PENTATHLON

( πένταθλον , quinquertium ), was next to the pancratium the most beautiful of all athletic performances. The persons engaged in it were called Pentathli ( πένταθλοι ). The pentathlon consisted of five distinct kinds of games, viz. leaping ( ἅλμα ), the foot-race ( δρόμος ), the throwing of the discus ( δίσκος ), the throwing of the spear ( σίγυννος or ἀκόντιον ), and wrestling ( πάλη ), which were all performed in one day and in a certain order, one after the other, by the same athletae. The pentathlon was introduced in the Olympic games in Ol. 18.