Archaeology

Olympia

Place description

Olympia was located at the confluence of the rivers Alpheios and Kladeos, which was already settled during the prehistoric period. There was evidence for cultic activity in the 11th century BC. The discoveries of votive offerings such as figurines of animals and chariots point out the significance of stock breeding among the early worship of Zeus. The earliest Olympic Games in the city can be traced back to 776BC. By the 6th century BC, contestants from all over the Greek world, including Sicily and Italy, had already participated in the games. Horse and chariot races as well as athletics for both boys and men had already been added to the games by the 6th century BC. Winners won an olive wreath, the right to display their images in the Olympian sanctuary, and great renown. The gymnasium in the city was developed from an open space to a collection of buildings. There was a room (heroon) for sacred meal. A central altar there was inscribed with ‘belong to the hero’ with unknown identity. There was also a Roman bath building. The remains of the Prytaneion, dated to the 1st century AD, housed the dinner hosted by the Eleians to feast with the Olympic victors. The 4th century BC stadium was an enlarged version of its predecessor of roughly the same size. A secret tunnel there was used by the umpires and the contestants to access to the stadium. Women were excluded there except the Eleian priestess of Demeter Chamyne. The stone altar she sat has been resembled. There was an unexcavated hippodrome at the south of the stadium. Olympia was also a centre of display of inter-state treaties. In 338BC, Philip II of Macedonia was honored at Olympia with the Philippion, which advertised his family’s divine penetration to the Greek world. By Philip days, Olympia had already become an artistic centre that only Delphi could rival. The city also continued to expand its athletic facilities. However, it suffered in the early Roman period due to Sulla’s looting in 86BC. A revival was subsequently promoted by imperial patronage. For example, Agrippa repaired the Olympian temple. Nero was a major benefactor of the city and he also competed as a musician there in AD67. Tiberius also took part and won the chariot race in 4BC. In the 2nd century AD, the Olympic Games and its athletic facilities had been expanded under the sponsorship of Heroes Atticus. The game continued till the late 4th century. Nevertheless, under the Roman political domination, the Olympic Games and a classical statue by the sculptor Pheidas, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, became the nostalgic subjects of the classical Greece. The city was threatened by the barbarians in the mid 3rd century and it prompted the constriction of a defensive wall. By the close of antiquity a lot of classical monuments were destroyed by earthquakes and floods. Slavs started settling in the city’s vicinity. The tallest building in the city was the Leonidaion. It was the gift of Leonides son of Leotes, the Naxian, according to the records on the two sides of the building architrave. It served as a guesthouse and banqueting area. In the mid 2nd century, it was used as the residence of the Roman governors and was rebuilt after a fire. At the east of the building, there was a Roman building of brick construction probably built under Nero’s patronage. It might have been a club house for the Greek athletes until the 4th century AD. The building had a 10m long façade with three arched statue-niches. There was also a swimming pool and a court veneered in colourful marble. There were also two training rooms that flanked the court. The bourleuterion was the seats of the Olympic council during the Roman period. Participants of the Olympic Games had to swear there to observe the rules. A stoa was built at the south of it along with a projecting centre, which might have been a viewing stand for important viewers of the game. The centre overlooked the hippodrome and the processional route from Elis. The workshop of Pheidas was the second highest building in Olympia. In the 2nd century AD, the workshop housed an altar of all the gods. The building was converted into a church in the 5th century AD. The Temple of Zeus, built at 470BC, was funded by Elis’ booty from a successful war against Pisa. Herodotus read out his work in a lecture hall there. The altar of Zeus was located at the northeast of the temple. It was the true focus of the Zeus’ cult. The main room of the temple was made of gold and ivory, and there was an adorned throne supported by a base with gold figures made by Pheidias. The temple underwent frequent repairs in antiquity. Its statue was moved to Constantinople in AD395. An earthquake in the 6th century AD destroyed the colonnade. A palatial residence called the House of Nero replaced an earlier Greek building. The city’s largest Roman bath was built next to it in the early 3rd century AD. Two inscriptions indicated that they depicted Egyptian ruler Ptolemy II. In the Altis there was a row of bases for bronze images of Zeus called Zanes. Part of a theatre there was used mainly to watch processions and sacrifices. There was also a row of eleven treasuries of Greek cities. The Metroon or the shrine of the Mother, dated to 400BC, was dedicated to Rhea or the mother of Zeus. There was a large nymphaion at the west of the Metroon. The Temple of Hera was built at the early 6th century BC. The temple was honoured in the 2nd century AD with four yearly games for women only. The precinct of Pelops was a 10th century BC artificial mound built on top of prehistoric remains. The Philippeion was a circular and temple-like structure built to house the statues of Philip II and his family.