gram upon Milo, who having challeng'd the whole Affembly, and finding none that durft encounter him, claim'd the Crown, but as he was going to receive it, unfortunately fell down; whereat the People cry'd out, that he had forfeited the Prize; then Milo (a)

Αντας δ' εν μέσσιν ανέκραγω, Οὐχὶ ταὶ ἐσιν;
Εν κείμαι, λοιπὸν τἆλλα με τις βαλέτω ;

Arofe, and standing in the midft, thus cry'd,
One fingle Fall cannot the Prize decide,

And who is here can throw me th' other two?

But of Wrestling there were two forts, viz. one call'd Ogdía már, and Opfondan, which is that already defcrib'd; and another call'd Avanλivondan, becaufe the Combatants us'd voluntarily to throw themfelves down, and continue the Fight upon the Ground, by pinching, biting, fcratching, and all manner of ways annoying their Adversary: whereby it often came to pafs, that the weaker Combatant, and who would never have been able to throw his Antagonist, obtain❜d the Victory, and forc'd him to yield; for in this Exercife, as in Boxing alfo, the Victory was never adjudg'd, till one Party had fairly yielded; this was fometimes done by Words, and often by lifting up a Finger, whence Jantúrov dvaleivada fignifies to yield the Victory; for which Reason, we are told by Plutarch, that the Lacedemonians would not permit any of thofe Exercifes to be practis'd in their City, wherein thofe that were conquer'd did δακτύλον ἀνα είναθαι, i. e. confefs themfelves overcome by holding up their Finger; becaufe they thought it would derogate from the Temper and Spirit of the Spartans, to have any of them tamely yield to any Adverfary; tho that Place has been hitherto mistaken by moft Interpreters. Martial hath taken notice

of this Exercife:

Hunc amo, qui vincit, fed qui fuccumbere novit,
Et melius didicit τω ἀνακλινοπάλω.

It is the very fame with what is more commonly call'd Пafenov, which confifts of the two Exercises of Wrestling and Boxing; from the former it borrows the Custom of throwing down; from the latter, that of beating Adverfaries; for Wrestlers never ftruck, nor did Boxers ever attempt to throw down one another; but the Пaneanasai were permitted to do both; and it was cuftomary for the weaker Party, when he found himself fore prefs'd by his Adverfary, to fall down, and fight rolling on the Ground, whence thefe Combatants were call'd xASTRO, which gave occafion to the Mistake of Hieronymus Mercurialis, who fanfy'd there were two Pancratia, one in which the Combatants ftood erect; the other, in which they roll'd in the Gravel. This Exercife is fometimes call'd Пapuanov, and the Combatants Пqueed 200 (6).

(a) Antholog, lib. II. cap. I. epigram, XI, (b) Pollux. Suidas. Hyginus, &c.

Horfe

Horfe-races were either perform'd by fingle Horfes, which were call'd κίλητες, οι μονάμπυκες: Or by two Horfes, on one of which they perform'd the Race, and leap'd upon the other at the Goal; these Men were call'd dvabátal, and if it was a Mare they leap'd upon, fhe was nam'd: Or by Horfes coupled together in Chariots, which were fometimes drawn by two, three, four, &c. Horses; whence we read of δωροι, τέθριπποι, τετράωροι, &c. How great foever the number of Horfes might be, they were all plac'd not as now, but in one Front, being coupled together by Pairs: Afterwards Clifthenes the Sicyonian, brought up a Cultom of coupling the two middle Horses only, which are for that Reafon call'd Cuyo, and governing the reft by Reins, whence they are ufually term'd deegoog, Thegion, geson Deciogor, doprñgns, &c. Sometimes we find Mules us'd inftead of Horfes, and the Chariots drawn by them call'd dva. The principal Part of the Charioteer's Art and Skill, confifted in avoiding the vuaal, or Goals, in which if he fail'd, the over-turning of his Chariot, which was a neceffary Confequence of it, brought him into great Danger, as well as Difgrace.

Befide the Exercises already defcrib'd, there were others of a quite different Nature: Such were thofe wherein Muficians, Poets, and other. Artists contended for Victory. Thus in the XCIA Olympiad, Euripides and Xenocles contended, who fhould be accounted the best Tragedian (a). Another time Cleomenes recommended himself by repeating fome Collections of Empedocles's Verfes, which he had compil'd (b). Another time Gorgias of Leontium, who was the first that invented the Art of discourfing on any Subject without Premeditation, as we learn from Philoftratus, made a publick Offer to all the Greeks, who were present at the Solemnity, to difcourfe Extempore upon whatever Argument any of them fhould propound. Laftly, to mention only one Example more, Herodotus is faid to have gain'd very great Applaufe, and to have fir'd young Thucydides with an early Emulation of him, by repeating his History at the Olympian Games (c).

TH

CHA P. XXII.

Of the Olympian Games.

HE Olympian Games were fo call'd from Olympian Jupiter, to whom they were dedicated, or from Olympia, a City in the Territory of the Pifaans; or, according to Stephanus, the fame with Pifa. The firft Inftitution of them is by fome referr'd to Jupiter, after his Victory over the Sons of Titan (d); at which time Mars is faid to have been crown'd for Boxing, and Apollo to have been fuperior to Mercury at Running. Phlegon, the Author of the Olympiades reports, they were firft inftituted by Pifus, from whom the City Pife was nam'd.

Others will have the firft Author of them to be one of the Dactyli, nam'd Hercules, not the Son of Alcmena, but another of far greater Antiquity, that with his four Brethren, Paoneus, Ida, Jafius, and Epimedes, left their antient Seat in Ida, a Mountain of Crete, and fettled in Elis, where he inftituted this Solemnity; the Original of which was only a Race, wherein the four younger Brothers contending for Diverfion, the Victor was crown'd by Hercules with an Olive-garland, which was not compos'd of the common Olive-branches, nor the natural Product of that Country (*), but brought by Hercules (fo Fables will have it) from the Hyberborean Scythians, and planted in the Pantheum near Olympia, where it flourish'd, tho not after the manner of other Olive-trees, but fpreading out its Boughs more like a Myrtle; it was call'd savos, i. e. fit for Crowns, and Garlands given to Victors in these Games, were always compos'd of it, and it was forbidden under a great Penalty to cut it for any other use: These Dactyli were five in number, whence it is that the Olympian Games were celebrated once in five Years, tho others make them to be folemnized once in four; wherefore according to the former, an Olympiad must consist of five; according to the latter, of four Years: But neither of these Accounts are exact, for this Solemnity was held indeed every fifth Year, yet not after the term of five Years was quite past, but every fiftieth Month, which is the fecond Month after the completion of four Years (a): And as these Games were celebrated every fifth Year, fo they lafted five Days, for they began upon the eleventh- and ended upon the fifteenth Day of the Lunar Month, when the Moon was at full.

Others (if we may believe Julius Scaliger) report, that these Games were inftituted by Pelops to the honour of Neptune, by whose Affistance he had vanquished Oenomaus, and married his Daughter Hippodamia.

Others fay, they were firft celebrated by Hercules, the Son of Alcmena, to the honour of Pelops, from whom he was defcended by the Mother's fide (b), but being after that discontinu'd for fome Time, they were reviv'd by Iphitus, or Iphiclus, one of Hercules's Sons.

The most common Opinion is, that the Olympian Games were first inftituted by this Hercules, to the honour of Olympian Jupiter, out of the Spoils taken from Auges King of Elis, whom he had dethron'd, and plunder'd, being defrauded of the Reward he had promis'd him for cleanfing his Stables, as Pindar reports (c): Diodorus the Sicilian (d) gives the fame Relation, and adds, that Hercules propos'd no other Reward to the Vic&tors, but a Crown, in memory of his own Labours, all which he accomplish'd for the Benefit of Mankind, without defigning any Reward to himself, befide the Praife of doing well. At this Inftitution, it is reported that Hercules himself came off Conqueror in all the Exercifes, except Wrestling, to which when he had challeng'd all the Field, and could find no Man that durft grapple with him, at length Jupiter, having affum'd an human Shape, enter'd the

(*) Ariftoteles, & ex eo Ariftophanis Scholiaftes. (a) Ifaacius Tzetzes in Lycophronem, & Johannes Txetxes Chiliad. 1. Hiftor. XXI. (b) Solimus Polyhit. & Statis Theb. VI. (c) Olympion, initio Od. II. (d) Bibliothec. Hiftor. lib. IV.

3

Lifts; and when the Contention had remain'd doubtful for a confiderable Time, neither Party having the Advantage, or being willing to fubmit, the God discover'd himself to his Son, and from this Action got the Sirname of Ilaλain's or Wrestler, by which he is known in Lycophron (a).

All thefe Stories are rejected by Strabo, in his Defcription of Elis, where he reports, than an Ætolian Colony, together with fome of Hercules's Pofterity, fubdu'd a great many of the Pifaan Towns, and amongst them Olympia, where they firft inftituted, or, at least, reviv'd, enlarg'd, and augmented thefe Games, which (as my Author thinks) could not have been omitted by Homer, who takes every op portunity to adorn his Poems with Defcriptions of fuch Solemnities, had they been of any Note before the Trojan War. Whatever becomes of the firft Author of the Olympian Games, it is certain, they were either wholly laid afide, or very little frequented till the time of Iphitus, who was cotemporary with Lycurgus the Spartan Lawgiver (b). He re-inftituted this Solemnity about Four-hundred and eight Years after the Trojan War, from which time, according to Solinus, the number of the Olympiads are reckon'd (c). After this time they were again neglected till the time of Chorobus, who, according to Phlegon's Computation, liv'd in the twenty-eight Olympiad after Iphitus, and then inftituted again the Olympian Games, which after this time were conftantly celebrated. And this really fell out in the CCCCVIIIth Year after the Destruction of Troy; or two Years fooner by Eufebius's account, which reckons Four-hundred and fix Years from the taking of Troy to the first Olympiad. By the firft Olympiad meaning that which was first in the common Computation of Olympiads, which was begun at this time.

The Care and Management of thefe Games belong'd fometimes to the Pifaans, but for the most part to the Eleans, by whom the Pifaans were deftroy'd, and their very Name extinguish'd. Polybius in the fourth Book of his Hiftory reports, that the Eleans, by the general Confent of the Greeks, enjoy'd their Poffeffions without any Moleftation, or fear of War, or Violence, in confideration of the Olympian Games, which were there celebrated. And this he affigns as a reafon, why they chiefly delighted in a Country Life, and did not flock together into Towns like other States of Greece. Nevertheless we find, that the CIVth Olympiad was celebrated by order of the Arcadians, by whom the Eleans were at that Time reduc'd to a very low Condition; but this, and all thofe manag'd by the Inhabitants of Pifa, the Eleans call'd Avoλupma'sus, i. e. unlawful Olympiads, and left them out of their Annals, wherein the Names of the Victors, and all Occurrences at thefe Games were recorded. Till the fiftieth Olympiad, a fingle Perfon fuperintended, but then two were appointed to perform that Office. In the CIIId Olympiad that number was increas'd to twelve, according to the number of the Elean Tribes, out of every one of which one Prefident was elected: But in the following Olympiad, the Eleans ha

(a) Caffandra v. 41. (b) Ariftoteles in Plutarchi Lycurgo. Paufanias, \(c) S›lini Tolyhift. cap. I.

ving fuffer'd great Loffes by War with the Arcadians, and being reduc'd to eight Tribes, the Prefidents were also reduc'd to that Number: In the CVth Olympiad they were increas'd by the Addition of one more; and in the CVIth another was joyn'd to them, whereby they were made Ten; which Number continu'd till the Reign of Adrian, the Roman Emperor. These Perfons were call'd Exaluoding, and affembled together in a Place nam'd Exλlwodinator, in the Elean Forum, where they were oblig'd to refide ten Months before the celebration of the Games, to take care that fuch as offer'd themfelves to contend, perform'd their yuvaouala, or preparatory Exercifes, and to be inftructed in all the Laws of the Games, by certain Men call'd Nougúλaxes, i. e. Keepers of the Laws: Farther, to prevent all un juft Practices, they were oblig'd to take an Oath, that they would act impartially, would take no Bribes, nor difcover the Reason for which they dislik'd or approv'd of any of the Contenders: At the Solemnity they fat naked, having before them the Victoral Crown, till the Exercifes were finifh'd, and then it was prefented to whomfoever they adjudg'd it. Neverthelefs there lay an Appeal from the Hellanodica to the Olympian Senate. Thus, when two of the Hellanodica adjudg'd the Prize to Eupolemus the Elean, and the third (they being then only three in Number) to Leon the Ambracian, the latter of these appealed to the Olympian Senate, who condemn'd the two Judges to pay a confiderable Fine (a).

To preferve Peace and good Order, there were certain Officers ap pointed to correct fuch as were unruly. These were by the Eleans term'd daura, which Word fignifies the fame Person with those, who by the reft of the Greeks were call'd palopopor, or 5120gogos, and Lictores by the Romans. Over thefe there was a President, to whom the reft were fubject, call'd durάems (b).

Women were not allow'd to be prefent at thefe Games; nay, so severe were the Elean Laws, that if any Woman was found fo much as to have pafs'd the River Alpheus during the time of the Solemnity, fhe was to be tumbl'd headlong from a Rock (c): But it is reported, that none was ever taken thus offending, except Callipatera, whom others call Phenerice, who ventur'd to usher her Son Pifidorus, call'd by fome Eucleus, into the Exercises, and being difcover'd, was apprehended, and brought before the Presidents, who, notwithstanding the Severity of the Laws, acquitted her, out of Refpect to her Father, Brethren, and Son, who had all won Prizes in the Olympian Games. But my Author reports in another Place (d), that Cynifca, the Daughter of Archidamus, with manly Courage and Bravery, contended in the Olympian Games, and was the firft of her Sex, that kept Horfes, and won a Prize there; and that afterwards feveral others, especially fome of the Macedonian Women, imitated her Example, and were crown'd at Olympia. Perhaps neither of these Reports may be altogether groundlefs, fince innumerable Alterations were made in these Games, according to the Exigencies of Times, and change of Circumftances, all which are fet down at large in Paufanias, Natalis Comes, and other Mythologifts.

(a) Paufanias Eliac. C'. pag. 457, 458. Edit. Lipf. (b) Etymologici Au&tor. (c) Paufanias. (d) Laconicis.

All