An Olympiad is a period of four years, associated with the Olympic Games of Classical Greece. In the Hellenistic period, beginning with Ephorus, Olympiads were used as calendar epoch. In this reckoning, the first Olympiad lasted from the summer of 776 BC to that of 772 BC. By extrapolation, the 4th year of the 696th Olympiad begins in summer 2008. Ruins of the training grounds at Olympia The Ancient Olympic Games, originally referred to as simply the Olympic Games (Greek: ; Olympiakoi Agones) were a series of athletic competitions held between various city-states of Ancient Greece. ... Parthenon This article is on the term Classical Greece itself. ... The Hellenistic period (4th - 1st c. ... Ephorus (c. ... In chronology, an epoch (or epochal date, or epochal event) means an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 820s BC 810s BC 800s BC 790s BC 780s BC - 770s BC - 760s BC 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC Events and Trends 778 BC - Agamestor, King of Athens dies after a reign of 17 years and...

Today, an Olympiad refers to a period beginning January 1st of a year in which the Summer Olympics are due to occur, and lasting four years. The first modern Olympiad began in 1896, so the second began in 1900, and so on. The 29th began in 2008 (see the Olympic Charter). The Summer Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event held every four years, organised by the International Olympic Committee. ...

Ancient Olympics

An Olympiad, especially in ancient literature, was a period of four years (Polybius, Example: OL 1 - Yr. 1 - 776/775, Yr. 2 - 775/774, Yr. 3 - 774/773, Yr. 4 - 773/772 Polybius (c. ...

Example for AUC: OL 6 - Yr. 1 - 756/755, Yr. 2 - 755/754, Yr. 3 - 754/753, Yr. 4 - 753/752

Historians

From 776 BC Olympic Games were presumably held without fail. Greek historians used the Olympiads as a way of reckoning time that did not depend on the time reckonings of one of the city-states. (See Attic calendar.) The first to do so consistently was Timaeus of Tauromenium. Nevertheless, since for events in the early history of the games the reckoning was used in retrospect, even though Greek historians gave them dates later, it is not clear which events occurred during which Olympiad. The Attic calendar is the calendar that was in use in ancient Attica, the ancestral territory of the Athenian polis. ... Timaeus (Honour) (or Timæus) is a name that appears in several ancient (Greek) sources: Timaeus (dialogue), a Socratic dialogue by Plato Timaeus of Locri, the 5th-century Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Platos s Timaeus. ... Greek Theater in Taormina Taormina is a town on the island of Sicily in Italy, and in ancient times was a Greek colony (Tauromenium), dating from about 400 BC, which submitted to Roman authority in 212 BC during the Second Punic War. ...

Start of the Olympiad

An Olympiad started with the games, which were held at the beginning of the Olympic new year, which fell on the full moon closest to the summer solstice. (After the introduction of the Metonic cycle about 432 BC, the start of the Olympic year was determined slightly differently). For other uses, see Full Moon. ... “Summer solstice” redirects here. ... The Metonic cycle or Enneadecaeteris in astronomy and calendar studies is a particular approximate common multiple of the year (specifically, the seasonal tropical year) and the synodic month. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC - 430s BC - 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC Years: 437 BC 436 BC 435 BC 434 BC 433 BC 432 BC 431 BC 430 BC...

Era

Though Olympic games were held before Coroebus, his is the first Olympiad recorded. Therefore the reckoning in Olympiads starts in 776 BC. In the third century AD the games had dwindled to the point where historians are not certain whether after 261 they were still held every four years. During the early years of the Olympiad, any physical benefit coming out of a sport was banned. Some winners were recorded though, until the last Olympiad in 393. In 394, Roman Emperor Theodosius I outlawed the games at Olympia as pagan. Though it would have been possible to continue the reckoning by just counting four-year periods, by the middle of the fifth century AD reckoning in Olympiads had fallen into disuse. Events Births Deaths Mussius Aemilianus, Roman Emperor Categories: 261 ... Events Gao Zu succeeds Tai Zu as Emperor of the Later Qin Empire in China. ... Events September 6 - Battle of the Frigidus: The christian Roman Emperor Theodosius I defeats and kills the pagan usurper Eugenius and his Frankish magister militum Arbogast. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... An engraving depicting what Theodosius may have looked like, ca. ...

Examples

• 776/775 (BC) First year of the First Olympiad.
• 775/774 Second year of the First Olympiad.
• 774/773 Third year of the First Olympiad.
• 773/772 Fourth year of the First Olympiad.
• 772/771 First year of the Second Olympiad.
• 771/770 Second year of the Second Olympiad.

...

• 2/1 (BC) Third year of the 194th Olympiad.
• 1/1 (1 BC - 1 AD) Fourth year of the 194th Olympiad.
• 1/2 (AD) 1st year of the 195th Olympiad.
• 2/3 2nd year of the 195th Olympiad.

...

• 393/394 1st year of the 293rd Olympiad.
• 394/395 2nd year of the 293rd Olympiad.

By extrapolation:

• 1893 1st year of the 668th Olympiad.
• 1894 2nd year of the 668th Olympiad.
• 1895 3rd year of the 668th Olympiad.
• 1896 4th year of the 668th Olympiad / First year of the First Olympiad of the Modern Era.

Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, were celebrated in 1896 in Athens, Greece. ...

Anolympiad

Though the games were held without interruption, on more than one occasion they were celebrated by others than the Eleiäns. The Eleiäns declared such games Anolympiads (non-Olympics), but it is assumed the winners nevertheless were recorded.

Modern Olympics

For the modern Olympics the term was long used to indicate the games themselves, but the IOC now uses it to indicate a period of four years.

Start and End

The modern Olympiad starts with the celebration of the Olympiad. These are the Summer Olympics, more correctly indicated as the Games of the Olympiad. The first poster to announce the games using this term was the one for the 1932 Summer Olympics, in Los Angeles, using the phrase: Call to the games of the Xth Olympiad The Summer Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event held every four years, organised by the International Olympic Committee. ... Placard redirects here: this should not be confused with Plaque or Plack Poster from the Spanish Revolution A poster is any large piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. ... The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, were held in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. ...

An Olympiad normally ends with the opening of the games of the next Olympiad, which may be slightly less or slightly more than four years. If for some reason the next Olympiad is not celebrated, the olympiad expires exactly four years after its beginning, after which the new Olympiad commences.

Quadrennium

The U.S. Olympic Committee often uses the term quadrennium, which it claims refers to the same four-year period. However, it indicates these quadrennia in calendar years, starting with the first year after the Summer Olympics end ending with the year the next Olympics are held. This would suggest a more precise period of four years, but the 2001-2004 Quadrennium would then not be the exact same period as the XXVIIth Olympiad. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is a non-profit organization that is the National Olympic Committee for the United States. ... The 2000 Summer Olympics or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were the Summer Olympic Games celebrated in 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ...

Cultural Olympiad

A celebration known as the Cultural Olympiad was established to include all cultural events of the Olympic Movement. This Olympiad is a period most recently held in Athens from 2001-2004, where artists from around the world come and exhibit their art.

Other uses

Outside the IOC the term is still often used to indicate the games themselves, a usage that is strictly erroneous (as an Olympiad is the time period between games) but widely accepted nevertheless. It is also used to indicate international competitions in fields other than physical sports. This includes international science olympiads, such as the International Mathematical Olympiad and the International Olympiad in Informatics, but also events in mindsports, such as the Science Olympiad, Mindsport Olympiad, Chess Olympiad and Computer Olympiad. In these cases Olympiad is used to indicate a regular event of international competition; it does not necessarily indicate a four-year period. The international science olympiads are competitions for (senior) pupils at secondary schools all over the world. ... The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is an annual mathematical olympiad for high school students. ... The International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) is an annual informatics competition for secondary school students. ... Science Olympiad is a primarily American elementary, middle school, or high school team competition that requires knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. ... Categories: Game stubs | Organization stubs | Organizations ... The Chess Olympiad is a chess event which has been officially organised by FIDE since 1927 and takes place in even years. ... The Computer Olympiads are a multi-games event taking place every year in which computer programs compete against each other. ...

The Olympiad (L'Olimpiade) is also the name of some 60 operas, of which the plot is set in Ancient Greece. LOlimpiade is an opera libretto by Metastasio, set to music by over 60 baroque and classical composers, among which (by chronological order of first performance): Antonio Caldara: LOlimpiade, first performance 28 August 1733, in honor of Elisabeth, wife of Emperor Charles VI Antonio Vivaldi LOlimpiade, Venice, Teatro... For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Valerie Vaughan, The Origin of the Olympics: Ancient Calendars and the Race Against Time (2002) on OneReed.com, an astrologically-oriented site.