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The ancient Olympic Games, held every four years at Olympia in honour of Zeus, ran for more than 1,100 years: from 776 BC, the traditional date of the first Games, to AD 393, the last on record.

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The Games went on for centuries after Greece came under Roman rule in the second century BC, and Greek historians dated events by Olympiads, the four-year periods between Games. Emperors took part too. In AD 67 Nero had the Games postponed so that he could compete; he was thrown from his chariot but still declared the winner, and after his death the judges struck that festival from the record. A bronze plaque found in 1994 lists champions from as late as 385. The last Games on record were held in 393, under the Christian emperor Theodosius I, who had banned pagan sacrifices, but some contests probably went on into the fifth century. Olympia was later buried under metres of sediment and rediscovered in 1766, and Pierre de Coubertin revived the Games in Athens in 1896.

Türkçe oku
Dört yılda bir Olympia'da Zeus onuruna düzenlenen antik Olimpiyat Oyunları 1.100 yıldan uzun sürdü. Geleneğe göre ilk oyunlar MÖ 776'da, kayıtlara geçen son oyunlar ise MS 393'te yapıldı.

Oyunlar, Yunanistan MÖ 2. yüzyılda Roma egemenliğine girdikten sonra da yüzyıllarca sürdü. Yunan tarihçiler olayları olimpiyat denen dört yıllık dönemlerle, yani iki oyun arasındaki sürelerle tarihlendirirdi. İmparatorlar da yarıştı: Neron, MS 67'de kendisi katılabilsin diye oyunları erteletti. Araba yarışında arabasından düştüğü hâlde şampiyon ilan edildi; ölümünden sonra ise hakemler o oyunları geçersiz saydı. 1994'te bulunan bronz bir levha, 385 yılına kadar şampiyon olanların adlarını sıralar. Kayıtlara geçen son oyunlar 393'te, pagan kurban törenlerini yasaklayan Hristiyan imparator I. Theodosius döneminde yapıldı; ama bazı yarışmalar büyük olasılıkla 5. yüzyılda da sürdü. Olympia zamanla metrelerce toprağın altında kaldı ve 1766'da yeniden bulundu. Pierre de Coubertin de oyunları 1896'da Atina'da tekrar hayata geçirdi.

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Background reading: Ancient Olympic Games
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