THE GAMES. 67 



The people, when they met for the purposes of trade, per- 

 formed at the same time religious rites, and also amused 

 themselves, in the rude manner of the age, with boxing, 

 wrestling, running races, and throwing the spear ; or they 

 listened to the minstrels, who sang the ballads of ancient 

 times, and to the prophets or inspired politicians, who 

 chanted predictions in hexameters. That sanctuary 

 became in time the famous oracle of Delphi ; and those 

 sports expanded into the Olympian games. To the 

 great fair came Greeks from all parts of the land ; and 

 when chariot races were introduced, it became neces- 

 sary to make good roads from State to State, and to 

 build bridges across the streams. The administration 

 of the sanctuary, the laws and regulations of the games, 

 and the management of the public fund subscribed for 

 the expenses of the fair, could only be arranged by 

 means of a national council, composed of deputies from 

 all the States. This congress was called the Amphic- 

 tyonic League, which, soon extending its powers, en- 

 acted national laws, and as a Supreme Court of Arbi- 

 tration, decided all questions that arose between State 

 and State. 



At Olympia, the inhabitants of the coast displayed 

 the scarlet cloth and the rich trinkets which they had 

 obtained from Phoenician ships. At Olympia, those 

 who had been kidnapped into slavery, and had after- 

 wards been ransomed by their friends at home, related 

 to an eager crowd the wonders which they had seen in 

 the enchanted regions of the East. 



And then throughout all Greece there was an inward 

 stirring and a hankering after the unknown, and a 

 desire to achieve great deeds. It began with the 

 expedition of Jason — an exploring voyage to the Black 

 Sea : it culminated in the siege of Troy. 



