[Philostratos, Apollonius of Tyana VII.192]

Chapter 9. FAMOUS OR ANONYMOUS CHARIOTEERS,

AND CHEATING FOREIGN OWNERS

At the equestrian Olympics and other great festivals such as the Panathenaia, charioteers were rarely the owners of their teams. The same applied to jockeys in the racing contests. The quadriga, biga and mule-cart drivers, as well as the kalpe, keles and anabatai [jockeys], were usually young and unemployed. The arrangements thus resembled those of modern times, when horse owners employ jockeys and drivers, depending on the race requirements. The only difference is that today there are many more professional jockeys and drivers involved in racing.

Charioteering was a hazardous sport and, unless the driver was a passionate disciple of this hippic contest, it must have seemed hardly worth the risk to life (his own and his horses) on makeshift tracks. It was unattractive, too, for another reason: when victory was secured it was the owner alone who came away with the glory, the wreath, and the more tangible prizes. Sometimes owners would leave Olympia with more than 170 oil-filled amphoras, while the victorious riders and charioteers had to be content with a few ribbons tied around their heads, arms or legs (see Chapter 24). At the finish line the young jockeys tasted glory with empty pockets. Sometimes a driver might be celebrated with the owner in a special ode commissioned for the occasion, or he might be represented in the owner's victory monument dedicated to Zeus but more often the charioteers remained anonymous. A notable example is the Delphic charioteer, who, like his sculptor, is unknown. One has to feel pity for the artist – although his masterpiece survives, his own name and that of his handsome model are lost to us. Pheidias’s riders at the Parthenon are also anonymous but his 42-foot statue of Zeus is well known although lost forever. The words of an unknown poet who had commented on the sculpture [Fig. 9.1] provide some consolation to Pheidias for his monumental effort:

‘He who saw Peidias' <statue of> Zeus will never feel unfortunate’

By contrast, we know two of old Pheidias's favourite predilections. In the second century BCE Pausanias mentioned the “boy Pantarkes...of Elis, lover of Pheidias”. That legendary sculptor seems to have chiseled the phrase ‘Pantarkes [is] good’ on one of Zeus' fingers. It would appear that the great artist had been secretly in love with young Pantarkes,an Elean boy-pankratiast who won the pankration contest at the 86th Olympiad (436 BCE). Another of Pheidias’ pleasures was drinking at work, an unknown weakness discovered only recently after archaeologists found at his workshop a simple wine jug bearing the inscription ‘I belong to Pheidias’.

Fig 9.1. The gold and ivory 14-m high statue of Zeus in his temple at the Altis (Design: Mr. K. Iliakis), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world along with Cheop's Pyramid, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Gardens of Babylon, Alexandria’s Pharos, the statue of Artemis in Ephesos, and the Athens Parthenon]. The giant statue, described carefully by Pausanias who must have visited Olympia at about 170 CE, had already been standing for almost 600 years. It was later transferred to Constantinople by Theodosius II, and according to medieval historians, it was destroyed in AD 475 by big fires that burned the area where it was standing. Pausanias had been so impressed that he devoted an entire chapter to it [Eliaka V.11]. Excerpts of his descriptions indicate how awesome Zeus must have been:

‘The god is <seen> sitting on a throne made of gold and elephant <ivory>’

‘… In his right hand he holds <goddess> Nike also of ivory and gold’

‘The god's shoes are <made of> gold, and so is his himation’

Not surprisingly, it was considered extremely honorable to drive one's own team of horses in a contest. In one of his most famous odes Pindar congratulates his Theban compatriot Herodotos for doing just that. In a 5^th century epigraph, Damon of Sparta boasts that he and his son Erymakratidas won an unbelievable sixty-eight victories in chariot and horse contests at eight different Greek festivals.

With the exception of generations of meticulously recorded Olympic victors, only a few names of famous chariot drivers survive in literature.  Most of them derive from the mythological or pre-Olympic era of Homer’s epics. The following is an attempt to list just a few heroes-charioteers in rough chronological order, together with the texts in which they are cited. Lists 9.I-II briefly record famous ‘mythical’ and Olympic victors, and these are followed by a list of less known, foreign, or undeclared winners. 

LIST 9.I:  PRE-OLYMPIC HEROES AND CHARIOTEERS CHRONOLOGICALLY

Iolaos [Pausanias V.8.3-4, V.17.11]

Iolaos was the charioteer of Herakles, known as the organizer of a pre-Olympiad (Chapter 27). Whether he was mythical or real, young Iolaos won the games and gained fame by defeating Kyknos, son of Ares, at a Tethrippon race [Hesiod, Herakles’ Shield 463-69].  He must have been very confident to drive Herakles' horses against gods with no fear of their wrath. The god Ares, in fact, was wounded by Herakles and was barely saved by Phobos and Deimos, who took him to Olympus on their chariot.

‘There is Iolaos racing Herakles' horses. There was an old custom of racing another owner's horses ... as Menelaos [drove] Agamemnon's [mare] Aethe [Pausanias]; ‘Then, Alkmene’s son [Herakles] with famed Iolaos took Kyknos’ fine arms to reach Trechine on fast-footed horses …’  [Hesiod].

Acamas and Demophon [Strabo 14.6.3]

These were two sons of Theseus who, after the Trojan War, returned to Cyprus and Thrace. Their synoris horses were Phalios and Kalliforas [9.2a]. Acamas was apparently the better charioteer since more horse victories are dedicated to him on vases made centuries later [9.2b]. He also made history in boxing after he defeated the hero Epeios in a well-documented match. Acamas means “indefatigable” and he would appear to have been exactly that.

Fig 9.2, left. Black-figured amphora, c. 540 BCE, Staatlische Museen, Munich. Acamas and Demophon, the sons of Theseus depart for Troy in armor and  arms. The horses yoked in the brothers' synoris are Fallios (same as Achilles’ Ballios) and Kalliforas. Right: Corinthian olpe, mended and restored, first half of the 6th century BCE, NAMA. Tethrippon horses walking at left-hand: The two seiraphoroi [trace horses] are black stallions, whereas the zygioi  [yoke horses] white. The charioteer is Acamas, who is clad in a long white chiton, the attire of charioteers. He is holding a goad in his right hand. The horses’ names are Kyllaros, Phoiton, Kyllaros and Lysipolis. Kyllaros may be associated with a mythological hero of the Trojan War.

Baton [Pausanias V.17.8]

Baton drove the team of Amphiaraon’s horses and could easily hold the reins of his master's horses in one hand and a spear in the other. This was apparently done in order to help the furious Amphiaraon when he charged at his wife Erifyle as if he wanted to kill her: “Baton, the charioteer of Amphiaraon, holds the horses' reins and in the other hand [he holds] a spear ... Amphiaraon has one foot already on the chariot and holds the spear out... turned to Erifyle furious with rage as if he could [hardly] hold himself [from killing her …”

Asterion, Pissos, Polydeukes, Admetos and Euphemos [Pausanias V.17.9]

These are five Synoris drivers whose images appear on the larnax of Corinthian Kypselos and were seen by Pausanias when he visited Olympia ca 173 CE.  Asterion was the son of Kometes reputedly one of the Argonauts.  Pissos was the son of Perieres who in turn was the son of Aiolos. Euphemos, a mythical son of Poseidon and winner of chariot races, was also one of Jason's Argonauts and sailed with him to Kolchis in Asia. “Synoris charioteers are Perieres' son Pissos and Kometes' son Pissos, who is said to have sailed on [Jason's ship] Argo… Polydeukes and Admetos as well as Euphemos were Poseidon's sons ... and have taken part in Jason's trip to Colchis. Euphemos is [also] the winner at Synoris races …”

Killas or Sphairos [Pausanias V.10.7]

Killas was the mythical driver of Pelops’ chariot when the hero won his bride, the beautiful Hippodameia.   His statue is said to have stood next to the chariot horses and their grooms on the east pediment of the temple of Zeus at the Altis. For long he was known as “Sphairos” by neighbouring Troizenians but the Elean locals called him Killas.

Pausanias recounted the story of the famous race, indicating that it could not have been difficult to obtain his pre-Olympic victory [see Chapter 1]. “The man that drives Pelops's chariot according to Troizenians is called Sphairos [but] the Olympian guide explained that his name was Killas”

Myrtilos [Pausanias V.1.7, V.10.6]

The young and naive charioteer of King Oino-maos whose statue depicting him seated in front of his tethrippon horses is a part of the same pediment as the one described above. After killing him, Pelops built a temple to Hermes, and sacrificed to him to appease the god and to be forgiven for killing his father-in-law. ‘Myrtilos, who drove Oinomaos's chariot, is sitting in front of the horses and they are four in number. The Eleans said it was Pelops who first built a temple and sacrificed to Hermes to avoid the god's wrath for the killing of Myrtilos (by him)’

The Dioskouroi Kastor and Pollux

The twins of the Spartan king Tyndareus were gifted with athletic and polemic virtues. Kastor was a ‘horse tamer’ according to Homer [3.237] and charioteer [Isthmian 1,21], inventor of the biga [Pythian 1,6] and great warrior [Nemean10] Pollux was a great boxer [Iliad 12.300], horseman and warrior too. Their wonderful horses, Flogeos and Harpagos, were born by the sire Zephyros and the mare Podarge. Heroes and horses had become asterisms at death  [Fig 9.3]

Fig 9.3. Red-figured kylix, ca. 450 BCE. Museo Arheologico di Spina, Ferrara  The twin heroes depicted on the inside of the kylix are easily identified as the Dioskouroi. One of them (Kastor), with a chlamys thrown on his shoulders, is riding bareback and leads his brother’s horse at the same time. The other (Pollux) is identically dressed, on foot, and helps his brother dismount while holding the horse’s reins and a spear

 in his left hand. The altar in front means they are at a ‘holy’ site.

Diomedes, Menelaos, Antilochos, Meriones and Eumelos [Iliad 23. 274 ff]

These are the famous heroes-charioteers in the order of their arrival at the funeral games, which were declared by Achilles to honor his dead friend Patroklos, who was also known as the most horse-loving charioteer among the Achaians. Achilles himself did not take part in the games. Although he believed he owned the best horses among the Greeks, he abstained mainly because his horses were grieving for the loss of their beloved driver. ‘If we Achaians were racing in favor of some other dead ... I would be first as you know ...I own the best immortal horses given to my father by Poseidon; now they are mourning for him…standing...their manes touching the ground.’

LIST 9.II: FAMOUS GREEK OWNERS AND CHARIOTEERS

Hagesias of Syracuse [Pindar, Olympian 6]

Hagesias was a member of the noble Iamid family of Arcadia and also an officer at the court of Hieron, where he contributed to the tyrant’s military exploits. Hagesias suffered from the ‘flaw in the law’, which required that Olympic owners-victors should be recorded at the apene mule-cart races. He was omitted from the Elean lists, thus not allowing us to know at which Olympiad he was crowned [‘It is questionable at which Olympiad he had won’ Pausanias, Comments], It is certain that his mules, driven by Fintis [see below] won the second ever apene contest at the 78^th Olympiad (468 BCE), after its first introduction in 500 BCE.

Annikeris of Kyrene [Lucian, Demosthenes 23]

A famous charioteer from the Greek colony in North Africa, who lived in the 4^th century BCE.  He made history all the way to Athens by demonstrating his skills to Plato. He drove his chariot many times round the Academy in the furrow left by its wheels on the first circuit!

Aratos of Sikyon [Pausanias VI.12.5; Plutarch, Life of Aratos, 3]

As a young man, Aratos specialized in the pentathlon. He won a number of contests, and then   turned his attention to chariot racing.  He won the tethrippon at the 137^th Olympiad (232 BCE), and followed his victory with a very successful military career.

Arkesilaos IV of Kyrene [Pindar, Pythian 4,5]

Arkesilaos was an owner and breeder of horses. His charioteer, Carrhotos, overcame forty rivals and won at the Pythian games. He also won a tethrippon victory at the 80^th Olympiad (460 BCE). His son Lichas was also involved in chariot racing (see below)

Attalos of Pergamos [inscription I.A.G., 37]

His Olympic victory with a four-colt driven tethrippon is commemorated in a noteworthy epigraph, which describes the Hippaphesis starting gate in great detail (see Chapter 10).

Carrhotos of Kyrene [Pindar, Pythian 5]

Carrhotos was a charioteer and governor of the Kyrenean Hesperids, but he was not a horse owner. He was celebrated in Pindar's ode destined for the victory of Arkesilaos IV, his brother-in-law. Pindar describes his superb skill and deftness in guiding the horses around twelve grueling laps.  No damage of the bridles or harness was done, and the chariot arrived victorious and intact, despite the fact that the astonishing number of forty charioteers, who opposed him, crashed during the contest!

Charmos [Philodemos, 6.246]

A Greek horse racer, date and origin unknown, Charmos won a flat race at the Isthmia. In the hope he might also prevail at Olympia, he dedicated to Poseidon the items used in his hour of triumph, e.g., the horse's muzzle and odontophoros [odontas = tooth; a necklace of strings of teeth], the horse’s wand and comb, as well as his own whip.

Chromios of Syracuse [Pindar Nemean 1, 9]

Governor of Aitna, son-in-law and charioteer of Hieron, Chromios helped Hieron to win no less than three consecutive Olympiads (76^th, 476 BCE-keles; 77^th, 472 BCE-keles; 78^th, 468 BCE-tethrippon). Breeder and owner, Chromios did not compete at the Olympia to avoid racing against his benefactor, Hieron, who had also won twice at Delphi. Instead, he took his horses to Nemea and, of course, won. It is uncertain whether he served both as driver and jockey to Hieron. In Plutarch’s opinion, Hieron’s horses and tent at Olympia were provocative and majestic so they caused Themistokles to order that the tent be stolen and the race be cancelled [Plutarch, Themistokles KE.2]. Ironically, Themistokles was punished for his wicked deeds. Plutarch claimed that one of his sons, Kleophantos, became a good rider but had no merits, and that an older son, Neokles, died in childhood – from a horse bite!

Cimon [Kimon] of Athens [Herodotus 6.103]

Kimon was ostracized from Athens by the tyrant Peisistratos, and won the tethrippon at two successive Olympics while in exile. On his second triumph he asked that the credit be transferred to the tyrant and, as a result, the latter allowed him to return to Athens. Kimon went on to win a third crown at Olympia. At his death he asked that his prize mares be buried next to him! Euagoras of Sparta was the only other charioteer in Greece who made such an arrangement.

Cleisthenes of Sikyon [Herodotus 6.126-31; Pausanias X.7.7]

Cleisthenes was a tyrant and chariot racer who used the renown gained by his tethrippon victory in 572 BCE (52^nd Olympiad) in a unique manner. He publicly proclaimed that he would marry his daughter, Agarista, to the best suitor in all of Greece! His offer naturally attracted interested young men from many poleis listed by Herodotus. The tyrant finally chose young Megakles of Athens to be his son-in-law.

Cleosthenes of Epidamnos [Pausanias VI.10]

This was a horse breeder whose tethrippon took the crown at the 66th Olympiad (516 BCE). In honor of this event, he commissioned a statue of himself, his charioteer, and his four horses, Phoenix, Knakias, Samos and Korax. 

Cleosthenes was the first horse breeder from the Greek mainland to dedicate such a statue at Olympia in the 6^th century BC, and also the first to inscribe the names of his four horses on the monument.

Crauxidas or Craxilas of Krannon [Pausanias V.8.8]

Crauxidas won the first flat race in Greek history, at the Keles of the 33rd Olympiad (648 BCE). Colt racing followed much later, in 256 BCE.

Fintis of Syracuse [Pindar, Olympian 6.31]

Thanks to Pindar’s song, we know that Fintis (or Filtis) was the mule-cart driver for Hagesias, winner of the Apene race at the 78^th Olympiad (468 BCE): “Come Fintis, yoke the strong-legged mules … they know the track better than any, since they have been crowned at Olympia”.

Herodotus of Thebae [Pindar, Isthmian 1]

One of Pindar’s best compatriots with chariot victories at Delphi and Olympia. He also triumphed at Corinth, where he drove the chariot himself. Thus Herodotus was, very unusually, both owner and driver of his chariot horses.

Hieron of Syracuse [Pindar, Olympian 1, Pythian 1 to 3; Pausanias 8.42.9]

The most honored horse owner in the history of the ancient contests, his horses having won an unbelievable series of victories at Olympia and Delphi. In 476 BCE Pindar sailed to Syracuse for the sole purpose of composing his Olympian 1, which starts with the most beautiful rhyme ever written for the Olympics [‘As of all useful things water is first, as of all fortunes gold is the shiniest, as the Sun masters the Sky, so is Olympia’s contest superior to every other …’].

As if Olympian 1 were not enough, Pindar composed three more odes [Pythian 1-3], and went as far as to include the name of Hieron’s keles, Pherenikos [brings victory] thus allowing us to add one more ancient stallion to the few we know by name. The horse’s first victory at the keles race of the 76^th Olympiad (476 BCE) was also praised in one of the best epiniceans of Bacchylides. Yet the noblest act honouring Hieron was that of his son, Deinomenes who, after his father’s death in 468 BCE, dedicated a glorious monument to Zeus at Olympia, with an epigraph mentioning all three victories of the family’s horses (keles in 476 and 472, and tethrippon in 468 BCE). Above all Hieron honoured Greek culture in its golden 5^th century playing host to important philosophers, poets and tragedians, such as Epicharmos, Xenophanes, Simonides and Aeschylus. Last but not least, the civilized tyrant’s horses, including Pherenikos won two more keles races, at two successive Pythia (BC 482-478), thus creating a record without parallel.

Lichas of Sparta [Pausanias VI.2.2-3; Plutarch, Life of Kimon; Xenophon 3.2]

Lichas entered a tethrippon in the 92^nd Olympia (420 BCE) but under the aegis of the city of Thebai since Sparta had been excluded from that year’s festival. He cheated. His team won the race but, as Olympic contestants were required to represent only their native cities, the Hellanodikai had Lichas scourged.  Besides his public humiliation, Lichas’ victory was credited not to him but to the city of Thebae. The incident sparked a brief but serious war between Sparta and Elis…Afterwards, Lichas set up his own victory monument, although the Eleans still refused to acknowledge his victory.  Lichas's father, Arkesilaos, had won two legitimate chariot racing crowns. Xenophon in his Hellenika claims Lichas was an old man when he was flogged.

Nikomachos of Athens [Pindar Pythian 6]

The charioteer for both Xenokrates and Theron of Akragas in Sicily. The latter was declared victor of the tethrippon race at the 76th Olym-piad in 476 BCE.

Pagondas of Thebai [Pausanias V.8.7]

Pagondas is historically the first victor in any equestrian event.  He won the crown at tethrippon in 680 BCE, the first year for that or any other equestrian contest of the games, i.e. at the 25th Olympiad.

Theochrestos of Kyrene [Pausanias VI.12.7]

Important chariot horse breeder (like his father and grandfather), Theochrestos won the synoris race at the 105^th Olympiad (360 BCE). His grandfather had already won an Olympic chariot victory, and his father had won the crown at the Isthmian games. This family of breeders came from a Greek city-state in northern Africa.

Theron of Acragas [Pindar, Pythian 6]

Theron was a rival of Hieron, his compatriot. He won the tethrippon at the 76^th Olympia (476 BCE), and died four years later. He was a member of a leading horse owning family.  His brother Xenokrates had won at Delphi before him in 490 BCE [Pythian 6] and at Corinth [Isthmian 2]. It would appear that his nephew Thrasyboulos (Xenocrates’ son) served as his charioteer, as Pindar addresses the Isthmian 2 to him.

After the death of his father and uncle, Thrasyboulos ended his life in Acragas, not as a tyrant’s rich son or horse breeder, but in poverty. This brought to an end the Emmenid family of horse breeders and owners. Pindar dedicated Pythion 6 to him, for “being a heart’s friend”, in a gesture honouring his dead friend.

Troilos of Elis [Pausanias VI.1.4-5]

Troilos competed in the 102^nd Olympia in 372 BCE, the year in which he served as Hellanodikes. He won two chariot races, one using two adult horses [synoris] and a second with four colts [polikon tethrippon]. He achieved victories by cheating (since he was a judge), so the Elean authorities subsequently introduced a rule prohibiting umpires from competing at chariot or any other Olympic contests (see Chapter 18).

Xenocrates of Acragas [Pindar, Pythian 6]

Horse owner of the early 5^th century, who won crowns in the Pythian Games of 490 BCE, but also at Corinth and Athens. Both in Athens and at Delphi his charioteer had been Nicomachos, but the victory at the Isthmian games of Corinth was achieved by his own son Thrasybalos.

LIST 9.III:  LESSER KNOWN, UNKNOWN OR UNDECLARED ANCIENT WINNERS

 The Lycean Victor List and Three Lists from Oropos

A rare inscription found in Lycaea in Asia Minor [Syll3.314] contains a record of 52 winners in equestrian and other contests at the quadrennial Lykaian festival, from 320 to 304 BCE. Thirteen winners of hippic contests were in chronological order (Table 1). On the other hand, clay tablets οf the 4^th and 1^st centuries BCE unearthed at Oropos bear inscriptions with the names of more than 64 victorious athletes in athletic contests including hippic events. Eleven victorious horsemen were included in three inscribed lists (Table 2).

Table 1: Victors on the Lycaean list                     Table 2: Victors on the lists of Oropos*

* David Matz, Greek and Roman Sport, McFarland, 1991. The Oropos inscriptions also contained flute and lyre players followed by the name of a sophistes [master musician]. They evoke interest, because they do not follow the Olympic program, contain a greater variety of equestrian events, as well as rules which apparently allowed boys to compete in the men’s division

The anonymous Delphic charioteer

We may know a few facts about Pheidias's favorite boy-wrestler Pantarkes but it is doubtful that we'll ever know the name of the ‘Charioteer’ or his sculptor. Our consolation is that the young driver is more famous than any recorded Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian or Nemean victor, and he stands very proudly, six-feet tall, holding the reins of his yet undiscovered chariot horses in the museum of Delphi [Fig. 1.4]. By contrast, we do know the name of the wealthy owner of the chariot’s team. He employed an unknown but obviously master sculptor to cast his votive in bronze, for what must have been a high price. His name was Polyzalos, a renowned tyrant of Gela and winner of tethrippon races at the Pythia of 478-474 BCE. His name figures on the inscription of the sculpture of the young boy around 475 BCE.

Nero [Pausanias V.12.8, 25.8, 26.3, Suetonius]

The famous, unknown or disputed horsemen, amateur or professional, old men or young boys mentioned so far, were renowned for their heroic skills and driving dexterity in rough chariot or flat races around the racetracks of Troy, Olympia and other cities. With very few exceptions, notably in the cases of Pelops or Antilochos, all of these horsemen adhered to principles of fair play. Pelops atoned for his crime by dedicating a temple and making sacrifices to Hermes. Antilochos (see List 9.I) humbly apologized to his rival, Menelaos whom he had cheated in the race. He was rewarded for his belated honesty by being allowed to keep the prize mare.  Alas, this was not an example followed by the emperor Nero, who remains the most infamous, cheating owner-charioteer in the history of the twelve centuries of Olympic festivals.

A supporter of the short-lived Green faction from 54 to 68 CE and, after the unsuccessful attempt to organize quinquennial ‘Neronian’ festivals in his honor in his hometown, Nero came up with some brighter ideas. In 59 CE he established the Juvenales with gladiators and camel-drawn chariots. He devised a board game, which utilized model chariots, and played it constantly. Finally, the desire to drive chariots himself overcame him and he started practicing in his garden in front of an audience of slaves. Nero’s best idea, however, was to postpone the 211th Olympiad from 65 to 67 AD to allow him more time to practice and train his teams of horses so that he himself might win at Olympia. He moved his court to Greece and built a villa near the Altis, south of the Echo building.  He obviously thought he could better train in situ, preparing two tethrippa and one especially constructed ten-horse chariot during a well planned holiday. The recent discovery of a sewage pipe bearing the inscription Neronis Aug<ustus> under a villa at the Altis substantiates the story.

Nero actually took part at the 211^th Olympiad's tethrippon event, driving his unique ten-horse chariot, but only to be thrown off during the race! He was helped back onto the chariot by spectators, but failed to finish the race, apparently because his horses became over-excited and threw him off once more at the Taraxippos turn! Interestingly, he was proclaimed victor by the Hellanodikai on the basis of an ‘official complaint’ which Nero submitted, claiming he would have been victorious, if he had been able to finish the race. He was declared winner of the ten-colt chariot from which he fell [excussus curru et rursus repositus], and was also named victor in more hippic and other events at the same Olympiad: the teleion tethrippon [horse quadriga]; the tethrippon polon [colt quadriga]; and the contests of heralds, tragedians and guitarists. These ‘off-protocol’ events were introduced to Olympia by an imperial edict he signed prior to the Games. Nero did not stop at that. On returning home via Naples with his companion (the ‘castrato’ Sporus), he was escorted by a phalanx of white horses. In keeping the Greek habit, he had a part of Rome’s wall demolished so as to enter his city in triumph. Of course, he had also ‘borrowed’ a few valuable statues, shields and other artifacts from the Altis. His hubris to Zeus did not go unpunished. Soon after his death in 68CE, Nero’s name was scratched from the lists of the Elean officials, and the counterfeit 211^th Olympiad was declared as “Anolympiad” [non-Olympiad] by the ten Hellanodikai judges.

In Rome, Nero's successor, Galba, took two further steps. He proposed to the senate that every statue erected in honour of Nero's Olympic victories be destroyed and that the huge bribe Nero was purported to have paid the Elean judges should be returned to Rome. It appears that the venerable emperor had in fact bribed the Hellanodikai with a ten thousand drachmae ‘package deal’ (one thousand per judge), an exorbitant sum by today's standards. The anti-Neronian measures were carried out to the last detail by his Roman successors.

I believe that the greatest ‘contemporary’ humiliation of Nero Claudius Caesar came from an ancient Greek writer. In reference to the emperor's multiple victories as guitarist, herald and tragedian, the author criticized Nero's performance by calling him ‘Κorakou Κakophonoteros’, which means “worse-voiced than crows” in plain Greek. However, the fact that Nero’s bribe was returned and his statues destroyed did not restore the emperor’s name. Sadly, the Neronian swindles at the 211^th An-Olympiad have left an indelible stain on the history of equestrian contests.

Melissos of Thebes: a rare case of an athlete

In Pindar’s Isthmian 3-4 the Theban athlete is identified as a charioteer, and in Isthmian 3 as a pankratiast. Such a combination defies competitive reality and needs an explanation because none of the 31 athletes honored in Pindar’s epiniceans is a charioteer and pankratiast. Apparently Melissos was a chariot owner, but not a driver. A similar case was the Roman runner/wrestler, Sosibius, who invested in chariots after having retired from the gymnika contests. His chariots had won victories both at Nemea and Corinth.