Ancient Olympic Games, Renaissance

The palaestra of Olympia, a place devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes
The palaestra of Olympia, a place devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes

In the first half of the second century, the Philhellenic emperors, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius oversaw a new and successful phase in the history of the games. The Olympics attracted a great number of spectators and competitors and the victors’ fame spread across the Roman Empire. The renaissance endured for most of the second century. Once again, “philosophers, orators, artists, religious proselytizers, singers, and all kinds of performers went to the festival of Zeus.”

The palaestra of Olympia, a place devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes
The palaestra of Olympia, a place devoted to the training of wrestlers and other athletes