Gill, 'Athletics and Mathematics in Archaic Corinth: the Origins of the Greek Stadion', Bryn Mawr Classical Review 9508
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/bmcr/bmcr-9508-gill-athletics
@@@@95.9.19, Romano, Athletics and Mathematics in Archaic Corinth
David Gilman Romano, Athletics and Mathematics in Archaic
Corinth: the Origins of the Greek Stadion. Memoirs of the
American Philosophical Society, vol. 206. 1993. Pp. xiv + 117, 53
figs. ISBN 0-87169-206-6.
Reviewed by David W.J. Gill -- University of Wales Swansea
D.W.J.Gill@Swansea.ac.uk
http://www.swan.ac.uk/classics/dghp.html
This study of the Greek stadion considers the evidence
from the Peloponnese. It has its origins in Romano's PhD
dissertation, "The Stadia of the Peloponnesos" (University of
Pennsylvania, 1981), and has been expanded by the "Corinth
Computer Project" which started in 1988. At the heart of this
book lies a presentation of the two dromoi at Corinth: the
earliest dating from the late archaic period, the second from the
hellenistic. Their study also raises issues about Greek
mathematics.
The book starts with an introduction which draws attention to
the different types of race which might have used the
stadion as their setting. R. notes that the earliest
stadia may be linked with the Panhellenic sanctuaries. He
explains such events within the context of the pursuit of
arete by the contestants. He notes in passing that the
meaning of stadion implies a "standing place" (pp. 3 and
14). R. also provides a useful map of stadia and
dromoi in the Peloponnese. A stadion is defined as
"a simple track or playing field bordered on one side by a
grandstand or at times an embankment of earth, and designed
principally for the use of the competitors" (p. 1). The
dromos is either the track itself or "a facility without
any formal accommodation for spectators" (p. 16). Thus by R.'s
definition, dromoi may be found in a gymnasion.
Chapter 1 discusses "Origins and evolution of the ancient
stadion". It introduces the reader to wrestling in the
Epic of Gilgamesh, and Shugli, king of Ur, who ran from
Nippur to Ur, some 100 miles. The Egyptian evidence includes a
discussion of Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara. It is hard to see
how these early examples have a bearing on the Greek evidence.
However it is perhaps of relevance that, according to Herodotus
(2.91), Greek ambassadors visited Egypt to enquire about the
running of the Olympic Games. R. does not develop the idea that
if the "Running Stela of Taharqa" (685-684 BC) discusses the
training of soldiers based at Memphis with a c. 100 km running
race through the Fayum, then Greek mercenaries in Egypt might
have brought back similar contests which could have been applied
to religious festivals.
R. then presents the "Literary, epigraphical and historical
evidence" from the Greek world. He notes that it is Herodotus
(2.149) who defines the stadion as the equivalent of 6
plethra. He draws attention to (and illustrates) the
contest of the "men's stadion" on two Panathenaic
amphorae. He then turns to the archaeological evidence, in
particular the stadia at Olympia, Isthmia and Halieis;
stadia at Nemea and Epidauros are only mentioned in
passing, and perhaps deserved fuller treatment.
There are particularly helpful plans of Olympia, showing the
different stadia in a range of colours. He draws attention
to the way that wells on the slope of the Kronos hill to the
north of the stadion probably served spectators at the
games from the late eighth century. Dating is problematic. For
example the fill of the Archaic embankment on the south side of
the track is dated to c. 540 on the basis of the ceramic
evidence. Yet it is not clear how two stone seats of the
Lacedaimonian proxenoi Gorgos and Euwanios "can be safely
associated with the Olympia I Stadium" (p. 19). In fact both are
reported as coming from much later deposits linked to the third
stadion. Presumably because their script is dated to
600-550 BC (cf. L.H. Jeffery, Local Scripts of Archaic
Greece [London, 1961] 190, 199 no. 15, "c. 600-550 ?") they
are associated with the first stadion; yet one wonders if
the revamped stadion, with special embankment might not be
a more fitting location for honorary marble seats. One also notes
how imprecise these developments are when it is noted that W.
Koenigs dates the construction of Olympia Stadion II to c. 470 BC
(p. 19). Perhaps of interest are the estimates of the standing
capacity for the different stadia: 24,000 for stadion II
and 43,000 for stadion III. As far as starting positions
are concerned, there were 20 or 22 at the eastern starting line,
and 18 at the western.
The discussion of Isthmia is also enhanced by coloured plans
showing the relationship of the stadion to the early
retaining walls. R. cites O. Broneer in suggesting that the
stadion post-dates the reorganisation of the games in
584-0 BC. The special triangular-shaped starting gate--the
so-called balbides sill--is discussed in detail, providing
sixteen lanes. There is further discussion in Chapter 4 ("The
Starting Lines from the Classical Stadion at Isthmia"),
although, with only two pages of text and two images (pp. 81-83),
this might have best been included in the earlier discussion. R.
demonstrates that the elaborate starting mechanism would give an
unfair advantage of 1/10th of a second to those runners on the
inside lanes, a time which would certainly be significant in
modern track events (p. 81). R. suggests that this may have been
recognised quite quickly, which would explain the insertion of a
new starting line which probably only had places for twelve. The
scale of this stadion is much smaller than Olympia. R.
suggests that it could have only held some 4,000 spectators,
which was expanded to 21,000 in the later Hellenistic
stadion which was created on a new site.
The stadion adjoining the temple at Halieis is now
totally submerged. Nevertheless the length of the stadion
has been ascertained, and the construction of it seems to be
linked to the enhancement of the sanctuary with other buildings.
R. calculates the room for spectators as 1500, which we may
compare to the estimated population of 2500 for the town (Tj. H.
van Andel and C. Runnels, Beyond the Acropolis: a Rural Greek
Past [Stanford, 1987] 174).
The stadia at Epidauros and Nemea are treated only in
the conclusion. Surprisingly there is no mention of S.G. Miller
(ed.), Nemea: a Guide to the Site and Museum (Berkeley:
1990), where the stadion is discussed (by Michael
Goethals) in chapter 5. This provides the information that the
Nemea stadion must have been around 178 m long, judging by
the location of the 100 foot marker at a distance of 29.63 m from
the starting line; this gives a foot of 0.296 m. At Epidauros the
markers give a foot length of 0.302 m.
In Chapter 2 R. discusses "The Archaic Dromos in
Corinth". This includes a curved starting line which has been
dated between 500 BC and 450 BC. The course itself was some 165 m
long, with a marker stone 158 m from the starting line. To the
south of the track lay a curved terrace wall which may have
served either as a viewing stand or as a location for the
pankration and other events. The curved starting line is
discussed in detail. The upper surface was coloured dark
blue-black, and there were individual holes for the feet of the
athletes. Although the first five lanes were destroyed by the
later hellenistic starting line, each lane was marked in red by a
letter which could be read as the line was approached.
R. suggests that the track should be a stadion long, divided
into 6 units of 100 feet each. The radius of the curved starting
line was approximately 55 metres or 200 Corinthian feet. This
would have provided a focal point for the runners one third of
the way down the track. R. suggests that this focal point may
have been the location of a 'break post' (p. 58). The point also
indicates that the race was run in an anticlockwise way. The
curved starting line also implies a long distance race (otherwise
parallel lanes would have been used), and R. suggests
possibilities for the event (p. 62).
R. then discusses athletes and athletic events at Corinth,
including a list of nine Corinthian Olympic victors (p. 67). They
range in date from 728 to 304 BC, and include victories in the
stadion, pentathlon and wrestling. Another athlete, though
not victorious at Olympia, was Nicoladas whose victories included
Delphi and Nemea (p. 69). R. then provides relevant sections of
Pindar's Thirteenth Olympia Ode in honour of Xenophon son of
Thessalos (pp. 70-74).
Chapter 3, "Greek mathematics" considers that "the nature of
the reconstructed dromos in Corinth suggests an
understanding of mathematics and geometry by the Greek architect
that previously had been unrecognized as early as ca. 500 BC" (p.
77). Two points are made. First that the Greeks had a value for
pi, and second that the circle consisted of 360 degrees. R.
observes that the average distance between the starting positions
is approximately 1 degree (although this assumes that a
sexagesimal system was used). However the calculation for pi is
not as straightforward. One of the basic problems with this study
is working out the length of the foot in use at the time that the
running track was laid out. Therefore it would have been helpful
to have some tabulated information which could have been referred
to as a test.
Halieis stadion 166.50m 0.278m/ft
Olympia III stadion 192.28m 0.320m/ft
Isthmia later stadion 181.20m 0.302m/ft
The length used at Halieis is surprising given that the layout of
the city itself seems to have used a foot of c. 0.313 m (T.D.
Boyd and M.H. Jameson, Hesperia 50 [1981] 332). However
this may indicate one of two things: either that the
stadion was laid out at a different time from the rest of
the city, or that the running track was not a stadion in
length. R. has a long footnote suggesting the possibilities that
the foot could be 0.269 m or 0.275 m (p. 50 n. 21); Boyd and
Jameson cite the Attic-Ionic foot as 0.295-0.297 m, and the Doric
foot as 0.326-0.328 m. This would give a track length between
161.46 and 165 metres. These problems are compounded when
attempts are made to work out the geometry of the layout of the
archaic dromos at Corinth.
If the width of each running track was equal to 3.5 Corinthian
feet, and this was the equivalent of 1 degree, then the
circumference of the circle formed by the curved starting-line
was 1260 feet. As the diameter of the circle was 400 feet, then
pi = 3.15.
pi = 1260 / 400 = 3.15
Romano however calculates in metres, taken from field
measurements (p. 78).
Circumference = 360 x 0.951 m = 342.36 m.
As he had previously calculated the radius as 55.274 metres, the
following value of pi is obtained:
pi = 342.36 m / (2 x 55.274 m) = 3.0969
Clearly the measurements in Corinthian feet give a more accurate
value for pi; however it is the precise field measurements,
enhanced by computer plotting, that have detected the problems in
the exact measurements of the Greek architect. This in turn
raises questions about trying to be "accurate" in measuring the
track; it may well be that there was a degree of error in the
laying out of the stadion, or that the architect did not
follow a sexgesimal system.
Chapter 5 discusses "The Hellenistic Dromos in
Corinth". This was on a new alignment to the archaic
dromos, with the new starting line removing some of the
places on the older one. The length of the starting line was 17.2
m (approx. 65 Corinthian feet). There were two phases in the life
of the starting gate: initially with seventeen positions, and
then two groups of eight with a blank centre lane. This change
may have included the insertion of blocks at either end of the
line which R. interprets as the creation of a mechanical start,
husplex, which have also been recognised at Epidauros,
Nemea, Isthmia and Olympia. Interestingly the Epidauros
husplex was created in the third century BC by a
Corinthian, Philon (IG iv.1, 98.3) (p. 86). The provision
of water facilities in the area are interpreted as part of the
track maintenance programme. R. notes that the change in the
starting line layout means that the race was run in parallel
lanes, and therefore the event had changed from the classical
period.
Chapter 6 considers "Greek design elements of the Roman
Circus". In particular R. notes the use of a curved starting line
in the second century AD circus at Lepcis Magna. Like Corinth,
the starting positions are approximately one degree of the
circle. In a series of three multi-coloured plans, R.
demonstrates the lines run by the different competitors in the
race. The main difference is the distance of the focal point
nearly two-thirds down the track. R. also considers that such
design elements may have been features of the Greek
hippodrome (p. 105).
Although from time to time certain ideas repeat themselves
(such as the definition of the stadion), there is a considerable
amount of useful information contained within this study. A more
detailed discussion of mathematical systems would have been
helpful, and indeed there remains a doubt about the attempt to
calculate pi. The generous use of colours in the diagrams and
plans helps the reader understand the mathematics and layout of
the dromos. It certainly should make those excavating or
studying athletic facilities get out their calculators, and as a
result provide more information about the application of
mathematics in Greek design.