The Eleans appointed the judges of the contests, who were called Ilellanodiae. (Pam, v. 9. 4, 5.) They were instructed in the duties of their office for a period of ten months before the festival by Elam officers, called Notnophylaces (Parse., vi. 24. 3) : they were sworn to act impartially, and an appeal might be made from their deci sion to the Elean senate. (Pans., vi. 24. 3.) Their number varied at different periods : in the 106th Olympiad it was fixed at ten, which WWI the number ever afterwards. The judges had under them officers, called labs& (algt(e), whose business was to keep order. These officers were called paarty4opot (mastigophori) in the other Grecian games.
The Olympian festival consisted of religious ceremonies, athletic contests, and races. The chief deity who presided over it was the Olympian Zeus, whose temple at Olympia, containing the ivory and gold statue of the god by Phidias, was one of the most magnificent works of art in Greece. (Paul, v.) The worship of Apollo was associated with that of Zeus (,hullers `Dorian; p. 270-281, trans.); and the early traditions connect Heracles with the festival. (Ibid., p. 453.) This is another proof of the Dorian origin of the games, for Apollo and Heracles were two of the principal deities of the Doric race. There were altars at Olympia to other gods, which were said to have been erected by Iferacles, and at which the victors sacrificed. The most magnificent sacrifices and presents were offered to Zeus Olympius by the competitors and by the different states of Greece.
The games consisted of horse and foot races, leaping, throwing, wrestling, and boxing, and combinations of these exercises. 1. The earliest of these games was the foot-race (Oduox), which was the only one revived by 1phitus. The apace run was the length of the stadium in which the games were held, namely, about 600 English feet. In the 14th Olympiad (724 sic.) the SlauXas was added, in which the stadium was traversed twice. The Sdsixer, which consisted of several lengths of the stadium (seven, twelve, or twenty-four, according to different authorities), was added in the 15th Olympiad (B.c. 720). A race in which the runners wore armour (drXercZv SinSuox) was established in the 65th Olympiad, but soon after abolished. 2. Wrestling (srisn) was introduced in the 18th Olympiad (B.c. 7081. The wrestlers were matched in pairs by lot; when there was an odd number, the person who was left by the lot without an autagonist wrestled last of all with him who had conquered the others. He was called gcsESpos. The athlete who gave his antagonist three throws gained the victory. There was another kind of wrestling (bassuroasiSn), in which, if the combatant who fell could drag down his antagonist with him, the struggle was continued on the ground, and the one who succeeded in getting uppermost and holding the other down gained the victory.
3. In the same year was introduced the pentathlon (aivratMov), or, as the Romans called it, guinguertiunt, which consisted of the five exercises enumerated in the following verse, which is ascribed to Simonides:— roScurternv, ateKov, INorra, IrciAny, that is, "leafing, running, throwing the discus [Discus], throwing the javelin, wrestling." Others give a different enumeration of the ex ercises of the pentathlon. In leaping, they carried weights in their bands or on their shoulders the object was to leap the greatest distance, without regard to height. In throwing, neither the discus nor the javelin was aimed at a mark, but be who threw farthest was the victor. In order to gain a victory in the pentathlon, it was necessary to conquer in each of its five parts. 4. Boring (s-trytch) was introduced in the 23rd Olympiad (B.c. 688). The boxers had their hands and arms covered with thongs of leather, called crates, which served both to defeud them and to annoy their antagonists. Virgil (' Xus,' v. 405) describes the cestus as armed with lead and iron ; but this is not known to have been the case among the Greeks. 5. Thepaneratium (3-ayupciTtov) consisted of boxing and wrestling combined. In this exercise and in the cestus the vanquished combatant acknowledged his defeat by some sign ; and this is supposed to be the reason why Spartans were forbidden by the laws of Lycurgus to practise them, as it would have been esteemed a disgrace to his country that a Spartan should confess himself defeated. In these games the combatants fought naked. (Thuc., i. 6.) The horse-races were of two kiwis. I. The Chariot-race, generally with four.hersed chariots (brircl's TtXtrcov aponox), was introduced in the 25th Olympiad (sic. 680). The course (iniroWnos) had two goals in the middle, at the distance probably of two stadia from each other. The chariots started from one of these goals, turned round the other, and returned along the other side of the hippodrome. This circuit was made twelve times. The art of the charioteer consisted in turning as close as possible to these goals, but without running against them or the other chariots. The places at the starting-post were assigned to the chariots by lot. There was another sort of race between chariots with two horses (Mom or criftaoptx). A race between chariots drawn by mules (hasp* was introduced in the 70th Olympiad, and abolished in the 84th. 2. There were two sorts of races on horseback, namely, the in which each competitor rode one horse throughout the course, and te Kaiorh, in which, as the horse approached the goal, the rider leaped from his back, and keeping hold of the bridle, finished the course on foot : in this last only mares were permitted to run.