For over a thousand years, the flame burned every four years, until the Roman Emperor Theodosius I silenced the Games in 393 CE. Yet, the spirit of the gymnasion and the dream of the "Sacred Truce" survived, waiting in the soil of Olympia to be reborn in the modern era.
: A grueling test of jumping, flinging the heavy bronze discus, hurling the javelin, wrestling, and running. For over a thousand years, the flame burned
The Games grow with the centuries. By the 5th century BCE, the festival is a five-day spectacle of human limit: For over a thousand years
On the final day, you stand before the Temple of Zeus. There is no prize money. Instead, the judges place a simple wreath of wild olive leaves ( kotinos ) upon your head. the flame burned every four years