Fig. 48. R.-f. kylix. Formerly at Naples.
Fig. 49. R.-f. kylix. Chiusi.
Such was the position adopted at the start in the fifth century, and it continued as long as and wherever the double-grooved starting lines continued to be used. It seems, however, that sometimes the runners were stationed behind a barrier formed by a rope (ὕσπληξ) or by a wooden bar, and that the signal for the start was given by dropping this rope or bar.[[484]] Ropes, as we know, were used in the chariot-race, a separate rope being stretched in front of each chariot. Aristophanes uses the phrase “from a single rope” (ὥσπερ ἀπὸ μιᾶς ὑσπλάγιδος) to denote a simultaneous movement “of one accord.”[[485]] The vase paintings do not furnish the faintest indication of the use of a rope in the foot-race. The only possible trace of its use revealed by excavation is the line of herms at Athens, which cannot be earlier than imperial times. The posts, which were placed in the square sockets along the starting line, cannot have been used to support a rope; for such a rope is incompatible with the use of the starting lines. There is no evidence of its use in the foot-race till the third century B.C., when we find reference to the ὕσπληγες in inscriptions relating to the stadia at Epidaurus and Athens,[[486]] and an undoubted allusion to it in the poet Lycophron, who speaks of a “winged runner bursting through the balbis rope.”[[487]] Even then we may doubt whether its use was ever universal. With a rope a false start is impossible; and yet allusions to runners poaching at the start occur in literature from Herodotus to Plutarch, or even later.[[488]] Still, it is certain that a rope was sometimes used, that it was raised at some height above the ground and stretched tight in front of the runners, and that the signal to start was given by the dropping of the rope. A late epigram tells us that this was accompanied by an audible sound.[[489]] In default of definite evidence, it may be suggested that it was worked by a spring, perhaps somewhat after the manner of the modern starting-gate. Some support for this suggestion is afforded by the use of the word ὕσπληξ to denote a spring hunting-trap.
Allusion is also made to a bar of wood placed in front of the runners, the removal of which gave the signal to start.[[490]] Such a barrier can hardly have been introduced earlier than the time of the Empire, and was probably borrowed from the Roman circus. As stated in the last chapter, it is possible that the grooves in the pillars at Athens and Epidaurus served to hold some solid barrier of this sort.
In the stade-race, the runners were divided into heats (τάξεις), which were drawn by putting into a helmet lots marked with the different letters of the alphabet.[[491]] If, as seems probable at Olympia, each heat consisted of four, there would be four lots marked A, four B, and so on. It appears that there was no second draw, but that all the winners of heats ran together in the final, so that the final winner had won twice.[[492]] The starting lines at Olympia provided room for twenty runners at once. In short races the field is often a large one, and we hear of no less than seven Crotoniats winning their heats in a single Olympiad.[[493]] There is no reason for supposing that the heats were always limited to four. The number would naturally be determined by the number of entries and the length of the starting lines. On the Panathenaic vases representing this race we find usually four, but sometimes two, three, or five runners taking part, though it is unsafe to draw conclusions from this evidence, the number of figures being largely determined in a drawing by considerations of space.[[494]] Of one thing we may feel sure in spite of assertions to the contrary in modern text-books: the heats were so arranged as to avoid the necessity of a bye. A single odd runner would be attached to one of the heats, two or more would form a heat by themselves. Whether heats were employed in the longer races we have no evidence to determine.
The runners were separated from one another at the start by posts placed in the stone sill, and in later times by more massive pillars, and similar posts or pillars marked the finish or turning point. It has been suggested that ropes were fastened to these posts, which ran the length of the course and separated the runners from one another. Unfortunately, there is no evidence for this natural and attractive explanation, and such evidence as we do possess is unfavourable. We hear occasionally of runners interfering with one another by holding, tripping, and running across.[[495]] Such foul practices seem to have been rare, and were of course strictly forbidden. The competitors at Olympia swore a solemn oath to abstain from all foul play. But on a roped course these practices are impossible. They may, of course, have been confined to the long-distance races, in which the course was certainly not roped. But this is mere supposition, and in the dearth of evidence we must look for some other explanation of the posts. In the first place they must have served as guide-posts for the runners, a very necessary aid in a broad track 200 yards long,—in which it is by no means easy to run straight without assistance. Possibly each post was distinguished by some special sign or colour. Then in the diaulos the runners probably turned round these posts, each turning round his own post. Finally, as the use of the tape seems to have been unknown at the finish, they must have given the judges a most useful line for judging a close finish. It is possible that the first who touched his pillar won, and that in the turn the runners had to touch their respective pillars. But this is mere conjecture.
Fig. 50. Panathenaic amphora. Sixth century. (Mon. d. I. I. xxii. 7 b.)
In the stade-race each runner ran straight to the post opposite his starting point. The manner of running the other races is more difficult to determine. The centre socket in one of the lines at Olympia is larger than the rest, and Dr. Dörpfeld is of opinion that in the diaulos and dolichos the other posts were removed and only the central one was left, round which all competitors raced. In the diaulos such a system would have put those who started on the outside at a serious disadvantage compared with those who started in the centre, a disadvantage accentuated by the confusion and crowding at the turn. It seems therefore probable that the runners raced each to his own post, and turning round it to the left raced back along the parallel track. In the longer races the objection is less important, and the representations of the dolichos on vases seem to show that all the runners raced round and round the central posts at either end. On an early Panathenaic vase (Fig. 50) four runners are shown running to the left towards a rough post. The foremost runner has just reached the post, his left foot just passing it, but he has not yet turned. The style of running shows that the post denotes the turn and not the finish.[[496]]