The place where the Athletæ exercised themselves in running was generally called the Stadium by the Greeks; as was that wherein they disputed in earnest for the prize. As the lists or [pg lxii] course for these games was at first but one Stadium[132] in length, it took its name from its measure, and was called the Stadium, whether precisely of that extent, or of a much greater. Under that denomination was included not only the space in which the Athletæ ran, but also that which contained the spectators of the gymnastic games. The place where the Athletæ contended was called Scamma, from its lying lower than the rest of the Stadium, on each side of which, and at the extremity ran an ascent or kind of terrace, covered with seats and benches, upon which the spectators were seated. The most remarkable parts of the Stadium were its entrance, middle, and extremity.
The entrance of the course, from whence the competitors started, was marked at first only by a line drawn on the sand from side to side of the Stadium. To that at length was substituted a kind of barrier, which was only a cord strained tight in the front of the horses or men that were to run. It was sometimes a rail of wood. The opening of this barrier was the signal for the racers to start.
The middle of the Stadium was remarkable only by the circumstance of having the prizes allotted to the victors set up there. St. Chrysostom[133] draws a fine comparison from this custom. “As the judges,” says he, “in the races and other games, expose in the midst of the Stadium, to the view of the champions, the crowns which they are to receive; in like manner the Lord, by the mouth of his prophets, has placed in the midst of the course, the prizes which he designs for those who have the courage to contend for them.”
At the extremity of the Stadium was a goal, where the footraces ended, but in those of chariots and horses they were to run several times round it without stopping, and afterwards conclude the race by regaining the other extremity of the lists, from whence they started.
There were three kinds of races, the chariot, the horse, and the footrace. I shall begin with the last, as the most simple, natural, and ancient.
1. Of the Foot-race.
The runners, of whatever number they were, ranged themselves in a line, after having drawn lots for their places. Whilst they waited the signal to start, they practised, by way of prelude, various motions to awaken their activity, and to keep their limbs pliable and in a right temper.[134] They kept themselves in wind by small leaps, and making little excursions, that were a kind of trial of their speed and agility. Upon the signal being given they flew towards the goal, with a rapidity scarce to be followed by the eye, which was solely to decide the victory. For the Agonistic laws prohibited, under the penalty of infamy, the attaining it by any foul method.
In the simple race the extent of the Stadium was run but once, at the end of which the prize attended the victor, that is, he who came in first. In the race called Δίαυλος, the competitors ran twice that length; that is, after having arrived at the goal, they returned to the barrier. To these may be added a third sort, called Δολιχὸς, which was the longest of all, as its name implies, and was composed of several Diauli. Sometimes it consisted of twenty-four Stadia backwards and forwards, turning twelve times round the goal.
There were some runners in ancient times, as well among the Greeks as Romans, who have been much celebrated for their swiftness. Pliny tells us,[135] that it was thought prodigious in Phidippides to run eleven hundred and forty Stadia[136] between Athens and Lacedæmon in the space of two days, till Anystis of the latter place, and Philonides, the runner of Alexander the Great, went twelve hundred Stadia[137] in one day, from Sicyon to Elis. These runners were denominated ἡμεροδρόμους [pg lxiv] as we find in that passage of Herodotus, which mentions Phidippides.[138] In the consulate of Fonteius and Vipsanus, in the reign of Nero, a boy of nine years old ran seventy-five thousand paces[139] between noon and night. Pliny adds, that in his time there were runners, who ran one hundred and sixty thousand paces[140] in the circus. Our wonder at such a prodigious speed will increase, (continues he,)[141] if we reflect, that when Tiberius went to Germany to his brother Drusius, then at the point of death, he could not arrive there in less than four-and-twenty hours, though the distance was but two hundred thousand paces,[142] and he changed his carriage three times,[143] and went with the utmost diligence.