and twenty fiy5e feet m jrfafç*, Tbe people Tpf: Elis
fecrificed daily, and p,riva|ç pçïfon.s ,as often as. they çhpfe. ;
RELrGioN flouFifhed- at Olympia, and many dçiîies were
worihipp'éd bèfides Jupiter. . Paufenias has. enumerated above
fîxtyia lta r^ fi^r^u^^apes.,and kinds. f One* of th& UfoktUww
Gods, fto o d b y .thç, grea_t.abari.ji(;;Thqpeqple;of Elis offered on
.all th§fe? momhly irJafi^g e®4$iem boughs, o f , olive j iburning
incenfe, andwheat mixed with honey j and pouring libations o f
fuch Iiquorsas the ritual prefcribed. At the latter ceremony
fometim.es a form o f prayer was ufed, and they fung hymns
. compofed iti the Doric dialed:.
Ol ym p ia preferved much longer than Delphi, and with
lefs diminution, the facred property, of which it was a fimilar
reppfitory. Soipe images, were removed ; by. 'f’ihçrius ; ^frOi<
His fucceflor Caius Ç^ligpla, who honoured Jupiter with the
familiar appellation Of brother, .comn^anded that hi?, imagé
ihould be tranfported to Rome, but the architects declared it
was impoffible without defjrqying the work 5 ,and his-, copimif-
honer, Memmiu^ R€gp}uSj»j^rrified,by: proHigi|S|5fl^eijf-^éd to i
apologue for a difobedmnce, whioRt enjlaflgepsd The
God in the time. pf^P^ijfenjgg refined Iris orifrift af. ^ j^endpr
The' votive offerings Ôf crowns, and' chariots, and of charioteers,
and horfes, and, oxen, in brafe,; the prefipus-images o f
gold, ivory, or j ajpber,and ; the curiofi ties Æonfecrated; in{ the
temples,,- ,tjie treasuries, 4R 4Çthpr . ^difip^r cpplfl, n°b bejiie^ed
without afe^pjlhn^çpt,. The number o f ffatues within the Altis
or grove was itfeif an s p r in g fpedtacle. Many were the
works of ^Myj.gn* Lylippus, and the prime artifts of, Greece.
There kings ^nd^ emperor^ were affepabled.- and Jupiter tovyered
in brafs, o f cqlpifal proportions, frorp twelve to near thirty feet
high. The clafs o f men and boys,; conquerprs in the games,
in brafs, which was the largeft, cpnpnually increafed. The
Ratue o f a Roman fenatpr, who had been yiétoriojus, was
erecting,
T R A V E L S i n G R Ë Ë C E. 293
creftibg, when the4 colleiftion' was1'viewed byPaufenias. -Let
the readbr petdfe the détÖif givén By that traveller, and imagine,
if'h e can, the entertainment, which Olympia muft then have
afforded to the cpttoiffeur/ to the hiftbrian/and the antiquary.
* P aosan-ia s declares, that a Jierfon^migbt fee many things
wonderful to tell of;-> among rthe Gïeekisij but thait the Olympic
Agon - or Games, with thé EleufinianMyfteries, partook in an
; efpecial manner of the deity. The formergrand exhibition was
conduced with prodigious folemnity.: The ofide|'‘ b f the exei>
cifes and the ceremonial wére controlled by thé Prxfe<&s, who
were commonly tehi or twelve in number, elected, one from
oach tribe of the Eleans. Thefe, and thfe competitors, were
required to qualify by taking an oath, with dire imprecations^
in the- prefence of Jupiter Horcius. ' The tériibR im
in thé cèubCil-êhaöïber, bearing in e h h e r^ a n ^ V e^ i^m u h -
der j-and a boar was the VlSim.--
the Stadium, which was o f earth, Tike that bf ” Epidaurus, ‘ and
had feats for the PrsefeCts, who entered with thé1’^ndnïates by
a private-way. Oppofite to them was ah i0^i>f,'^ih'paarbtc,
on whieh the prieftefs of-Geres 'fete'? WSP f'h.ê3|itóu'ö|ém.
table were - laid éróWris :of- oleafter ór wild olivè, made from a
tree grbwing near the backrfront o f the temple o f Jupiter.
■ F rom the filence o f Homer it has been afgüèd, that the
four great fpeCtacles -of Games in Greece eitber did poGexlff,
when he wrote, or were in no- repute. That of Glympia,
however, deduced its. origin from remote antiquity, dtid continued'
to; a late period, undergoing feveral altefatlbni. Among .its
kindeff benefactors is -reckoned Herodes, who was' afterwards
king of Judaea. Seeing on his Way tóf Rfthie th|su^elierae'of oTa
Greece fubfiftinguh a mannéf unworthyGf it^fmfeer ,jpnowp>;
and dwindling from poverty, he difplayed vaft munificence as President,
and provided an ample revenue fof-fts future fuppórt and
dignity k extending, it is feid, his liberality through the Eleans
to