The Olympic games begin at Olympia

Panhellenic athletic contests held every four years brought rival Greek city-states into a shared calendar and truce.

Why it matters

The Olympics gave the Greek world a common timekeeping frame — years were counted by Olympiads — and a rare institution binding fragmented poleis into one cultural system.

Related events

• c. 750 BCE

  The Homeric epics take written form

  The Iliad and the Odyssey, long recited orally, were fixed in writing and became the shared educational core of the Greek world.

  Art · europe

• 447 BCE – 432 BCE

  The Parthenon rises over Athens

  Under Pericles, Athens rebuilt its acropolis in marble after the Persian wars; the Parthenon became the emblem of the city's democracy and empire.

  Art · europe

• 509 BCE – 27 BCE

  The Roman Republic and its constitution of habits

  Rome replaced its kings with a republic of magistracies, senates and assemblies, laced with checks, terms and vetoes — evolving for five centuries.

  Civilizations · europe

Sources

• Encyclopædia Britannica — ancient Olympic Games