0
0
In ancient Greece, strangers were not allowed to participate in the Games. In 146 B.C. Greece was subjugated to Rome, and the Greeks, contrary to sacred tradition, had to allow the winners to compete. The Romans had introduced circus performances into the Olympics: gladiators fought to the death against each other and against bulls, tigers and lions. But this was no longer a sport, but a commercial spectacle that brought in large profits.
At the end of the 4th century A.D. Christianity triumphed in Rome: Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed it an official religion. The bishop of Milan, Ambroise, who was called the “Christian conscience” of Theodosius, succeeded in convincing him that the Olympic Games (because of the legends associated with them) were the main source of paganism and must be destroyed. In 394 Theodosius I. declared the Games to be impious and, in order to establish the Christian faith and his system of government, forbade the festivities.
The Olympic facilities survived the Games for only a year. In 395 the Byzantine and Visigoth armies fought a bloody battle on the banks of the Alphaeus. Ancient Olympia was destroyed. Thirty-one years later, in the year 426, Theodosius II ordered the remains of the pagan sanctuaries to be burned and razed to the ground. This is how the majestic temple of Zeus perished, while his 12-meter gold and ivory statue, a creation of the immortal Fidias, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was taken to Constantinople.
After 100 years the defeat of Olympia was completed by two major earthquakes. And then, suddenly, the rivers overflowed. They overflowed their banks, washed away all the barriers, and Olympia disappeared from the face of the earth under the sand and mud.
