The hippodrome and the equestrian contests at the sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion, Arcadia

Abstract

The Sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion in Arcadia was well known as the site of the Lykaia, athletic and equestrian contests held in honour of Zeus; there is epigraphical, literary and archaeological evidence for the existence of the festival. The site was excavated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by K. Kontopoulos and K. Kourouniotis of the Archaeological Society of Athens, and work at the site resumed in 2004, as a synergasia between the University of Arizona and the Greek Archaeological Service, under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and known as the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project, http://lykaionexcavation.org. Two late 4th century BC victor inscriptions, IG V 2 549 and 550, found at the site by Kourouniotis, tell us a great deal about the nature of the athletic and equestrian contests. The inscriptions give us the list of the events that include 3 boys events, 9 men’s athletic events and 4 equestrian events. In addition, Kourouniotis found archaeological evidence for both the stadium and the hippodrome in the mountain meadow 200 m below the altar of Zeus, including stone starting blocks from the stadium and stone turning posts from the hippodrome. Evidence from the current work of the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project demonstrates that the dromos of the stadium and the hippodrome existed on two parallel terraces, at different elevations. The dimensions of the hippodrome are 250 m long and 50 m wide and are similar in dimension to early examples of the Roman circus of the Augustan period. There is some archaeological evidence to suggest the existence of a proto-stadium near the southern peak of Mt. Lykaion, 40 m below the altar of Zeus. This would support the idea that before the stadium and hippodrome were created in the lower mountain meadow, the athletic contests were held near the temenos and altar. Such events may also have included early equestrian contests at the southern peak of the mountain.