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CHAPTER FOUR.
The Olympic Games were emulated in Athens and other places in Greece, as well as by foreigners in Sicily, Asia, Syria, Egypt, Judea, and especially in Rome, where they were celebrated even more magnificently. This is also referenced by Paul and other sacred writers.
§ I.
The great prestige and nearly limitless splendor of the Olympic Games led to their imitation. It is true that Photius gives this order for the Greek games: first, the Panathenaic Games (in honor of Minerva, started under Erichthonius) were established (Photius in Bibliotheca p. 15); then the Eleusinian Feasts (in honor of Ceres under Pandion II); next the Isthmian Games (in honor of Melicerta, by Theseus); then the Olympic Games of Hercules; after that, the Nemean, after the death of Archemorus; and finally, the Pythian after the destruction of Cyrrha. On the other hand, there are some who consider the Pythian games, placed last here, to be the oldest of all, dating them to the time of Joshua (Edm. Dickinfon Delph. Phaeniz. cap. 6). But even if all these were not established in imitation of the Olympic Games—although some, as we mentioned above, claimed that Theseus had the Isthmian Games established in imitation of Hercules’s establishment of the
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Olympic Games—it remains certain that many others must be considered imitations of the Olympic Games.
§ II.
Indeed, in Athens (let's start with that famous city, the mother of learning) (Pindari Scholiast. ad Od. 7), in addition to the Panathenaic and Herculean games in honor of Minerva and Hercules, the Olympic Games were also celebrated—that is, games in imitation of the Olympics. An ancient inscription by Jos. Scaliger also mentions Olympic Games after the Panathenaic ones (Scaliger de Emend. Temp. lib. 5); and Hesychius defines the Olympic games as a competitive sport among the Athenians (Hefychius in voce), (Scaliger loc. cit.). Thucydides is also clear on this (Thucydides de Bell. Pelop. l. 1.), stating: there are also Olympic Games in Macedonia, and in Athens. The scholiast of Pindar also speaks of Olympic Games in Athens (Scoliastes ad Pind. od. 9). More on this topic can be found in Meursius (Meurfius Graec. Feriat. lib. 5. p. 216). The fact that they were also celebrated in Macedonia is supported by this testimony from the scholiast of Demosthenes: (Demoft. Orat.) Archelaus was the first to establish the Olympic Games in Dio in Macedonia. Olympic Games were also held in Delos, Smyrna, and various other places; in fact, throughout all of Greece and all Greek regions, as can also be seen from all the racetracks, gymnasiums, and wrestling grounds that were eventually found in nearly all cities, as can be seen in Petrus Faber and others (Faber Agonift. lib. 3. cap. 26. 27. 28.). However, all these, being mere imitations, were only considered minor Olympic Games, in contrast to the true ones celebrated at Pisa, which bear the title of great Olympic Games in Lucian (Lucian. in Harmonide).
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§ III.
But they were also imitated in non-Greek and foreign regions (Hofmanni Lexunir. in voce Olympia), namely not only in Sicily, but also in Asia, Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere. Alexander the Great and his Macedonians, who were accustomed to the Greek games, seem to have brought them to Asia, Syria, and Egypt. Therefore, we read in Strabo that after conquering the Persians, Alexander wrote a very polite letter to the inhabitants of Ilium, in which he promised to beautify their city, build a magnificent temple, and establish a sacred athletic contest (Strabo lib. 13. p. m. 260). Regarding this, Paschalius says: there were also games in Alexandria (namely the Trojan Alexandria) that were celebrated throughout all of Ionia, perhaps the same ones, or established in their likeness, about which Alexander, after conquering the Persians, sent a very polite written letter to the inhabitants of Ilium, in which he promised, among other things, that he would establish a sacred athletic contest there (Pafchalius de Coron. l. 6. c. 30.). There were also imitated Olympic Games in Alexandria in Egypt, where there was a racetrack in imitation of the Olympic one, as Paschalius says, citing Strabo in the margin to prove his point (Pafchalius Cor. lib. 6. cap. 30.), (Strabo lib. 17.). In Tyre, five-year athletic contests were also held, which at least one Antiochus Epiphanes attended (2 Macc. 4: 18), according to the account of the writer of Maccabees.
§ IV.
Around that time, they also spread to Judea: for when that unholy man (who would rather be a gentile than a Jew, and therefore preferred to be called Jason rather than Jesus) (2 Macc. 4: 7-12) vied for the high priesthood, he not only promised to give the said Antiochus 360 talents of silver, and another 80 talents from elsewhere,
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but he also promised to send him another 150 talents if he would grant him the power to establish a sports school and a brothel for boys (as we interpret the word with P. Faber) and to enroll the citizens of Jerusalem as citizens of Antioch. This was readily granted to him; and thereupon, he built the sports school in Jerusalem, as the first book of Maccabees testifies (1 Macc. I: 14. 15.), and what's more, near the citadel itself (say our people) or the upper city, as the second book says, and so close to the temple that because of it (at least because of the bathhouses that were nearby) the appearance and extent of the temple were damaged (P. Faber Agon. l. 3. cap. 28.). Afterwards, the athletic contest was celebrated there in the presence of Antiochus, as Josephus testifies in his book on the Maccabees (Jofephus). But later, King Herod the Great, to curry favor with Augustus and the Roman elite, also introduced sports schools and athletic contests in Judea. Josephus lists the athletic contests among the things that Herod introduced in Judea against ancestral customs, says the famous Grotius (H. Grotius ad 2 Macc. 4. 9.). However, in Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 15, chapter 11, I find a detailed description of this (Jofephus Ant. Jud. lib. 15. cap. 11.), namely, how Herod, after exterminating Hyrcanus and his followers, deviated more and more from the paternal customs, and that he tried to corrupt the inviolable institutions of the ancients with foreign, that is, pagan, customs, and that he began with the introduction of the athletic contests. Thus, the Jewish historian speaks in our language: and first, he established
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the athletic contests every five years in honor of the Emperor, and he built a theater in Jerusalem, and on the plain, a circular theater, both costly but alien to the customs of the Jews, among whom there was no use for these things, nor a spectacle of shows. However, he wanted the celebration to be with the greatest splendor, and he had announcements made to the surrounding and distant peoples, and proposed great prizes, which led to a large influx from all corners of all kinds of athletic competitors, and all who were trained in the art flocked there. For they were invited by great prizes, not only those who practice the athletic contests but also the most famous musicians, and those called Thymelici, as well as the chariot drivers with four and three horses, and those who continued the race by jumping from horse to horse. All with the greatest zeal of the King, so that nothing would be lacking that could cause a sensation here. The theater itself was decorated on all sides with the titles of the Emperor and triumphal emblems, shining with gold and silver. And as for the equipment and outfit, these games also did not lack expensive tapestries, nor rare gems. Many wild animals, lions, and others that were notable for their strength or some natural wonder were also gathered, which now fought with each other, then with condemned people, and so on. Later, he recounts that the same Herod, while building the city of Caesarea from Straton's Tower in honor of Augustus, also built a theater and a circular theater on the south side of the harbor, which he, doing violence to nature, constructed for the city, and when he was finished, he established athletic contests (Jofephus Antiq. Jud. lib. 15. cap. 13.), which, for the inauguration of both the city and the games themselves, were celebrated most magnificently for the first time in the 192nd Olympiad. Thus
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Josephus speaks about this: (Antiq. Judaic. l. 16. c. 9.) around that time, Caesarea was completed in the tenth year after building had begun, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, in the 192nd Olympiad. At the inauguration, there was great splendor, and very costly preparations were made: for the most famous musicians and athletes of the training games were invited for the contests; and furthermore, a large gathering and number of fighters and wild animals, and everything of that kind that is of value, both in Rome and among other peoples. This athletic contest was also dedicated to the Emperor and would be repeated every five years, and so on. He also deals with this in his books of the Jewish Wars (De Bell Judaic. l. 1. c. 16.), where he also mentions how that magnanimous, yet unholy, king also provided foreign cities with baths and theaters, namely Tripolis, Damascus, Ptolemais, Byblus, Sidon, and so on. Above all, how, in honor not only of Achaia but of the entire world, he glorified and endowed the true Olympic game (which, as we said above, is called the great one) with annual revenues so that it would not disappear, as the Greeks had become unable to bear the costs. So too, later, Herod Agrippa in Berytus (where Herod the Great (Jofephus Antiq. Jud. l. 19. c. 7.) had founded proud galleries and temples) (Faber l. 1. c. 29. & lib. 2. cap. 29.) founded a theater and circular theater, equipped with baths and the like, and had both the shows and the athletic contests celebrated there with great sensation. Afterwards, he went to the just-mentioned Caesarea to renew the athletic contests there for the well-being of the Emperor. He arrived adorned with a brilliant luster from his clothes, so that the people were amazed and wondered, or else, by his premeditated plan and with the help of flatterers, they proclaimed him a God (Jofephus loc. cit.); which
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he did not prevent, as he liked it, whereupon divine justice immediately punished him, as the holy Luke also testifies (Acts 12: 21.-23.).
§ V.
But the Olympic Games were emulated most of all by the heroic Romans: they who took their gods, laws, arts, and a thousand other things from Greece, would they leave those world-famous games unimitated? For besides Virgil (Virgil. AEnid. l. 5 vs. 64. & c.) already having the ancestor of Romulus, Aeneas, celebrate such games during his wanderings to Italy; just as he had seen or at least heard of the Greeks, according to Homer's saying, playing now and then for the imitation and maintenance of their national customs, both elsewhere and in Olympia (for I have no doubt that Homer, by introducing his Greek heroes playing before Troy, alluded to the Olympic Games). So too, Livy (Livius lib. 1. c. 9.), Florus (Florus lib. 1. c. 1.), and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Dion. Halicam. lib. 3.) recount that Romulus, after founding the city, established foot races with chariots in honor of Consus, that is Neptune, with the aim of tricking the daughters of the surrounding peoples who had refused their marriage. This was undoubtedly in imitation of the Olympic Games, which had recently gained new splendor: for Rome is said to have been built in the first year of the seventh Olympiad or Olympic period (Jofeph. Scaliger de emend. temp. l. 5.), counting namely after the victory of Coraebus, when the games became constant and exceedingly glorious: therefore, it was no wonder that Romulus imitated those notorious games (Marsham Can. Chron. p. 499....). Afterwards, Rome's sixth king, Tarquinius Priscus, is said to have begun to build a mighty theater or racetrack, three stadiums long, four
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measures of land wide, namely in the plain between the two hills Palatinus and Aventinus: the building was masoned in an oval shape to the east, but square to the west (although others say that the first permanent theater was founded by Pompeius the Great. See in Donatus (Donatus Rom. antiq. l. 3. c. 8.)). Following kings and mayors added the seats and the roof (Dion. Halic. loc. cit.). From this, it can be seen that both Priscus and the subsequent kings and mayors solemnly celebrated the games (which were, after all, an imitation of the Greek, and in particular of the Olympic ones). The said theater was called Circus Maximus, and the games Circenses: which some explain as a contraction of Circum enses, that is, around the swords (Servius ad Virgil.), (J. Oudaan Roomfe. Mog. pag. 379.), as if raised swords were placed before the construction of the theaters instead of turning posts, around which the race had to be done by swinging. The Jesuit Cantelius speaks about this as follows: when the Roman state had not yet fully grown, the games were first celebrated on the Tiber Island: swords served as turning posts on one side, and the Tiber on the other (Jofeph. Cantelius pag. 426.). If this is what happened, it must have been before Tarquinius had arranged the mighty theater. Others derive the origin of the word Circenses from Circe, daughter of the Sun, as if they were dedicated to the Sun: not much different from some who say that, dedicated to Apollo, that is the Sun, they would have been called Circenses from Circus, circulation, with a view to the circulation of the Sun through the zodiac. But others derive it from the place where they were celebrated, namely the Circus Maximus. This last
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seems most plausible to us. But to return to the argument that the Olympic Games were imitated by the Romans: this matter is as clear as day, especially from later times. This is why Alexander ab Alexandro (Alex. ab Alex Gen. dier. lib. 5. cap. 8.) says that Cato is said to have brought the image of those games to Rome when he gave games in the theater and offered the victors not gold, as before, but wild olive wreaths. And Sylla not only imitated them but almost completely took them away from the Greeks, leaving them only the footrace. This is said to have happened in the 175th Olympiad, according to the same Alexander. Afterwards, Augustus (after he had defeated Antonius and Cleopatra at Actium in a naval battle) (Suetonius in vita Augufti c. 18.) had Nicopolis built opposite that place in memory of the victory, and established five-year games in honor of Apollo; although Strabo says renewed and increased, which Scaliger prefers (Strabo lib. 5.), (Scalig. Emend. Temp. lib. 5.). However, the same games were also celebrated in Rome: which is why the said Scaliger proves from Suetonius that Augustus had Tiberius preside there over the Ludi Actiaci, the Actian games and the Trojan Circenses. But Nero in particular was dedicated to bringing the Greek games into use, and indeed into full bloom, in Rome. Hence Scaliger says: on Nero's coin it says: THE FIVE-YEAR CONTEST ESTABLISHED (loc. cit.). By which nothing else should be meant than that which he gave the name Neroniana, Nero's Games. Eusebius writes that he would have been the best in those games at playing the lyre: for against the fourth year of the 209th Olympiad, he writes: NERO, COMPETING WITH THE LYRE IN ROME, WINS.
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And further on, against the fourth year of the 210th Olympiad: NERO, COMPETING WITH THE LYRE-CONTEST IN ROME, WINS ALL. Tacitus also speaks of these games, and indeed in such a way that they were established in imitation of the Greeks (Tacitus Annal l. 14. c. 20.), saying: When Nero was consul for the fourth time, with Cornelius Cossus as a colleague, the five-year game was established in the manner of the Greek contests; about which there was different talk, as is usual with new things. For there were those who said that even Gnaeus Pompeius had been accused by the ancients because he had begun to found a permanent theater, and so on. The same author speaks of another celebration of these games elsewhere: and it happened that the five-year game was celebrated for the second time (Lib. 16. cap. 2.): namely at the time when he had allowed himself to be deceived by Cecellus Bassus to search for Dido's hidden treasures with endless costs, but in vain. Suetonius speaks just as clearly about this: He also, as the first of all, established a three-fold five-year athletic contest in the Greek manner, namely a musical one (in which, as shown above, he won the prize twice), a training game, and a horse racing game in Rome, and named it Neroniana, Nero's Games (Suet. Tranq. in vita Neron. cap. 12.). Afterwards, around the 711th Olympiad, he introduced another game, which served in particular as an imitation of the Pythian and Actian games; and he called it Isthmia Pythia Actiaca, and ordered that he be called the Pythian and Actian Apollo; as appears from the testimony of Xiphilinus and some of Nero's coins. Yes, Nero, who could not be sated with imitating the Greek games in Rome, traveled to Greece himself and took part in all the contests there (Suetonius in vita cap. 23.): however, not without violating their
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rules, laws, and customs: for he had the Olympic game that was supposed to be held postponed until his arrival the following year, as Philostratus and Eusebius testify, the latter of whom says: the 211th Olympiad was not celebrated because Nero postponed it until his arrival (Eufebius in Chron.). The former adds: as if (the Eleans) had to serve him more than Jupiter (Philoftratus). Furthermore, he added musical games to the other Olympic Games, which did not belong there, as they were too frivolous for such brave exercises: and since there was neither a theater nor a stage in that place, but only a racetrack prepared by nature and everything was bare, according to Philostratus (Lucian). He also had all the games moved to the same time and the same year, namely the Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, etc., which were otherwise celebrated in different years, even if some had already been celebrated, because those too had to be repeated, according to Suetonius. Now, having been declared the victor of the singing games, whether by himself or by the proclamation of Cluvius Rufus (for Suetonius and Dio differ on this), he had all the magnificent statues of the victors torn down with hooks and thrown into sewers: but for this he honored the province with freedom, and the judges with Roman citizenship and a great treasure: and thereupon, having returned from Greece, he rode like a mighty victor with white horses through a part of the city wall, according to the custom of the Olympic victors, into Neapolis: in the same way in Antium, then in Albanum, and then in Rome, where he entered with the chariot on which Augustus had once triumphed, in a purple dress and a coat embroidered with golden stars
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on it, wearing the Olympic crown on his head, the Pythian in his right hand, and so on: which we would continue to recount if we did not see so clearly that we have lingered too long with the monster Nero, who is ugly and horrible after all. From these examples mentioned so far, to which we could still add the CAPITOLINE GAMES (Seutonius in vita Domit cap. 4), the Capitol contests of Domitianus, dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, which mainly consisted of singing games, poetry, etc., but also of a foot race, at least of young daughters: we could also add others (J. Scaliger de Em. Temp. lib. 5. p. 476....). From these, I repeat, it is more than clear enough how common the Greek, both the Olympic Games and the others, became among the Romans: for all the Circenses originated from them and depicted them, as mentioned. And moreover, those which were openly said to have been established and held in the Greek manner, which we have just talked about, did so in particular.
§ VI.
But it is furthermore remarkable that the Romans, in raising their monarchy to the highest pinnacle of greatness, celebrated the games not only more abundantly but also more costly and more magnificently than the Greeks, even in Olympia, who were at that time tributary and fainthearted, could do: and that consequently, now it was not so much the Olympic, but rather the games cast in a Roman form that provided the model which the peoples came to adopt, that is, according to which they shaped theirs. This model could now only be provided by the Circus Maximus, that is, the great Circus (spoken of above), in addition to the other theaters and circular theaters: for there was all the
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equipment, the size, the types of games that one could see in Olympia, and even more: for there much was natural and without art, here everything was artful; there the number of games was limited, here unlimited, containing all kinds of them; everything was bigger and prouder here than there, with the sole exception that there the victory and the crowns of olive leaves were infinitely valued, which the more serious and stricter Romans wisely valued at a lower price, and desired the victory over peoples and kingdoms as their crowns, and therefore laughed at a Nero and his like, who were proud and arrogant about leaf crowns and such trifles.
§ VII.
Since the Olympic game had now moved to Rome, at least its affairs also appeared there, and the model was given to others from there; so it seems to follow that the writers of those times, when they derive their turns of phrase from the Olympic Games, as happens endlessly, do not always refer to the actual Olympic field and the actual Olympic Games, but often to the Great Circus in Rome: especially when they allude to things that were not found in Olympia, but in the Circus. Furthermore, when the sacred writers of the New Testament, in particular Paul, also glorify the games by using turns of phrase derived from them: we conclude that they do so in such a way that they do not always have their eye on the pure Olympic Games, but often on the Olympic-Roman Games, if I may say so, as the Circus Maximus (which I present here as an example from all such theaters) provided and only served as a model to other nations: and consequently, that when explaining the Olympic matters, and
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the apostolic turns of phrase, to illustrate which we have undertaken this book, which are taken from there, we will be free to linger indifferently now at Pisa and then in Rome, or wherever we can get more rightly, and consider everything that we encounter on the right path as Olympic.