INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY 7th JOINT - IOA

was resolved only when the Arcadians withdrew and reinstated Elis as
the organiser of the Games. Earlier, the Games had been somewhat
disrupted by politics when in the latter part of the fifth century and
early fourth Elis tried to break away from Sparta and banned its
athletes from participating in the Games.
Furthermore, there were more tangible reasons for why Olympia
was important politically. The sanctuary at Olympia, of course,
contained large numbers of dedications and significant amounts of
hard coin. Occasionally, as at Delphi, this wealth was used by a
controlling state to pay for war expenditure. But revenue was a minor
attraction to city-states compared to Olympia’s usefulness as an arena
for self-promotion. One net result of this was an increase in building
activity at sites like Olympia and Delphi. At both sites, for example,
‘treasuries’ were built by individual cities to address the practical need
of housing their dedications and to glorify themselves in an
international arena. The number of these treasuries at both sites was
limited, and states vied to outdo each other both with the form of these
buildings and their locations. Such buildings, together with numerous
dedications, statues and inscriptions gave the polis a physical presence
at Olympia and indeed transformed the site.
In conclusion, as an arena where not only individuals but also
states could win kudos and long-lasting renown, Olympia played a
central and on-going role in state-formation in archaic and classical
Greece. Olympia and its Games also provided an arena for the uneasy
tension that existed in the Greek world not only between communities,
but also between individuals, families and civic communities.
Although the state broadly overcame the problem of melding
aristocratic notions of glory to the needs of the wider community, in
the new social and economic reality of the 4 th century and beyond,
wealthy individuals with the power, wealth and the desire, could
transform Olympia without necessarily participating directly in
sporting activity. Of course, there are elements of continuity, as
individuals and communities continued to seek not only the glory of
athletic victory in the Games but also the many benefits that victory in
the Games could bring. A seminal change comes, however, in the
latter 4 th century with the building at Olympia of what is known as the
Philippeion. Built to house statues of Alexander the Great and other
members of the Macedonia royal family, the Philippeion celebrated
- 226 -