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This book presents the first comprehensive study of how and why athletic contests, a characteristic aspect of Greek culture for over a millennium, disappeared in late antiquity. In contrast to previous discussions, which focus on the ancient Olympics, the end of the most famous games is analysed here in the context of the collapse of the entire international agonistic circuit, which encompassed several hundred contests. The first part of the book describes this collapse by means of a detailed analysis of the fourth- and fifth-century history of the athletic games in each region of the Mediterranean: Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Italy, Gaul and northern Africa. The second half continues by explaining these developments, challenging traditional theories (especially the ban by the Christian emperor Theodosius I) and discussing in detail both the late antique socio-economic context and the late antique perceptions of athletics.

Athletics --- Sports --- Civilization --- Sports athlétiques --- Civilisation --- History --- History. --- Greek influences. --- Histoire --- Influence grecque --- Antike. --- Sportler. --- Sport. --- Atleten. --- Festivals. --- Toernooien. --- Athletics. --- Sports. --- Ancient --- General. --- Greece. --- Sports athlétiques --- Field sports --- Pastimes --- Recreations --- Recreation --- Games --- Outdoor life --- Physical education and training

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Building on the important work by Hemelrijk, this volume endeavours to bring ancient women out of the domestic sphere and to examine their presence and activities in the public domain, for example as rulers, patrons, priestesses, wives, athletes and pilgrims. Covering the period 500 BCE to 650 CE and ranging across the Mediterranean and beyond, it fruitfully employs a great variety of source types and thematic approaches to argue that women in the ancient world were active in many parts of the public domain, including the civic, the religious and at times even the political and military spheres. Contributors are: Josine H. Blok, Lucinda Dirven, Anique Hamelink, Martijn Icks, Lien Foubert, Sanne Klaver, Onno M. van Nijf, Sofie Remijsen, Evelien J.J. Roels, Janric van Rookhuijzen, Emila Salerno, Daniëlle Slootjes, Rolf Strootman, Marlena Whiting.

Women --- Women in public life --- Sex role --- Gender identity --- Women. --- Women in public life. --- History --- History. --- Employment --- Ancient History. --- Archaeology, Art and Architecture. --- Ancient History --- Archaeology, Art and Architecture

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The decline and eventual end of the Greek athletic contests has long been neglected in research. This dissertation aims to describe and explain the evolution for the first time. A major challenge was the evidence: obviously the decline of athletics led to a decrease in sources referring to athletics, but the decrease of sources attested in the fourth century not does not necessarily evidences decline, as there were other factors at play too, such as the popularity of new genres or the epigraphic habit.The first chapter gives for each region of the Mediterranean (the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Italy, Gaul and Northern Africa) the history of athletic contests in late antiquity, focusing on the period between the reigns of Diocletian and Theodosius II. A crucial period was the second quarter of the fourth century, when the first regional circuits of rather small-scale games were falling out. By the end of the fourth century, however, an international circuit of some major games still existed, which only collapsed between circa 410 and 435.The second chapter deals with mentality: how the attitudes toward exercising, attending contests and talking about athletics changed. The research revealed that the influence of Christianity was limited, but that the inhabitants of the east of the Roman Empire did start to feel more Roman, and therefore included more Roman customs in their acts of self-representation and looked at games from a Roman perspective, all of which strongly influenced their attitude toward athletics.The third chapter discusses the effect of institutional, economic, social and political changes on how the civic elites, the athletes and the emperor looked at games. It starts from an analysis of how the complex international circuit worked in practice. The idea of an imperial ban is not correct. The imperial policy was in fact supportive of athletic contests. This dissertation argues that the institutional evolutions on the level of the cities, and their economic problems, had a crucial role in the decline of the athletic contests, because it were the cities that organized the games.

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