric's barbarians. A year earlier the famous crysele-phantide statue of Zeus had been taken to Constantinople. It was destroyed in 475 AD during the great fire. Following the attacks on the Goths, a fire destroyed the temple of Zeus; earthquakes from
.jpg)
