The Olympic truce was faithfully observed, for the most part, although the historian Thucydides recounts that the Lacedaemonians were banned from participating in the Games, ... The region was respected in ancient times as a holy and neutral place because of the sacred grove to Zeus, called the Altis, at Olympia.
www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/truce.html www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/truce.html
The sacred truce was in force the moment the Olympiad was announced. Elian messengers, wreathed with branches of olive tree and holding the herald cane, ran through the Greek states announcing the beginning of the Olympic Sacred Truce for which they themselves were the warrantors.
www.danaus.net/danaus/index_files/Page5707.htm
What was the Sacred Truce? ... So messengers sent out from Elis announced a 'sacred truce' (peace) lasting one month before the Games began. This meant people could travel to Olympia in safety. The Olympic Games were more important than wars because they were a religious festival.
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/the... www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/the_olympic_games/
Facsheet (PDF File)
THE SACRED TRUCE IN ANTIQUITY; The tradition of the “Olympic Truce” or “Ekecheiria” was established in Ancient Greece in the 9th century B.C. by the signature of a treaty between three kings: Iphitos of Elis, Cleosthenes of Pisa and Lycurgus of Sparta.
multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_839.pdf
The wise Pythia replied that warriors should put their skill and effort into a noble set of games as athletes and that a sacred truce, or Ekecheiria' should be put into practice whereby all participants and spectators at these games would be granted safe passage and protected from any wars and conflicts during...
www.allinpeace.org/jo/index.php?Itemid=90&id=89&option=... www.allinpeace.org/jo/index.php?Itemid=90&id=89&option=com_content&task=view
His sage advice was that warriors should put their skill and effort into a noble set of athletic games and that a sacred truce, or Ekecheiria should be put into practice whereby all participants and spectators would be granted safe passage and protected from any wars and conflicts during these contests.
www.allinpeace.org/jo/index.php?id=49&option=com_conten... www.allinpeace.org/jo/index.php?id=49&option=com_content&task=view
The institution of the truce was established during the reformation of the Olympic Games in the 8th century BC. It is believed that the ones responsible for it were the kings of Elis, Pisa and Sparta, Iphitos, Kleosthenes and Lycurgus respectively, who signed a treaty, the so-called Sacred Truce.
www.fhw.gr/olympics/ancient/en/204c.html
During the Olympic Games of antiquity, the bellicose cities of ancient Greece invariably observed a "sacred truce." This week Greek guerrillas had cut the relay route of the Olympic... ... Monday, Jul. 19, 1948 ... The last Olympic torch, in 1936, was carried by a succession of more than 3,000 runners from Olympia to Berlin.
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,798850,00.htm... www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,798850,00.html
When the heralds fanned out through ancient Greece to announce the forthcoming Games at Olympia (see BOOKS), they carried with them the proclamation of a sacred truce that extended for at... ... Last weekend the governing body of the Games, the International Olympic Committee, was so irate over a ... On the same afternoon,
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914347-1,00.h... www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914347-1,00.html
As the opening of the Games approached, the sacred truce was proclaimed and announced by citizens of Elis who travelled throughout Greece to pass on the message.
www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/missions/truce/truce_uk... www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/missions/truce/truce_uk.asp