The Olympic Games
A religious festival at Olympia becomes the shared calendar of the Greek world.
- When
- Known to
- ± 10 years
- Era
- Iron Age, Holocene
Tradition dates the first games to 776 BCE, and the four-yearly cycle becomes a panhellenic institution — a sacred truce allowed athletes and spectators safe passage through wars. Competitors were male, competed nude, and represented their cities. The Olympiad also becomes the standard Greek chronological reference, which is why so many ancient dates are given as the nth year of a particular Olympiad.