Amongst the most famous were Milo of Croton, who won six wrestling events in six Olympics in a row, along with seven events in the Pythian Games, nine events in the Nemean Games and ten events in the Isthmian Games and also Astylos of Croton, who won six running events in three Olympics in a row.
32.
Among Romans the career of Titus Quinctius Flamininus ( died 174 BC ), who appeared at the Isthmian Games in Corinth in 196 BC and proclaimed the freedom of the Greek states, was fluent in Greek, stood out, according to Livy, as a great admirer of Greek culture; the Greeks hailed him as their liberator.
33.
The Theban hero Heracles was a favourite subject but in one poem he is depicted as small in order to be compared with a small Theban patron who had won the pankration at the Isthmian Games : a unique example of Pindar's readiness to shape traditional myths to fit the occasion, even if not always flattering to the mythical hero.
34.
The Olympic Games were the oldest of the four, said to have begun in 776 BCE . It is more likely though that they were founded sometime in the late 7th century BCE . The Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian games most likely began sometime in the first or second quarter of the 6th century BCE . The Isthmian games were held at the temple to Poseidon on the Isthmus of Corinth.
35.
The Olympic Games were the oldest of the four, said to have begun in 776 BCE . It is more likely though that they were founded sometime in the late 7th century BCE . The Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian games most likely began sometime in the first or second quarter of the 6th century BCE . The Isthmian games were held at the temple to Poseidon on the Isthmus of Corinth.
36.
Compare Appian's account : { { quote | When he had arranged these things with them he went to the Isthmian games, and, the stadium being full of people, he commanded silence by trumpet and directed the herald to make this proclamation, " The Roman people and Senate, and Flamininus, their general, having vanquished the Macedonians and Philip, their king, order that Greece shall be free from foreign garrisons, not subject to tribute, and shall live under her own customs and laws ."
