ATHLETES

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) Men who contended at the public games of the Greeks and Romans, in boxing, wrestling, running, leaping, and throwing the quoit. The name was more particularly applied in the two former cases. Their dre consisted merely of a linen bandage round the loins, the rest of the body being left naked, and anointed with an unctuous mixture called ceroma. The boxers used a kind of glove called caestus, which consisted of leather thongs wrapped round the hand with pieces of lead and iron sewed into them, to give greater weight to the blows. Among the Greeks these contests were considered highly honourable, and the victors at their national games at Olympia, and elsewhere, were received in their native states with great distinction, and were rewarded with valuable privileges; indeed, one of their most popular divinities, Pollox, was celebrated for his skill in boxing. Among the Romans they were slaves, or hired persons of lower rank, or foreigners. [s. 116]