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4 Captivating Depictions of Ancient Runners
These will make you appreciate the fact that runners started wearing clothing!
Running is one of the most ancient sports, so it’s no surprise that there’s a lot of wonderful ancient artwork depicting runners.
Running With Dumbbells
You’d be forgiven for thinking that this mosaic is a recent work of art. After all, the depicted woman looks completely modern, from her athletic wear to her dumbbells. However, the mosaic actually dates all the way back to the fourth century!
The mosaic was discovered at the Villa Romana del Casale, an ancient Roman palace located in Sicily. Excavations of the palace have revealed an incredibly large collection of stunning and well-preserved mosaics, including the running woman above.
The villa contains such a treasure trove of art that UNESCO declared it a world heritage site in 1997. According to UNESCO, it contains “the finest mosaics in situ anywhere in the Roman world.”
Runners in a Stadion
This next piece is a vase depicting five runners competing in a stadion, which was an ancient 200-yard dash. The stadion was an incredibly popular race, featured in many of the biggest athletics competitions of the ancient world. As you can see from the illustration, the race was traditionally run completely nude.
According to Wikipedia, this vase was given as a prize in the Panathenaic Games, an ancient regional competition similar to the Olympics. It dates back to 530 BC.
Competing in the Hoplitodromos
This next illustration comes from another Panathenaic amphora, but this time features the hoplitodromos race. The hoplitodromos was the only race of the ancient Olympics that wasn’t run completely nude. Instead, each runner carried a heavy shield and wore a helmet and…
