Modern Olympics go Roman

On Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:28:17 -0700 (PDT), Jack Linthicum <...@earthlink.net

As the Olympic Games achieved a form of fame in the years by becoming
corrupt. Cheating was not uncommon in the ancient Summer Games .
Athletes used to rub themselves up with oil to protect their skin from
dirt and sunlight. The wrestlers were not allowed to use oil. They
were supposed to dust themselves with a powder. Some wrestlers cheated
by rubbing oil over some part of the body making it slippery for an
opponent to grab. Cheating was punished very severely .
In the ancient Summer Games , there were rules for every game
contested for. Those, who cheated or violated the rules, were
disqualified from the contest. Along with the contestant, the trainer
and the sponsoring city-state were also fined. Cheaters could be
punished by whipping or fines . The money from these fines was used to
construct bronze statues of Zeus . These statues were placed along the
tunnel that leads to the stadium. Each statue's inscription told the
cautionary tale of the offense. The athletes walked past these statues
as a reminder of the importance of obeying the rules.

Recorded incidents of Cheating in ancient Summer Games: The first
incident of actual cheating in the history of the ancient Summer Games
occurred in 388 BC. Eupolus, the boxer of Thessaly bribed three
opponents to take a dive. He was fined with a huge amount of money to
build six bronze statues of Zeus .

Some participants were induced to swap allegiance, often at the risk
of exile from their homelands. Winners of the ancient Summer Games
were known to bring religious favor and glory to their city-states.
For this reason, many city-states tried to bribe athletes to
participate in the games as their representative. The city-state of
Syracuse was as notorious as New York Yankees owner George
Steinbrenner in its quest for free agents that would bring religious
favor and glory. When Syracuse induced sprint champion Astylos to quit
Kroton in southern Italy , his admirers in the hometown tore down his
statue and turned his house into a prison.

Olympic corruption reached the climax during the Roman reign. In 67
AD , Emperor Nero bribed the judges to include poetry reading in the
schedule of the Summer Games as an event. The judges also declared
Nero the chariot champion , despite his not finishing the race.

WI the same themes had encompassed the modern Olympic movement,
athletes changing countries, competing for monetary prizes rather than
the laurel and honor, taking drugs and treatments to improve their
performamce, using illegal methods to defeat opponents? What would the
end result have become? Instead of our bright and shining games, held
every four years at Athens, there would be a circus of bidding for the
right to stage the games, inclusion of "sports" not found in the
ancient games, officials and rules bent to the satisfaction of the
residents of the selected city, great amounts of wealth reaching the
pockets of officials and judges, strange results from either
disqualification or allowing an ineligible athlete to compete.

The Olympic games originally contained one event: the stadion (or
"stade") race, a short sprint measuring between 180 and 240 metres, or
the length of the stadium.

The diaulos, or 2-stade race, was introduced in 724 BC, during the
14th Olympic games. The race was a single lap of the stadium,
approximately 400 metres.

A third foot race, the dolichos, was introduced in 720 BC. Separate
accounts of the race present conflicting evidence as to the actual
length of the dolichos. However, the average stated length of the race
was approximately 18-24 laps, or about three miles (5 km).

The last running event added to the Olympic program was the
hoplitodromos, or "Hoplite race," introduced in 520 BC and
traditionally run as the last race of the day. The runners would run
either a single or double diaulos (approximately 400 or 800 yards) in
full or partial armour, carrying a shield and additionally equipped
either with greaves or a helmet.

Over the years, more events were added: boxing (pygme/pygmachia),
wrestling (pale), pankration (regulated full-contact fighting, similar
to today's mixed martial arts), chariot racing, several other running
events (the diaulos, hippios, dolichos, and hoplitodromos), as well as
a pentathlon, consisting of wrestling, stadion, long jump, javelin
throw and discus throw (the latter three were not separate events).

In the chariot racing event, it was not the rider but the owner of the
chariot and team who was considered to be the competitor, so one man
could win more than one of the top spots.
The winner of an Olympic event was