Category:Hippodrome of Olympia

English: No trace of the track has yet been found. Hope remains, as the site in the estimated location has not been fully excavated. Reconstructions are based on Pausanias' detailed account. These were wrong until excavation revealed the site of stadium for certain. Ancient Olympia was built on terraces on the north side of the Alfeios valley. The hippodrome was in the bottom land between the terrace of the stadium and a dike along the right bank of the river, probably the embankment of a long, straight road along the north of the river. The villa of Nero was closest to it. Before the Roman Senate declared him an enemy of the state for his crimes, one of his poses to regain popularity was that of an Olympic charioteer. In one theory flooding washed away the hippodrome after the dike was neglected. The land today is privately owned and is planted with olive as well as other crops. In places it is marshy, all of which factors are impediments to further excavation. The votive figurines of horses and charioteers as well as victor lists give plenty of archaeological authentication to the existence of the hippodrome, should Pausanias' testimony be in question.