406 TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



signified, conformably to all ancient eras, the first year subse- 

 quent to the end of the quadriennial period of the first Olympiad. 

 Hence the second Olympian games were delivered in —773 ; and 

 it was a deplorable mistake, committed by Petavius, to commence 

 the Olympiads two years earlier, —775, instead of —773. The 

 consequence of this blunder was that Petavius and his followers 

 antedated all events of Greek history in general by two years. 

 All Olympian games were repeated every four years, namely, 

 prior to the summer solstice, in such years before Christ, of which 

 the number being divided by 4 gives the remainder 1 ; but after 

 Christ, in all years, of which the number -being divided by 4 

 leaves a remainder of 3, e.g. in — 1 and +3. It is, moreover, a 

 strange phenomenon, not yet explained, that several fathers of the 

 church, and some later authors, commenced the Olympiads two 

 years earlier. But these are exceptions to the rule. (See Ideler's 

 Chronologie, ii. p. 465.) 



The Statue of the Olympian Zeus. Subsequent to the battle at 

 Marathon, the Greeks, applying the gold taken from the Persians 

 on occasion of the Marathonian battle, erected a grand statue to 

 Zeus, the deliverer of the country ; and on the pedestal of his 

 statue the planetary configuration referring to the same battle 

 was represented. This astronomical monument, described by 

 Pausanias (v. 11, 3), concerns the autumnal equinox, Sept. 25 in 

 — 4S9, as will be found in my " Berichtigungen," etc. p. 234. 

 The date of the battle, August 6th in — 4S8, is confirmed, as will 

 be seen below, by the solar Calendar of the Greeks. Conse- 

 quently, Petavius has antedated the battle, and the reigning-time 

 of Xerxes by one year. , 



The Parthenon frieze in Athens contains the planetary configura- 

 tion concerning the battle at Salamis, subsequent to the battle at 

 Thermopylae. The latter Herodotus (vii. 206) refers to the cele- 

 bration of the Olympian games, and to the Archonship of Kallia- 

 des, i.e., according to Petavius, to —479, but the Parian Marble 

 puts the battle in the following year. The latter is confirmed by 

 the aforesaid planetary configuration, observed on the winter sol- 

 stice in —479, and by Thucydides (i. iS), who counts ten years 

 from the battle at Marathon, on Aug. 6 in — 4SS, to the battle at 

 Salamis in —478, Sept. 23. Consequently, Petavius has again 

 antedated these events by one year. 



