The Hellenistic and Roman periods represented a renaissance for Olympia. Archaeological excavation has shown that the sanctuary and athletic facilities were upgraded and expanded, with the Romans introducing their cult of emperors and reviving the popularity of the games.

However, Olympia’s decline accompanied that of the empire that revived her and what people started, nature finished.

Hellenistic Greece and Olympia

The power of the Greek city-state declined in the Hellenistic period to be replaced by Hellenistic monarchies led by Kings such as Philip of Macedonia and Alexander the Great. However, archaeology suggests that despite this political change, Olympia remained an important panhellenic site.

The palaestra and gymnasium were rebuilt, and a set of basic baths were added to the site. Statues of heroes, gods and athletes continued to be dedicated. One of the best examples of sculpture from this period is the Hermes of Praxiteles. Dedicated as an offering to the Temple of Hera in 330BC, the statue survived the destruction of the site virtually undamaged, preserved under the collapsed brick wall of the temple cella. It measures just over two metres high and bears traces of red and gilt paint. These faint stains are all that remains of the bright colours that would have brought the marble to life.

The nature of the Altis also began to change. It was now not only a place to commemorate gods and heroes of the games but living rulers. In the 4th century, a monument to Philip of Macedonia was added close to the temple of Hera. This innovation set the trend continued by the Romans.

The Fall and Rise of the Olympic Games and the Cult of the Emperors

Initially, Olympia declined under the Romans. By 30BC, the games were no longer panhellenic, instead celebrated as a local festival. But things changed with the rise of the emperors.

Augustus’s friend Agrippa took an interest in Olympia and began to repair damage to the Altis. The games revived when members of the imperial family began to take part in the contests. Tiberius, Augustus’s successor and his nephew Germanicus both took part in and won chariot races. Nero also performed in the musical contests of the games and even had a house built just outside the stadium.

By the 2nd century AD, the games were as popular as ever, encompassing Greece and the whole Roman world. Orators, as well as athletes, travelled to Olympia to compete. Competitors were not the only visitors, for Olympia had become something of a tourist attraction. Travellers stopped off to watch the games and see the sights — especially the temple of Zeus and its statue, one of the wonders of the ancient world.

The archaeology of the site shows the Romans upgraded the sporting venues and added facilities for visitors. The stadium seating was updated and a vaulted passage was added to the entrance of the track. A new bathhouse was built, as was a hotel with a water garden and a nymphaeum or monumental fountain. 

Statues from this period do not glorify athletes but the imperial family. The temple of Rhea, mother of the gods, was converted into a cult centre for the Roman emperors. Remains of statues from the temple survive and include Poppea Sabina, Nero’s second wife, the emperors Domitian, Claudius and Titus, and Agrippina the Younger.

Christianity and the Decline of Paganism

Many of the site’s classical monuments were destroyed in the 3rd century AD when Olympia was fortified against the incursions of the Heruli, a Germanic tribe. But the site’s decline accelerated in the 4th century AD as, faced with the rise of Christianity, paganism was quashed.

Firstly, the emperor Theodosius ended the games in 393AD as part of a clampdown on pagan religious practices. Then, in 426AD, Theodosius II ordered the demolition of the Altis, with the temple of Zeus amongst the buildings destroyed.

Yet the sanctuary of Olympia remained and during the 5th and 6th centuries AD, it enjoyed a new incarnation as a Christian site. A small Christian basilica was built from the remains of Pheidias’s workshop and there is evidence of a small settlement.

However, Christian Olympia did not last. Earthquakes in 522 and 551AD completed the destruction of the ancient buildings, taking the Christian constructs with them. Olympia finally disappeared under the silt of flooding in the Middle Ages until its rediscovery in 1766.

Resources

Hornblower, S and Spawforth, A (eds) The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press

Gates, C, (2003) Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome. Routledge: London and New York

Yalouris, A & N, (1995) Olympia: Guide to the Museum and the Sanctuary. Ekdotike Athenon s.a: Athens