Carrying the torch in tranquil Athens

By MARTIN ROBINSON

The ancient Olympic Games were held at Olympia, a quiet sanctuary in an unspoilt valley hidden among the mountains of the northwest Peloponnese, a four-hour bus journey from the capital.

The Olympics began in 776BC and were usually held every four years for more than a thousand years until AD393, when all pagan sports and festivals were banned by the Christian Emperor Theodosius I. Only Greek and Roman citizens could take part in the games, women were banned and the male athletes competed naked.

At Olympia tourists can walk through an arched tunnel and enter the ancient Olympic stadium - the largest of its day. The track is 212m long and 28m wide, and the stadium is a natural amphitheatre surrounded by high grassy banks which used to seat 40,000 noisy male spectators.

Judges and VIPs sat on stone seats, a few of which have survived. A stone channel runs around the track and was used to provide a drink for thirsty competitors and spectators. Amazingly, the starting and finishing lines (wide enough to take 20 lanes) are still in place - two grooves cut in a line of stone blocks that are buried in the ground.

Some tourists change into running gear and sprint up and down where the crowds used to cheer on the sporting heroes of long ago.

As this is Greece, there are plenty of ruins to explore. Nearby, stone walls and pillars stretch along one side of a large open space - all that remains of the gymnasiums (built in 200-300BC) where athletes trained for events such as the long jump, discus, javelin, running, boxing and wrestling.

The long jumpers carried heavy weights in both hands and swung them to give extra impetus to their jumps.

Nearby on the banks of the Kladeos River are the remains of the athletes' baths, dating from 500BC.

Further on are the ruins of a large guest house constructed in 330BC with rooms overlooking a courtyard and a fountain, but little is left of the council chamber where the athletes took the Olympic oath of fair play. Competition was intense and outside the stadium were 12 statues of Zeus, erected as a punishment by athletes caught offering or accepting bribes.

Unfortunately, the hippodrome where the popular chariot races were held has been washed away by the Kladeos. It was six times larger than the stadium and the most notorious winner was the Roman Emperor, Nero. In AD67 no one dared to compete against him, but he was so drunk that he fell off his chariot and didn't finish the course. Needless to say he was still declared the winner.

Sporting champions were crowned with a wreath from an olive tree growing near Olympia's temple of Zeus, and some were immortalised in poetry and song and had statues set up next to those of emperors and gods. Winners received prize money from their home states and benefits such as free food for life.

All the Greek states agreed to a one-month truce before and during the festival when wars were suspended and capital punishments put off. Nothing was allowed to interfere with preparations for the sacred games, which were dedicated to Zeus, the supreme Greek deity.

Don't miss the revamped museum which includes stone inscriptions to famous sportsmen of ancient times. The boxer Euthymos won glory three times, and the sport was much tougher in those days - no weight categories, no rest breaks and no boxing gloves. Injuries were frequent and sometimes fatal.

Pankratium, a mixture of wrestling and boxing, was even more savage and referees had big sticks to help them keep control. Bouts continued until one contestant submitted by raising his index finger.

Also in the museum is a 140kg block of stone inscribed "Bybon has lifted me over his head with one hand".

Slaves, non-Greeks and women were not allowed to compete in the games or even watch, and death was the punishment for anyone breaking the rule. A women's race and children's sports were held but were not part of the main event.

Olympia was not just about sport. Cultural events such as poetry and trumpet-playing contests, took place. Athletes and sports fans, priests and pilgrims, poets and musicians, commoners and emperors gathered together at this lively festival that generally lasted for five days.

It attracted people from throughout the Greek empire, which stretched from Italy to Turkey and south to Egypt. Peace treaties were discussed and signed by warring city states, and plenty of partying went on, especially when Emperor Nero was around.

Olympia was also an important religious sanctuary. Little is left of the great temple of Zeus, but visitors stand in awe of the marble ruins and the 10m columns that offer a glimpse of its original grandeur.

Victors in war as well as sports made offerings to Zeus at this temple, and Greek city states built stone vaults to keep their offerings of bronze bowls and armour secure.

A visit to Olympia is a wonderful introduction to many aspects of life in the Greek empire of 2000 years ago. You can learn as much about ancient Greece from its sports as from its political or religious institutions and beliefs.