Sport-Classics Oxford Bibliographies Onl

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Sport
Zinon Papakonstantinou
Introduction
Sport was practiced in ancient Greece since at least the Bronze Age; however, athletic activities are not
extensively documented before the Archaic period. In the Homeric epics, competition in a number of events (including running, discus,
jumping, and chariot racing) is presented primarily as an elite activity that is integrated in the network of the Homeric aristocratic ethos of
masculine valor and peer interaction. Archaeological, literary, and epigraphic evidence unequivocally suggests the rapid growth and
popularity of competitive sport in the centuries that followed. By the mid-6th century BCE the periodos circuit of Panhellenic athletic
games, which were integrated in the celebration of major religious festivals in interstate sanctuaries, was firmly established. City-states
almost invariably hosted their own athletic competitions. At the same time, a culture of athletic training in the gymnasia of Greek
communities emerged and flourished. Such training was conducted as part of preparation for competitions or in the context of a regime
of intellectual and military education of youths, or both. The model outlined above (competitive athletics in Panhellenic and local
festivals; gymnasium-centered physical training) was largely adopted by cities in the eastern Mediterranean region following the
conquests of Alexander the Great and the creation of Hellenistic empires, and it remained the order of the day in much of the Roman-
controlled, Greek-speaking East. As far as the Roman world is concerned, there is some evidence for the relative popularity of Greek-
style athletics in Archaic Etruria. Moreover, there were some attempts to establish Greek-style agones in the city of Rome and other
parts of the Roman state. But ultimately, the sporting preferences of the Romans as well as of the inhabitants of most of the Roman-
controlled West lay in arena spectacles and chariot racing in the hippodrome. Arena spectacles eventually spread in the eastern parts of
the Roman Empire as well and coexisted with traditional Greek athletic competitions and the gymnasium culture. The bibliography that
follows covers all major aspect of Greek-style competitive and civic athletics from the Bronze Age to late Antiquity. For Roman sports, it
focuses on chariot racing. It should be noted that Roman chariot racing was in many respects distinctively different from the equestrian
competitions conducted in Greek agones. This article also discusses Greek-style athletics conducted in Rome and the Roman
provinces. Arena spectacles such as gladiatorial shows and beast hunts are treated in a separate Oxford Bibliographies
article.Preference has been given to more recent titles that contain up-to-date references to primary sources and modern literature, but
older and still fundamental items are also duly noted.
General Overviews
In recent decades scholars have approached ancient sport as a complex phenomenon that provides a point of entry for understanding
central aspects of the Greco-Roman world. Sport was socially embedded and constituted part of pivotal religious and educational
institutions; it provided a platform for forging local and wider identities; it served as a token of social differentiation; and it was often
abused for ideological and political purposes. For these and many other reasons, the study of athletics holds particular importance for
the professional classicist. Moreover, aspects of ancient sport, and especially the Olympics, have traditionally generated considerable
interest outside the strict field of classics. As a result, many overviews, such as Decker 1995, Decker and Thuillier 2004, Golden 2004,
and Kyle 2007, as well as textbooks such as Miller 2004, are written not merely for specialists but with a wider readership in mind.
Ongoing archaeological discoveries and the application of new approaches will surely contribute further to this fast-developing field.
Decker, Wolfgang. 1995. Sport in der griechischen Antike: Vom minoischen Wettkampf bis zu den Olympischen Spielen.
Munich: Beck.
Authoritative and richly illustrated synthesis on Greek sport from the Bronze Age until late Antiquity.
http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com.proxy.uchicago.edu/view/document/obo-9780195389... 1/8/2014
Decker, Wolfgang, and J. P. Thuillier. 2004. Le sport dans l’antiquité: Égypte, Grèce, Rome. Paris: Picard.
Up-to-date, extensively illustrated overview of ancient Mediterranean sport. Besides Greece and Rome, it also contains chapters on
Egypt and Etruria.
Golden, Mark. 2004. Sport in the ancient world from A to Z. London and New York: Routledge.
Encyclopedia format, concise discussion of the most important aspects of Greco-Roman sport. Includes bibliographical references.
Valuable as a quick reference guide.
Kyle, Donald G. 2007. Sport and spectacle in the ancient world. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Comprehensive, authoritative, up-to-date survey of Greco-Roman sport. Suitable as an introduction to the subject and a textbook for
courses on ancient sport. Bibliography contains mostly English-language titles.
Miller, Stephen. 2004. Ancient Greek athletics. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
Designed primarily as an undergraduate textbook on ancient Greek sport, it covers a wide range of topics, including the emergence and
development of ancient Greek athletic competitions, Greek sport in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, sport and women, sport and
politics. Lavishly illustrated.
Bibliographies
Comprehensive bibliographies are essential for the growth of any scholarly field. Students of ancient sport are fortunate to have some
excellent bibliographic resources at their disposal. Scanlon 1984 and Decker and Rieger 2005 provide coverage for specific periods.
Crowther 1985a (continued in Crowther 1985b) is comprehensive until the early 1980s and includes references to many hard-to-find
works. Finally, the journal Nikephoros annually publishes bibliographies that are the first point of call for up-to-date coverage.
Crowther, Nigel B. 1985a. Studies in Greek athletics, part I. Classical World 78:497–558.
Extensive (over 1,000 entries) bibliography of Greek sport, subdivided in several categories, covering works published until the early
1980s. Includes brief commentary.
Crowther, Nigel B. 1985b. Studies in Greek athletics, part II. Classical World 79:73–135.
Continuation of Crowther 1985a.
Decker, Wolfgang, and Barbara Rieger. 2005. Bibliographie zum Sport im Altertum für die Jahre 1989 bis 2002. Cologne: Verlag
Sport und Buch.
Thorough coverage for the years 1989 to 2002.
Nikephoros: Zeitschrift für Sport und Kultur in Altertum.

The journal Nikephoros annually publishes comprehensive bibliographies on ancient sport, divided into several categories. Complied by
Wolfgang Decker and other scholars, these bibliographies are an indispensible research tool.
Scanlon, Thomas F. 1984. Greek and Roman athletics: A bibliography. Chicago: Ares.
Covers the most important titles up to the early 1980s. Often includes book review references for monographs and edited volumes.
History of Scholarship on Greek Sport
The study of the history of scholarship on Greco-Roman sport holds special significance owing to the importance of sport in the modern
world and its popularly perceived “debt” to classical antiquity. Various aspects of modern sport (e.g., particular sporting events, the
Olympic Games, or sport contests as large-scale spectacles) are widely perceived as Greek and Roman “legacies.” Yet other aspects of
modern sport—for instance, the strict amateur ethic that was prevalent until recently in some international contests such as the
Olympics—ultimately emanate from gross misreadings of the ancient evidence by classical scholars such as Norman Gardiner (Gardiner
1910, Gardiner 1930). Similarly misguided views were advanced as recently as Harris 1979 (originally 1964) and Harris 1972. The
pioneering work of Pleket 1975, Pleket 2001 (originally 1974), Young 1984, and others that followed did much to debunk the old
scholarly distortions. Overall, past scholarship on ancient sport is fundamental for understanding many aspects of the emergence and
early development of the modern sports movement.
Gardiner, E. Norman. 1910. Greek athletic sports and festivals. London: Macmillan.
For decades the standard textbook in English on ancient Greek sport. The sections providing a history of Greek sport are influenced by
Victorian-era upper-class sport ideology. Gardiner formulated a largely distorted paradigm of Greek athletics according to which Greek
sport, after a period of lofty aristocratic amateurism, entered a phase of decline because of lower-class professionalism. The sections on
athletic events and facilities are rich in detail but are largely out of date.
Gardiner, E. Norman. 1930. Athletics of the ancient world. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
A revised, shorter version of Gardiner 1910 with the addition of some new material (“Sports of the ancient East,” “Roman sports”). Aimed
at a general audience. Largely marred by the same problems noted for Gardiner 1910.
Harris, Harold A. 1972. Sport in Greece and Rome. London: Thames & Hudson.
Although as outdated and methodologically flawed as Harris 1979, it is still useful for its overview of some rarely discussed topics (e.g.,
swimming and rowing).
Harris, Harold A. 1979. Greek athletes and athletics. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Written in the tradition of Gardiner’s model of successive stages of amateurism, professionalism, and “decline” of Greek sport. Provides
an extensive summary of athletic events and training as well as chapters on athletic facilities and women in Greek athletics. Originally
published in 1964 (London: Hutchinson).
Pleket, Harry W. 1975. Games, prizes, athletes and ideology. Some aspects of the history of sport in the Greco-Roman world.
Stadion 1:49–89.
Fundamental revisionist discussion of the nature of athletic contests, the social background of athletes, and the ideology of sport in the
Greco-Roman world.
Pleket, Harry W. 2001. Zur Soziologie des antiken Sports. Nikephoros 14:157–212.
Pioneering article (revision with addenda of the 1974 original) that questioned long-established orthodoxies on Greek sport. Contains a
valuable discussion of aristocratic athletes, athletic ideology, and prizes, as well as other aspects of Greek sport from the Archaic to the
Roman Imperial period. Highlights the importance of epigraphic evidence, especially for later periods.
Young, David C. 1984. The Olympic myth of Greek amateur athletics. Chicago: Ares.
Well-known among sport historians for its polemical heterodoxy in debunking deep-seated misconceptions about ancient Greek
amateurism and professionalism, this is required reading for anyone interested in the history of early scholarship on Greek sport and its
impact on the modern Olympic movement.
Sources and Evidence
Greco-Roman sport is fairly extensively documented, a token of its popularity and importance. Literary, epigraphic, papyrological,
iconographic, and other archaeological evidence illuminates many aspects of this multifaceted, socially embedded activity.
LITERARY SOURCES
The present section focuses on collections of source material (primarily literary) on Greco-Roman sport. Scholarly analyses of sport in
particular literary genres or authors receive treatment in Sport in Greek and Roman Literature. A number of sourcebooks for Greek and
Roman sport exist, a reflection of the increasing scholarly interest in the subject and the growing number of ancient sport courses in
universities around the world. Miller 2004 is the best for Greek sport, mostly for undergraduate use. For Greek sport there is also Sweet
1987. Futrell 2006 and Mahoney 2001 are useful for Roman sport and spectacles, also geared primarily for undergraduate courses. For
scholarly, comprehensive collections of sources on particular sporting events, the volumes in the series Weiler 1991–2002 are
indispensible.
Futrell, Alison. 2006. The Roman games. A sourcebook. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Historical narrative of Roman arena spectacles and equestrian competitions, interspersed with sources in translation.
Mahoney, Anne. 2001. Roman sports and spectacles: A sourcebook. Newburyport, MA: Focus.
Contains sources (literary and epigraphic) in translation for chariot racing, Greek-style athletics, women and sport, politics and sport in
ancient Rome.
Miller, Stephen. 2004. Arete: Greek sports from ancient sources. 3d ed. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Companion piece to Miller’s Ancient Greek Athletics (see Miller 2004, cited under General Overviews), it is aimed primarily at
undergraduate classroom use. Sources are divided in fifteen categories and presented in English translation.
Weiler, Ingomar, ed. 1991–2002. Quellendokumentation zur Gymnastik und Agonistik im Altertum. 7 vols. Vienna: Böhlau
Verlag.
This series under the general editorship of Ingomar Weiler comprises exhaustive collections of primary (literary and epigraphic) sources
with German translations. Each volume is dedicated to a particular event: (Volume 1, discus; Volume 2, long jump; Volume 3, javelin;
Volume 4, boxing; Volume 5, pankration; Volume 6, wrestling; Volume 7, running).
Sweet, Waldo E. 1987. Sport and recreation in ancient Greece. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
Testimonia are divided in thirty-three categories. Extensively illustrated. Translations of primary sources are followed by brief comments
or questions posed by the author and aimed at stimulating a deeper understanding of the passages in question. Each section ends with
some suggestions for further reading.
EPIGRAPHIC SOURCES
Inscriptions provide a great wealth of information on virtually any aspect of ancient sport, especially during the Hellenistic and Roman
periods. Although some have been integrated in general reconstructions of Greco-Roman sports, the overwhelming majority of
inscriptions relevant to the history of athletics have received only isolated treatment. Chaniotis 1995 is a case study that demonstrates
the sheer number of sport-related epigraphic sources as well as the importance of their systematic and comprehensive study. Moretti
1953 is still useful in providing ready access to major Greek agonistic inscriptions. Ebert 1972 (cited under Athletes) is a valuable
collection of epinician epigrams with commentary. Moretti 1957 (see Athletes) contain detailed references to inscriptions related to
Olympic victors (and supplements appearing in Klio 52 (1970): 295–303 and Miscellanea greca e romana 12 (1987): 67–91). Tracy 1991
(see Other Local Athletic Contests) reviews the epigraphic evidence for the Panathenaea games.
Chaniotis, Angelos. 1995. Sich selbst feiern? Städtische Feste des Hellenismus im Spannungsfeld von Religion und Politik. In
Stadtbild und Bürgerbild im Hellenismus. Edited by M. Wörrle and P. Zanker, 147–169. Munich: Beck.
Dense and comprehensive discussion of the primarily epigraphic evidence for festivals, many of which included athletic games, of the
Hellenistic period. Contains a useful catalogue of festivals, dates and references to epigraphic material.
Moretti, Luigi. 1953. Iscrizioni agonistiche greche. Rome: A. Signorelli.

Outdated, but still the only collection of Greek agonistic inscriptions.
PAPYROLOGICAL SOURCES
The systematic publication of papyri since the late 19th century (e.g., the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, 1898 to present) has significantly
enhanced the available documentation for sport in the Greco-Roman world, especially Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (see Körbs 1962
and Frisch 1986). Several studies (e.g., Poliakoff 1982, cited under Sport in Greek and Roman Literature; Perpillou-Thomas 1993, cited
under Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt; and König 2005, cited under Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period and the Roman East)
demonstrate the value of papyri in the study of Greek sport.
Körbs, Werner. 1962. Gymnasiale Mitteilungen in hellenistischen Papyri der frühen Ptolemäerzeit. In Carl Diem: Festschrift zur
Vollendung seines 80. Lebensjahres am 24. Juni 1962. Edited by Werner Körbs, 88–99. Frankfurt and Vienna: Limpert.
Based primarily on papyrological evidence, the author discusses aspects of sport and the gymnasium in the Ptolemaic period.
Frisch, Peter. 1986. Zehn agonistische Papyri. Opladen, Germany: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Edition, German translation and commentary of ten agonistic papyri illuminating aspects of sport in late Roman Egypt.
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. 1898–. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

The well-established series of critical editions of Oxyrynchus Papyri contains several that are of interest to scholars of sport in Greco-
Roman Egypt.
SCULPTURE
Beginning in the Late Archaic period, winners at major competitions often erected statues commemorating their victories (Smith 2007).
These epinician statues were usually accompanied by an inscription that outlined basic facts about the victor and his or her athletic
achievements (Rausa 1994; for literary reception of agonistic statuary, see Steiner 2002). By late Antiquity, sites of athletic games and
public spaces in cities hosted numerous, at times even hundreds of statues; Pausanias mentions more than 200 in Olympia (Herrmann
1988; for Olympia see also Raschke 2002).
Herrmann, Hans-Volkmar. 1988. Die Siegerstatuen von Olympia: Schriftliche Überlieferung und archäologischer Befund.
Nikephoros 1:119–183.
Examines the literary and archaeological evidence for victors’ statues in Olympia.
Raschke, Wendy J. 2002. Images of victory: Some new considerations. In The archaeology of the Olympics: The Olympics and
other festivals in Antiquity. 2d ed. Edited by Wendy J. Raschke, 38–54. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
A balanced discussion of epinician statues and architectural sculpture at Olympia.
Rausa, Federico. 1994. l’immagine del vincitore: l’atleta nella statuaria greca dall’età arcaica all’ellenismo. Treviso and Rome:
Edizioni Viella.
An overview of the development of the typology and significance of Greek athletic statuary from the late Archaic to the Roman period.
Smith, R. R. R. 2007. Pindar, athletes, and the early Greek statue habit. In Pindar’s poetry, patrons, and festivals: From Archaic
Greece to the Roman Empire. Edited by Simon Hornblower and Catherine Morgan, 83–139. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ.
Press.
Extensive, up-to-date and thought-provoking survey of Greek (especially Olympic) athletic statuary.
Steiner, Deborah Tam. 2002. Images in mind: Statues in Archaic and Classical Greek literature and thought. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton Univ. Press.
Examines perceptions of statuary, including epinician statues, in Archaic and Classical literature.
ICONOGRAPHY
Vase-painting iconography is a fundamental source for ancient athletics, and it has been extensively used by scholars to illustrate facets
that are not adequately discussed in literary and epigraphic sources. Jüthner 1965–1968 (cited under Athletic Events) and especially
Patrucco 1972 (cited under General Overviews) contain an extensive number of illustrations of sports-related vase-painting iconography.
Kefalidou 1996 takes vase-painting iconography as a starting point to dissect aspects of Greek athletic victory ceremonies and ideology.
Bentz 1988 (cited under Panathenaia) is another example of a thorough analysis of athletic iconography. Poliakoff 1987 (cited under
Athletes) demonstrates how iconography can illuminate obscure, technical aspects of ancient sport.
Kefalidou, Eurydice. 1996. Νικηtttής: Εικονογραφική uuuελέtttη tttου αρχαίου Ελληνικού αθληtttισuuuού. Thessaloniki,
Greece: Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki.
A thorough study of the iconography of Greek athletic victories. Contains a registry of images and plates.
Greek Sport in the Bronze Age
Archaeological evidence attests to the practice of various forms of sport and physical drills (e.g., boxing and running, see Rystedt 1986;
bull-leaping, see Younger 1976 and Younger 1995) in late Bronze Age Greece. General surveys on this topic include Renfrew 1988 and
Kyle 2007. The exact nature and purpose of some of these practices are disputed. Some might have been of a competitive nature, for
instance as part of funeral games for famous individuals (see e.g., Decker 1982–1983). Alternatively, some athletic practices might have
had a ceremonial or initiatory function (Scanlon 1999).
Decker, Wolfgang. 1982–1983. Die mykenische Herkunft des griechischen Totenagons. Stadion 8–9:1–24.
Explores the Mycenaean origins of Greek funeral games. In the process he examines evidence for sport in Mycenaean Greece.
Kyle, Donald G. 2007. Sport and spectacle in the ancient world. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Surveys the evidence for sport in late Bronze Age Greece. Contains references to recent bibliography. See especially pp. 38–53.
Renfrew, Colin. 1988. The Minoan-Mycenean origins of the Panhellenic games. In The archaeology of the Olympics and other
festivals in Antiquity. Edited by Wendy J. Raschke, 13–25. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
Examines archaeological evidence and late mythological reports for sport practices in Minoan and Mycenean Greece. Moreover, it
explores the links between religious practices in the Bronze Age and the emergence of Panhellenic sanctuaries in Iron Age Greece.
Rystedt, Eva. 1986. The foot-race and other athletic contests in the Mycenaean world: The evidence of the pictorial vases.
Opuscula Atheniensia 16.8: 103–116.
Evaluates the Mycenaean pictorial evidence for physical activities (running, boxing, spear throwing).
Scanlon, Thomas F. 1999. Women, bull sports, cults, and initiation in Minoan Crete. Nikephoros 12:33–70.
Reviews the evidence for the participation of women in bull sports in Minoan Crete.
Sipahi, T. 2001. New evidence from Anatolia regarding bull-leaping scenes in the art of the Aegean and the Near East.
Anatolica 17:107–125.
Discusses and interprets Hittite and Near Eastern parallels to Aegean Bronze Age artistic representations of bull leaping.
Younger, John G. 1976. Bronze Age representations of Aegean bull-leaping. American Journal of Archaeology 80:125–137.
First of a series of studies by Younger on the subject of Aegean bull-leaping. He provides a typology (which he slightly modified in Muse
17 [1983]:72–80) of bull-leaping artistic representations based on a thorough analysis of the pictorial evidence.
Younger, John G. 1995. Bronze Age representations of Aegean bull-games, III. In Politeia: Society and state in the Aegean
Bronze Age; Proceedings of the 5th International Aegean Conference, Archäologisches Institut, University of Heidelberg,
Germany, 10–13 April 1994, vol. 2. Edited by R. Laffineur and W. D. Niemeier, 507–545. Liège, Belgium: Université de Liège,
Histoire de l’art et archéologie de la Grèce antique.
In his latest study on the subject, Younger reassesses the social significance of bull leaping and other activities involving bulls in the
Aegean Bronze Age.
Sport in the Homeric Epics
The Homeric epics provide the earliest extensive literary description of athletic contests in the Greek world. The funeral games of
Patroclus (Il. 23.257–897) and the games in Phaeacia (Od. 8.97–255) are extempore contests with multiple events, such as running,
wrestling, boxing, discus, and chariot racing. See Laser 1987 for an overview. The games in question are described as almost
exclusively aristocratic affairs. See Kyle 1984 for sport and social status in Homer; Hammer 1997 for sport and political authority;
Papakonstantinou 2002 for athletic prizes as part of elite gift exchange; and Scott 1997 for the literary structure of the funeral games of
Patroclus passage. In other parts of the epics there are indirect hints of physical training and contests by individuals of lower social
orders. There are no direct references in the epics to periodically occurring athletic contests, though there may be one to the Olympics
(Scanlon 2004).
Hammer, Dean. 1997. “Who shall readily obey?”: Authority and politics in the “Iliad.” Phoenix 51:1–24.
Detects novel models of political leadership emerging from the funeral games in Il. 23.
Kyle, Donald G.. 1984. Non-competition in Homeric sport: Spectatorship and status. Stadion 10:1–19.
Examines issues of spectatorship, participation, and social status in Homeric sport.
Laser, Siegfried. 1987. Sport und Spiel. Archaeologia Homerica 3, Kapitel T. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Detailed account of all aspects of sport in the Homeric epics. Use of archaeological comparanda.
Papakonstantinou, Zinon. 2002. Prizes in Early Archaic Greek sport. Nikephoros 15:51–67.
Interprets the award of prizes in the funeral games of Patroclus in the context of Homeric aristocratic ideology of gift exchange and peer
reciprocity.
Scanlon, Thomas F. 2004. Homer, the Olympics and the heroic ethos. In The Olympic games in Antiquity: “Bring forth rain and
bear fruit.” Edited by Maria Kaila, et al., 61–91. Athens: Atrapos.
Argues that there is possibly an allusion to the Olympics in Il. 11.699.
Scott, W. C. 1997. The etiquette of games in Iliad 23. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 38:213–227.
Perceives three main components in the structure of the funeral games of Patroclus narrative in Il. 23: type scenes, employment of
known characters, and the use of an overarching social code.
Olympia and the Olympics
The ancient Olympic games, conducted quadrennially during the festival of Zeus in Olympia, were the most prestigious and allegedly the
oldest periodic athletic competition in the Greek world. See Christesen 2007 for the problems of early Olympic chronology, and Morgan
1990 (cited under Other Periodos Games and Their Sites) for the site of Olympia in the 8th century BCE. At the height of their popularity
the Olympics attracted state delegations, visitors, and athletes from every corner of the ancient world; for an overview see Sinn 2000
and Kyle 2007; Lee 2001 for the athletic program. For various aspects of the ancient Olympics see Coulson and Kyrieleis 1992 and
Weiler 1997. In addition, Crowther 2004 (cited under Social Aspects of Greek Sport) contains a number of articles on various facets of
the ancient Olympics. During the same period, in addition to sanctuaries and shrines, the site of Olympia was also equipped with
extensive athletic facilities, on which see Coulson and Kyrieleis 1992 and Kyrieleis 2002. Often what happened in Olympia—on and off
the stadion and hippodrome—had far-reaching repercussions in interstate relations and intrastate social relationships as well as the in
the forging of a suprastate cultural identity (on the last, see Nielsen 2007). The bibliography that follows provides an introduction to
major aspects of the site of Olympia and the Olympic games. All the cited works contain references to more specialized studies,
including archaeological excavation reports.
Coulson, William, and Helmut Kyrieleis, eds. 1992. Proceedings of an International Symposium on the Olympic Games, 5–9
September 1988. Athens, Greece: Deutsches Archeologisches Institut Athen.
Contains studies pertaining to various aspects of the ancient Olympics and the site of Olympia.
Christesen, Paul. 2007. Olympic victor lists and ancient Greek history. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
A thorough study that reevaluates the composition and purpose of ancient Olympic victor lists and considers their implications for
Olympic history and chronology.
Kyle, Donald G. 2007. Sport and festival in the ancient world. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Succinct and insightful account of the ancient Olympic games (pp. 94–135), with references to more specialized studies.
Kyrieleis, Helmut, ed. 2002. Olympia 1875–2000: 125 Jahre Ausgrabungen. Internationales Symposion. Berlin 9–11. November
2000. Mainz am Rhein, Germany: Philipp von Zabern.
An excellent starting point for any scholarly understanding of the physical backdrop of Olympia as revealed by the German
Archaeological Institute excavations. Includes chapters on the archaeological evidence for other periodos sanctuaries as well.
Lee, Hugh M. 2001. The program and schedule of the ancient Olympic games. Nikephoros Beihefte 6. Hildesheim, Germany:
Weidmann.
A painstaking study of the schedule of the ancient Olympics.
Nielsen, Thomas Heine. 2007. Olympia and the classical Hellenic city-state culture. Historisk-filosofiske Meddeleser 96.
Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Examines Olympia and the Olympic games as sites for the construction of local and Panhellenic identity during the Classical period.
Argues that interaction at Olympia contributed to the enhancement of a “city-state culture.”
Sinn, Ulrich. 2000. Olympia: Cult, sport, and ancient festival. Princeton, NJ: M. Wiener.
Concise, readable and judicious introduction to the site of Olympia and the ancient Olympic games.
Weiler, Ingomar, ed. 1997. Olympia—Sport und Spektakel: Die Olympische Spiele im Alterum und ihre Rezeption im modern
Olympismus, Symposion, Graz 3–5. Oktober 1996. Nikephoros 10. Hildesheim, Germany: Weidmann.
Special issue of the journal Nikephoros that contains various studies on the ancient Olympics and their modern reception.
Other Periodos Games and Their Sites
By the end of the 6th century BCE, the Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean games constituted the periodos of the Panhellenic
“crown” or “stephanitic” games (so named because they awarded wreaths, stephanoi, as prizes) (Davies 2007). Even though other
games joined the periodos in later centuries, the original four remained the most prestigious ones. Similarly to Olympia, the sites of
Delphi (Morgan 1990, Bommelaer and Laroche 1991, Weir 2004, Valavanis 2004, Scott 2010), Isthmia (Gebhard 1993, Valavanis 2004)
and Nemea (Miller, et al. 2004; Valavanis 2004) housed extensive athletic facilities, most of which have been thoroughly excavated in
modern times.
Bommelaer, J. F., and D. Laroche. 1991. Guide de Delphes: Le site. Paris: De Boccard.
Thorough overview of the site of Delphi and its various (including athletic) facilities.
Davies, John. 2007. The origins of the festivals, especially Delphi and the Pythia. In Pindar’s poetry, patrons, and festivals:
From Archaic Greece to the Roman Empire. Edited by Simon Hornblower and Catherine Morgan, 47–69. Oxford: Oxford Univ.
Press.
Reexamines the literary and archaeological evidence for the early phases of periodos sanctuaries and their games, especially Delphi
and the Pythia. The sanctuaries in question, in the process of competing and imitating each other, were accorded a Panhellenic status
because they met a number of agonistic, religious, and ideological needs.
Gebhard, E. R. 1993. The evolution of a pan-Hellenic sanctuary: From archaeology towards history at Isthmia. In Greek
sanctuaries: New approaches. Edited by Nanno Marinatos and Robin Hägg, 154–177. London and New York: Routledge.
An authoritative overview of the material remains and history of the sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia from the early Iron Age to the
Hellenistic period.
Miller, Stephen, ed. 2004. Nemea: A guide to the site and museum. Athens, Greece: Archaeological Receipts Fund.
A detailed, authoritative description of the religious and athletic remains at Nemea.
Morgan, Catherine. 1990. Athletes and oracles. The transformation of Olympia and Delphi in the eighth century BC. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Examines patterns of activity detected in the material record of the interstate sanctuaries of Olympia and Delphi. Emphasizes the link
between dedicatory practices and state formation developments in the wider Greek world. Also considers the place of Olympia and
Delphi in the Greek festival circuit.
Scott, Michael. 2010. Delphi and Olympia: The spatial politics of panhellenism in the Archaic and Classical periods. Cambridge
and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
This book dissects a host of issues related to Delphi and Olympia in the Archaic and Classical periods, including patterns of dedication,
the management of the sanctuaries, and the concept of Panhellenism.
Valavanis, Panos. 2004. Games and sanctuaries in ancient Greece: Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, Nemea, Athens. Los Angeles: J.
Paul Getty Museum.
Lavishly illustrated, accessible overview of the archaeological remains in the sites of the four original periodos games and the
Panathenaia.
Weir, Robert G. 2004. Roman Delphi and its Pythian games. BAR Series 1306. Oxford: Hadrian.
Examines a wide range of issues related mainly to Roman-era Delphi and the Pythian games, including the administration of the games,
elite patronage, and athletic participation as well as imperial intervention at Roman Delphi.
Local Athletic Contests
In addition to the four periodos games, communities throughout the Greek world established athletic games as part of religious festivals.
Most of these games offered material prizes to victors (hence the term “chrematitic” games), and some gained wider appeal and
attracted competitors from every corner of the ancient world. Others had a purely epichoric character. Be that as it may, local agones
were an integral part of the civic and religious life of Greek communities from the Archaic period until late Antiquity. Moreover, they often
functioned as rallying points of local or regional identity and social status, especially during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. It should
be noted that the distinction between “local” and “panhellenic” is difficult to maintain consistently, given the fact that at times local games
claimed Panhellenic status (“isolympic,” “isopythian,” and so on), even though it was obvious that they could not match the prestige and
appeal of the long-established Panhellenic games of the periodos. For the sake of convenience, the references that follow refer to
games that were not part of the original periodos and that were conducted in the area of Greece. For Greek-style athletic contests
beyond Greece, especially during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, see Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period and the Roman East,
Sports in Etruria, and Greek Athletics in Rome and the Roman World (except Eastern Provinces).
PANATHENAIA
The most famous local athletic games in Antiquity and the best-attested in evidentiary terms, the Panathenaia were conducted in the
context of the quadrennial Greater Panathenaic festival. For an overview of the history and athletic agones in the Panathenaia see Kyle
1993(cited under Athens), pp. 33–39 and passim. For various aspects of the games, see Tracy 1991 and the studies in Neils 1992, Neils
1996, and Palagia and Choremi-Spetsieri 2007. The athletic competitions consisted of some events that were open to all Greek athletes
regardless of their city of origin while other events were open only to Athenian citizens. The considerable effort, outlay, and numbers of
participants required for the events restricted to Athenians are a testament to the integration and popularity of sport in ancient Athens.
Victors were awarded material prizes in the form of amphoras filled with high-quality olive oil (Bentz 1998, Bentz and Eschbach 2001).
Bentz, Martin. 1998. Panathenäische Preisamphoren: Eine athenische Vasengattung und ihre Funktion vom 6.–4. Jahrhundert
v. Chr. Antike Kunst Beiheft 18. Basel: Vereinigungder Freunde antiker Kunst.
Exhaustive catalogue of all known Panathenaic amphoras. The author also discusses their geographical distribution, their iconography,
and their value as prizes.
Bentz, Martin, and Norbert Eschbach, eds. 2001. Panathenaika: Symposion zu den Panathenäischen Preisamphoren. Mainz,
Germany: von Zabern.
Collective volume dedicated to Panathenaic amphoras. Essays focus on production techniques, iconography, distribution and the
amphoras’ symbolic and material value outside Athens.
Neils, Jennifer. 1992. Goddess and polis. The Panathenaic festival in ancient Athens. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
Lavishly illustrated, contains essays on the athletic and musical competitions at the Panathenaia, the Panathenaic amphoras, and
religious aspects of the Panathenaic festival.
Neils, Jennifer. 1996. Worshipping Athena: Panathenaia and the Parthenon. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
Explores the Panathenaia in the context of Athenian life. Studies by prominent scholars illuminate problems related to the historical
development of the festival, its athletic contests, the role of prizes, and its religious and political significance.
Palagia, Olga, and Alkestis Choremi-Spetsieri, eds. 2007. The Panathenaic games: Proceedings of an International Conference
held at the University of Athens, May 11–12, 2004. Oxford: Oxbow.
This collective volume on the Panathenaia contains numerous studies that examine aspects of the Panathenaic games primarily from an
art-historical perspective.
Tracy, Stephen V. 1991. The Panathenaic festival and games: An epigraphic inquiry. Nikephoros 4:133–153.
Employs epigraphic and other evidence in order to reevaluate aspects (program, prizes, athletes) of the games.
OTHER LOCAL ATHLETIC CONTESTS
The following entries discuss some examples of local athletic contests in the Greek world. The particular circumstances of the
establishment and conduct of these games could vary considerably. Thus, some had Panhellenic aspirations, and their origins go back
to the Archaic and Classical periods (see Adams 2003, Mari 1996, Moretti 1991, Sève 1993). During the Hellenistic and Roman periods
new games were established (Arnold 1972, Gallis 1988, Lämmer 1986–1987; see also Chaniotis 1995 in Epigraphic Sources and
Farrington 1997 in Athletes) or expanded (Kennell 1999) and flourished. During the latter periods, very often local athletic contests and
the festivals within which they occurred were the beneficiaries of royal or imperial patronage.
Adams, W. L. 2003. Other peoples games: The Olympics, Macedonia and Greek athletics. Journal of Sport History 30.2: 205
–217.
Collects the evidence for athletic contests and training in Macedonia.
Arnold, Irene Ringwood. 1972. Festivals of Ephesus. American Journal of Archaeology 76:17–22.
Arnold has authored several studies on local athletic contests in particular locations (mainland Greece, Euboea, Rhodes, southern Italy
and Sicily). Even though her publications are marred by the misleading ideology of the decline of Greek sport in the Hellenistic and
Roman periods (see Gardiner 1910 and Gardiner 1930 in History of Scholarship on Greek Sport), her articles are still useful for
collecting the relevant literary and epigraphic evidence germane to many local contests.
Gallis, Kostas. 1988. The games in ancient Larissa. An example of provincial Olympic games. In The archaeology of the
Olympics and other festivals in Antiquity. Edited by Wendy Raschke, 217–235. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
Reviews the evidence for the Eleutheria and other athletic games in ancient Larissa.
Kennell, Nigel. 1999. Age categories and chronology in the Hellenistic Theseia. Phoenix 53:249–262.
Discusses various aspects of the Hellenistic Theseia games in Athens.
Lämmer, Manfred. 1986–1987. Die Aktischen Spiele von Nikopolis. Stadion 12.13: 27–38.
The Nikopolis Actia games were established in commemoration of Augustus’s victory at Actium in 31 BCE. They joined the periodos and
are attested until the late 3rd century CE.
Mari, Manuela. 1996. Le Olimpie macedoni di Dion tra Archelao e l’ età Romana. Rivista di filologia e di istruzione classica
126:137–169.
Examines the games originally established by King Archelaus of Macedonia. These were the first local games to borrow the designation
“Olympic.”
Moretti, Luigi. 1991. Dagli Heraia all’ Aspis di Argo. Miscellanea greca e romana 16:179–189.
The Heraia or Aspis (named for the shields awarded as prizes) were the major local athletic games organized at Argos. They constituted
part of the expanded periodos of late Antiquity.
Sève, Michel. 1993. Le concours d’Épidaure. Revue des études grecques 106:303–328.
The Asclepieia at Epidauros were established in the last quarter of the 6th century BCE and were Panhellenic games, which however
never attained the status of the four periodos games. Following a trend, in the 3rd century CE they were renamed Asclepieia Olympia.
Epinician Poetry
Poets (Pindar, see Kurke 1991 and Hornblower and Morgan 2007; Bacchylides, see Burnett 1985; Simonides, see Molyneux 1992) who
specialized in the epinician genre composed customized poetic eulogies of specific victories. Epinician poems were a popular medium of
publication of athletic victories, especially by the elites. Their potential was fully exploited throughout Antiquity at both the local and the
interstate levels. It is widely assumed that such poems, which in general suggest a shift toward a more civic-minded athletic ideology,
were publicly performed. The genre reached a height of popularity in the late 6th/early 5th centuries BCE, although examples are known
from other periods as well.
Burnett, Anne Pippin. 1985. The art of Bacchylides. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
An overview of the work, including epinician poetry, of Bacchylides.
Hornblower, Simon, and Catherine Morgan, eds. 2007. Pindar’s poetry, patrons, and festivals: From Archaic Greece to the
Roman Empire. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Even though most essays in this versatile collection deal with Pindar’s epinician poetry, some studies examine the origins of the
periodos games, the commemoration of athletic victory in the Hellenistic period, and Greek agones in the Roman era.
Kurke, Leslie 1991. The traffic in praise: Pindar and the poetics of social economy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press.
Influential study that interprets Pindaric epinician in the context of late Archaic and early Classical aristocratic and civic ideology.
Molyneux, John H. 1992. Simonides: A historical study. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci.

Little of Simonides’s epinician poetry survives. Molyneux’s study reviews the evidence and explores the ancient traditions that link the
poet with major political figures of the era.
Athletes
Similarly to the modern world, in antiquity the victories (for Olympic victors see Moretti 1957, and supplements appearing in Klio 52
(1970): 295–303 and Miscellanea greca e romana 12 (1987): 67–91) and personal life of successful athletes often attracted popular
interest. Athletes themselves often publicized their victories through epinician poetry (see Epinician Poetry), epigrams in victory
memorials (Ebert 1972), and other means. Many athletes were prominent members of the political and social establishment of their
cities (Poliakoff 1987; see also Papakonstantinou 2003 in Equestrian Contests), although some were of more modest background (see
Pleket 1975 and Pleket 2001; see also Young 1984 under History of Scholarship on Greek Sport). Some athletes became the objects of
heroic cults (Kurke 1993, Christesen 2010). Others were better known for their extraordinary athletic feats (examples in Golden 2004).
Brunet, Stephen. 2003. Athletic hopefuls from Ephesos. Journal of Sport History 30.2: 219–235.
Based on extant inscriptions of the Hellenistic and Roman period from Ephesus, the author examines facets (competition options and
planning; coaching; financing) of the careers of specific athletes.
Christesen, Paul. 2010. Kings playing politics: The heroization of Chionis of Sparta. Historia 59:26–73.
Presents a case for the heroization of Chionis of Sparta, as well as its ideological exploitation by the Spartan Agiad royal dynasty.
Discusses other instances of athlete heroization in Archaic and Classical Greece.
Ebert, Joachim. 1972. Griechische Epigramme auf Sieger an gymnischen und hippischen Agonen. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
Prosopographical, historical, and philological commentary of athletic victory epigrams.
Farrington, Andrew. 1997. Olympic victors and the popularity of the Olympic games in the imperial period. Tyche 12:15–46.
Discusses the geographical origins and habits of commemoration of Olympic victors, especially during the Hellenistic and Roman
periods. In addition, the article contains a brief discussion and an appendix on local Olympic games.
Kurke, Leslie. 1993. The economy of kudos. In Cultural poetics in Archaic Greece. Edited by Carol Dougherty and Leslie Kurke,
131–164. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
Argues that successful athletes were perceived as invested with kudos that in conjunction with other factors often led to their heroization.
Moretti, Luigi. 1957. Olympionikai: I vincitori negli antichi agoni olympici. Rome: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
Partly outdated but still valuable compendium of ancient Olympic victors presented in chronological order. Each entry contains brief
commentary and references to ancient sources. Supplements appeared in Klio 52 (1970): 295–303 and Miscellanea greca e romana 12
(1987): 67–91.
Golden, Mark. 2004. Sport in the ancient world from A to Z. London and New York: Routledge.
Provides brief biographical information and references to primary sources and modern literature for numerous ancient athletes in
alphabetical order.
Poliakoff, Michael B. 1987. Combat sports in the ancient world: Competition, violence and culture. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ.
Press.
Provides biographies of famous and well-attested combat sport athletes of antiquity. Discusses issues related to their social background,
popularity, and heroization, pp. 117–133.
Athletic Events
An extensive literature on particular athletic events exists. This scholarship discusses technical aspects as well as the historical
development of events. In what follows select references are provided to primarily recent bibliography that contains references to older
studies. For ancient testimonia and introductory discussions on athletic events, readers are also directed to the excellent compilations in
Weiler 1991–2002 (cited under Literary Sources). Although outdated in some respects, Jüthner 1965–1968 and Patrucco 1972 are still
quite useful in providing detailed technical accounts of events accompanied by extensive illustrations and references to primary sources.
Jüthner, Julius. 1965–1968. Die athletischen Leibesübungen der Griechen. 2 vols. Edited by F. Brein. Vienna: Böhlau.
Two-volume work which contains a history of Greek athletics (Volume 1) and a comprehensive discussion of track and field events
(Volume 2; no combat, equestrian or other events). Valuable for its exhaustive references to literary and archaeological (especially
iconographic) evidence as well as its several illustrations.
Patrucco, Roberto. 1972. Lo sport nella Grecia antica. Florence: L. S. Olschki.

Thorough discussion of technical aspects of Greek athletic events. Rich in quotations of Greek and Latin texts. Amply illustrated.
RUNNING
Footraces are among the events contested in the Homeric epics and, according to late traditions, were the first events (stadion, diaulos,
dolichos, introduced in that order) to be contested in the Olympics. In addition to literary sources and iconography (Kempen 1992 for
long-distance running), archaeological research, such as Miller 1980 and Valavanis 1999, has clarified particular aspects of running
events.
Kempen, Yvonne. 1992. Krieger, Boten und Athleten: Untersuchungen zum Langlauf in der griechischen Antike. Sankt
Augustin, Germany: Academia Verlag.
Examines various aspects of long-distance running in Greek antiquity, including instances that occurred beyond the strict confines of
competitive athletics (e.g., the Marathon runner).
Miller, Stephen. 1980. Turns and lanes in the ancient stadium. American Journal of Journal Archaeology 84:159–166.
Discusses technical aspects of footraces that involved a turn around a post (diaulos, dolichos, etc.)
Valavanis, Panos. 1999. Hysplex: The starting mechanism in ancient stadia. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
A thorough discussion, based primarily on archaeological evidence, of the running starting mechanism.
PENTATHLON
Several aspects of the pentathlon, especially the system whereby the victor was determined, remain highly controversial. Kyle 1990
provides a lucid description of the problem and offers a sensible explanation of the method for deciding the victor. Egan 2007 is the
latest attempt to review the issue, including past scholarship.
Egan, Rory. 2007. How the pentathlon was won: Two pragmatic models and the evidence of Philostratus. Phoenix 61:39–54.
A reexamination of the evidence for the method of determining the winner in the ancient pentathlon.
Kyle, Donald G. 1990. Watching and winning the Greek pentathlon. Journal of Sport History 17:291–305.
Taking into consideration previously neglected issues of time management and spectatorship, Kyle offers original insights on the ancient
pentathlon.
COMBAT SPORTS
Individual combat sports (otherwise known as “heavy events”) are attested in the Greek world since the Bronze Age and remained
popular throughout antiquity. Poliakoff 1987 remains the best discussion of Greek combat sports, most notably wrestling, boxing, and
pankration. Fiedler 1992 has a more limited scope but it is also useful.
Poliakoff, Michael B. 1987. Combat sports in the ancient world: Competition, violence and culture. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ.
Press.
Detailed examination of technical and social aspects of combat sports (wrestling, pankration, boxing).
Fiedler, W. 1992. Der Faustkampf in der griechischen Dichtung. Stadion 18:1–67.

Dissects the evidence for boxing in Greek poetry.
EQUESTRIAN CONTESTS
Equestrian contests were among the most spectacular events of Greek athletic games (for various aspects see Bell 1989, Crowther
1994). Given the high costs involved in breeding and maintaining high-quality racing horses, it was a sport that only the wealthy could
afford (see Golden 1997 and Papakonstantinou 2003; see also Nicholson 2005 cited under Social Aspects of Greek Sport). Victory was
awarded to the owners of horses and not to jockeys, hence victors were frequently past their prime. Women could also enter horse
racing teams and win (see Kyle 2003 under Sport and Women).
Bell, D. 1989. The horse race (κέλης) in ancient Greece from the pre-classical period to the first century B.C. Stadion 15:167
–190.
An examination of the evidence for the single-horse race in the Greek world.
Crowther, Nigel B. 1994. Reflections on Greek equestrian events: Violence and spectator attitudes. Nikephoros 7:121–133.
Examines instances of violence and danger in Greek equestrian competitions.
Golden, Mark. 1997. Equestrian competition in ancient Greece: Difference, dissent, democracy. Phoenix 51:327–344.
Dissects equestrian competition as elite sport and means of social distinction in the ancient Greek world.
Papakonstantinou, Zinon. 2003. Alcibiades in Olympia: Olympic ideology, sport and social conflict in Classical Athens. Journal
of Sport History 30.2: 173–182.
Interprets Alcibiades’s 416 BCE Olympic tethrippon victory in the context of ideological and political conflict in late-5th-century Athens.
“MILITARY” EVENTS
Greek athletic contests often included in their program events and drills that involved the use of weapons; see in general Reed 1998. At
times, the events in question held special importance because participation was limited to particular groups (e.g., Athenian citizens in the
Panathenaia; See Crowther 1991 for the apobates).
Crowther, Nigel B. 1991. The apobates reconsidered (Demosthenes 61.23–9). Journal of Hellenic Studies 111:174–176.
Provides a discussion of basic aspects of the apobates.
Reed, Nancy B. 1998. More than just a game: The military nature of Greek athletic contests. Chicago: Ares.
Explores athletic contests and drills with military overtones (hoplitodromos, Pyrrhic dance, euandria, hoplomachia, apobates,
anthippasia).
OTHER EVENTS
In addition to the above, a number of other events were contested in Greek athletic agones. Such events included torch races (Sekunda
1990, Gauthier 1995), other team events (Crowther 1995) and events such as the discus, javelin, and jump (Doblhofer, et al. 1992;
Doblhofer, et al. 1993; Lavrencic, et al. 1991) that are at times attested as standalone events, although they were most commonly
contested as part of the pentathlon.
Crowther, Nigel B. 1995. Team sports in ancient Greece: Some observations. International Journal of the History of Sport
12:127–136.
Collects the scarce evidence for team sports in ancient Greece.
Doblhofer, Georg, Peter Mauritsch, and Monika Lavrencic. 1992. Weitsprung. Quellendokumentation zur Gymnastik und
Agonistik im Altertum. Vienna: Böhlau.
A comprehensive collection of sources on the jump presented in the original and German translation. For the series see Literary
Sources.
Doblhofer, Georg, Peter Mauritsch, and Monika Lavrencic. 1993. Speerwurf. Quellendokumentation zur Gymnastik und
Agonistik im Altertum. Vienna: Böhlau.
A comprehensive collection of sources on the javelin presented in the original and German translation.
Lavrencic, Monika, Georg Doblhofer, and Peter Mauritsch. 1991. Diskos. Quellendokumentation zur Gymnastik und Agonistik
im Altertum. Vienna: Böhlau.
A comprehensive collection of sources on the discus presented in the original and German translation.
Gauthier, Philippe. 1995. Du nouveau sur les courses aux flambeaux d’après deux inscriptions de Kos. Revue des études
grecques 108:576–585.
Discusses torch races at the Alseia festival in Kos.
Sekunda, Nicholas V. 1990. IG II2 1250: A decree concerning the lampadephoroi of the tribe Aiantis. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie
und Epigraphik 83:149–182.
Reviews the evidence for ephebic torch races in ancient Athens.
AGE-CLASS CONTESTS
Contestants in Greek athletic games were divided into age classes (Golden 1998, Crowther 2004), the most common being andres
(“men”), ageneioi (“beardless youths”), and paides (“boys”; for paides see Papalas 1991). Local variations existed. Such divisions
fulfilled a number of functions (Petermandl 1997), including possibly give a wider group of competitors a chance to win.
Crowther, Nigel B. 2004. Athletika: Studies on the Olympic games and Greek athletics. Nikephoros Beihefte 11. Hildesheim,
Germany: Weidmann.
Two previously published short essays (“Boys Category in Olympia”; “Ages Categories at the Sebasta at Naples”) and a bibliographic
update on the question of age classes in Greek athletics, pp. 87–98.
Golden, Mark. 1998. Sport and society in ancient Greece. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Probes athletic age divisions, their motives and implications, pp. 104–116.
Papalas, A. J. 1991. Boy athletes in ancient Greece. Stadion 17:165–192.

Reviews the evidence for paides athletes in Greek agones.
Petermandl, Werner. 1997. Überlegungen zur Funktion der Altersklassen bei den griechischen Agonen. Nikephoros 10:135
–147.
Examines some possible functions of age-class divisions in Greek athletics.
Athletic Facilities
Athletic facilities (stadia, gymnasia, palaestrae) have been excavated in a number of locations across the Greek-speaking world,
including, most prominently, at the sites of periodic athletic contests. For stadia see Romano 1993, Miller 2001; for gymnasia, Wacker
1996, Mann 2001 (cited in Social Aspects of Greek Sport), Kah and Scholz 2004; for gymnasia and palaestrae, Glass 1988 and
Zschietzschmann 1960–1961; for athletic facilities in Athens, see Kyle 1993 (cited under Athens), pp. 56–101; for Athenian gymnasia
see Fisher 1998 (cited under Athens). For athletic facilities in the major Greek sanctuaries see also Valavanis 2004 (cited under Other
Periodos Games and Their Sites). Literary sources and inscriptions illustrate aspects of the function and administration of athletic
facilities; see Gauthier and Hatzopoulos 1993.
Gauthier, Philippe, and Miltiades B. Hatzopoulos. 1993. La loi gymnasiarchique de Beroia. Athens: Centre des recherches de
l’antiquité grecque et romaine.
Critical edition and commentary of the 2nd-century BCE gymnasiarchy law from Veroia. Includes a detailed discussion of the function of
the Veroia gymnasion with comparanda from other parts of the Greek world.
Glass, S. L. 1988. The Greek gymnasium: Some problems. In The archaeology of the Olympics and other festivals in antiquity.
Edited by Wendy Raschke, 155–173. Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press.
Reviews evidence, primarily literary, for gymnasia and palaestrae in the Greek world.
Kah, Daniel, and Peter Scholz, eds. 2004. Das hellenistische Gymnasion. Wissenskultur und Gesellschaftlicher Wandel 8.
Berlin: Akademie Verlag.
Contains various studies on the historical development and material aspects of Hellenistic gymnasia.
Mann, Christian. 1998. Krieg, Sport und Adelskultur: Zur Entstehung des griechischen Gymnasions. Klio 80:7–21.
Mann argues for an association between aristocratic ideology and the rise of the gymnasion in Archaic and early Classical Greece.
Miller, Stephen G., Robert C. Knapp, and David Chamberlain. 2001. Excavations at Nemea II: The early Hellenistic stadium.
Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Authoritative publication of the stadium at Nemea, with extensive discussion of features of stadia in other parts of the Greek world
(primarily Epidaurus, Olympia, and Athens).
Romano, David Gilman. 1993. Athletics and mathematics in Archaic Corinth: The origins of the Greek stadion. Philadelphia:
American Philosophical Society.
The first part of the study examines the early development of Greek stadia. The second part focuses on the evidence for the stadion in
Isthmia and the dromos in Corinth.
Wacker, Christian. 1996. Das Gymnasion von Olympia: Geschichte und Funktion. Würzburg: Ergon Verlag.
A thorough discussion of the archaeological and historical aspects of the gymnasion in Olympia. Rich in comparative details.
Zschietzschmann, Willy. 1960–1961. Wettkampf- und Übungsstätten in Griechenland I: Das Stadion, II: Palästra-Gymnasion.
Stuttgart: Verlag Karl Schorndorf.
Overview of the archaeological evidence for stadia, gymnasia and palaestrae in several Greek cities and sanctuaries.
Civic Athletics and Physical Education
Beginning in the Archaic and Classical periods, programs of physical education and often intellectual training for adolescents emerged in
a number of Greek communities. In some cases these programs were largely carried out in local athletic facilities, primarily the
gymnasion, and were often integrated into more comprehensive systems of youth training, such as the ephebeia. Often there existed a
direct link between training in the gymnasion and competitive athletics because many trainees were recruited for participation in local
contests (e.g., the citizen ephebic contests discussed under Athens). This “gymnasium culture” survived and flourished well into the
Hellenistic and Roman periods in the Greek-speaking East (see König 2005 in Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period and the Roman
East). In addition to athletic training in gymnasia, local features of athletic training and competition are attested for some better-
documented city-states. Often the result of particular sociopolitical circumstances, local varieties of sporting practices and perceptions
provide glimpses on the socially multifaceted and ideologically malleable nature of sport in ancient Greece.
ATHENS
Competitive sport and athletic training is well documented for ancient Athens (see in general Kyle 1993). Several gymnasia and
palestrae are attested during the Classical period, and there is a renewed debate over the degree of participation of elite and lower-class
Athenians in sporting activities (on these questions see Fisher 1998, Pritchard 2003, and Pritchard 2010). There is also evidence for the
ideological reception of sport and athletic victories in Archaic and Classical Athens, especially for their use as tokens of social distinction
and identity (see Golden 1997 under Equestrian Contests).
Fisher, Nick. 1998. Gymnasia and the democratic values of leisure. In Kosmos: Essays in order, conflict and community in
Classical Athens. Edited by Paul Cartledge, Paul Millett and Sitta von Reden, 84–104. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Argues for a wider participation of the lower social orders in athletic training and competition in democratic Athens. This development
had a number of side effects, including the promotion of social order and mobility as well as the emergence of novel forms of social
conflict.
Kyle, Donald G. 1993. Athletics in ancient Athens. 2d rev. ed. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill.
Fundamental, judicious analysis of every aspect of sport in ancient Athens. There have been a number of advances on the field of
ancient Athenian sport as a result of recent discoveries and scholarship, yet Kyle’s monograph remains the only comprehensive
treatment of the subject.
Pritchard, David. 2003. Athletics, education and participation in Classical Athens. In Sport and festival in the ancient Greek
world. Edited by David J. Phillips and David Pritchard, 293–349. Swansea, UK: Classical Press of Wales.
Discusses the extent of participation of elites and nonelites in education and sport in Classical Athens.
Pritchard, David. 2010. Sport, war and democracy in Classical Athens. In Sport in the cultures of the ancient world: New
perspectives. Edited by Zinon Papakonstantinou, 64–97. London: Routledge.
Examines Athenian elite and popular perceptions and levels of participation in war, athletics and physical education and assesses their
social and ideological impact.
SPARTA
Ancient Sparta was famous in antiquity for its agoge, the state-sponsored youth upbringing system. Both boys and girls had to go
through a version of the agoge. Even though it was subjected to various reforms during antiquity, the agoge always involved a
considerable physical element, which gained Spartan men and women the reputation of being muscular and well trained (Kennell 1995,
Ducat 2006). Perhaps not accidentally, Spartan athletes fared well in the periodos and other games, especially during the Archaic and
Classical periods (see the discussion in Hodkinson 1999 and Hodkinson 2000).
Ducat, Jean. 2006. Spartan education: Youth and society in the Classical period. Translated by Emma Stafford, P. J. Shaw, and
Anton Powell. Swansea, UK: Classical Press of Wales.
Examines physical education in the context of the state-sponsored Spartan system of upbringing.
Hodkinson, Stephen. 1999. An agonistic culture? Athletic competition in Archaic and Classical Spartan society. In Sparta: New
perspectives. Edited by Stephen Hodkinson and Anton Powell, 147–187. London: Duckworth.
Discusses issues related to athletic contests, victory and commemoration in Sparta and by Spartan competitors around the Greek world.
Argues that, similar to other Greeks, Spartans accorded a high value to athletic victory.
Hodkinson, Stephen. 2000. Property and wealth in Classical Sparta. London: Duckworth.
Examines the sociopolitical background and impact of equestrian competition in classical Sparta, pp. 303–333.
Kennell, Nigel M. 1995. The gymnasium of virtue: Education and culture in ancient Sparta. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina
Press.
A comprehensive study of the historical development of the Spartan agoge. Examines aspects of physical training, contests, and drills.
Social Aspects of Greek Sport
Several among the following works highlight the recent scholarly trend to scrutinize social and cultural aspects of Greco-Roman sport
(e.g., Pleket 1975 and Pleket 2001, cited under History of Scholarship on Greek Sport; and Phillips and Pritchard 2003, Crowther 2004,
Christesen 2007, and Papakonstantinou 2010). Emphasis is placed on sport’s impact on civic life (Mann 2001), including sport’s role in
promoting forms of corporate identity, as well as on how sport articulates and enhances status differences and gender roles (Golden
1998, Golden 2008, and Nicholson 2005).
Christesen, Paul. 2007. The transformation of athletics in sixth-century Greece. In Onward to the Olympics: Historical
perspectives on the Olympic games. Edited by Gerald P. Schaus and Stephen R. Wenn, 59–68. Waterloo, Canada: Wilfrid
Laurier Univ. Press.
Interprets the 6th-century BCE burgeoning of athletic activity in its social and political context. Intra-elite political strife was fundamental in
the process of proliferation of competitive athletics. The emergence of “civic nudity” in gymnasium-related activities is viewed as an
articulation of non-elite demands for further political rights.
Crowther, Nigel B. 2004. Athletika: Studies on the Olympic games and Greek athletics. Nikephoros Beihefte 11. Hildesheim,
Germany: Weidmann.
A valuable volume that brings together dozens of previously published articles. They cover a vast range of social, political, and technical
aspects of Greek sport.
Golden, Mark. 1998. Sport and society in ancient Greece. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
A concise social history of sport in ancient Greece. Examines sport as a catalyst for the creation and expression of social difference.
Specific topics include the association between sport, religion, and war; athletic victory in literature and art; gender and age
categorizations in sport; and elite athletics in democratic Athens.
Golden, Mark. 2008. Greek sport and social status. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press.
Expands the thematic and chronological scope of Golden 1998 (cited under Age-Class Contests) and discusses topics such as the role
of charioteers and trainers in Greek sport, the intersection between sport and slavery, and the reception of gladiatorial shows in the
Greek world.
Mann, Christian. 2001. Athlet und Polis im archaischen und frühklassischen Griechenland. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck
& Ruprecht.
Focusing on the Archaic and Classical periods, Mann’s study examines crucial aspects of the role of athletics and the impact of athletic
victories in Greek poleis.
Nicholson, Nigel James. 2005. Aristocracy and athletics in Archaic and Classical Greece. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ.
Press.
During the Archaic and early Classical periods, victory memorials commissioned by elite athletic victors almost always neglect or distort
the contributions of professional trainers and charioteers. Nicholson interprets this state of affairs as an attempt on behalf of Greek
aristocrats to dissociate themselves from practices of commodification.
Papakonstantinou, Zinon, ed. 2010. Sport in the cultures of the ancient world: New perspectives. London and New York:
Routledge.
Essays examine aspects of Greco-Roman sport such as the historiographic and ideological uses of sport in Herodotus; sport and war in
5th-century Athens; the implications of the practice of Greek-style sport in Ptolemaic Egypt; and the perception and transformation of
gladiatorial shows in the Roman East.
Phillips, David J., and David Pritchard, eds. 2003. Sport and festival in the ancient Greek world. Swansea, UK: Classical Press
of Wales.
This volume contains papers that focus on the ancient Olympics; epinician poetry; competitive sport and physical education in Classical
Athens; as well as three essays related to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Sport and Women
Women had a marginal involvement in Greco-Roman sport, in keeping with their inferior position in most aspects of social life. There are
a few attested instances of female athletic competitions, including the Heraia race in Olympia, examined in Bernardini 1988, Mantas
1995, Dillon 2000, Scanlon 2002, and Scanlon 2008. Spartan girls underwent a physical education regime, and in Brauron, a sanctuary
in northeast Attica, Athenian girls were involved in rite of passage rituals that included races (Scanlon 2002). Women could win in
equestrian competitions in Panhellenic and local games as owners of horses. Well-known examples of the latter case include Princess
Kyniska of Sparta (Kyle 2003), as well as queens and royal concubines of the Ptolemaic court (see Remijsen 2010 in Ptolemaic and
Roman Egypt).
Bernardini, Paola Angeli. 1988. Le donne e la pratica della corsa nella grecia antica. In Lo sport in Grecia. Edited by Paola
Angeli Bernardini, 153–184. Rome and Bari: Editori Laterza.
Collects and assesses the evidence for women’s running in the Greek world.
Dillon, Matthew. 2000. Did parthenoi attend the Olympic games? Girls and women competing, spectating, and carrying out cult
roles at Greek religious festivals. Hermes 128:457–480.
Examines various issues related to female sport in the ancient Greek world, including participation in competitive and initiatory sport as
well as female attendance in Panhellenic and local games.
Kyle, Donald G. 2003. “The only woman in Greece”: Kyniska, Agesilaus, Alcibiades, and Olympia. Journal of Sport History
30.2: 183–203.
Reevaluates Kyniska’s four-horse chariot victories in the context of early 4th-century BCE Spartan and interstate politics.
Mantas, Konstantinos. 1995. Women and athletics in the Roman East. Nikephoros 8:125–144.
Collects evidence for the involvement of women in Greek-style athletics during the Roman era.
Scanlon, Thomas F.. 2002. Eros and Greek athletics. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
A wide-ranging book that examines issues of religion, initiation to adulthood, gender (especially female) construction, and sexuality in
Greek sport.
Scanlon, Thomas F. 2008. The Heraia at Olympia revisited. Nikephoros 21:159–196.

An up-to-date review of the evidence for the best-known race for maidens, the Heraia at Olympia.
Greek Sport, War, and Politics
Greco-Roman sport was not immune to war (Crowther 2003, Lämmer 1982–1983) and politics (Hönle 1972). In the Greek world,
interstate (Hornblower 2000, Roy 1998) or even personal political and military rivalries (see Kyle 2003 in Sport and Women; Mann 2001
in Social Aspects of Greek Sport; Papakonstantinou 2003 in Equestrian Contests) often affected the conduct of Panhellenic and local
games.
Crowther, Nigel B. 2003. Power and politics at the ancient Olympics: Pisa and the games of 364 B.C. Stadion 29:1–10.
Reviews the military and political conflict between Elis and Pisa over the control of Olympia in 364 BCE.
Hönle, Augusta. 1972. Olympia in der Politik der griechischen Staatenwelt von 776 bis zum ende des 5. Jahrhunderts.
Bebenhausen, Germany: Lothar Rotsch.
Although out of date in many respects, this book is still useful as a compendium of the evidence on the political significance of Olympia
and the Olympic games as well as on the manner in which Olympic victories were politically exploited.
Hornblower, Simon. 2000. Thucydides, Xenophon, and Lichas: Were the Spartans excluded from the Olympic games from 420
to 400 B.C.? Phoenix 54:212–225.
Based on a close reading of the literary sources, the author tackles the issue of the length of the ban of Sparta from the Olympic games
following its dispute with Elis in 420 BCE.
Lämmer, Manfred. 1982–1983. Der sogenannte Olympische Friede in der Griechschen Antike. Stadion 8–9:47–83
Thorough discussion of the Greek ekecheiria and instances of its infringement through military operations. The essay successfully
debunks modern misconceptions about the alleged ancient “Olympic peace.”
Roy, James. 1998. Thucydides 5.49.1–50.4: The Quarrel between Elis and Sparta in 420 B.C. and Elis’ exploitation of Olympia.
Klio 80:360–368
A thorough discussion of the dispute between Elis and Sparta over Lepreon in 420 BCE, the role of the Olympic tribunal in the
adjudication of the dispute, and the wider political implications of the affair.
Sport in Greek and Roman Literature
Aspects of the depiction of sport in literature have been already discussed (see Sport in the Homeric Epics and Epinician Poetry). The
following references provide some additional suggestions. Given the popularity of sport in the ancient world, it is not surprising that the
theme of athletics reverberates throughout various literary genres (for Archaic and Classical Greece see Visa-Ondarçuhu 1999). Literary
authors often employ sporting metaphors (e.g., Poliakoff 1982); criticisms of athletes and various aspects of training and competition are
not uncommon (Müller 1995). Some scholars, such as Larmour 1999, have detected parallels between sporting practices and dramatic
performances, while others focus on the portrayal of sport in particular authors (e.g., Lovatt 2005, Koch 2007, and Kroppen 2008). For
sport in the Second Sophistic literature see König 2005, cited under Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period and the Roman East.
Koch, Alois. 2007. Johannes Chrysostomus und seine Kenntnisse der antiken Agonistik im Spiegel der in seinen Schriften
verwendeten Bilder und Vergleiche. Nikephoros Beihefte 14. Hildesheim, Germany: Weidmann.
A thorough analysis of the use of athletic themes in the writings of John Chrysostom. Similar to other Christian authors, Chrysostom
rejected pagan festivals and athletics but employed athletic imagery extensively in his sermons and other works.
Kroppen, Thomas. 2008. Mortis dolorisque contemptio: Athleten und Gladiatoren in Senecas philosophischem Konzept.
Nikephoros Beihefte 15. Hildesheim, Germany: Weidmann.
An examination of athletes and gladiators as exempla for suffering and contempt for death in Seneca’s Stoic doctrine.
Larmour, David H. J. 1999. Stage and stadium: Drama and athletics in ancient Greece. Nikephoros Beihefte 4. Hildesheim,
Germany: Weidmann.
Explores the connections between athletic and dramatic performances in the Greek world, including the representation of sport in drama
as well as the “theatrical” dimensions of sport.
Lovatt, Helen. 2005. Statius and epic games: Sport, politics, and poetics in the Thebaid. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ.
Press.
Examines intertextual links and the historical context of the description of athletic games in Statius’s Thebaid 6.
Müller, Stefan. 1995. Das Volk der Athleten: Untersuchungen zur Ideologie und Kritik des Sports in der griechisch-römischen
Antike. Trier, Germany: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier.
Examines critical discourses on athletes and athletics in Greek and Roman literature from the Archaic period until late Antiquity.
Poliakoff, Michael. 1982. Studies in the terminology of the Greek combat sports. Königstein, Germany: Hain.
Exhaustive study of combat sport terminology based primarily on Greek literature, inscriptions and papyri.
Visa-Ondarçuhu, Valérie. 1999. l’image de l’athlète d’Homère à la fin du Ve siècle avant J.-C. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
Thorough discussion of the portrayal of athletes in Greek literary sources until the end of the 5th century BCE.
Weiler, Ingomar. 1974. Der Agon im Mythos: Zur Einstellung der Griechen zurm Wettkampf. Darmstadt, Germany:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Thorough examination of agonistic themes in Greek mythology.
Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period and the Roman East
Greek-style athletics flourished during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, especially in the Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean. The
number of festivals that included competitive sports in their program multiplied (see Chaniotis 1995 under Epigraphic Sources; Ziegler
1985, Leschhorn 1998) and literary and artistic interest on the subject proliferated (König 2005, Newby 2005). At times, local games
appropriated aspects of the program and ideology of traditional Panhellenic games. Moreover, even though athletics was a major
medium for the articulation of Hellenic identity (van Nijf 1999, van Nijf 2001, van Nijf 2003a, van Nijf 2003b), during the period in
question a tendency toward cultural syncretism in athletic practices and representation is often detectable.
König, Jason. 2005. Athletics and literature in the Roman Empire. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Dissects representations of Greek athletics in literary discourses of the Roman Empire. Even though athletics was often a controversial
subject among the elite literati, nonetheless it remained a fundamental component of Hellenic identity and culture during the period in
question.
Leschhorn, Wolfgang. 1998. Die Verbreitung von Agonen in den östlichen Provinzen des römischen Reiches. Stadion 24.1: 31
–57.
Discusses the emergence and development of athletic contests in the Roman East.
Newby, Zahra. 2005. Greek athletics in the Roman world: Victory and virtue. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
Focusing primarily on visual evidence, Newby examines the role of Greek athletics in the Roman world, especially in connection with
negotiating and assimilating identities and cultural models. Extensively illustrated.
van Nijf, Onno. 1999. Athletics, festivals and Greek identity in the Roman East. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological
Society 45:176–200.
Reexamines the role of sport and festivals in the Greek-speaking Roman East. Argues that Greek festivals during this period were an
invented tradition and were ideologically appropriated by, and by extension served the interests of, both the local elites and the imperial
authorities. It is also maintained that athletics was in this period a major medium for defining Greek identity.
van Nijf, Onno. 2001. Local heroes: Athletics, festivals, and elite self-fashioning in the Roman East. In Being Greek under
Rome: Cultural identity, the Second Sophistic, and the development of empire. Edited by Simon Goldhill, 306–334. Cambridge
and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
Examines athletic contests in Roman-controlled Asia Minor and evaluates their significance for forging and maintaining a Hellenic
identity.
van Nijf, Onno. 2003a. Athletics and paideia: Festivals and physical education in the world of the Second Sophistic. In Paideia:
The world of the Second Sophistic. Edited by Barbara E. Borg, 203–228. Berlin and New York: de Gruyter.
Reevaluates the importance of athletics and paideia in the gymnasia of the Greek cities in the Roman East.
van Nijf, Onno. 2003b. Athletics, andreia and the askêsis-culture in the Roman East. In Andreia: Studies in manliness and
courage in Classical Antiquity. Edited by Ralf M. Rosen and Ineke Sluiter, 263–286. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: E. J.
Brill.
Assesses aspects of Greek sport and bodily culture in the Roman East and argues that sport and physical training were critical for the
formation of elite masculine identity. Moreover, the author maintains that the male body articulated civic values such as virtue and
manliness.
Ziegler, Ruprecht. 1985. Städtisches Prestige und kaiserliche Politik: Studien zum Festwesen in Ostkilikien im 2. und 3.
Jahrhundert n. Chr. Düsseldorf: Schwann-Bagel.
Contains studies on Greek-style agones in Cilicia during the late Roman Empire.
EPHEBEIA
Even though it is attested for some Greek cities during the Classical period, the institution of the ephebeia, which combined elements of
athletic, military, and intellectual training, expanded and flourished in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Recent research has
reevaluated many aspects of the local versions of the ephebeia, especially its administration (Kennell 2010), the social background of
participants (Hin 2007), and its overall purpose in the context of the Hellenistic and Roman world (Kennell 2006 and Kennell 2010).
Hin, Saskia. 2007. Class and society in the cities of the Greek East: Education during the ephebeia. Ancient Society 37:141
–166.
Revises several aspects of the Hellenistic and Roman ephebeia, including its duration, the age of membership, and social background of
participants.
Kennell, Nigel. 2006. Ephebeia: A register of Greek cities with citizen training systems in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Nikephoros Beihefte 12. Hildesheim, Germany: Weidmann.
Assembles all the evidence germane to the ephebeia in the Greek world during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Kennell, Nigel. 2010. The Greek ephebate in the Roman period. In Sport in the cultures of the ancient world: New perspectives.
Edited by Zinon Papakonstantinou, 175–194. London and New York: Routledge.
Probes aspects of administration, demographics, and types of training in the Greek ephebeia during the Roman period.
PTOLEMAIC AND ROMAN EGYPT
Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt deserves special notice because of the relatively extensive documentation for sport. Numerous local
games are attested for the period in question (Koenen 1977, Perpillou-Thomas 1993), and several athletes, including members of the
royal family and court, were successful in the Panhellenic periodos games (Decker 2008, Remijsen 2010).
Decker, Wolfgang. 2008. Wagenrennen im römischen Ägypten. In Le cirque Romain et son image. Edited by Jocelyne Nelis-
Clément and Jean-Michel Roddaz, 347–358. Bordeaux, France: Ausonius.
Surveys the evidence for chariot racing in ancient Egypt, with particular emphasis on the Roman period.
Koenen, L. 1977. Eine agonistische Inschrift aus Ägypten und frühptolemäische Königsfeste. Meisenheim am Glan, Germany:
Hain.
Edition and commentary of the victors list of the Basileia games of 267 BCE.
Perpillou-Thomas, Françoise. 1993. Fêtes d’Égypte ptolémaïque et romaine d’ après la documentation papyrologique grecque.
Leuven, Belgium: Univ. Catholica Lovaniensis.
List of all known festivals (some of which included athletic contests) in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt.
Remijsen, Sofie. 2010. Challenged by Egyptians: Greek sports in the third century BC. In Sport in the cultures of the ancient
world: New perspectives. Edited by Zinon Papakonstantinou, 98–123. London and New York: Routledge.
Reevaluates the evidence for sport in Ptolemaic Egypt on the basis of the recently published Posidippos epigrams.
Sport in Etruria
Archaeological evidence (reviewed in Thuillier 1993a and Thuillier 1993b) suggests that Greek-style sport might have been popular or
even practiced in Archaic Etruria, but several aspects remain controversial.
Thuillier, Jean-Paul. 1993a. Les jeux athlétiques dans la civilisation étrusque. Rome: École française de Rome.
Exhaustive description and analysis of the evidence for sport in ancient Etruria. Examines possible Greek origins and impact on Roman
sports.
Thuillier, Jean-Paul, et al. 1993b. Spectacles sportifs ed scéniques dans le monde étrusco-italique: Actes de la table ronde
organisée par l’Équipe de recherches étrusco-italiques de l’UMR 126 (CNRS, Paris) et l’ École française de Rome, Rome 3–4
mai 1991. Rome: École française de Rome.
Contains essays that examine aspects of athletic practices and their artistic representations primarily in Etruria and Rome.
Greek Athletics in Rome and the Roman World (Except Eastern Provinces)
Even though arena spectacles were undoubtedly very popular forms of public entertainment, Greek-style athletics was not unknown to
Rome, Italy, or the northern and western provinces of the Roman Empire (for the Greek-speaking eastern provinces see Greek Athletics
in the Hellenistic Period and the Roman East). Greek agones in Rome were usually established and promoted by prominent figures of
the Roman political establishment, including emperors. Some of these agones (Caldelli 1993, Fortuin 1996, Wallner 1997, Bernstein
1998) even aspired to periodos status. Outside the Greek-speaking East, Greek agones were not so numerous, but their existence is
nonetheless attested (Caldelli 1997, Bouley 2001, Ceballos Hornero 2004).
Bernstein, Frank. 1998. Ludi publici: Untersuchungen zur Entstehung und Entwicklung der öffentlichen Spiele im
republikanischen Rom. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
Thorough examination of public games in Republican Rome.
Bouley, Elizabeth. 2001. Jeux romains dans les provinces balkano-danubiennes du IIe siècle avant J.-C. à la fin du IIIe siècle
après J.-C. Paris: Presses Universitaires Franc-Comtoises.
Collects evidence for Greek-style athletics (gymnasia, contests) in the Roman Balkans during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE (pp. 19–80).
Caldelli, Maria Letizia. 1993. l’agon Capitolinus: Storia e protagonisti dall’istituzione domizianea al IV secolo. Rome: Istituto
Italiano per la Storia Antica.
Following a review of Greek-style agones in Rome and the Roman West in the Republican and early imperial era, the monograph
focuses on the establishment and development of the Capitoline games, which are viewed by the author as a watershed for the
agonistic life of Rome.
Caldelli, Maria Letizia. 1997. Gli agoni alla Greca nelle regioni occidentali dell’ impero: La Gallia Narbonensis. Rome: Atti delle
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
Reviews the evidence for Greek-style athletic agones in three cities, Massilia, Nemausus and Vienna, during the late imperial period in
connection with the diffusion of imperial cult and the attempt on the part of the cities to imitate Rome’s Capitoline games.
Ceballos Hornero, Alberto. 2004. Los espectáculos en la hispania romana: La documentación epigráfica. 2 vols. Mérida, Spain:
Museo Nacional de Arte Romano, Fundación de Estudios Romanos.
Volume 2 collects and briefly discusses the epigraphic evidence for equestrian competitions and Greek-style athletic contests in Roman
Spain.
Fortuin, Rigobert W. 1996. Der sport im augusteischen Rom: Philologische und sporthistorische Untersuchungen. Stuttgart:
Franz Steiner Verlag.
The first part of the monograph examines the development of sport and its social, economic, and ideological repercussions during the
reign of Augustus. The second part dissects the portrayal of sporting practices in Augustan-era literature (Vergil, Horace, Propertius,
Ovid).
Wallner, Christian. 1997. Soldatenkaiser und Sport. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Examines the direct and indirect association of the “3rd-century crisis” (235–285 CE) Roman emperors with sport.
Roman Chariot Racing
In addition to arena spectacles and Greek-style athletics, chariot-racing contests were carried out in the Roman circus maximus. Roman-
style chariot racing became popular in most Roman provinces as well (Humphrey 1986, Nelis-Clément and Roddaz 2008), where it
coexisted with arena spectacles and Greek agones. It should be noted that although Greek and Roman chariot racing shared some
fundamental aspects, the Roman version ultimately developed its own independent corporate existence revolving around the circus
factions (Cameron 1976, Horsmann 1998), their dedicated fans, and the overall politics of public entertainment in ancient Rome
(Thuillier 1996, Beacham 1997). These aspects clearly distinguished Roman and later Byzantine chariot racing from its Greek
counterpart, which largely remained an integral part of agones until the demise of pagan festivals in late Antiquity.
Beacham, Richard. 1997. Spectacle entertainments of early imperial Rome. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.
Examines the performative aspects, and their sociopolitical implications, of public entertainments (including arena spectacles,
processions, equestrian competitions) in early imperial Rome.
Cameron, Alan. 1976. Circus factions: Blues and greens at Rome and Byzantium. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Classic treatment of the historical development and the importance of circus factions in the Roman and Byzantine periods.
Horsmann, Gerhard. 1998. Die Wagenlenker der Römischen Kaiserzeit: Untersuchungen zu ihrer sozialen Stellung. Stuttgart:
Franz Steiner Verlag.
Examines the evidence for charioteers and their social status in the Roman Empire. Includes a register of all known charioteers.
Humphrey, John H. 1986. Roman circuses: Arenas for chariot racing. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Comprehensive, illustrated survey of circuses in the Roman world.
Nelis-Clément, Jocelyne, and Jean-Michel Roddaz. 2008. Le cirque romain et son image. Bordeaux, France: Ausonius.
Lavishly produced and illustrated volume, containing historical and archaeological essays on circuses and chariot racing in virtually
every corner of the Roman world.
Thuillier, Jean-Paul. 1996. Le sport dans la Rome antique. Paris: Editions Errance.
Dense survey of competitive and leisurely sport in Etruria and Rome.
Chariot Racing in the Late Antique and Byzantine World
The Roman tradition of chariot racing survived the end of the pagan world and in some cases, most notably Byzantine Constantinople,
flourished for centuries afterward. See Cameron 1976 (cited under Roman Chariot-racing), Heucke 1994, and Vespignani 2001.
Heucke, Clemens. 1994. Circus und Hippodrom als politischer Raum: Untersuchungen zum großen Hippodrom von
Konstantinopel und zu entsprechenden Anlagen in spätantiken Kaiserresidenzen. Hildesheim, Germany: Olms-Weidmann.
Examines chariot racing and its political significance in Byzantine Constantinople. Collects evidence for other late Antique and Byzantine
hippodromes.
Vespignani, Giorgio. 2001. Hippodromos: Il circo di Constantinopoli nuova Roma dalla realtà alla storiografia. Spoleto, Italy:
Fondazione Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo.
Examines the various activities and the material aspects of the Contantinople circus in the light of Byzantine political ideology.
LAST MODIFIED: 06/29/2011
DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195389661-0118
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Sport - Classics - Oxford Bibliographies Page 1 of 29

Nikephoros: Zeitschrift für Sport und Kultur in Altertum.

History of Scholarship on Greek Sport

Sources and Evidence

Moretti, Luigi. 1953. Iscrizioni agonistiche greche. Rome: A. Signorelli.

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. 1898–. London: Egypt Exploration Society.

Greek Sport in the Bronze Age

Sport in the Homeric Epics

Olympia and the Olympics

Other Periodos Games and Their Sites

Local Athletic Contests

OTHER LOCAL ATHLETIC CONTESTS

Molyneux, John H. 1992. Simonides: A historical study. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci.

Patrucco, Roberto. 1972. Lo sport nella Grecia antica. Florence: L. S. Olschki.

Fiedler, W. 1992. Der Faustkampf in der griechischen Dichtung. Stadion 18:1–67.

Papalas, A. J. 1991. Boy athletes in ancient Greece. Stadion 17:165–192.

Civic Athletics and Physical Education

Social Aspects of Greek Sport

Sport and Women

Scanlon, Thomas F. 2008. The Heraia at Olympia revisited. Nikephoros 21:159–196.

Greek Sport, War, and Politics

Sport in Greek and Roman Literature

Greek Athletics in the Hellenistic Period and the Roman East

PTOLEMAIC AND ROMAN EGYPT

Roman Chariot Racing

Chariot Racing in the Late Antique and Byzantine World

LAST MODIFIED: 06/29/2011

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