Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/935

* OLYMPIA. 799 OLYMPIAS. ancient relics and works of art, among them the veiiL'ral)U! cliost of C'ypcliis, covered with scenes from Greek legend in early Corinthian style, and the Hermes of Praxiteles, the great prize of the German excavations. In the southwestern part of the Altis was the great Temple of Zeus, erected by the Eleans about R.c. 400, and containing the colossal statvie of the god in gold and ivory by the Athenian I'hiilias. The sculptures of the pediments and metopes, though tlu' artists are unknown, and the very school is disimted, are valuable examples of Greek art just before its full development at Athens and Argos. The I'clopion was an irregular inclosure consecrated to Pclops. The Philippeion was a circular Ionic building, erected by Philip of Maeedon after the battle of Clucronea, and containing statues of Philip, his parents, his wife 01ym])ias, and his son Alexander, all by the Athenian Leochares. Besides the buildings, the whole inclosure was tilled with statues of victors and votive offerings, conspicuous among which was the Nike of Paeonius, on a triangular basis about 30 feet in height, erected by the Messenians and Naupae- tians shortly after B.C. 425. Outside of the Altis lay the Pahiestra, or w'restling-school, and the great Gymnasium where all competitors were obliged to train for at least one month. After the suppression of the games (a.d. 394) the de- cline of Olympia was rapid. To provide a de- fense against the barbarian invaders, a fort was built in the Altis. nf which the Temple of Zeus formed the northwest corner, while to provide material for the wall the other buildings were n^blcssly destroyed. Early in the sixth century of our era the Temple of Zeus seems to have been overthrown by earthquakes, and inundations of the Cladeus covered the plain with gravel. Though a scanty population still inhabited the place, the rivers frequently flooded it, and finally buried the whole field, in some places to a depth of twenty feet. Supfuestions as to excavations were made liy Montfaucon and Winekelmnnn, and in 1829 the French expedition to the Morea worked for a time at the Temple of Zeus and se- cured a few sculptures. The final excavation was due to Ernst Curtius, who aroused the in- terest of the Prussian Crown Prince (afterwards the Emperor Frederick) and secured the support of the German Government. From 1875 to 1881 the work was carried forward in a masterly fash- ion, and finally, at an expense of 800,000 marks, the entire Altis and a great part of the surround- ing buildinfrs were cleared. Preliminary reports were published yearly under the title Die Aus- ftrithunfirn ~ii Ohniqiia (Herlin. )87fi-82). but the authoritative publication is OlijmpUi, die Errich- nisxe tier ron dem deulscheii lieiche vcrnnstal- Icien Ausijnihuncjcn, 5 vols, text and 4 vols, plates (Berlin, 1801-97). A popular account is Bot- ticher. Oh/inpia (Berlin, 1882). Consult also: Flach, in Baumeister, Drnknmler dcfi Idassischcn Altcrtvins, s. v. Olympia (Munich, 1889) ; Gard- ner, A'cip Chnptrrs in. Greek Uixtorif (London. 1892) ; Dielil, Excursions in Greece (Eng. trans. London and New York, 1893). Ancient Olympia is deserilicd byPausanias (Books v. and vi.), best consulted ill the edition of Hitzig and Bliimner (Leipzii.'. 1901). or the translation and full com- mentary of Frazer (London. 1898). An attempt at reconstruction is found in Laloux et Monceaux, La restaiiration d'Olympie (Paris, 1889). OLYMPIA. A city, county-seat of Thurston County, W asliington, and capital of the Slate, 05 miles southwest of .Seattle; on the southern- most inlet of Pugct Sound, at the mouth of the Ucschutcs River, and on the Northern I'acific Hailroad (Map: Washington, C 2). The new State Capitol is a handsotae structure, costing $400,000, and among other prominent buildings are the county court liouse, Saint Peter's Hospital, McKenny Block, and the Capital National Bank building. The State Libraij' contains 27,000 volumes. There are two bridges here, that across Budd Inlet being over 2000 feet in length. Olym- pia is a commercial centre of importance, the port for a considerable area rich in timber, agri- cultural, and mineral resources. The oyster in- dustry is extensive, and much fruit is grown in the vicinity. The manufacturing interests are promoted liy abumlant water power, the river, with a succession of three falls, making a descent of more than SO feet. Lumber is the chief manu- factured product, but the city has also iron works, a brewery, a salmon cannery, etc. Set- tled in 1840, Olympia was laid out in 1851 and was chartered as a citv in 1859. Population, in 1890, 4098; in 1900, 3803. OLYM'PIAD (from Gk. ^Xu/nirids, olympias, from '0Xu^7r(a, (Ihnnpiu. Olympia). The period of four years that elapsed between two successive celebrations of the Olympic games (q.v. ). The use of Olympiads as a convenient system of chronological reckoning among the CJrceks was of comparatively late date. Tim?eus (c.300 B.C.) seems to have been among the first to date events by Olympiads, and after him the addition of the separate years in the period was introduced. The name of the winner of the foot-race in the games was frequently used with or instead of the num- ber of the Olympiad. The first Olympiad, or that of Coroebus, corresponds with B.C. 776. As the Olympic games did not coincide with the begin- ning of any calendar year in use among the Cireeks, most of the writers call the Attic or Macedonian or some other year in which the games fell the first year of the Olympiad, though even here there are many variations, and the usage of each author must be determined sep- aratively. This system is confined to literature, and never appears on coins and only very rarely in late inscriptions. It is sometimes used now b,y historians in dating Greek events, though commonly the year according to our era is added. The ordinary rule for changing Olympiads to years before or after Christ is as follows: Mul- tiply one less than the number of the Olympiad by 4, add the number of the year in the Olym- piad, and subtract this from 777 for dates before Christ, or subtract 770 for dates after Christ. Thus 01. 81.3 is reduced (80X4) +3 = 323; 777 - 323 -B.C. 454; 01. 218.2 is reduced (217 X 4)+ 2 = 870; 870 - 776 = A.D. 94. Simpler is LTnger's rule: to find the first year of any Olympiad multiply the number of the Olympiad by 4 and cither subtract from 780 or subtract 779, as the case requires. It should be noted that if the date is from an author who reckons by Attic years allowance must be made for the fact that such years begin about July 1st, so that dates in the spring are in an earlier Julian year than those in the autumn. OLYMTIAS (Lat.. from Gk. 'OXvixiriM. The wife of Philip II., King of Macedonia, daughter of