P. Valavanis Hysplex, The Starting Mechanism in Ancient Stadia

Reconstruction of the Hysplex System at Nemea. Drawing by Ruben Santos.
HYSPLEX
The Starting Mechanism
in Ancient Stadia
A Contribution to Ancient Greek Technology
Panos Valavanis
Translated from the Greek
and with an Appendix
by Stephen G. Miller
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS:
CLASSICAL STUDIES
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Volume 36
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Valavanes, Panos.
Hysplex: the starting mechanism in ancient stadia: a contri-
bution to ancient Greek technology / Panos Valavanis; translated
from the Greek and with an appendix by Stephen G. Miller.
p. cm. — (University of California publications. Classical
studies; v. 36)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-520-09829-3 (alk. paper)
1. Stadiums—Design and construction—Greece—History.
2. Running—Greece—History. I. Title. II. Series.
GV413.V35 1999
796'.06'838—dc21 99-11989
CIP
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper)
Contents
List of Figures ix
Prologue xv
Abbreviations and Bibliography xvii
Introduction 1
Documents and Documentation of the Mechanism 3

Written Sources and Terminology 3
Architectural Features of Stadia 10
The New Panathenaic Amphora 20
The Parts of the Hysplex and Its Means of Operation 31
Reconstruction of the Form of the Hysplex 35
The Operation of the Mechanism 44
The Chronology of the Hysplex 49
Representations of a Hysplex in Monuments of a Roman Date 53
Observations on the Starting Lines of Various Stadia 57

Mainland Greek Stadia 57
Olympia 57
Delphi 61
The Athenian Agora 63
Stadia of Asia Minor and the Islands 64
Didyma 64
Priene (Stadium I) 67
Miletos (Stadium I) 68
Miletos (Stadium II) 70
Rhodes 72
Monumental Hyspleges Of Later Hellenistic Date 95
Epidauros (Stadium II) 96
Priene (Stadium II) 113
Kos 119
Conclusion 143
Appendix: The Rebirth of the Hysplex at N e m e a 145

General Purpose 145
Materials 145
The Posts of the Balbis and the Kampter 146
The Release System 159
The Barriers 159
The System in Use 164
vii
viii Contents
The Finish 169

The Cost 172
Conclusion 173
Summary in Greek 175
Glossary 179
Index 181
?•
List of Figures
Reconstruction of the hysplex system at Nemea frontispiece

1 Isthmia. Plan of the balbis and reconstruction of the hysplex system
with the start of the runners in Stadium I 7
2 Isthmia. Plan of the balbides and bases for the hyspleges 8
3 Epidauros. Plan of the balbides and bases for the hyspleges 8
4 Corinth. Plan of the balbides and bases for the hyspleges 9
5 Nemea. Plan of the balbides and bases for the hyspleges 9
6 Isthmia. Plan and cross-section of the single base of the hysplex (the
left one) excavated in Stadium II 10
7 Epidauros. Plan and cross-section of the right base of the hysplex . . 11
8 Corinth. Plan and cross-section of the two bases of the hysplex 12
9 Corinth. Plan of the left base of the hysplex 13
10 Corinth. Left base of the hysplex, from the west 13
11 Corinth. Plan, side elevations, and cross-section of the right base of the
hysplex 14
12 Corinth. Right base of the hysplex, from the west 15
13 Corinth. Plan and cross-section of the central base of the hysplex. . . . 16
14 Corinth. Central base of the hysplex, from the west 17
15 Nemea. Plan of the bases of the hysplex of the southern starting line. 18
16 Nemea. Left base of the hysplex, from the north 18
17 Nemea. Right base of the hysplex, from the north 19
18 Obverse of the Panathenaic amphora from Athens 22
19 Reverse of the Panathenaic amphora from Athens with a representation
of the start of the hoplitodromia 23
20 Detail of the right hysplex on the Panathenaic amphora 26
21 Detail of the left hysplex on the Panathenaic amphora 27
22 Rolled-out drawing of the representation on the reverse of the Pana-
thenaic amphora 28
23 Rolled-out drawing of only the hysplex elements in the representation
on the reverse of the Panathenaic amphora 28
24 Imaginary and improbable reconstruction of the kind of hysplex shown
on the Panathenaic amphora 29
25 Schematic reconstruction of the whole hysplex based on the represen-
tation of half of it on the Panathenaic amphora 31
26 Simplified drawing of the frame, the neura, and the ankon of the simple
monankon 34
27 Schematic reconstruction of all parts of the hysplex, with high and or-
thogonal parastades of the frame set in the stone base at Nemea. . . . 36
28 Schematic reconstruction of all parts of the hysplex, with the parastades
of the frame cut down in a stepped fashion and set in the stone base at
Nemea 37
29 Corinth. Plan of the stone and wood elements of the left hysplex. . . . 39
ix
χ List of Figures
30 Drawing showing terms and materials of the basic elements of ancient

stone-throwing machines 40
31 Schematic drawing of the neura and the metallic elements that made
up the moving parts of the hysplex 41
32 Wooden scale model of the hysplex 43
33 Corinth. Plan of the two bases of the hysplex showing the brackets that
would create the cord barriers in an application like the Nemea system. 45
34 Corinth. Suggested schematic reconstruction of all parts of the hysplex.
The ankon was significantly taller than shown here 46
35 Nemea. Plan of the sphendone of the stadium. The semicircular depres
sion for the aphetes is visible near the top of the semicircle of the water
channel 47
36 Codex Vaticano Latino 3439 54
37 Mosaic at Gafsa 55
38 Mosaic at Tebessa 56
39 Olympia. Brick foundation next to block y at the southern end of the
western balbis with cuttings for the receipt of the hysplex 58
40 Olympia. Detail of block i in the eastern balbis with the semicircular
cutting intended to receive the hysplex 60
41 Didyma. Plan and longitudinal cross-section of the bases of the balbis
and hysplex 66
42 Didyma. Schematic reconstruction of the balbis and the hysplex. . . . 66
43 Priene. Plan of the bases of the first phase of the starting line 67
44 Miletos. State plan and separated plan of the bases of the first phase of
the starting line at the eastern end of the stadium 68
45 Miletos. Cross-sections through the bases of the starting lines at the
eastern end of the stadium 69
46 Miletos. General schematic reconstruction of the first phase of the balbis
and hysplex 70
47 Miletos. General schematic reconstruction of the second phase of the
hysplex starting mechanism 72
48 Rhodes. Plan of the stadium 74
49 Rhodes. General view of the stadium from the odeion in 1973 74
50 Rhodes. General view of the stadium from the sphendone 75
51 Rhodes. Plan with the various phases of the stadium and its starting
lines 76
52 Rhodes. Remains of the left base of the hysplex of the first phase, from
the southwest, probably 1973 77
53 Rhodes. Remains of the left base of the hysplex of the first phase, from
the east, probably 1973 77
54 Rhodes. Plan of the city with the new position of the stadium of the
4th century BC shown in dotted lines 78
55 Rhodes. The right base of the northern hysplex of the second phase,
from the northwest, 1973 80
56 Rhodes. The right base of the northern hysplex of the second phase,
from the southwest, 1973 81
List of Figures xi
57 Rhodes. The remains of slabs of the balbis of the third phase and the
base of the hysplex of the second phase on the northern end of the
stadium, from the west, 1973 82
58 Rhodes. The remains of slabs of the balbis of the third phase and the
base of the hysplex of the second phase on the northern end of the
stadium, from the east, 1973 83
59 Rhodes. The left base of the southern hysplex of the second phase, from
the east, 1973 84
60 Rhodes. The left base of the southern hysplex of the second phase, from
the west, 1973 85
61 Rhodes. Plan of the remains of the southern starting line 86
62 Rhodes. The operating channel and circular pit for the aphetes at the
southern starting line of the third phase, from the south, 1973 88
63 Rhodes. The operating channel and circular pit for the aphetes at the
southern starting line of the third phase, from the north, 1973 89
64 Rhodes. The circular pit for the aphetes, from the northeast, 1973. . . 90
65 Rhodes. Poros underpinning of the left hysplex of the southern starting
line of the third phase, from the east, 1992 92
66 Rhodes. Schematic reconstruction of the southern starting line of the
third phase of the stadium 93
67 Rhodes. The channel for the meta, from the south, 1973 94
68 Epidauros. Plan of the second phase of the starting line at the eastern
end of the stadium 96
69 Epidauros. Foundation and base of a half column of the eastern starting
line, from the west 97
70 Epidauros. Foundation and base of a half column of the eastern starting
line, from the west 97
71 Epidauros. Restored drawing of front, rear, and side of one of the end
half columns of the starting line at the eastern end of the stadium. . . 99
72 Epidauros. The first drum of an end half column from the eastern start-
ing line, with a carved vertical taenia, or strip, on the side 100
73 Epidauros. The first drum of the central half column from the eastern
starting line 102
74 Epidauros. The upper surface of the first drum of a half column with
the deep cuttings for the insertion of the horizontal ankones at the side
edges 103
75 Epidauros. Detail of the cutting for the insertion of the horizontal ankon
on the top of the first drum of the central half column from the eastern
starting line 104
76 Epidauros. The double foundations of the central half column of the
eastern starting line showing the sloping top surface of one block and
the channel between the blocks, from the west 104
77 Epidauros. Drawings of two views of the central half column at the
eastern end of the stadium 105
78 Epidauros. Drawings of details of the central half column of the eastern
starting line 105
xii List of Figures
79 Epidauros. Bottom and one side of the base of the central half column. 106
80 Epidauros. Bottom of the base of the central half column 106
81 Epidauros. Front view of the base of the central half column set in place
on its foundation, from the west 107
82 Epidauros. Rear view of the base of the central half column set in place
on its foundation, from the east 107
83 Epidauros. Rear view of the first drum of the central half column. . . 108
84 Epidauros. Rear view of the base of the central half column 109
85 Epidauros. Reconstruction of the starting mechanism on one side of a
half column 110
86 Epidauros. Schematic reconstruction of the hysplex of phase II at the
eastern end of the stadium, with wood barriers and wood epistyle
through which ran a cord (dotted line) 112
87 Priene. Plan of the bases of the first and second phases of the starting
line 113
88 Priene. Elevation of the base and cross-section of the epistyle of one of
the pillars of the starting line 114
89 Priene. Schematic reconstruction of the mechanism for the introduction
of torsion on one side of the pillar 115
90 Priene. Schematic reconstruction of the hysplex with the two systems
for the introduction of torsion and its release 117
91 Kos. General view of the architectural remains of the balbis-hysplex,
from the west, 1992 118
92 Kos. General view of the architectural remains of the balbis-hysplex,
from the east, probably 1973 119
93 Kos. Top surface of one of the bases of a half column 121
94 Kos. Plan of the top of a base for a half column 122
95 Kos. Parts of the entablature of the hysplex 122
96 Kos. Parts of the entablature of the hysplex 123
97 Kos. The central funnel-shaped cutting of the epistyle as it appears
from above 124
98 Kos. Capital of a half column in the Kastro Museum, probably from
the hysplex 125
99 Kos. View of the architectural elements of the hysplex from above. . . 126
100 Kos. Architectural elements from the half columns of the hysplex, from
the west 127
101 Kos. Side view of the lower elements of the half columns of the hysplex,
from the west 129
102 Kos. Drawing of the side of the lower part of a half column 130
103 Kos. Side view of the easternmost of the extant half columns, from the
west 131
104 Kos. Detail of the half-cylindrical cutting on the back part of the third
of the extant half columns, from the east, with the extant part of an
iron ring visible at the back of the cutting, from the west 132
of the extant half columns, from the east 133
List of Figures xiii
of the extant half columns, from the east 134
107 Kos. Drawing of the back side of the front, half-round, element of the
half column of the hysplex 136
108 Kos. Reconstruction of the mechanisms for the introduction of torsion
(broken line) and its release (dotted line) in the interior of a half column.
Metallic elements in heavy solid black line 137
109 Kos. Schematic reconstruction of the hysplex with its two systems for
the introduction of torsion (broken line) and its release (dotted line). . 139
110 Nemea. Modern wooden post inserted in ancient lead-lined socket of
balbis 146
111 Nemea. Wooden column and frame of hysplex inserted in right (eastern)
support base, from the north 147
112 Nemea. Petros and Voula Briles working wood to fit into left (western)
support base 149
113 Nemea. Left (western) hysplex from the northwest with wooden blocks
A, B, and Γ (from right to left) and column at rear 150
114 Nemea. Right (eastern) hysplex from the northeast with wooden blocks
Ζ, Ε, and Δ (from left to right) and column at rear 151
115 Nemea. Detail of right hysplex from the north showing ankon inserted
in neura (rope) above cut-down part of central block Ε 152
116 Nemea. Left (western) hysplex from the west showing a washer {choinikis)
countersunk in a wooden frame and supporting one end of a pipe (sy
rinx) through the other end of which is passed the iron pin (epizygis)
around which is tied the neura (rope) 154
117 Nemea. Right (eastern) hysplex from the east showing a washer (choinikis)
countersunk in a wooden frame and supporting one end of a pipe (sy
rinx) through the other end of which is passed the iron pin (epizygis)
around which is tied the neura (rope) 155
118 Nemea. Left hysplex with release ring at the top of the ankon 158
119 Nemea. Right hysplex with a guy tied to a block set against the western
water channel, from the north 160
120 Nemea. Left hysplex with a guy tied to a block set against the eastern
water channel, from the north 161
121 Nemea. Hysplex and turning posts set up, with horizontal barrier cords
stretched tight between ankones and lanes marked out for the diaulos
race, from the north 162
122 Nemea. Lanes marked out for the southernmost half of the track, from
the south and above 163
123 Nemea. Hysplex system set up and ready, from the west 164
124 Nemea. Dividing line for a lane passing just west of the center of the
kampter, from the north 165
125 Nemea. The start of the first heat on July 18, 1993 168
126 Nemea. The start of the second heat 168
127 Nemea. The start of the third heat 169
128 Nemea. The start of the fourth heat 169
Prologue
Nothing shows so clearly the state of research on the starting mechanism in the ancient
stadium as the following quotations from two important students of the stadium and
of ancient athletics in general, 0. Broneer and J. Jüthner. The first introduces the
problem to us gently: "Architecturally the Greek stadium appears to be a simple
structure, the principal features and the use of which can be readily understood.
Actually both its construction and its functioning have given rise to many questions
that still remain unanswered. The most difficult problem has to do with the lines
and devices for regulating the start and finish of the various forms of foot races. In
spite of much study on the part of several competent scholars, it is still a matter of
uncertainty what signal or mechanical operation gave the runners the cue for the start
of the race at any given period." 1 The second is more laconic and authoritative: "Es
gibt wenige Einzelfragen der Altertumskunde, bei denen eine solche Fulle wertvoller
Nachrichten zu Gebote steht und wo doch so wenig sicheres zu ermitteln ist, wie bei
der Untersuchung der Ablaufeinrichtungen im griechischen Stadion." 2
In fact, despite our relatively good state of knowledge about various aspects of
ancient Greek athletics, areas of darkness exist which continue to stimulate further
study, discussion, and research. One of these dark areas is the means of starting the
foot races of ancient competitions and especially the way in which a simultaneous start
for all the competitors was guaranteed. 3
My interest in this subject began by chance from my special area of study—the
Panathenaic amphora. During preparations for the exhibition "Mind and Body" that
was organized in the National Archaeological Museum in 1989, I noticed on a Pana-
thenaic amphora from the Third Ephoreia a unique representation of the start of the
hoplitodromia in which, in addition to the athletes, there appeared at the sides some
"strange" objects that clearly showed a type of mechanism that had to do with the
start of the race. And so I began a fascinating journey into areas previously unknown
to me, such as the architecture of the stadium, the relevant ancient epigraphical and
especially literary texts, and the specialized bibliography concerning the technology of
the ancient Greeks. Despite the problems that nonetheless sometimes make research
more provocative, I had the good fortune to come to some interesting conclusions and
to feel the satisfaction that a scholar understands when he sees emerge, in the middle
of the fog and the uncertainty of isolated and obscure data, details that enable him
to recover objects and devices of the ancients that have been lost with the passage of
centuries.
1. Broneer 137.
2. Jüthner 51. The need for research on the details of the hysplex has been noted most recently
by Aupert 59 n. 11 and by W. Decker, review of Nemea: A Guide, in Nikephoros 4 (1991) 276 ff.
3. In general for the footraces see the bibliography in T. Scanlon, Greek and Roman Athletics: A
Bibliography (1984) 23, 37 ff., 74 ff. For the different types of footraces in antiquity, see Jüthner 95 ff.
Sweet, 27 ff., has collected the more important sources for the footraces. To his collection should be
added that in Arete, 21 ff.
XV
XVI Prologue
I could not have finished this study without the help of many friends and colleagues
to whom I wish to express my gratitude. N. Prokopiou granted me permission to study
and publish the vase despite her intention to study Panathenaic amphoras. My friend
the architect Ntinos Kyriakopoulos, with his great knowledge of ancient technology,
his talent for synthesis and for drafting, and his—all too rare in our day—sincerely al-
truistic generosity, helped to check and solve many problems and so made it possible to
provide very detailed reconstructions of the mechanisms. Also, I was helped greatly by
the discussions I had from time to time with M. Korres, A. Matthaiou, and M. Tive-
rios, who read and made important comments on an earlier version of this study.
Finally, for every kind of information, assistance, and criticism, I must thank V. Bar-
dani, Ch. Bouras, E. Brouskari, G. Despinis, S. Halatsis, Ch. Kantzia, Th. Karagiorga,
V. Kontorini, E. Kondylaki, M. Kreeb, Ch. Kritzas, M. Michalake-Kollia, I. Ninnou,
F. Pachyianne, I. Papachristodoulou, M. Philimonos, E. Stasinopoulou-Kakarougka,
M. Theochari, D. Tsouklidou, and A. Yiannikouri. I also benefited from the comments
and suggestions of three anonymous readers for the University of California Press and
the editorial assistance of R. A. White and S. Berg. The photographs of the vase are by
G. Maravelias, and the drawings, aside from the reconstructions by Nt. Kyriakopou-
los, are by L. Vranopoulou. J. Parsons prepared the camera-ready copy of this book.
I thank all warmly.
But my greatest good fortune was meeting S. G. Miller. From the first moment
when he heard of my ideas he supported the enterprise with great interest. Not only did
he have the courtesy to permit me to study and to provide me with photographs and
drawings of the stadium at Nemea—the final publication of which is now in press—
but he also undertook two initiatives that stand as shining exceptions in the self-
centered and self-serving world that we occupy, especially the world of archaeology.
First, he undertook to translate my manuscript into English so that it would be
more accessible to the community of international scholars. During the course of the
translation he made significant comments and several corrections. Secondly, with great
and inexhaustible enthusiasm, he undertook the responsibility and the expenses for
the construction of a life-size working model of the hysplex, the operation of which was
tested for the first time on July 18, 1993, in its original position at the starting line in
the stadium at Nemea. A description of the details and the results of that experiment
are appended to this study.
This book is dedicated to my wife, Effie Baziotopoulou, as a small repayment for
her great and constant generosity at every level.
Panos D. Valavanis
Athens 1993
Abbreviations and Bibliography
In addition to the standard internationally recognized bibliographic abbreviations, the

following are used here:
Arete = S.G. Miller, Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources (second edition, Berke
ley, 1991).
Aupert = P. Aupert, Fouilles de Delphes II, Le Stade (Paris, 1980).
Baatz (1979) = D. Baatz, "Teile Hellenistischer Geschiitze aus Griechenland," AA
(1979) 68 ff.
Baatz (1982) = D. Baatz, "Hellenistische Katapulte aus Ephyra (Epirus)," AM 97
(1982) 211 ff.
Baatz (1985) = D. Baatz, "Katapultteile aus dem Schiffswrack von Mahdia (Tune-
sien)," A A (1985) 679 ff.
Bean = G. Bean, Aegean Turkey, an Archaeological Guide (London, 1966).
Broneer = 0. Broneer, Isthmia II, Topography and Architecture (Princeton, 1973).
Fiechter = E. Fiechter, "Stadion, der Bau," RE IIIA2 (1929) 1967 ff.
Gardiner = E.N. Gardiner, "Note on the Greek Foot Race," JHS 23 (1903) 261 if.
Harris (1960) = H.A. Harris, "Stadia and Starting Grooves," Greece & Rome 7 (1960)
30 ff.
Harris (1964) = H.A. Harris, Greek Athletes and Athletics (London).
Harris (1972) = H.A. Harris, Sport in Greece and Rome (Ithaca).
Hellmann = M.C. Hellmann, Recherches sur le vocabulaire de I'architecture grecque
d'apres les inscriptions de Delos (Paris, 1992).
History = N. Yialouris (ed.), History of the Olympic Games (Athens, 1976).
Humphrey = J. Humphrey, Roman Circuses (London, 1986).
Juthner = J. Juthner, Die athletischen Leibesubungen der Griechen II (SB Wien 249,
2 [1968] ed. Fr. Brein).
Kavvadias = P. Kavvadias, "Άνασκαφαί έν Έπιδαυρω," ΠΑΕ (1902) 79-84.
Kondis = I.D. Kondis, "Zum antiken Stadtbauplan von Rhodos," AM 73 (1958) 150-
156.
Krinzinger = Fr. Krinzinger, Untersuchungen zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des griechis-
chen Stadions (Diss. U. Innsbruck, 1968).
Kyle = D. Kyle, Athletics in Ancient Athens (Leiden, 1987).
Lee = H.M. Lee, "Some Changes in the Ancient Olympic Program and Schedule," in
Proceedings 105-112.
Maffre = J.J. Maffre, "Deux pelikai attiques de Thasos," BCH 96 (1972) 336 ff.
Mallwitz = A. Mallwitz, "Das Stadion," OlBer 8 (1967) 16-82.
Marsden I = E.W. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery I, Historical Development
(Oxford, 1969).
Marsden II = E.W. Marsden, Greek and Roman Artillery II, Technical Treatises (Ox
ford, 1971).
Miller (1976) = Stephen G. Miller "Excavations at Nemea, 1975," Hesperia 45 (1976)
193-202.
XVII
XVIII Abbreviations and Bibliography
Miller (1980) = Stephen G. Miller, "Turns and Lanes in the Greek Stadium," AJA 84
(1980) 159-166.
Morgan = C. Morgan, II, "Excavations at Corinth, 1936-37," AJA 41 (1937) 549 if.
Morricone = L. Morricone, "Scavi e Ricerche a Coo (1935-1943). Relazione Preli-
minare," Boll.d'Arte 35 (1950) 222 if.
Nemea: A Guide = S.G. Miller (ed.), Nemea: A Guide to the Site and the Museum
(Berkeley, 1990).
Patrucco = R. Patrucco, Lo Sport nella Grecia Antica (Florence, 1972).
Proceedings = W. Coulson and H. Kyrieleis (eds.), Proceedings of an International
Symposium on the Olympic Games, 5-9 September 1988 (Athens, 1992).
Romano = D.G. Romano, The Stadia of the Peloponnesos (Diss. U. Pennsylvania,
1981).
Roos = P. Roos, "The Start of the Greek Foot Race," OpAth 6 (1965) 149-156.
Schilbach = J. Schilbach, "Olympia, die Entwicklungsphasen des Stadions," in Pro-
ceedings 33-38.
Schramm I = E. Schramm, Die antiken Geschutze der Saalburg (1918) reprinted with
an introduction by D. Baatz in Beiheft zum Saalburg-Jahrbuch (1980)
Schramm II = E. Schramm, "Poliorketik," in J. Kromeyer and G. Veith (eds.), Heer-
wesen und Kriegfuhrung der Griechen und Romer, HdA 4, 3, 2 (1929) 209 ff.
Shear = T.L. Shear, Jr., "The Athenian Agora: Excavations of 1973-74," Hesperia 44
(1975) 362 ff.
Sweet = W. Sweet, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece (Oxford, 1987).
Valavanis = P. Valavanis, "La Proclamation des vainqueurs aux Panathenees," BCH
114 (1990) 325 ff.
von Gerkan = A. von Gerkan, Milet II 1 , Das Stadion (Berlin, 1921).
Wiegand and Schrader = Th. Wiegand and H. Schrader, Priene (Berlin, 1904).
Williams = C.K. Williams, "Corinth: Excavations of 1980," Hesperia 40 (1981) 1-33.
Zschietzschmann = W. Zschietzschmann, Wettkampf- und Ubungsstatten in Griechen-
land I. Das Stadion (Stuttgart, 1960).
Introduction
The need to guarantee a simultaneous start for all the footraces and especially for
the stadion race was certainly one of the more important problems that the officials
of the competitions in ancient Greek city-states and sanctuaries had to confront and
solve.4 This was because the execution of the games was a reflection of the authority,
the reputation, and the more general prestige of the various competitions. It was not
by chance that the whole of ancient Greek literature—from Herodotus to Plutarch
and Julian—is filled with references to early, or false, starts by athletes and to their
consequent punishment. 5 The oldest and best known is found in Herodotus (8.59)
and concerns the discussion by the Greek generals about their plan of action shortly
before the battle of Salamis. In response to the proposal by Themistokles for immediate
action, the Corinthian general Adeimantos said: "Themistokles, in the games those
who start too soon get flogged." To which the Athenian general gave his instant and
immortal reply: "But those who start too late do not get crowned." This passage is
usually cited as evidence that in that period barriers had not yet been set up in front
of the runners, even though such an interpretation assumes that false starts ceased
to exist once barriers came into existence. Clearly, the barriers did not prevent false
starts; rather, they prevented subjective interpretations by the judges about whether
a false start had occurred.
Similar references to false starts that are to be found in much later writers have,
to an overwhelming degree, a metaphorical character. They are not, therefore, good
evidence for the solution of problems because it is impossible for us to know if they
refer to the time of the writer or if they are simply good literary devices—the more
likely of the two possibilities—that do not reflect the actual state of affairs.6 For the
early period of athletic displays, that is, before the construction of monumental stadia,
it is thought that the runners began from "some line that was the start and the finish
for the competitors" in front of which there was no barrier. 7 Simple oral commands
must have sufficed for the start of each race as we are informed by several imperatives
that appear first in Aristophanes and recur in the works of other authors throughout
4. Although we regard it as preferable to duplicate in English the original Greek spelling as

closely as possible, in the case of the word stadion we fear the potential for confusion between the
unit of length, the footrace, and the racetrack. We therefore use stadium to denote the racetrack,
and stadion to denote the unit of length and the footrace, and try to make the distinction between
those two usages clear from the context. We know that this policy will result in aesthetically unhappy
juxtapositions, for example, "in stadium and gymnasion", but we hope that the task of the reader
will be simplified—PDV/SGM.
5. See Gardiner 261 and Harris (1964) 67.
6. Compare also Julian, Κωνσταντίνος ή περί βασιλείας 16 = 69d, "επί τον εξ αρχής έπανάγομεν,
ώσπερ οι προεκθέοντες έν τοίς δρόμοις." (we bring him back to the start like those who falsestart
in the races). A lesson for all, especially for those of us who have an anguish-filled way of life, is
the question of the comic poet Strattis of the 4th century BC (apud Pollux 3.146): "τί ώσπερ οι
σταδιοδρόμοι προανίστασθε;" (why are you so eager to start like the stadion-runners?").
7. Schol. Pindar, Pyth. 9.118: "γραμμήν τίνα ην αρχήν και τέλος είχον οι αγωνιζόμενοι"; cf. Aristo
phanes, Ach. 481; Sophokles, Ant. 131; Euripides, El. 955. See the relevant comments of Jiithner, 52,
n. 107; Broneer, 139, n. 17; and Harris, 66.
1
2 Introduction
the whole of antiquity. 8 It is also not impossible that the sound of the salpinx was
used, not only because of its impressiveness but also for practical reasons since this
was perhaps the only way for the signal to be heard above the cheers and shouts of
the spectators. The great significance of the salpinx in ancient Greek games is well
known. We are certain that it was used during the proclamation and awards of prizes
to the victors and also during the course of many competitions. 9
A possible indication that the start of the race, at least in some times or circum
stances, was given by the salpinx might come from the lively description by Heliodorus
(Aeth. 4.3) of the start of a hoplitodromia at Delphi with the handsome Thessalian
Theagenes as protagonist under the gaze of the love-smitten Charikleia: "He spoke
thus and jumped out, and going into the middle of things, he announced his name
and his nationality, and was allotted his position on the track. Donning the panoply,
he stepped on the balbis, panting for the race and hearing the warning blast of the
trumpet and hardly able to wait—a solemn and notable spectacle." 1 0
It seems, however, that these means did not turn out to be effective, despite the
punishment suffered by the falsestarters, with the result that problems during the
course of the games threatened to weaken their prestige and popularity. And so the
authorities conceived a kind of barrier that, set in front of the runners, impeded false
starts since athletes could begin the race only at the moment the barrier was removed
by the official responsible for this task, the aphetes.11
8. Aristophanes, Hipp. 1160: "απιτε" (take off!); see Jiithner 90 and Broneer 139, n. 18.
9. See Jiithner 90 and n. 175. For the use of the salpinx at the start of races, see Ovid, Met.
10.652. For representations of athletic competitions in the presence of a trumpeter, who probably
signaled the start for the athletes, see M. Tiverios, Περίκλει,α Παναθήναια. Ένας κρατήρας του ζ. του
Μονάχου 2335 (1989) 38 and pis. 6, 9, 19. For the probable use of the trumpet instead of a bell to
signal the final lap, see H.A. Harris, "The Starting-gate for Chariots at Olympia," Greece and Rome
15 (1968) 113 if., esp. 125. For representations of proclamations and awards of prizes to the victors,
see Valavanis 325 ff.
10. Heliodorus (Aeth. 4.3): "ταϋτα είπεν και άνήλατο. παρελθών τε εις μέσους τό τε δνομα
προσήγγελλε και. τό έθνος έδήλου και τοϋ δρόμου τήν χώραν έκληροϋντο και τήν πανοπλίαν ένδϋς
έφεστήκει τη βαλβίδι, τον δρόμον ασθμαίνων και τό πάρα της σάλπιγγος ένδόσιμον άκων και μόγις
αναμένων, σεμνόν τι θέαμα και περίβλεπτον." For warnings about the trustworthiness of Heliodorus
in such matters, see Jiithner 89. It is also possible that the trumpet here announces that the race
is about to happen, for it is later in the text, after the herald announces the runners—apparently
following the trumpet blast that signaled the crowd to be silent—that the race actually begins.
11. For bibliography relevant to this subject see Roos 155 ff. and Jiithner 51 n. 105. For some
thoughts about the lack of barriers at least in the earlier period, see Gardiner 264, and Harris (1964)
66 ff.
Documents and Documentation of the Mechanism
Written Sources and Terminology
The sources offer little information on the barriers that impeded false starts. Most that
doe exist come from scholiasts and lexicographers cited under the words hysplex12 and
balbis.13 However, there are many simple mentions of these two words throughout
ancient Greek literature. We note that both words first appear in Aristophanes, who
is accustomed to using metaphors and similes from the athletic world and especially
from the competitions in footraces and wrestling. Balbis first appears in the Hippeis
(line 1159), which was produced in 424 BC, where it is used with its literal meaning
since it refers to the starting place of a race between Allantopolis and Paphlagon. 1 4
The word hysplex makes its earliest appearance in the Lysistrata (line 1000), which
was produced in 411 BC, as a metaphor for the characteristic of unanimity, or accord,
which was needed in a specific project of the women. 15 In other words, we see in the
5th century BC use of the two terms without any definition. This suggests that both
terms were already well established in popular parlance.
The same undifferentiated use is to be found in the later lexicographers who give us
descriptions of the system. It is referred to as a hysplex by the scholiast (Eustathius?)
to Dionysios Periegetes: "hysplex, properly the machinery that knocks off the kanon
of the foot racer." 1 6 But the scholiast to Aristophanes, Hippeis 1159, refers to it as a
balbis: "Balbis is called that wood which lies crosswise at the start of the track—the
so-called apheterion,—and which, after the runners are ready to run, they remove to
12. The word appears in various other forms, for example, Οσπληγξ, gen. -ηγγος; Οσπλαξ, ύσπλαγίς,
and ύσπλατίς. Also, the genitive singular ϋσπλακος, the dative plural ϋσπληξιν and ΰσπλήγεσσιν. See
Errikos Stephanos, TLG, and LSJ, s.v. The word ϋσπληξ is of uncertain etymology. See Chantraine,
s.v. ("obscure"), who rejects the older view of Curtius for a compound from -πληξ (πλήσσω) and 6σ-
(ϋστερος) as a folk false etymology. Frisk, having described the meanings of the word, concludes:
"Aussehen unbekannt. Deswegen schwebt die Etymologie in der Luft." J. Jiithner, "Herkunft und
Grundlagen der griechischen Nationalspiele," Die Antike 15 (1939) 251 regards the word as prehistoric
but the attempt by Boisacq for a derivation from the Sanskrit root ud ( = toward the top) + -πλαγ
(πλάζω) as not leading to the Greek δσ- for particular linguistic reasons. Since all the meanings of the
word ϋσπληξ in ancient Greek literature have to do with ropes (e.g., a whip or a t r a p for birds; see
Errikos Stephanos and LSJ, s.v.) compare the ancient view for the etymology of the word in EM 785:
"ϋσπληξ οΰν λέγεται παρά το από των τριχών των ύών γίνεσθαι τήν μάστιγα. Οϊμαι δε και ή αφετηρία
εκ τοϋ έκεϊσε πλήττεσθαι τη μάστιγι τους 'ίππους (It is called a hysplex from the fact that the whip
was made from the hair of pigs. I think that the apheteria was from that place where the horses were
whipped.). Perhaps all these meanings are parallel without excluding the possibility that the latter
may have come from the first, the barrier. See also the Scholia Tzetzes to Lykophron 22.
13. For the word, see Jiithner 52 ff. The derivation of this word is also obscure: "Bildung auf -is
wie κρηπίς, κνημίς etc. aber sonst dunkel. Vorgriechish." (Frisk, s.v.).
14. "'Άφες από βαλβίδων έμέ τε και τουτονί, 'ίνα σ' εΰ ποιώμεν εξ ίσου" (Start him and me from the
balbides so that we will have a good and fair start).
15. "γυναίκες άπερ από μιας υσπλαγιδος άπήλαον τους άνδρας από των ΰσσάκων" (women threw
their men out from their vaginas as if from a hysplex). See J. Henderson, Aristoph. Lys. (1987) 187.
16. Περιήγησις της Οικουμένης 121. "ϋσπληξ, κυρίως το μηχάνημα το άποκροϋον τον κανόνα τοϋ
δρομέως." See C. Muller, Geogr. Gr. min. 2 (1861) 102.
3
4 Hysplex
start them running." 1 7 It is referred to as balbis also in Bekker: "two wooden pieces
for the runners, from which the cord is stretched, which is called balbis, since the
competitors should run thence." 1 8 Finally, in the Etymologicum Magnum we read:
"balbis the apheteria . . . is the start of the footraces. They were two pieces of wood
from which the cords were stretched." 1 9
If we combine these definitions and leave aside the question of nomenclature for the
moment, we may conclude that we have to do with a barrier that was located in front
of and parallel to the apheteria and that consisted of two pieces of wood, between
which was stretched a cord or a piece of wood that impeded the start of the race. The
start of the race automatically and immediately followed the removal of that rope or
piece of wood. 2 0
If we accept, then, that the same system is represented by two different words, we
still need to elucidate an apparent confusion between the terms balbis and hysplex.
We may note that the word balbis is used almost always only in contexts relevant to
runners and never to horse races and, to be sure, always with regard to the feet of
the runners (e.g., "βαλβίδα ποδός θέτε πόδα παρά πόδα" 2 1 ) and with prepositions and
verbs that mean "on top of" (e.g., "έπί της βαλβίδος" 2 2 or "έφεστήκει τήι βαλβίδι" 2 3 ).
Clear definitions also occur: "Balbides, the bases cut into for the starts, upon which
the runners stand so that they may have an equal stance." 2 4 It is therefore proper
that the word balbis is usually applied to the row of slabs that define the starting line
in most ancient Greek stadia and gymnasia and that frequently have grooves along
their length for the placement of the toes of the athletes for the start of the race. 2 5
17. "βαλβίς δε καλείται το έν τη αρχή τοϋ δρόμου κείμενον έγκαρσίως ξυλον, δ και άφετήριον καλείται,
δπερ μετά το έτοιμασθήναι τους δρομέας εις το δραμείν αφαιρούμενοι άφίεσαν τρέχειν."
18. Bekker, Anecdota Graeca (1814) I 220, 31 s.v. βαλβίς, "ξΰλα δυο τών δρομέων, άφ' ών σκοινίον
τι διατέταται, δ καλείται βαλβίς, 'ίνα εντεύθεν έκδράμωσιν οι αγωνιζόμενοι."
19. ΕΜ 186.14: "βαλβίς ή αφετηρία . . . ήγουν ή αφεσις τών δρομέων, ήσαν δε ξϋλα δύο άφ' ών
σκοινιά διατείνετο."
The words hysplex and balbis are also included frequently in general references to the start of the
races, for example, "και δθεν μεν άφίενται άφεσις και ϋσπληξ και γραμμή και βαλβίς" (the starting
place is the aphesis and the hysplex and the line and the balbis: Pollux 3.147), without further
explanation; see also Bekker, op. cit. 426.19. It is obvious that such references do not help toward a
precise differentiation between the terms, but they do show a more general tendency to mix up the
various names by which the starting place of the race was called.
20. Jiithner, 51 ff., has collected and commented on all the sources relevant to the start of the
race. For the word hysplex, see especially 54 ff. Jiithner properly understood the meaning of the word
hysplex as "Startseil, Ablaufseil" but Brein, in his added note 111, did not accept this interpretation.
Broneer, 137 ff., made proper use of the sources with reference to the form of the barrier but not,
however, with regard to the nomenclature (see below, pp. 9 ff.). See also Patrucco 26, 102-106,
113-115,140-150.
21. Moeris 104: "put your feet side-by-side on the balbis."
22. Lucian, Cal. 12: "on the balbis."
23. Heliodorus, Aeth. 4.3: "he stood on the balbis."
24. Moeris, s.v. balbides. "Βαλβίδες, αϊ έπί τών αφέσεων βάσεις κεχαραγμέναι, αϊς έπέβαινον οι
δρομείς ίνα έξ ίσου ΐσταιντο." It is characteristic that the existence of the grooves carved in the balbis
establishes the equality between the runners ("so that they may have an equal stance"), while the
hysplex ensures equality with regard to the time of starting.
25. Jiithner, 57 ff., provides some details for the better-known stadia with balbides. A complete
study of ancient stadia does not exist. It would be, of course, an enormous job. Unfortunately, the
doctoral dissertation of Fr. Krinzinger, Untersuchungen zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des griechischen
Stadion (1968), has not yet been published and is therefore not accessible. In Athens there is only a
single, badly photocopied version in the French Archaeological School. (Since this is an unpublished
The word hysplex, in contrast, appears in regard to both footraces and horse races,
a fact that favors the use of this term for some element that is indispensable both in
stadia and in hippodromes. It is reasonable to hypothesize that the original concept
of a kind of barrier at the start began with horses and was later adopted for runners.
It might be possible to control the start of humans without a barrier but not, I
think, the start of animals. 2 6 Moreover, since verbs that signify some motion, such
as σχάζειν ("to separate") and πίπτει ν ("to fall"), are connected with the hysplex, it
seems that the hysplex is a movable device, and that interpretation agrees entirely
with the barrier and its characteristics as defined by the lexicographers. We have
many good instances of verbs of motion, usually downward, that are connected with
the hysplex, for example, "The hysplex dropped and the track stretched o u t " 2 7 or
"while the hysplex fell straight down" 2 8 or "At the moment the hysplex fell I was
already proclaimed as having won." 2 9 A final important detail is that as the hysplex
fell it made a sudden and harsh sound: "The noise of the hysplex was in our ears and
already someone else was being crowned." 3 0
With this evidence from ancient authors as a base, we can unreservedly attribute
the word hysplex by itself to some kind of barrier that was in front of the runners and
that, at the moment of the start, fell or was forced down with the help of a mechanism,
leaving the field free to the athletes. 3 1
work I have not thought it proper to discuss it fully and at length. I refer to it only where there
are subjects that touch on some of my own thoughts and suggestions.) Aupert, 181 ff., gives a
complete bibliography of extant stadia. The stadia of the Peloponnesos are treated in the dissertation
of Romano. For a general picture, see also RE IIIA2 (1929) 1970 ff., s.v. "stadion" (der Bau) by
Fiechter, as well as Zschietzschmann. Finally, I mention also the doctoral dissertation of P. Mylonas,
Περί σταδίων (1952), in the first part of which the general characteristics of ancient Greek stadia
are discussed with selected examples and S.G. Miller, Nemea II: The Early Hellenistic Stadium
forthcoming.
26. Even today in the revival of the medieval horse races in Sienna, Italy, a horizontal cord is
stretched in front of the horses. It is not possible in this study to deal with the data (sources,
representations, and monuments) of the hysplex of the hippodrome, and especially of that in the
hippodrome at Olympia. In general on this subject, see H.A. Harris, "The Starting-gate for Chariots
at Olympia," Greece and Rome 15 (1968) 113 ff.; Harris (1972) 166 ff.; and more recently H. Wiegartz,
"Zur Startanlange im Hippodrom von Olympia," Boreas 7 (1984) 41 ff.; Humphrey 8 ff.; J. Ebert,
"Neues zum Olympischen Hippodromos," in A. Rizakes (ed.), Αρχαία Αχαία και Ηλεία. Ιο διεθνές
συμπόσιο Μελετήματα 13 (1991) 99 ff.; W. Decker, "Zum Wagenrennen in Olympia—Probleme der
Forschung," Proceedings 129-139, esp. 134-135. Here we will deal only with one passage from Plato,
Phaidros (254E), about which there is divided opinion in the scholarship whether it refers to a hysplex
in a stadium or in a hippodrome. I think that there can be no doubt that it refers to a hippodrome.
This is not only because it has to do with a charioteer but also because the movement that is described
("ο δ' ηνίοχος ετι μάλλον ταυτόν πάθος παθών, ωσπερ από ΰσπληγος άναπεσών" [the charioteer suffers
this even more as if falling back from the hysplex]) very clearly signifies a movement of the human
body toward the rear, which has no relevance to the stance and movement of the start of athletes in
the footraces, while it is most probable that a charioteer could experience such a movement because
of a sudden jerking start of the horse. I think that those who relate this reference of Plato to the
stadium (see Harris (1964) 69; Roos 154; Bean 279 ff.) have been influenced by the translation of
the passage in the Loeb series where H.N. Fowler (1914) writes: "He [the charioteer] falls back like a
racer from the starting rope (497)". The same correction has already been made by Maffre 350.
27. Heliodorus, Aeth. 4.3: "εσχαστο μεν ή ΰσπληξ, τέτατο δέ ό δρόμος."
28. Lucian, Cal. 12: "της ΰσπληγος ευθύς χαταπεσούσης." See also Arete 22 # 1 3 .
29. Lucian, Timon 20: "αμα γ' οΰν επεσεν ή ΰσπληξ, κάγώ ήδη ανακηρύττομαι νενικηκώς."
30. Pal. Anth. 11.86: "ό ψόφος ήν ΰσπληγος έν οΰασιν και στεφανοΰντο άλλος."; cf. Plutarch,
Moralia 804E.
31. Broneer 142.
6 Hysplex
That the ancients themselves often felt no need to distinguish between balbis and
hysplex is shown by the fact that they frequently assigned the characteristics of one
to the other as, for example, in associating the verb σχάζει ν ("to separate") with the
balbis,32 or in using the phrase "on the hysplex" instead of "on the balbis."33 In any
event, this "confusion" should not surprise us since, as we shall see, balbis and hysplex
are parts of one and the same system, they are to be found close to one another,
and the working of the one depends on the existence of the other. To be sure, in
some cases—in later Hellenistic starting lines—balbis and hysplex are actually parts
of the same construction with the result that it is not possible to distinguish which
parts belong to one and which to the other. 3 4 It is typical that references from the
lexicographers and scholiasts display the close relationship and interdependence of the
two parts: "Balbis takes its name from the racers. It was a line made beneath the
hysplex so that the runners could take their stance upon it." 3 5 Also typical is the
tendency to equate the two terms, as in "As if from a single hysplex instead of an
aphesis, a balbis. In front of an apheteria was a kanon and a kampter."36
Here it should be noted that of the two starting lines in the stadia, one was the
more important because it was the start of most of the footraces and the finish of
all. 3 7 For this reason the words balbis and hysplex can also sometimes mean terma
("finishline"). Typical are the references of Hesychios (βαλβιδοϋχος = τερματοϋχος)
and of the Roman orator L. Annaeus Cornutus, who uses the image of the end of
the race at the hysplex in a nice metaphorical way: "Bring into the stadium two
runners to compete, the one to fall first into the hyspleges, the other to carry away the
prize." 3 8 But in this study the words balbis and hysplex will be used only with regard
to the apheteria and not with the terma, even though sometimes the notion has been
32. Lykophron 13: "εγώ δ' δκραν βαλβίδα μηρίνθου σχάσας."

33. Josephus, BJ 3.5.4: "έστάσιν ώσπερ εφ' υσπληγος έξορμάν έτοιμοι." Note t h a t in this case the
" ε φ " ' is corrected from " ΰ φ " ' . See LSJ, s.v. ϋσπληξ [3].
34. See below, pp. 70-141.
35. Souda, s.v. Βαλβίς. "Βαλβίς· εΐρηται δε από των δρομέων, ή γαρ υπό την υσπληγα γινομένη
γραμμή, δια το έπ' αυτής βεβηκέναι τους δρομέας βαλβίς καλείται." Compare the scholia to Aristo
phanes, Hippeis 1159: "βαλβίς, ή υπό την υσπληγα γενομένη γραμμή (balbis: the line beneath the
hysplex).
36. Souda, s.v. ύσπλάτιδος. "ώσπερ από μιας ύσπλάτιδος αντί τοϋ αφέσεως, βαλβίδος. 'Από μιας
αφετηρίας ήγουν από ενός κανόνος και καμπτήρος." See also above, n. 19. Some ancient scholiasts
typically attempt to explain, with the usual method, the "confusion" especially in the Atticist Moeris,
that is, to attribute one of the two names of an object to the Attic dialect and the other to Greek in
general: "Βαλβίδες, αϊ επί των αφέσεων βάσεις . . . Αττικώς, υσπληξ δε κοινόν" (Balbides, the bases
at the starting lines . . . in Attic, commonly the hysplex; Moeris, s.v. βαλβίδες).
37. For the stadium at Olympia, for example, and based on the description of Pausanias (6.20.9):
"προς δε τοϋ σταδίου τω πέρατι, ή τοις σταδιοδρόμοις οίφεσις πεποίηται" (toward the end of the
stadium where the stadion runners have their aphesis), we understand that the more important
starting line was that at the entrance. For other stadia, however, especially after the introduction
of the sphendone, where most of the spectators sat (the oldest example is at Nemea—cf. P. Aupert,
"Athletica I. Epigraphie archaique et Morphologie des Stades anciens," BCH 104, 1980, 309 if.), it
is there that the more important of the two balbides is to be found, for there will have been the start
and the finish of all the races except the start of the stadion. See the characteristic plans that Miller,
159 ff., figs. 1 and 2, presents. We do not know if the introduction of the sphendone brought with it
also changes in the competitions. Cf. Fiechter 1969 ff.
38. Ars Retorica 202.5: "φέρε γαρ έν σταδίω δρομείς δυο άμφισβητεϊν, τον μεν ε'ις τους ϋσπληγας
πρότερον είσπεσόντα, τον δε το βραβεϊον κεκομισμένον".
Figure 1: Isthmia. Plan of the balbis and reconstruction of the hysplex system with the start of the
runners in Stadium I (after K. Iliakis in History of the Olympic Games (Athens, 1976) figs. 67-68).
supported, albeit with hesitation, that some of the installations that concern us had
to do with the finish of the races. 3 9
But the problems of terminology do not end here, since modern scholars—reflecting
some of the ancient sources mentioned above—also confuse the two terms. 4 0 Broneer
more than any other scholar has worked with the problem of terminology as he had the
fortune to uncover the bases for two different starting systems at Isthmia: the older
was the system of the earlier stadium (Isthmia I), the operation of which he himself
studied and convincingly reconstructed and which he dated around "470/60 BC or not
much later." 4 1 More recent stratigraphic research in the sanctuary that was conducted
by Broneer's successors indicated that the stadium with the triangular balbis is to be
42
dated "in the second half of the 5th c."
With regard to the well-known balbis of Stadium I at Isthmia and the reconstruction
of the operation of its hysplex (fig. I ) , 4 3 we will note here only that it has in plan the
39. See H. Berve and G. Gruben, Griechische Tempel und Heiligtumer (1961) 144; cf. Krinzinger
219 ft.
40. See, e.g., LSJ, s.v. βαλβίς: "rope drawn across the race-course at the starting and finishing
point." One will fully appreciate the confusion if one reads p. 57 in Jiithner.
41. Broneer 49 if., 65.
42. E. Gebhard and F. Hemans, "University of Chicago Excavations at Isthmia, 1989:1," Hesperia
61 (1992) 1 ff., especially 58 n. 132.
43. My figure 1 is based on the reconstruction by K. Iliakes in N. Yialouris (ed.) History of the
Olympic Games (1976), fi gures 67—68. A model of it was constructed for the exhibition Le Sport dans
la Grece antique. Du Jeu a la Competition in the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels. See the catalog
of the exhibition (ed. D. Vanhove 1992) 301 ff., no. 168. So far as I know the reconstruction has
been universally accepted. Harris (1964) 68-70, figs. 1-2, and Harris (1972) 27, figs. 1-2, suggested
minor changes in Broneer's reconstruction, while A. Metzner (see the reference in Krinzinger, 218 ff.,
esp. 221 ff., figs. 70-72) suggested other, equally minor, changes. Finally, only G. Gruben regards the
construction as a finish line (Zielvorrichtung); see op. cit. (n. 39 above).
8 Hysplex
Figure 3: Epidauros. Plan of the balbides and bases for the hyspleges.
exact shape of an isosceles triangle at the peak of which was a well-like construction,
or "manhole." From within this the starter held the ends of the operating cords, which
radiated outward on the pavement, passing through bronze staples and finally ending
at the top of wooden posts that had horizontal barriers, also made of wood. It is worth
noting that already in this early form of hysplex the central position on the athletes'
line was wider than the rest and probably remained empty for the use of the starter.
Thus, by letting go from his hands the ends of the cords, he allowed the horizontal
wooden barriers to fall down driven by their own weight and to strike against the
vertical wooden posts, simultaneously allowing the runners to start. I believe that the
dramatic high point in the whole operation of the start was the noise from the slap
of wood on wood, operating in some way like the starter's gun in modern races. As
the excavation data revealed, this system did not last for a very long time, perhaps
because there were some problems with its operation. It is likely that these problems
had to do with the inability to guarantee an absolutely simultaneous start for every
athlete without exception since the system consisted of isolated individual barriers
that might not always have fallen and consequently not slapped the posts at exactly
the same moment. 44
Broneer found a newer starting system in the later stadium at Isthmia (Isthmia II).
Here he noted a stone block that had been set a little in front of the balbis and at one
44. Romano, 68 n. 6, also believes that problems existed with the simultaneous fall of the barriers
in Isthmia I, for which he even presents mathematical evidence.
Figure 5: Nemea. Plan of the balbides and bases for the hyspleges.
end of it (and assumed another similar block at the opposite end; figs. 2, 6). 45 This
block has on its upper surface a strange—at first glance—set of rectilinear cuttings
that most likely were intended to receive some starting mechanism. Similar blocks with
the same characteristics had been discovered earlier in the northeastern Peloponnesos,
in the stadium of Epidauros (fig. 3) and in the Forum at Corinth (fig. 4), which Broneer
associated with a similar mechanism.46 To the examples noted by Broneer there came
to be added that from the stadium of Nemea where, in 1975, similar blocks were found
in front of the southern starting line (fig. 5). 47
Leaving aside for the moment the architectural elements of these stadia, we will
confine our attention to the problem of terminology. Broneer applied the word hysplex
only to the mechanism of the later stadium at Isthmia as well as to that of the other
stadia of the northeastern Peloponnesos, insisting that the mechanism of Stadium I of
Isthmia should be called a balbis (fig. I). 4 8 However, in view of the above discussion,
the term balbis can be applied, in Isthmia I, only to the triangular paving on which was
set the starting system and on which the athletes also stood. Thus we should accept
that the starting system of Isthmia I ought to be called a hysplex because it already
has all the characteristics of the hysplex that are mentioned in the ancient sources.
Although Broneer did not attempt to distinguish clearly the information that is
embedded in the sources, his contribution is still highly significant, not only in his
45. Broneer 55 ff., 59, 140 ff.
46. Broneer 140 ff.
47. Miller (1976) 197-198.
48. Broneer 137 ff. For a summary of Broneer's views on this terminology, see also "Starting
Devices in Greek Stadia," AJA 76 (1972) 205 ff. Kyle, 62 n. 30, has also dealt with the subject of
this terminology. See also below, n. 85.
10 Hysplex
0 0.50 1
Figure 6: Isthmia. Plan and cross-section of the single base of the hysplex (the left one) excavated
in Stadium II (after Broneer, pl. 96a).
proper reconstruction of the mechanism of Stadium I but also in his association of the
stone blocks added to the starting line of Stadium II at Isthmia with those in other
stadia of the Peloponnesos. These had a different starting system with a mechanism
the operation of which will concern us in the following chapters.
Architectural Features of Stadia
Perhaps it is fortuitous but until now the remains of one type of hysplex have been
found only in four stadia in the northeastern Peloponnesos. To be precise, well-
preserved blocks that supported hyspleges exist in the stadia of Epidauros, Isthmia,
Nemea, and in the track of the Forum at Corinth (figs. 6-17) . 4 9 To judge from the
completely excavated stadium at Epidauros, support bases for the hysplex existed at
both ends of the track of the stadium where there was also a balbis. At all the other
stadia and their tracks, only one of the two balbides with the added blocks for the hys
plex has been uncovered to date. But nothing prevents us from hypothesizing similar
50
constructions at the other end of those tracks just as we have seen at Epidauros. The
49. For those bases known before 1970, see Broneer 140 ff. For Corinth, see also Williams 11 ff.
For Nemea, see Miller (1976) 197-198; Nemea: A Guide 182-183. For arithmetic data and analytic
details in general, see Romano 10 ff. (Epidauros), 53 ff. (Isthmia), 71 ff. (Nemea), 115 ff. (Olympia),
and 150 ff. (Corinth), with older bibliography. A similar hysplex ought to have existed at the starting
line of the Agora in Argos where the blocks that were noted at the ends and immediately in front of
the balbis ought to have supported such a system. But due to the extent of damage no certain traces
of sockets or other cuttings have survived. See BCH 111 (1987) "Chronique des Fouilles," 585 ff.
and fig. 2, and AD 41 (1986) Χρον. 35. Compare also Romano 188. Probably similar bases exist at
the south end of the stadium at Amantia in modern Albania. See the description of Sk. Anamali,
"Amantie," Iliria 2 (1972) 84 ff., esp. 87, fig. 9, where the existence of a balbis is not, however,
mentioned.
50. See also above, n. 37. With the data now available, the only stadium that has been found with
a single starting line is that at Priene. See Zschietzschmann 38, 56 pi. 7, where are mentioned the
other idiosyncrasies of that stadium due to a lack of adequate space at the site. Note that the other
Figure 7: Epidauros. Plan and cross-section of the right base of the hysplex (after Kavvadias, pls. Β 6
and 6')·
example of the stadium at Epidauros with its two precisely similar constructions—for
both the balbis and the hysplex—at each of the two ends shows that there was no
difference in the method of starting the various types of footraces regardless of at
which end of the stadium they began. 5 1
The special characteristics of the support bases for the hysplex in the four stadia of
the northeastern Peloponnesos are the following:
(1) In every case we have two blocks of similar dimensions, frequently reused in
their present position, that were placed at the ends of the balbis either immediately
in front of it (Epidauros, Isthmia, Nemea; figs. 2, 3, 5), or immediately next to the
end of it (Corinth; fig. 4). In the last case a third base, smaller than the others, was
placed in front of the balbis and exactly halfway between the two end bases. 5 2
(2) The base for each hysplex consists of a single block, except for the left base at
Corinth (figs. 8, 9, 10) and the right base at Nemea (figs. 15, 17), which are made
from two blocks. 53 It is interesting that in the cases in which both bases of a hysplex
have been found (Corinth, Nemea; figures 8, 15) they are not identical but have small
differences in dimensions and details. 5 4 More but not significant differences are to be
end of the stadium at Nemea—the northern—was eroded away in the Byzantine period so t h a t the
balbis and hysplex at t h a t end can never be recovered. See Nemea: A Guide 172.
51. For example, and in accordance with an older suggestion of Gardiner, 268, which Miller, 159 ff.,
revived after his discoveries at Nemea, the runners in the diaulos and the hoplitodromia must have
stood at the start not side by side but leaving a space empty between each of them. This was so
that each could make his 180° turn around the kampter without running into his neighbor. To be
sure, such an order is not indicated from the representation on our Panathenaic amphora, where the
hoplitodromoi are pictured next one other. See below, p. 20. . Of course, there is always the cautionary
warning t h a t the vase painters did not show their subjects as if in photographic representations. For
the different ways by which the turn of the runners in the diaulos and the hoplitodromia might have
been made, see Jüthner 122 ff. as well as Kl. Palaiologos in History 164.
52. For this base see below, p. 14.
53. The terms "left" or "right" for the bases of the hyspleges are always from the viewpoint of the
athletes standing on the balbis and preparing for the start.
54. These small differences may be due to the fact that sometimes the stones are in a second use
such as the left base at Nemea (figs. 15, 16). It is, however, also likely that some of these differences
12 Hysplex
Figure 8: Corinth. Plan and cross-section of the two bases of the hysplex (after Broneer, pl. 98).
seen in the bases of hyspleges of different stadia. Thus, with regard to dimensions, we
have at Epidauros (fig. 7), at the eastern starting line, 1.20 χ 0.65 m. and 1.16 x
0.65 m., while the single base that survived at the western line at the beginning of this
century was 1.20 χ 0.60 m. 5 5 For the hysplex that was excavated in Stadium II (fig. 6)
at Isthmia (i.e., on the right of the north starting line), we have 1.26 χ 0.55 m. At
Nemea (figs. 15, 16, 17), the left is 0.90 χ 0.70 m. and the right is 0.95 χ 0.63-0.67 m.
At the track in the Forum at Corinth the right (figs. 11, 12) is a long and narrow 1.407
χ 0.63 m. while the left (figs. 9, 10) is a nearly square 0.958 χ 1.098 m.
(3) The top surface of the support bases of the hysplex displays the following details:
a large rectangular or even square cutting, with dimensions that vary from 0.40 x
56
0.50 m. to about 0.60 χ 0.80 m. with a depth of 0.10-0.20 m. The bottom surface
of these cuttings varies. It can, for example, have in the front-to-back direction broad
parallel stepped levels of which the middle is always the deepest (left at Isthmia and
both at Nemea; figs. 6, 15, 16, 17). Instead of the stepped levels there can be a shallow
circular or rectilinear or oval depression (figs. 8-12). In all cases on the edge away from
the center of the track (i.e., on the right edge on the right bases and on the left edge
are due to the shape of the mechanism that they bore and such intricate details of which we are no
longer able to recover.
55. On one of the general plans that P. Kavvadias, To 'Ιερόν τοϋ 'Ασκληπιού και ή θεραπεία των
ασθενών εν Έπιδαύρω (Athens, 1900) 112, provided for the eastern starting line of the stadium at
Epidauros (the "τέρμα τοϋ δρόμου" as he called it), there is drawn one of the two blocks of the bases
of each hysplex as placed at an angle toward the interior. The same blocks are reproduced in their
location in the good and detailed drawings of Kavvadias, pls. Α-F. Broneer, who redrew in 1972 the
bases for the hysplex (Broneer, pl. 97) drew one at an angle and the other in its proper position.
56. At Nemea (figs. 15-17) the upper dimensions of the broad, shallow rectangular depression on
the left base are 0.85 χ 0.54 m. and on the right 0.88 χ 0.50 m., while the depth of both is 0.13 m.
At Corinth the left is about 0.77 χ 0.50 m. and the right 0.57 χ 0.83 m., since the cutting extends
through the whole width of the stone. On the right at Epidauros the depression is 0.50 χ 0.60 m.
(see Kavvadias, pl B6).
Figure 9: Corinth. Plan of the left base of the hysplex.
Figure 10: Corinth. Left base of the hysplex, from the west.
Hysplex
Ο 0.50 1 Μ.
Figure 11: Corinth. Plan, side elevations, and cross-section of the right base of the
on the left) is cut a channel that is rectangular or boat-shaped in section and that
extends from the central cutting to the edge of the block away from the center of the
track (Isthmia, Nemea, and probably Epidauros; figs. 6, 15, 7). On the two Corinthian
bases the channel ends on the outside with a larger square cutting (figs. 8-12). 5 7
(4) In three cases (on the right base at Corinth and both bases at Nemea; figs. 11,
12 and 15-17) we note that the long sides of the large cutting slant outward toward
the bottom, giving them a trapezoidal section, apparently for the wedging in of the
added, obviously wooden, construction of the system. We may note a corresponding
but not so pronounced section on the left Isthmian base (fig. 6). The exterior cuttings
in the channel of the Corinthian bases (figs. 8, 11) have a similar trapezoidal section,
58
a detail that shows that the wedged-in wooden construction extended to that point.
(5) The central base at Corinth (figs. 4, 13, 14), the only central base that is extant,
is clearly smaller and simpler than the bases at the ends of the starting line. It consists
of a stone measuring 0.57 χ 0.545 m. that is stuck against the face of the balbis. On the
top surface it bears a deep rectangular cutting 0.21 χ 0.245 m., from which extends a.
57. On the left Corinthian base (figs. 8-10) the dimensions of the channel are 0.26 χ 0.14 m. with
a depth of 0.07 m. while the cutting on the outside measures 0.18 χ 0.37 m. On the right (figs. 8,
11, 12) we have, correspondingly, 0.23 χ 0.23 m. with a depth of 0.13 m. and an exterior channel of
0.20 χ 0.40 m. On the right at Epidauros the dimensions are 0.30 χ 0.16 m. with a depth of 0.16 m.
(see Kavvadias, pl. B6, 6').
58. In the trapezoidal section of the bases at Nemea the difference in width from the top to the
bottoms is 0.06-0.07 m. In the right at Corinth the difference is about 0.05 m. and in its exterior
cutting 0.03 m.
Figure 12: Corinth. Right base of the hysplex, from the west.
shallow channel of boat-shaped section with a length of 0.30 m. and an average width
of 0.135 m. 59 The smaller size and the simpler construction of the central base relative
to those at the ends of the line show clearly, I believe, that we do not have here a
mechanism for the fall of the posts but rather a simple support that held up the sag
of the horizontally stretched cords.
(6) On the rear and left side of the rectangular deep cutting of the central post at
Corinth (figs. 13, 14) are traces of wear on the stone that indicate rubbing by some
other element. Similar wear also exists at the middle of the large cutting on the two
other Corinthian bases (figs. 8-12). The nature and the form of the wear, especially
on the right of these bases (oval with the long dimension on the front-to-back axis of
the base) show that it is the result of rubbing from the movement of some apparently
wooden element.
(7) Let us look at those characteristics of the balbides at each stadium that are
relevant to the hysplex. At Isthmia, Epidauros, and Nemea (figs. 6, 7, 15) there are
cuttings in the front side of the slabs of the balbis, precisely at the point of contact
with the base of the hysplex. This cutting at Nemea (figs. 15-17) is rectangular, and
its width the same as that of the cutting of the base. At the center and rear of this is
a narrower semicircular cutting that is very deep. In the two other cases (Isthmia and
59. The excavator of the track at Corinth found and drew a long channel in the surface of the track
that continued the channel that we see in the stone base; see Morgan 549 ff. and pl. 4.
Figure 14: Corinth. Central base of the hysplex, from the west.
Epidauros; figs. 6 and 7) there is only the semicircular deepening. 6 0 These cuttings
show (a) that a physical connection between the balbis and the hysplex was necessary;
(b) that the hysplex was a later addition; (c) that the rectangular cutting was made to
bring the hysplex—the length of the base of which was a given—back into the line of
the balbis with the purpose evidently to standardize the distance of the bodies of the
runners from the horizontally stretched cords of the hysplex. At Isthmia and Epidauros
(figs. 6 and 7) this cutting extends to the first toehold channel of the balbis while at
Nemea (fig. 15) it extends to the second channel; and (d) that the semicircular cutting,
which is extremely deep, was intended for the implantation of some circular element,
apparently a small column, that was necessary for the system, as we will explain in
detail below. 61 At Corinth, for a similar purpose—that is, for the embedding of a
securely fixed post—deep rectangular cuttings were worked immediately next to and
60. The dimensions of the semicircular cuttings in the bases at Nemea are 0.30 χ 0.10 m. and in
the base at Isthmia 0.43 χ 0.10 m. (Broneer 140).
61. See below, pp. 19 and 45. It appears that this column would have had a diameter of 0.27-
0.30 m. at Nemea. The bases of the hysplex in the stadium at Epidauros have been partially covered
by earth from erosion, but in the drawings of Kavvadias (pls. B6, 6' = fig. 3 here) the cutting into
the balbis does not appear to be sufficiently deep to accommodate a firmly fixed column. But in the
Figure 15: Nemea. Plan of the bases of the hysplex of the southern starting line (drawing J. Burden).
on the inside of the support bases of the hysplex (figs. 8-12).

(8) The placement of the support bases for the hysplex in front of the balbis resulted
in the elimination of some positions on the balbis and therefore the reduction of the
number of runners: at Epidauros, from 11 to 9; at Isthmia, from 17 or 16 to 12; and
at Nemea, from 13 to 10.62 Another result of the addition of the support bases for
the hysplex was the reduction of the overall usable width of the track of the stadia;
at Nemea it narrowed by about 5.50 m. 63 This detail shows that, at least in this case,
the number of runners who could compete in a race was sacrificed in order to put
into operation a system that would ensure a proper start. It does make an impression
that the bases of the hysplex were not placed farther toward the ends of the balbis—as
happened at Corinth (fig. 4) where the lanes for the runners were only reduced by one
(from 17 to 16) since only the central lane was removed with the placement of the
third post exactly in the middle of the distance between the two end support bases. 64
more accurate drawings of the remains that Broneer produced (pl. 97) these cuttings are shown to
continue deeper than the slab of the balbis as they do at Nemea. Note also that the supposed circle
at Nemea overlaps—cuts through—the back rectangular cutting for the hysplex.
62. Romano 212-213. It is possible that the reduction was actually from 13 to 11: see below,
pp. 147-150.
63. Miller (1976) 197 n. 46.
64. See Williams 13. Perhaps the system at Corinth did not work properly and discouraged its
adoption elsewhere. See below, p. 44.
20 Hysplex
(9) The elimination of the central lane of the balbis can also be seen at Nemea,
where there was a realignment of the posts that marked the lanes for the runners.
This realignment appears to have happened after the addition of the support bases
for the hysplex as is shown by the fact that the new post sockets do not extend right
or left of the support bases to the ends of the balbis. The realignment must have been
caused by the need to redivide the length of the balbis, which remained usable after
the addition of the hysplex. Had the redivision not taken place, four lanes would have
been lost and only nine runners could have participated at one time. Still, although
the width of the lanes was reduced in this later phase from 1.64 to 1.30 m., the lane
in the middle of the balbis (between the sixth and the seventh socket) was widened to
2.22 m. 65
We have seen, then, that the central lane in the balbides of Corinth and Nemea was
eliminated with the placement of the hysplex, evidently because it was needed for a
central post. 66 However, in some stadia at least the central lane had already remained
free before the introduction of the hysplex of the type at Stadium I at Isthmia. 67
Therefore Fiechter's 68 hypothesis that the central lane was reserved for the starter
seems probable. Indeed, in some instances, as we shall see below, is the only one
possible.69
The New Panathenaic Amphora
Despite the relatively large amount of evidence that we have at our disposal, we still
await one desideratum in our attempt to "show how such a starting device operated,
but the actual mechanism is probably beyond recovery." 70 Broneer, starting from the
significance of the word hysplex in ancient literature and the details in the sources
for the operation of the system, concluded that "the name hysplex was given to these
gadgets presumably because they were operated by means of a spring or torsion mech-
anism that could be triggered by the release of a lever." With regard to the actual
operation, he stated that "we may conjecture that it operated by means of twisted
ropes that created torsion strong enough to raise a bar, or to lower or withdraw a rope
stretched in front of the starting line." 71
Unfortunately, scholarship has not progressed further, in part because of the lack of
any representation of such a system. 72 This lacuna is now filled because we have a vase
65. See Miller, loc. cit. (n. 63), and idem, Proceedings 84.
66. The central lane in the stadium at Delphi was also eliminated.
67. See above, p. 19; cf. Broneer 50, 58 and n. 67.
68. See Fiechter 1970. The same view is expressed by Zschietzschmann 37 and Kleiner, RE Suppl.
IX (1962) 1216, s.v. Priene. Harris (1972) 28 regards the wider central opening of the starting line in
the Priene stadium as an "entrance for the formal procession of athletes and officials at the beginning
of a festival" by analogy with the central opening in the carceres of the Roman circus.
69. See, for example, below, pp. 80-86. the corresponding location in the monumental hyspleges of
the late Hellenistic period. Miller has suggested that this central, frequently wider, part of the balbis
"has some bearing upon the question of the nature of the turns in the foot races." Miller 163 n. 31.
70. Broneer 142. Harris (1964) 67, and Bean 279 express, without reservation, the opinion that no
such mechanism ever existed. See also Fiechter 1970 and Jüthner 82 ff.
71. Broneer 142.
72. The only attempts to date, so far as I know, to find representations of a hysplex system in
vase painting are those of F. Hauser, "Zur Tübinger Bronze II," Jdl 10 (1895) 191 ff., # 1 6 and
on which is portrayed a starting system the existence of which had been a necessary,
but rather abstract, hypothesis based on written sources and architectural remains in
ancient stadia. The vase is a Panathenaic amphora (fig. 18) that was discovered in
1970 in a salvage excavation in Athens. It became more widely known only in 1989
when it appeared in the exhibition "Mind and Body." 73 Although the inscription with
the name of the archon has been lost, this vase is to be dated to the year of the archon
Lykiskos (344/3 BC) because of the representation on the main side on the columns
of the main side of a seated Demeter and a standing nude Ploutos. 74
# 1 7 , who hypothesized the existence of the hysplex in two examples: (a) on a skyphos from Capua
formerly in the Collection Bourguignon (now in Hillsborough, California; see Jüthner 46, fig. 8 and
I.K. Raubitschek, "The Heart Hillsborough Vases (Mainz, 1969) 63 # 1 6 : close to the Pan Painter
(ARV2 561.11) with the representation of the start of a hoplitodromos (Hauser identified the little
column with the notch and two sockets at its top as a hysplex post) and (b) on a kylix then in his own
collection (now in Leipzig; see Jüthner 65, fig. 16) by Pheidippos (ARV2 165.5) where he identified
a line between the feet of the athlete as a cord from a hysplex. See Jüthner 52, 65 ff. Two years
later A. de Ridder, "L'hoplitodrome de Tubingue—Questions d'Agonistique," BCH 21 (1897) 211 ff.,
esp. 233), and later Gardiner, 263, 283, expressed fundamental objections to such an interpretation.
However, Patrucco, 113 ff., continues to support the interpretation of the notch in the little column of
the skyphos as intended to receive a hysplex. An abbreviated representation of a hysplex is probably
to be understood in the little columns with holes at the top, exactly like that on the Hillsborough
skyphos, which are present in several representations of the start of a footrace. See also Maffre 357.
The representation on the Hillsborough skyphos frequently appears in scholarship particularly
because of the position of the athlete, who is ready to take off with his feet side by side on the balbis
and his body stretched out forwards with his right hand propped on the ground. (For a corresponding
starting stance in the gymnasion compare the athlete next to a small column on a footless kylix in
Leiden, # G N V 71 from Nola [CVA 4, 19 ff., pl. 172 ff.]. According to J.D. Beazley, "A Hoplitodromos
Cup," BSA 46 (1951) 12 ff., on this vase "the youth has simply taken up a more comfortable attitude
while listening to the remarks of the trainer." This starting stance has been especially connected with
the balbis in the Forum at Corinth, where the distance between two parallel grooves on the balbis
is 0.56 m., a very large distance to spread an athlete's feet. This large distance is justified by the
excavator as proper if both feet were placed in the rear groove and a hand was placed in the front
groove; see Morgan 549 ff. More recently Williams, 13 ff., suggested that the wide space between the
grooves on the Corinthian balbis and the starting stance it demands show that the competition at
Corinth was limited to a few races such as the hoplitodromia or the lampadedromia. Compare also
the report of C. Williams in ArchRep 1980-81, 9 ff., esp. 11. For the subject of the position of the
feet of the runners on the parallel grooves of the balbides of Greek stadia, see Gardiner, 273 ff.; Roos
151 ff.; Harris, 69, and Jüthner 69 ff. and especially for the Corinthian balbis at 78 ff.
[The hoplitodromos on the Hillsborough skyphos has, I believe, fallen forward by accident and is
not in a starting position. On the other side of the skyphos is a judge holding a typical stick in one
hand and making, with the other hand, the common sign of prohibition: STOP! Compare a similar
idea of E. Gardiner in Beazley, op. cit. 13.—SGM]
73. The vase was found in a pit at the corner of Lempesis and Porinos streets where there may
have existed a part of the cemetery by the Itonian Gate. Today it is in the storerooms of the Third
Ephoreia of Antiquities, #A6374. Cf. ΑΔ 25 (1970) Χρον. 71, pl. 62a, and in the catalog of the
exhibition Mind and Body: Athletic Games in Ancient Greece (ed. O. Alexandri, 1989) 251, # 1 4 3 .
74. N. Eschbach, Statuendarstellungen auf Panathenaischen Preisamphoren (1986) 71, identifies
the similar figures on other similar vases as Demeter and Persephone and places them "auf einem
unbestimmten Jahrgang." But the same composition is represented on another amphora from the
same deposit discovered in Athens (in the storerooms of the Third Ephoreia, #A6367) where the name
of the archon Lykiskos is preserved, and that Eschbach, op. cit. 88 ff. # 5 5 , interprets as Aphrodite
with Eros. It is obvious that we have, on both amphoras as well as on a Panathenaic amphora in
the Cabinet des Medailles, # 2 4 6 (CVA (2) pl. 91, 2-5.7 = Eschbach 74 # 4 ) , the same depiction of a
seated Demeter and a standing Ploutos, which is probably derived from a three-figure composition of
Demeter, Persephone, and Ploutos, that is known in other representations. See A. Peschlow-Bindokat,
"Demeter und Persephone in der attischen Kunst des 6. bis 4. Jhs.," Jdl 87 (1972) 60 ff., esp. 117 ff.,
and Eschbach 78 ff. I learn by personal communication from J. Frel that he recently identified the
24 Hysplex
On the second side of this vase (fig. 19) the start of the hoplitodromia is depicted. 7 5
Three nude hoplitodromoi, each wearing a helmet and holding a shield, stand with
the left leg slightly bent forward and the right stretched out toward the rear, ready
to start the race. 7 6 In action and appearance, with their bodies twisted about three-
quarters to the right and with right hands at their sides or raised out in front, they
display all the characteristics that ancient athletic theoreticians prescribed for this
competition. 7 7 The unique detail in the depiction is that in front of the athletes are
stretched two horizontal cords, one at the knees and the other at the waist, the ends of
which are tied to two thin perpendicular posts at the sides of the scene (figs. 19-22).
As the representation at the left edge (figs. 20, 22, 23), which is preserved in good
condition, shows us, these posts are not driven into the ground but their bottoms are
pierced by a horizontal element that is held at its two ends by cubes. Immediately
next to the right post is a short column (?) the height of which is roughly equal to
the waists of the athletes (figs. 21-23).
We have, then, a representation of a start of the hoplitodromia with the athletes
shown from the front. Until now many scenes of the start of various races were known
but only with a single athlete shown from the side, with his two feet close together
("πόδα παρά πόδα"), the left foot slightly forward of the right, the knees always bent,
and the body leaning forward. 78 We have here for the first time a representation of
the start of a race shown from the front, that is, from a view that is not typical for
these competitions. The selection of this view by the vase painter may, I think, have
been due to his desire to show, not just the start, but the whole hysplex mechanism,
which was a new invention of his era and impressed him.
As the detailed drawing shows us (figs. 22-23), the two thin posts are not embedded
directly into the ground or into a stone base, as happens, for example, in other cases
where similar objects are shown in athletic settings, but at their bottom end are
connected with a thin horizontal object that is held at each end by a cubical support.
We see this object only at the left post the lower end of which is well preserved and
which was shown with special care by the vase painter in front of the right toes of
painter of our vase, to whom he attributes several other vases of the second half of the 4th century,
especially from the Kerameikos. Indeed, he named him, because of our vase, which he regards as a
work typical of him, as the "Hysplex Painter".
75. Representations of the start of the hoplitodromia are preserved on 10 other Panathenaic am
phoras as well as on many black- and red-figure vases. See T.B.L. Webster, Potter and Patron in
Classical Athens (1972) 198 ff., and more recently R. Lindner, "Waffenlaufer auf Panathenaischen
Preisamphoren," ΚΟΤΙΝΟΣ (Festschrift Simon 1992) 146 ff. For this competition in general, the
changes it underwent during antiquity, and depictions of it on Attic pottery, see M. Tiverios, Περίκλεια
Παναθήναια (1989) 41 ff. with bibliography. Cf. Jütler 112 ff., pls. 21 ff., and Kyle 181 ff.
76. In a similar stance, but with less distance between the feet, is shown, for example, the bronze
hoplitodromos from Olympia (see Roos, fig. 4). The hoplitodromos in Tubingen (Roos, fig. 2 and
G. Neumann, Der Tilbinger Waffenlaufer [1977] 33 ff.) has both legs bent as do most runners depicted
at the start of the race. To be sure, the fact that the hoplitodromoi of our vase are looking at (and
talking to?) one another suggests that we are a few moments in time before the hysplex will fall, and
thus it may be that their rear feet are not yet in the groove of the balbis.
77. Philostratos, Gymnastikos 33.
78. For the older starting stance of the hoplitodromoi, see Maffre 356 ff. See also Jüthner 65 ff.,
pls. 15 ff.; Roos, figs. 2-9; and Patrucco, figs. 27-33. In general for the position of the feet with regard
to the way of starting for all runners, see Maffre, 354, who believes that the new stance of the runners
with feet close together that appears in vase painting after the Persian Wars was caused by the first
appearance of the hysplex at the starting lines of the stadia, which he places at about 475 BC.
the end hoplitodromos. On the other side the depiction of the object is not preserved
except for the outer of the two cubes. But from this cube we see yet another horizontal
element that passes in front (?) of the column and ends in a third cube that is shown
by means of a light incision on the black silhouette of the column.
It is worth noting here that the right post has a pronounced slant to the upper right,
evidently to show that it did not stand vertically but slanted slightly to the back or
to the side, and most probably that its top was tied to the column that was either
behind or to the side of it. 7 9 This detail seems to have had special significance since
at this point, and even though it was covered by the shield, the vase painter indicated
with great care that the post ended very near to the column. Prom this representation
it follows that, in order for there to have been need to tie the upper end of the post,
there must have existed at the bottom torsion that, when released, would throw the
post to the ground.
We can make the following observations with regard to the means by which torsion
could have been produced in that era. Based only on the depiction of the vase we could
reconstruct a very simple mechanism that could work well enough to fulfill the need
for a fast fall of the two vertical posts that hold the horizontal cords. This mechanism
(fig. 24) could have consisted of a thin rectangular bronze strip the ends of which
would have been held in a horizontal position a little above the ground by two wooden
cubical supports, firmly fixed and embedded in the ground. The middle of the strip
would have been attached to the bottom of the post in a way that would allow it to
move from a vertical to a horizontal position. This metal strip must have been of such
an alloy, must have been worked in such a way, and must have been set in place in
such a way in the cubes that when the post was lifted into an upright position, it
would have created such torsion that it would have strained to return to its horizontal
position in front of the balbis and parallel to the ground. But we know that in the
period to which the vase is dated the ancient Greeks had not yet devised the kind of
metallic alloy that would have allowed operation of this type. As we shall see below,
this was invented about a century later by the Alexandrian engineer Ktesibios. 80
In the middle of the 4th century BC such torsion could be produced only by a system
of twisted animal sinews within which the bottom of the post would have been wedged.
The ancients called this system of sinews νευρά or sometimes τόνος, synecdochically
with regard to the operations of the twisted torsion, as well as νευρότονον. 81 This part
in our depiction (figs. 20-23) should be the light horizontal element between the two
cubes in which was wedged the bottom of the post.
It is more difficult to interpret the horizontal element that leads from the second
to the third cube on the right side of the depiction (figs. 21-23). But we see a cor
responding detail in the support bases of the stadia where there is a rectilinear (in
section) channel that always begins at the large rectangular cutting and ends on the
79. That this slant of the post is not due to the curve of the vase is to be seen by comparing it
to the depiction of the left post and column and their relation to the vertical lines that frame the
picture on left and right.
80. See below, pp. 65-67. Naturally the ancients did not know today's spiral metal spring. Cf.
A.R. Hall, "Military Technology," in C. Singer, A.J. Holmyard, A.R. Hall, and T. Williams (eds.), A
History of Technology II (1956) 700.
81. Sometimes the sinews together with their wooden box were also called "τόνοι." See Philon
49 ff. passim. See also LSJ, s.v. τόνος, as well as Marsden, passim, and Schramm I 51.
Figure 24: Imaginary and improbable reconstruction of the kind of hysplex shown on the Panathenaic
amphora (#A6374).
exterior, a channel that probably was intended to carry the long horizontal element
that we see in the depiction. In the example at Corinth, in fact, this channel ends in
a widened square socket where—perhaps—there was set a cube like the third in the
depiction. 82
The existence of a system that produces torsion on the right post shows that the
vase depicts only half of the whole construction, a common phenomenon in Attic vase
painting. 83 In other words, the left post that shows no sign of torsion must be the
middle post so that to the left we must restore a system corresponding to that on the
right with a post showing torsion (i.e., slanting to the left), a short column, and a
third cubic base on the outside (fig. 25). This is the only way, as we will see below, to
have a full and operational system.
82. See below, p. 39.
83. See, for example, N. Himmelmann-Wildschütz, "Erzahlung und Figur in der archaischen
Kunst," Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur (1967) 73 ff.; and for
vase-painting more specifically, J. Breton Connelly, "Narrative and Image in Attic Vase-Painting," in
Narrative and Event in Ancient Art (ed. P. Holliday, 1993) 88 ff.
30 Hysplex
Another exceptionally interesting detail is that the vase painter, aside from the two
thin posts at the ends, had included in his preliminary sketch (figs. 22, 23) three more
thin vertical objects (two between the runners and the third just next to the left post)
that he did not depict in the final painting. That these details were placed exactly
between the runners shows that they were intended to depict the rectangular wooden
posts that stand in the balbis as is indicated by the corresponding sockets that are
preserved at regular intervals in the balbides of nearly every ancient Greek stadium. 84
These posts were once thought to be a part of a starting system corresponding to
Stadium I at Isthmia, but more recently they have been assigned various roles. I
would agree with those who believe that their basic role was to demarcate the place
of each athlete on the balbis, although it is not impossible in middle-distance races,
like the diaulos and the hoplitodromia (two stadia in length), that they should be
identified with the kampteres, that is, with the point at which the runners made a
turn of 180° in order to return to the apheteria, which was also the terma.85 Finally,
I think it quite likely that these wooden posts of the balbis played one more role: they
served as the starting point for cords that marked out lanes in the stadium, which
must have continued for the whole length of the track to show each runner his path. 86
84. Since these represent the posts of the balbis, the farthest to the left, the end of which is preserved
(on the other two the end is hidden by the shields of the runners), could give us an idea of their height.
Thus, while the hysplex posts reach about waist height, the posts of the balbis were a little higher
and reached the middle of the chest. Compare the reconstructed drawing in Nemea: A Guide 181,
fig. 64 and the opinions of ft. Patrucco, Lo Stadio di Epidauro (1976) 109 ff. For representations of
little columns in an athletic setting, see Maffre 339 ff.; Jüthner 67 ff.; H.M. Lee, "The Τ Ε Ρ Μ Α and
the Javelin in Pindar, Nemean 7, 70-73," JHS 96 (1976) 70 ff.; P. Valavanis, Παναθηναϊκοί αμφορείς
από την Ερέτρια. Συμβολή στην αττική αγγειογραφία τον 4ον π.Χ. αι. (1991) 162 ff. It does at least
seem certain t h a t , in most representations of the start in vase painting, the drawing of these columns
is a bit general, and therefore we cannot make observations with great accuracy. For similar objects,
see also below, p. 49.
85. Most earlier scholars associated these wooden posts with a starting system like that of Stadium
I at Isthmia. See the views of Harris (1960). In Greek Athletes 68 ff., Harris repeated the same opinion
without, however, any substantial argument for it. But Broneer, 138 ff., quite correctly noted that such
a system would result in the horizontal barrier—as it fell—striking the knee of the athlete since he
was now required to put his toes in the grooves of the balbis, a feature that did not exist in Stadium I
at Isthmia where the athletes stood behind the line of the posts. Jüthner, 83, believes that the only
purpose of the posts was to demarcate the positions of the athletes. Gardiner, 276 ff., and Broneer,
139, regard them to be kampteres, while Miller, 162, and T.L. Shear, Jr., "The Athenian Agora:
Excavations of 1973-74," Hesperia 44 (1975) 363, believe that they were both kampteres and some
part of the hysplex. Kyle, 62 n. 30, with reference to individual bases with rectangular sockets like
those in the Athenian Agora, prefers the term "balbis or kampter-Wne [rather] than hysplex." Harris,
71, and Broneer believe that the runners seized the kampteres while making their turns, which is
not very probable since these were rectangular in section unless we imagine that their corners were
rounded off. Miller does not believe that the runners touched them, but that they simply turned
around them. Again, there is no general agreement in the scholarship about whether it was possible
in the long-distance races that there was a single, separate kampter as Miller (op. cit.) argues based
on indications in the Nemea stadium. See also S.G. Miller, in Proceedings, 84 n 26 and Sweet, op.
cit. (above, n. 3) 30 ff.
86. I believe that the marking of the lane in front of each athlete for the whole length of the track
is very probable. See Miller (1980) 164 ff. This might have been effected by stripes of white earth (see
Miller 164 and n. 35), or with posts at intervals (see Gardiner 266), or with cords held with small
posts at intervals. With this last possibility K. Lazaride (see ΕΡΓΟΝ 1989, 84 pi. 82, and ΠΑΕ 1989
[1992] 209 ff, pls. 143β-144) has associated the discovery of sockets along the whole length of the
paradromis of the gymnasion of Amphipolis. A similar arrangement happened in the Panathenaic
stadium of Athens during the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. See History 300, fig. 12, and
Figure 25: Schematic reconstruction of the whole hysplex based on the representation of half of it
on the Panathenaic amphora (#A6374).
Thanks to the representation on this vase of so many details of both the balbis
and the hysplex we can establish a nearly complete agreement between the painters'
depiction and the excavated remains, which show that the balbis remained a necessary
part of the system even after the placement of the added bases for the hysplex. The
placement of the hysplex, in other words, did not make the posts of the balbis obsolete,
as would have been the case had the latter some connection with a starting gate as
was previously believed. 87 This conclusion agrees with the excavated evidence from
Nemea, where not only are the posts of the balbis retained after the addition of the
hysplex, but their arrangement is somewhat altered. 8 8 The posts of the balbis and the
posts of the hysplex, then, make up two different parts of the same system.
That the vase painter did not actually show those balbis posts could be a result of
his increasing awareness during the course of the painting that while he had originally
planned to show them as a part of the system, they made his picture too black and
were thus detrimental to its clarity. Again, perhaps their presence would have confused
the viewers about their exact location in the field since these belonged to the balbis and
were located at the rear while the cords and the two wooden posts with the column
of the hysplex were in a position toward the front. 89 But clearly these balbis posts
formed a part of the starting system, albeit one of secondary importance.
The Parts of the Hysplex and Its Means of Operation
Epigraphic testimonia reinforce significantly our attempt to reconstruct the form of

the hysplex and its means of operation. In two Delian inscriptions dated from the
middle of the 2nd century BC (166-135 BC) there are, among other things, catalogs
of wooden objects that were kept in the so-called Oikos of the Andrians. Particularly
interesting is that the numbers and names of parts of one or more hyspleges are
recorded. 90 In the first inscription we read the following: "[ΰσπληγος ά]γκώνας τρείς.
Ε. Spathare, The Olympic Spirit (1992), fig. 334b, where the widely different starting stances that
the athletes took then are impressive.
87. See above, n. 85.
88. See above, pp. 19-19. Compare also the views of Romano 106 and 215.
89. For the clear distinction between these two planes, see also the views of Aupert 60.
90. These are inscriptions ID 1400.9 and 1409 Ba II 43-44, that are catalogs of objects that were
kept in various regions of Delos. Translation in Arete 23, # 1 4 . See T. Linders, "The Purpose of
Inventories. A Close Reading of the Delian Inventories of the Independence," in D. Knoepfler (ed.),
Comptes et Inventaires dans la cite Grecque (1988) 37 n. 1, with relevant bibliography; and Hellmann
378 ff. Other similar inscriptions have been studied by J. Treheux in his unpublished dissertation,
Etudes critiques sur les Inventaires de I' Independence delienne (1959), a manuscript and microfilm
of which are in the French Archaeological School in Athens. It seems strange to me that objects
relevant to athletic competitions were stored, according to these inscriptions, in the "Oikos of the
32 Hysplex
παραστάδας ύσπλήγων τέτταρα[ς] και κίονας δύο. σύριγγας των ύσπλήγων δύο." In the
second inscription we read "ϋσπληγος άνκώνας III. [παρα]στάδας ύσπλήγων ΠΠ."
In the first text, four parts are mentioned: three ankones, four parastades, two
columns, and two syringes. In the second, only the first two appear: three ankones
and four parastades. It appears, then, that the two catalogs contain inventories of the
same objects by different, perhaps successive, committees or officials responsible for
this task. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that the other objects that are
mentioned in the two catalogs are similar but written in a different order. It is also
telling that in the second inscription, aside from the two parts of the hysplex (two
columns and two syringes), there are missing other dedications, supplies, and tools
that are included in the first inscription. 91
Until now it has not been possible to make use of the Delian inscriptions, because
we were completely ignorant of the form of the mechanism. Of all the mentioned
parts, only the ankones were associated with the horizontal barriers of the hysplex of
Stadium I at Isthmia, 9 2 while the syringes have been interpreted as tubes through
which the cords passed and with which the starter made the start, by analogy once
again with the staples nailed in the paving of the system in Stadium I at Isthmia. 9 3
Now, however, we have as a starting point for our understanding and use of these
inscriptions, as well as for the final, total reconstruction of the system and its means
of operation, not only the written sources, the excavation evidence, and the form of
the system that the Panathenaic amphora gives us but also another new fact: as soon
as the study of the nomenclature of the parts of the hysplex as given in the Delian
inscriptions began, it was noted that most of these parts are also to be found in the
military machinery of antiquity, especially in the εύθύτονον and the παλίντονον bows,
as well as in the όξυβελεϊς and λίθοβόλους catapults, the simple and the repeating
catapult, and the μονάγκων (onager).94 All these machines were of wood, and all
had the same basic principle of operation as the hysplex; that is, there was a need to
Andrians," which has been identified by Vallois with a building that is quite a distance from the
athletic facilities of Delos (stadium and gymnasion). This evidence weakens, I believe, the possibility
of such an identification and therefore this oikos should be sought elsewhere. P. Bruneau and J. Ducat,
Guide de Delos3 (1983) 151 ff., have already expressed doubts about the identification by R. Vallois.
91. F. Dürrbach and P. Roussel, Inscriptions de Delos (1935) 3.29. In addition to these references,
the word hysplex appears also in other Delian inscriptions: in IG XI2 199.23, a list of hieropoioi for
the year 274 BC there is mention among other expenses of the payment of one drachma "Φιλώτα
υσπληγας έπισχευάσαντι" (to Philotas for the construction of the hysplex) and immediately thereafter
an expense of 5.5 drachmas "όπλάριον ifj ϋσπληγι" (for a small part for the hysplex). Also in IG
XI2 203.96 that is dated to 269 BC, and in the fragmentary IG XI2 260.4, a "ΰσπληξ λαμπαδίειος"
(torchrace hysplex) is mentioned.
92. See K. Palaiologos in History 161.
93. Broneer 138. Harris, 70, views the objects mentioned in the inscriptions as "spare parts" for
the hysplex. As we will see below, however, it is more probable that they are the movable parts of
a hysplex that had been taken indoors for the sake of conservation. Cf. Harris (1960) 32 n. 1. An
attempt to interpret the data of the inscriptions is made by Aupert 60 n. 1 and 61 n. 3, as well as by
Hellmann 380.
94. For ancient arrow- and stone-throwing machines, see, in general, RE 7 (1912) 1297 ff. s.v.
Geschutze (Schneider); Schramm I, II; and especially Marsden II, with all the relevant texts from
ancient authors, English translation, commentary on them, and restored depictions of the weapons,
both overall and with constructional details. Most recently F. Fleury, Le mechanique de Vitruve
(1993) esp. 223 ff. Compare also Y. Garlan, Recherches de Poliorcetique grecque (1974) 212 ff.,
esp. 220 ff., fig. 10; W.W. Tarn, Hellenistic Military and Naval Developments (New York, 1966) 101.
The terms "lithobolos" and "petrobolos" are used indiscriminately by Philon, even though they may
produce torsion by means of a system of twisting together sinews, which were released
to give motion to a vertical arm. 9 5 Let us now return to the study of the inscriptions
themselves.
The initial question that comes to mind is why the word hysplex is used in both
the singular and the plural. I think this can be explained only if we note that the
three ankones are "of the hysplex"; that is, they belong to the whole starting system
considered as a single unit. The four parastades, the two columns, and the two syringes
are "of the hyspleges," as is shown by their even number, and they belong to the two
separate mechanisms that make up the hysplex; that is, they belong to the two vertical
posts at the opposite ends of the balbis with the elements that they have below and
next to or behind them as they appear on the vase. 96 This, together with the number
of parts that are mentioned in the inscriptions and the meanings of these terms in
ancient literature, especially with regard to military machines, allows us to make the
following observations about the significance of these elements for the hysplex:
(1) Ankones (Αγκώνες): The only elements that belong to the whole hysplex and
can be three in number and that actually are three are the vertical posts, as we saw in
Corinth and on the Panathenaic amphora and as we will see frequently below. That
is, there is one on each end and one in the middle of the balbis. We should not overlook
the fact that there are mechanisms only at the two ends; the middle post was only to
help support the horizontal cords. It is most likely, then, that we have three posts in
the stadium or the gymnasion of Delos, from which evidently came these hyspleges of
the inscriptions.
Among the meanings of ankon in ancient Greek literature we find that meaning most
nearly related to the posts of the hysplex in corresponding parts of stone-throwing
machines. These had exactly the same position as, and a means of operation corre
sponding to, the posts of the hysplex. Philon writes typically: "The arm (ankon) [in
a catapult] is a lever (mochlos) working at a mechanical disadvantage; the fulcrum is
the part of the arm in the middle of the spring; the (apparent) load is the bow-string,
which dispatches the (actual) load and is attached to the end of the arm" [trans. Mars-
97
den]. The description by Heron (82.5 ff.) of the euthytonon (fig. 26), the technology
98
for which was invented around the middle of the 4th century BC, is instructive about
the way it worked: "Through the middle of the cords (neura) they pushed one of the
be related to the size of the stones thrown. See also D.S. 20.86.2. Cf. Garlan, op. cit. 222 ff., and
A.W. Lawrence, Greek Aims in Fortification (1979) 72.
95. It is characteristic that the word hysplex is used for corresponding operations in other machines,
so that the operation of the mechanism of the hysplex is compared with the corresponding part of the
stone-throwing machines, that is, with the use of twisted sinews, which Heron, Aut. 2.6, describes:
"νευρίνψ δε ούδενί δει χρήσθαι . . . εί μή άρα δταν δέη ϋσπληγγι χρήσασθαι" (one should not use
anything from the neura except when it must be used for a hysplex). I reproduce the definition from
LSJ, s.v. ϋσπληξ 2: "a twisted strand, the untwisting of which releases motive power in an automaton"
and "a piece of wood made to rise or fall by this or similar means."
96. The other possibility, that the singular number refers to a complete, whole system while the
plural refers to parts of the system, does not seem likely to me because of the large number of hyspleges
that are mentioned.
97. Philon 59.12: "ό γαρ άγκών έστι μοχλός αντεστραμμένος, ΰπομόχλιον μεν γαρ γίνεται το έν
μέσφ τοϋ τόνου μέρος αύτοϋ, ή δε τοξίτις νευρά το βάρος, ή τις έξ άκρου τοϋ άγκώνος έχομένη το
βάρος έξαποστέλλει."
98. See Marsden I, plate on p. 43, and Marsden II, 1 ff. and plate on p. 270 (Torsion Catapults.
Mark I arrow-shooting).
34 Hysplex
Figure 26: Simplified drawing of the frame, the neura, and the ankon of the simple monankon (after
Marsden II, 252, fig. 3).
arms {ankones) . . . . By forcibly twisting them, they stretched the cords (neura), and
the arm {ankon) was tightly gripped by the cords {neura) when the twisting took
place" [trans. Marsden]. 9 9 The name of the weapon μονάγκων {onager) leads us to
the same interpretation, for it had a vertical post that worked on exactly the same
principle as the hysplex.100
(2) Syrinx (Σύριγξ): The most common meaning of this word in ancient literature
is "pipe"; that is, a long, hollow object through which something passed. 1 0 1 Perhaps
something similar is to be understood on the vase-painting in the right part of the
hysplex as the piece that joins the second with the third cube. 1 0 2 Again, similar ele
ments would have been put in the support bases of the stadia, in the rectangular or
boat-shaped (in section) cutting that leads from the large rectangular cutting to the
side of the base away from the center of the track. 1 0 3
(3) Kion (Κίων): This word has its usual meaning, "column." As the depiction on
the vase and the remains of the bases show, there was always the need for a short
column or pier next to or behind the whole system in order to tie or to hold upright
the ankon, which was under pressure.
99. "είτα δια μέσου των νεύρων διέβαλλον ενα των αγκώνων . . . α δη επιστρέφοντες βία συνέτεινον
τα νευρά καΐ 6 άγκών xατείχετο βία υπό τών νεύρων της επιστροφής γενομένης." See Schramm II,
pl. 17, fig. 66. Marsden II, p. 49 plan 7 (EZ), p. 57 plan 22.
100. See below, p. 41 and nn. 124 and 125.
101. See LSJ, s.v. σύριγξ.
102. See above, pp. 24-25.
103. See above, pp. 12-14.
(4) Parastade (Παραστάς): None of the known meanings of this word has a close
resemblance to any of the parts of the hysplex that we have attempted to reconstruct:
neither the very specific meaning the word has in an architectural context nor the very
general "anything that stands beside." 1 0 4 The related word παραστάτης was used in
stone-throwing machines for the rectangular wood frame of the sinew stretchers to
indicate the exterior wood of this frame that the ancients called πλαίσια (frames) or
πλινθία (plinth; fig. 26). 1 0 5 For example, two external παραστάτες and two internal
μεσοστάτες were necessary for the frame of the euthytonon.106 We should imagine
such wood frames for our system as well, because they were needed to hold the neura
and the ankon. These wood frames would have been wedged into the support bases of
the hysplex, as the trapezoidal (in section) cuttings in many of the bases have shown
us. Further, as the use of the number four indicates, it is possible that the two basic
parts of the wood frames for each of the two hyspleges were called parastades by
analogy with the parastates of stone-throwing machines. 1 0 7
In concluding this section I would like to note also that I thought it a good work
ing hypothesis that the nomenclature of the hyspleges of Delos probably referred to a
stadium hysplex, of a type more or less like that which is depicted on the Panathenaic
amphora and which was supported on the bases we have seen in various stadia. How
ever, since we do not know the form of the hysplex of the stadium or the gymnasion of
Delos, 1 0 8 it is possible that the inscriptions from there refer to different mechanisms,
for example, those of the Hellenistic hyspleges that we will examine below. However,
as we shall see, the parts of the hysplex that are mentioned in these inscriptions cor
respond to those of other hysplex types from other times; this underscores their role
as basic elements in these mechanisms, regardless of the specific hysplex type or its
date.
Reconstruction of the Form of the Hysplex
Based on the evidence provided by the vase and the architectural remains of the
stadia, as well as the information from the Delian inscriptions, we will attempt a
reconstruction of the form of the hysplex. That does not necessarily mean that the
mechanism actually had the exact form and the means of operation that are set forth in
the descriptions and drawings that follow. But we will propose some general principles
that I believe are the basis for its operation. Furthermore, the evidence that is used
the depiction on the Panathenaic amphora, the architectural remains, the Delian
inscriptions, and the comparison with military machinery) does not come from the
same chronological period, even if it is not dissimilar in date. Finally, it is very likely
that the system was improved with the passage of time, especially with regard to the
104. LSJ, s.v. παραστάς.

105. Schramm I 51; Schramm II, pl. 17, fig. 66.
106. Heron 91.8 ff. See also Schramm I and II, loc. cit. Cf. Marsden II 52, fig. 13 (side-stanchion),
and 56, fig. 20b.
107. Cf. t h e interchangebility of the words parastas, parastates, and parastasis for the frames of
doors, in RE VI Al (1936) 737 ff., s.v. θύρα (Ebert).
108. For the starting line t h a t has been excavated in the Delian stadium, see Harris (1960) pl. 3c
and Hellmann 378 f., pl. 16, fig. 57.
36 Hysplex
0.00
Figure 27: Schematic reconstruction of all parts of the hysplex, with high and orthogonal parastades
of the frame set in the stone base at Nemea (drawing by Nt. Kyriakopoulos).
means of creating torsion thanks to new inventions that first appeared in military
machinery. But the details and the general principles that establish the operation of
the hysplex can be summarized.
The basic material used in constructing the parts of the mechanism must have
been wood, as the Delian inscriptions inform us (figs. 27-28). 1 0 9 We know that some
parts of stone-throwing machines were "πτελέϊνα, μελέϊνα ή πυξινα," 1 1 0 but we do not
know if the same was true for the hysplex. The choice of wood as the material is
109. The reconstructions are based on the architectural remains of the left base at Nemea (figs. 15,
16), that was deemed the most typical, and the left base at Corinth (figs. 8, 9, 10), t h a t is the most
peculiar.
110. "Elm, ash, or boxwood": Philon 62.6.
ο
Figure 28: Schematic reconstruction of all parts of the hysplex, with the parastades of the frame cut
down in a stepped fashion and set in the stone base at Nemea (drawing by Nt. Kyriakopoulos).
38 Hysplex
understandable if we consider its advantages, especially the ease with which it can
be worked to fit neatly and join securely with the other materials that made up the
system (i.e., stone, cord, etc.). The placement of wooden elements in the stone base
was due to the need to set up the whole system only during the course of the games;
when not in use it was removed and stored in some closed area, as we have seen in
Delos. 1 1 1 And this occurred not only so that the perishable parts of the mechanism
would not be destroyed by rain, freezing, and so on, but also—as also occurred with
catapults—so that proper servicing could take place: the wooden parts and sinews
could be separated and placed in special oil so that they would not become brittle. 1 1 2
The base of the hysplex was a rectangular wood frame that was wedged into the
corresponding cutting in the stone support bases in the stadia. The need for wedging
is obvious: the torsion and quivering caused by the sinews and the corresponding
movement of the ankones brought the danger that the whole system might come loose
from the ground. This wedging was helped, as we have seen at Nemea and Corinth,
by the trapezoidal (in section) undercutting in the interior sides of the large cutting
and the smaller exterior ones that we have seen in the bases of Corinth. 1 1 3
It is obvious that no wood base could be inserted as a complete unit in the stone
base intended to receive it but had to be inserted in pieces and with the same prin
ciples as that of the lewis used to lift stone blocks. 1 1 4 Given this principle, as well as
indications from the details of the surfaces of the bases preserved at Nemea, 1 1 5 Isth
mia (Stadium II), and Corinth, we can conclude that the frame of each hysplex may
well have consisted, on the long axis, of three pieces: the two outside pieces must have
been relatively high, and one side must have been cut to slant outward toward the
111. See above, nn. 90, 93. T h e description by Pausanias (6.20.10 ff. = Arete 56 # 5 0 ) of the hysplex
of t h e hippodrome at Olympia, which refers to the altar t h a t contained the mechanism, reveals that
at least one part of the mechanism was reerected every four years. See also H u m p h r e y 8.
112. The description about such service by Philon (61.24 ff.) is very nice: "έξελών εκ των οργάνων
τους τόνους προς τό δύνασθαι λιπάναντας αυτούς και. θέντας έν έλύτρω τηρείν. τό γαρ έλαιον τρέφει τό
νεΰρον, όταν είς ανεσιν έλθη" (I maintain, too, t h a t I shall restore the springs to a long-lasting state
by loosening them off or taken t h e m out from the engines so t h a t we can preserve t h e m by greasing
and laying in an oil-bath; oil nourishes the sinew when it is loosened, [trans. Marsden]). See also
Philon (67.23): "και οδτω χάλασμα λαβόντων των τόνων τους τε αγκώνας έξαιρεϊν και τα τών τόνων
μηρύματα περιελείν όντα άφθαρτα και .. . καΐ λιπάναντας είς έξέλικτρον ξύλινον συντιθέναι" (When
the spring-cords are thus relaxed, remove the arms and unwind the strands of the spring, unbroken
and unrotted; then grease them and wrap them on to a wooden bobbin, [trans. Marsden]) and also
(72.19 ff.): "δύναται δε μετά την χρείαν εύκόπως εξαιρεθείς ό τόνος εκ του πλινθίου τιθέσθαι είς ελυτρον
έμβληθείς. και τους αγκώνας δέ έστιν εύκόπως έξελεϊν τών οχέων έξελκυσθέντων, ώστε κατά παν μέρος
και εύσταλές και εύσύνθετον είναι και έν τοις όδοιπορίαις ευφορτον." (After use, the spring can be
removed easily from the frame and stored, enclosed in a case. The arms, too, can easily be removed
when the pins are pulled out, so t h a t , in every particular, it is simple and easy to p u t together and
easily transportable on the march, [trans. Marsden]).
Heron, 90.3 ff., also mentions movable parts of large machines for easier transport of them.
113. See above, p. 14.
114. We see the same solution for the wedging of parts of stone-throwing machines t h a t had torsion;
see, for example, Marsden II 46 fig. 2, 162 fig. 4, 180 fig. 18, 181 fig. 19, 182 fig. 20, 195 fig. l-3b,
203 fig. 13. For other ways in which the ancients connected wood and stone parts, see, G. Despinis,
Άκρόλιθα (1975) 13 ff.
115. For example, t h e left base at Nemea preserves three parallel shallow ledges at the b o t t o m of the
large cutting oriented along the front-to-back axis of the block, with a width of 0.18, 0.18, and 0.24 m.
for t h e placement of three thick boards. The middle one shows t h a t the corresponding wood board
went to a greater depth than those on either side. There are also smaller, apparently less significant,
depressions t h a t cannot be so easily interpreted.
I ι ι ι ι I = j
0 0.50 1M.
Figure 29: Corinth. Plan of the stone and wood elements of the left hysplex (drawing by Nt. Kyri
akopoulos) .
bottom. These two pieces were wider at the bottom than at the top and were put in
place in the stone bases first.116 Perhaps these are to be identified with the parastades
in the Delian inscriptions (figs. 27, 28). Then they were held firmly in the base by the
central wooden piece that was wedged between them. This would have been a single
block set at a deeper level as in the left base at Isthmia and at Nemea or would have
consisted of two pieces as in the left base at Corinth (fig. 29). 1 1 7 The need to produce
an empty space in the central part of the base is obviously due to the placement at
the lower end of the ankon, of the πτέρνα (heel) as the ancients called it, which had
to be free to move. These ideas are reinforced also by the oval area of wear in both
bases at Corinth (figs. 8-12) which was produced by some such motion. 1 1 8
A necessary element for the production of torsion was, as we have said, the existence
of a system of sinews, the neura or the tonos as the ancients called it. With regard to
the sources of sinews, we read: "Sinews are needed, either from the shoulder or from
116. These two parts were drawn originally with a rectangular upper part (fig. 27) but later and
only for aesthetic reasons they were drawn with the corners cut (fig. 28).
117. This solution at Corinth (i.e., the projection of the wooden parts to the "lips" of the stone
base) perhaps was imposed in order to hold the wooden part better in the stone depression since in
this case no trapezoidal cutting had been made. Perhaps the same purpose was served by the slanting
placement, as is shown in figure 29, of the two long pieces of wood in relation to the sides of the stone
bases. At Nemea the sides of the wood bases of the hysplex were wedged also into the rectilinear
cutting in the "face" of the balbis (fig. 28).
40 Hysplex
Figure 30: Drawing showing terms and materials of the basic elements of ancient stone-throwing
machines.
the back, and from every kind of animal except pigs. For theirs are useless. But that
means that the shoulder sinews or the back sinews of all other animals are useful.
Moreover, the sinews of animals that are active are more elastic. Thus, for example,
from the leg of the deer, but from the neck of the bull." 1 1 9 But there was another good
source: "The tonos in the ankones can also be produced from women's hair. This is
light and long and well fed with oil, and when it is braided it gains considerable
elasticity so that it is not of less strength than neura."120
The neura must have been connected with the wood frame of the base of the hysplex
in the same way that we see in stone-throwing machines (fig. 26): it must have passed
back and forth through holes drilled through the two exterior sides of the frame where
it was wrapped around, at either side, iron epizygides or katazygides that were held by
121
choinikides usually of bronze (fig. 30). "Bronze choinikides are to be installed in the
holes of the pierced side beams and within these are to be placed the iron [epizygides,
119. Heron 110.4-9: "Νεύροις δέ χρήσθαι, ήτοι ώμιαίοις ή νωτιαίοις, και πάντων τών ζώων πλην συών.
άποίητα γάρ. διανοεΐσθαι δε δτι εύχρηστα τα νωτιαϊα ήτοι ώμιαϊα τών άλλων ζώων. ευρηται γαρ επιπλέον
γυμναζόμενα τοϋ ζώου νευρά εύτονώτερα τυγχάνειν. οίον έλάφου μεν τα έκ τών ποδών, ταύρου δέ τα
έπ'ι τοϋ αύχένος."
120. Heron 112.4-6: "Ό δέ έν τοις αγκώσι τόνος και έκ τριχών γίνεται γυναικείων, αύται γαρ λεπταί
τε οΰσαι καΐ μακρα'ι και πολλώ έλαίω τραφεϊσαι, δταν πλακώσιν εύτονίαν πολλήν λαμβάνουσιν, ώστε μή
άπάδειν της δια τών νεύρων ισχύος."
The great significance of these materials for military machinery can be seen from the fact that in
250 BC the Rhodians sent to Sinope 300 talents of hair and 100 talents of sinews. See Hall, op. cit.
(n. 80) 701.
121. D. Baatz (1979), (1982), (1985) has written studies about the two very important parts of
catapults that are usually the only physical evidence to be recovered from excavations. The same
elements can be found also in the very informative introduction to the new edition of the pioneering
and still timely study by Schramm I, which was done in 1980. In the same introduction there is also a
brief but comprehensive history of the scholarship on stone-throwing machines of antiquity by types.
The most recent article about the subject is by H. Williams, "A Hellenistic Catapult-washer from
Sounion," EchosCl 36 (1992) 181-188.
Figure 31: Schematic drawing of the neura and the metallic elements that made up the moving parts
of the hysplex.
as we call them], katazygides, and thus the tonos, wrapped around these, is stretched
tight by the whole frame." 1 2 2 This is the only way to ensure that the system does
not malfunction—that the sinews do not rub on the wood and thus provoke a loss
of torsion in and damage to the neura.122 The neura probably would not have been
visible at all, since it was hidden in the horizontal cylindrical casing in the interior of
the wooden frame. Perhaps it could be discerned a little at the middle of the frame,
in the opening where the heel of the ankon was fixed (figs. 27-28), which thus could
receive the torsion produced by the twisted neura. The form of the elements that
produced the torsion and were hidden in the frame of the hysplex were as shown in
the analytical drawing (fig. 31). The basic shape of the hysplex, then, must have
resembled closely the frame of the huge catapult (onager) that is described clearly by
Ammianus Marcellinus: 1 2 4 a rectangular wooden frame, from the side wood pieces of
which and with the help of a system of washers and pins the neura was arranged, and
in the middle of which the ankon was fixed. 125 It appears that there was a significant
122. Philon 60.2 ff.: " Έ π ί γαρ τα τρήματα των περιτρήτων χοινικίδες εφαρμόζονται χαλκαϊ, μέσαι δε
έπ' αύταϊς ed καλούμενοι τίθενται {έπιζυγίδες, ήμϊν δέ κληθησόμεναι} καταζυγίδες σιδηραϊ, περί ας δ
τόνος καμφθείς τείνεται δι' δλου τοϋ πλινθίου."
123. Heron 83.5-11.
124. Amm. Marc. 23.4.5 ff.: "Ab hac medietate restium ligneus stilus exsurgens obliquus et in modum
iugalis temonis erectus ita nervorum modulis implicatur, ut altius tolli possit et inclinari" (From the
middle of the cords a wooden arm rises at an angle and, being set upright in the manner of a yoke-
pole, is so inserted in the twists of sinew that it can be raised higher and lowered, [trans. Marsden]).
The explanation of the name of the machine that follows is also interesting: "It is called a torsion
engine because its whole power is derived from torsion, and scorpion because it has an upraised sting;
modern times have also applied the name of onager to it because wild asses, when hunted in the
chase, throw up stones so high behind their backs by kicking that they penetrate the chests of their
pursuers of actually break their bones and smash their skulls" (trans. Marsden).
125. The fact that the onager was a stone-throwing machine that was widely used in the later
Roman years (4th century after Christ) does not separate it from our own chronological framework.
This is because, as E. Schramm, "Μονάγκων und Onager," Gott. Nachr. 1918, 259 ff. and figs.
14 ff., has shown, the onager is exactly the same as the ancient Greek monankon. See also Schramm
233 ff. and RE 18,1 (1939) 399 ff., s.v. onager (Lammert). Philon, Πολιορκητικά 91.36, also mentions
the monankon. Aside from the monankon, we know of workings like that of the ankon in the siege
machines of Apollodorus of Damascus, who simultaneously with the crash of the battering ram on the
gate used a vertical ankon with the help of a neura and of rings to hit those defending the ramparts.
See the study and reconstruction of O. Lendle, Texte und Untersuchungen zum technischen Bereich
der antiken Poliorketik (1983) 27, flg. 9. Generally, and although the descriptions of these machines
come from later authors, it is certain that these were being used already in the 4th century BC See
A.R. Hall, "Military Technology," in Ch. Singer, E.J. Holmyard, A.R. Hall, and Tr. Williams (eds.), A
History of Technology II (1956) 698 ff. The Romans themselves acknowledge that they had adopted
all these machines from the Greeks. See Cicero, Tusc.Disp. 1.1.1. ff., and Schramm 234, 244 n. 2.
For the development of the catapult in Roman times based on recent discoveries, see K.D. White,
Greek and Roman Technology (1984) 217 ff. A bibliography on the subject can be found in J. Oleson,
Bronze Age, Greek, and Roman Technology: A Select Annotated Bibliography (1986) 163-169.
42 Hysplex
difference in the hysplex, however: the neura was not twisted along its whole length
from one end to the other but only from the exterior side to the middle, that is, to
the point where the ankon passed through. From that point to the other end the
sinews were straight and parallel to one another. That happened because in our case,
and unlike the case of the stone-throwing machines, the act of twisting the sinews
happened only from one side where it was necessary to have the twisting element, as
we shall see below. The ankon in the middle stopped the twisting from extending the
whole length of the neura, and this then left half without a twist. But by pre-twisting
the neura before inserting the ankon, the latter's certain position at the center of the
hysplex could be preserved. 1 2 6
The neura first was set in the wood frame without torsion, which was introduced
by means of twisting. This must have been produced by a system that evidently was
located in the narrow channel of the stone support base that we have seen in all
the stadia and in the rectangular cutting on the outside of the base that we have
seen only in Corinth. This hypothesis is reinforced by the elongated projection that
exists from the second to the third cube of the vase painting and from the reference
in the Delian inscriptions to the two syringes that we have interpreted as pipes. 1 2 7
This hypothesis is further supported by references to military machines in texts. For
example: "When the ankones are passed through the middle of the tonoi, it is necessary
to turn the choinikides with an iron mochlos that has a socket, into which is inserted
the projection of the epizygides, so that the ankones have the prescribed recoil." 1 2 8
And: "If the tonos becomes slack with frequent use, turn the choinikides, as mentioned
before, with the iron mochlos that has a socket." 1 2 9 And again: "An iron mochlos
that has a socket, inserted in the described peristomidas, forces the choinikides to
turn and achieves extended torsion." 1 3 0 In accordance with these descriptions and in
the case of the hysplex—but only on its outer side—the epizygis could be connected
with the syrinx, which was in the channel and constituted the connection between
the neura and another external element that produced twisting for the whole system
(figs. 27, 32). The connection between the choinikis-epizygis and the syrinx might
have been permanent or might have been made only when the twist was necessary.
In the case of the heavy stone-throwing machines, which had enormous weight, the
twist was produced by means of an oniskos (ονίσκος) as it is called by Heron and
Philon, or a "carchesium" as it is called by Vitruvius, in the whole of which were one
126. T h a t such a system of pre-twisting could actually work was shown by the experiment at Nemea
described below by Miller (p. 155)). In addition, certain observations were m a d e with t h e assistance
of t h e model of the hysplex (fig. 31).
128. Heron 101.10: "διαβληθέντων δε των αγκώνων δια μέσου των τόνων, δει έπιστρέφειν τας χοινικίδας
μοχλφ σιδηρφ κρίκον εχοντι, είς δν έμβάλλεται ή της έπιζυγίδος υπεροχή, δπως ol αγκώνες την
άνάπτωσιν εχωσι την ειρημένην."
129. Heron 110.1: "έαν δε έν ταΐς πυκναϊς καταγωγαϊς ό τόνος χάλασμα λάβη, επιστρέψεις τας
χοινικίδας, ώς προείρηται, τφ μοχλω τφ σιδηρω τω εχοντι τον κρίκον."
130. Anon. Byz. Pol. W 253.12 : "Μοχλόν δε σιδηρούν ριζοκρίκον έχοντα, προς τας ρηθείσας
περιστομίδας έμβαλλόμενον, βιαίαν τήν περιστροφήν επί των χοινικίδων ποιεϊν και σφοδραν την τάσιν
άπεργάζεσθαι."
T h e iron lever with the socket is reconstructed with security in the old study of C. Wescher, La
Poliorcétique des Grecs (1867) fig. 97.
Figure 32: Wooden scale model of the hysplex.
or more skytalai (σκυτάλαι) or scutulae.131 And all these suggestions are justified since
according to ancient authors "they set up sideways rotating oniskoi that have holes so
that, by inserting skytalai in the ends or even in the middle, they can be turned." 1 3 2
However, in the case of the hysplex, which must have been a light and easily operated
mechanism, the twisting could have been produced merely by a crank (or a χειρολαβή,
as the ancient Greeks called it), which replaced the oniskos and the skytalai, since in
small machinery "it is permitted to place a crank in the end of the screw instead of
the skytalai."133 I believe it likely that the crank was of a single piece with the syrinx
and thus it has been drawn (figs. 27, 31) but I do not exclude the possibility that
these were two independent tools that were connected only at the moment of use for
the twist. Finally, it is self-evident that space was needed to turn the crank so that a
small pit must have been dug in the ground immediately next to the place where the
syrinx left the machine.
131. Heron 84.12; Philon 68.5. See Marsden II 50, 51, figs. 10-11; 56, fig. 20 a-b; 57 fig. 22. Also
Schramm II 231. For the carchesium, which ought not to be related to the Greek καρχήσιον, see
Vitruvius 10.10.1 and Marsden II 196, drawing 5, diagram 10.
132. Heron 107.5: "όνίσκοι έστωσαν πλάγιοι στρεφόμενοι, τρήμματα έχοντες, ώστε έμβάλλεσθαι
σκυτάλας έν τοϊς ακροις ή κα'ι έν μέσω, δι' ών έπιστραφήσονται."
For the way in which the ankon of the onager can be raised by two soldiers with huge skytalai,
see, for example, the reconstruction in Schramm I, fig. 33, and in H. Diels, Antike Technik (1965) 99,
fig. 41.
133. Heron Mech. 2.5.13 ff. (with regard to the cheirobalistra): "έξεστι δε άντι τών σκυταλών
χειρολαβήν τίνα περιθείναι τω ακρω τοϋ κοχλιού" [ed. Nix-Schmidt II.1 (1900) 287, figs. 70b, 73];
i n d Marsden II, drawing 12.
44 Hysplex
As the cuttings in the support bases that we have seen in the various stadia show,
and especially the trapezoidal (in section) external cubic sockets in the two Corinthian
bases, 1 3 4 it was not possible for the syrinx and the crank to be in contact with a stone
casing, but these elements were also encased in a wooden housing that was wedged into
the corresponding cuttings of the stone and was, of course, connected with the wood
frame on the base that we have already discussed (figs. 27, 28). All of these wooden
parts could not have been entirely hidden in the stone bases but must have projected
enough to allow sufficient internal space for the workings of the various parts of the
mechanism.
Finally, it should be noted that all the parts of the mechanism, as well as all the
places where wooden parts came into contact with parts of some other material (stone,
cord, etc.), must have been greased so that would be avoided and the mechanism would
work smoothly.
Aside from these basic parts of the mechanism proper, fixed and stable columns or
posts to hold the taut ankon when the hysplex was upright were also necessary (figs.
26, 27). The existence of this element is confirmed by the vase painting, the Delian
inscriptions, and the remains of the stadia. In Corinth there are deep rectangular
sockets next to the whole system; in the other cases there are semicircular sockets in
the balbis, that is, set behind the system. It is probable that the top of the ankon was
held to the column with the help of a hook or a ring so that the ankon could be stable
and upright but with a very small point of contact so that the ankon could be released
easily with a quick, simple motion by the aphetes as we shall see below. Perhaps this
is the element intended by Hesychios when he defines hysplex: as starting line, point
of the start, snare. [Post and the ring of h o r n ] . " 1 3 5
The Operation of the Mechanism
After the placement of the slack neura in the frame of the hysplex and the insertion
of the end of the ankon within it, there followed the twisting that was necessary to
produce torsion. This was effected by joining the system of the crank and pipe with
the ends of the epizygis and the turning of the crank in the direction that forced the
ankon forward and down until it touched the surface of the track. The turning of the
crank continued in the same direction until adequate torsion had been produced in the
neura. As a working model that we constructed showed us (fig. 32), it appears that
two or three full turns of the crank were sufficient to produce the required amount of
torsion. Finally, the crank and pipe system was removed and not used again since from
that point on until the end of the competitions the ankon could be lifted by hand.
The exception would be if it was observed during the competitions that the neura had
slackened and needed to be tightened again (see above, p. 42 at η 129).
It is self-evident that with the removal of the crank the epizygides had been pulled
toward one another by the torsion of the twisted neura and were thus so tightly fixed
on top of the choinikides that they could not turn in the opposite (backward) direction;
there was no danger that the torsion that had been created by the twisting might be

135. Hesychios, s.v. "ΰσπληξ. άφεσις, αφετηρία, πάγη. [πάσσαλος καί ό κεράτινος κρίκος]."
Figure 33: Corinth. Plan of the two bases of the hysplex showing the brackets that would create the
cord barriers in an application like the Nemea system.
lost. For this reason there was no need to fasten the epizygides once they were in the
torsion position.
Thus the hysplex "dressed" and ready for action should have been in the follow
ing condition (figs. 26, 27, and frontis): the ankones held upright against the force
of torsion near the columns with the help of the loops or rings whether absolutely
vertical or slanting slightly toward the rear, just as the vase painting shows. With the
simultaneous and sudden jerking of the two trigger cords by the aphetes, the two rings
were pulled off the ankones, which were thereby released. These then were forced by
the torsion of the twisted neura to fall suddenly forward and downward, striking the
earth with a characteristic sudden slap or bang. By pulling down together with them
the cords that were stretched between them, the ankones gave the start to the runners,
who had been waiting impatiently on the balbis.
Doubts expressed by some scholars that the runners might have tangled their feet
136
in the cords that had fallen in front of them are completely justified. Previously,
this was taken to be evidence that such a system was impossible. But, as we have seen
137
very typically with regard to the central base of Corinth (fig. 4 ) , the ancients had
reduced this danger to a large degree by digging into the ground in front of the hysplex
a trench into which the ankones could fall in order that the cords, or "hurdles," would
138
fall flat down on the ground.
The following observations should be made with regard to the way in which the
whole system was triggered: the connection of the top of the ankon with the column
that we see in the vase painting could have been put into effect in the cases of the stadia
136. Roos 150; Harris (1964) 67, 70; Bean 278.

137. See above, p. 14 and η 59.
138. It is not clear that the hysplex would be necessary for the dolichos, but even if it was used,
the placement of the kampter well away from the balbis removed any problem for the runners in
negotiating the turns in the races. For this idea, see Lee 109.
Figure 34: Corinth. Suggested schematic reconstruction of all parts of the hysplex. The ankon was
significantly taller than shown here. (Drawing by Nt. Kyriakopoulos.)
Figure 35: Nemea. Plan of the sphendone of the stadium. The semicircular depression for the aphetes
is visible near the semicircle of the water channel (after Miller (1976) p. 195, fig. 8).
48 Hysplex
at Isthmia, Nemea, and Epidauros, where the column is directly behind the vertical
ankon. But in the case of Corinth, the cuttings for the fixed columns—wooden posts
here—are to the side and at a distance from the ankones and more or less in the same
line as they are (fig. 33). A possible solution for this instance might be the placement
of a post of a height at least equal to that of the ankon, on the top of which was a
light horizontal board. This board would have held the ankon in its vertical position
and would have released it by being lifted slightly by a cord that was passed through
a ring at the top of the post.
But this solution provokes two problems: (a) the post would have to have been
sufficiently higher than the ankon so as to allow the aphetes to remove easily the
horizontal board that released the ankon, and (b) since the posts are a little in front
of the line of the two ankones, there is the danger that the two horizontal barrier
cords might touch the posts and thus form slight bends in their otherwise straight line
(fig. 33). 139 Thus we are led to another solution that avoids these two problems. We
place in the deep cutting a very low post (fig. 34) from the top of which a light board
extends diagonally upward so as to hold the ankon and still be easily removed by the
aphetes. At the same time the low post does not block the horizontal barrier cords,
which, as we have seen, were at heights of about 0.60 and 1.00 m. from the ground.
Given, then, that the release of the ankones was effected by the removal of the rings
or loops that held them, let us move on to discuss the way in which this action might
have taken place. The need for an absolutely simultaneous release leads us initially to a
system like that of Stadium I at Isthmia. But in our case, instead of many cords there
are only two that would have been held and released by the aphetes, who would have
been standing behind the athletes. This suggestion is reinforced by the observation of
a semicircular depression in the stadium at Nemea, behind the balbis and exactly on
the axis of the central wider place, between the sixth and seventh socket of the balbis
(fig. 35). 140 This depression is located precisely at the top of an isosceles triangle the
base of which is the balbis and the sides the two cords that extended from the aphetes
to the tops of the ankones of the hysplex. This position is sufficiently removed from
the balbis so that the stretched cords would not bother the athletes on the ends of
the balbis even if they did pass nearby. We can therefore suggest that the aphetes
was positioned in the depression (Frontis). To be sure, the bottom of this semicircular
depression sloped down toward the rear. But it is obvious that here we have no need
for a deep hole like that in Stadium I at Isthmia since the cords were not on the
ground but stretched about a meter above the ground and held toward the rear by
the aphetes. I think that the sloping floor of the depression might have been intended
to give the aphetes a firm base to support him against the tension of the cords, which
would tend to pull him forward especially because of the pressure exerted forward by
the torsion on the ankones of the hysplex.
It appears, then, that in the hysplex system that we have attempted to reconstruct
there is a basic principle parallel to that old principle we see in Stadium I at Isthmia
but quite developed since instead of individual barriers for each runner, there is a
single one for all. Another detail that reduces to virtually nothing the possibility of
139. The line of the cord should have been parallel with the face of the balbis. Its diagonal position
in the drawing is due to the forward position of the small stone of the left base.
140. See Miller (1976) 195, fig. 8; and "Excavations at Nemea, 1976," Hesperia 46 (1977), pl. 15d.
Romano, figs. 61, 62, 65, 66.
an unfair advantage, or disadvantage, for a given athlete is the existence of the neura,
which, like a spring, produced the immediate and fast fall of the barrier, unlike the
system of Stadium I at Isthmia where the fall was produced only by the weight of the
barrier—the horizontal wooden arm—itself. 141
Finally, it is clear that whenever they wanted to replace the ankones in their original
position, they lifted them by hand until the top touched the column, which existed in
most stadia, where they were attached by means of a ring or a loop. Correspondingly
in the case at Corinth, the ankon would have been held by the diagonal light board
hypothesized above (fig. 34). This lifting of the ankon by hand perhaps is relevant to
the passage—which has been difficult to explain heretofore—in the "Alexandra" of
Lykophron, line 21: "κ' από γης έσχάζουσαν υσπληγας" which is used metaphorically
for the difficulty with which a ship is freed from a rocky shore. 1 4 2 It seems probable
that the poet wanted to compare the strained and slow but sure movement of the
rowers pulling on their oars with the corresponding action of those who lifted the
ankon of the hysplex from the ground. 1 4 3 This action must have occurred often and in
a short time, for example, in the successive preliminary heats of the stadion as well as
in the other footraces when these were run all together and in succession on a specific
day of the various games. 1 4 4
The Chronology of the Hysplex
It is obvious that the depiction of the type of hysplex that is shown on the Panathenaic
amphora of the archon Lykiskos (344/3 BC) is important evidence for the date of
its introduction of it into ancient Greek stadia. The appearance of this system on
a vase of this date, as well as the special interest of the vase painter in displaying
the mechanism in great detail, shows that this method of starting the race was an
innovation of the period. 1 4 5 The date of the vase, then, comprises the first completely
indubitable evidence for the appearance of this type of hysplex.
We have seen, however, that earlier references in ancient authors belong to the last
quarter of the 5th century BC. This means either that they refer to a hysplex in the
hippodrome—since it seems logical that the mechanism would have been used first for
141. For the simultaneous start of such systems, Kleiner, op. cit. (supra, n. 68), 1217, suggested the
probable use of water in some hydraulic installation. In the case of Priene, which gave rise to the
idea, such a solution does not really appear likely (see below, p. 113 and 116). In certain other cases,
as for example at Corinth, where immediately next to the support bases of the hyspleges there is a
water channel, I cannot rule out the possibility of the use of water. But according to the excavators,
this channel "was constructed at the time of the laying out of the platform" (i.e., of the balbis), which
is thought to be earlier than the two added bases for the hysplex; see Williams 12.
142. "and they separated the hysplex from the ground." See also above, p. 158.
143. The word hysplex does not, then, have the meaning of "anchor" as some scholars have suggested
based on this passage in Lykophron; see Jüthner 54 and the Dictionary of Dimitrakos, s.v. = "anchor
cable, whence anchor."
144. For the successive preliminary heats, that the ancients called "τάξεις" see Pausanias 6.13.2 and
for commentary see Gardiner 266 ff. and Harris (1964) 70 and Arete 70 ff. For the idea that the
sequence of running events was determined by the installation of the starting mechanism, see Lee
105-112.
145. Is it possible that the vase painter saw the prototype of his hysplex in the Panathenaic stadium?
For the problems concerning the foundation and/or renewal of that stadium, see Kyle 94 ff. and n. 45.
50 Hysplex
the start of horses 146 —or, more likely, that they refer to an older type of hysplex, as
that of Stadium I at Isthmia, which, based on archaeological evidence, is to be dated
in the second half of the 5th century BC and which perhaps should not be thought, as
some scholars hypothesize, to have been a unique example. 147
It should also be noted that the form of the hysplex that is shown on the Panathenaic
amphora can be associated with physical remains in four stadia of the northeastern
Peloponnesos. Of course, the support bases for the hysplex located in those stadia
cannot be dated precisely. But we do know that they are additions and therefore later
than the balbis, thus providing us with a terminus post quem on the assumption that
the balbides can be dated, albeit not always with accuracy. Generally there has been a
trend in the scholarship, "although still unproven," which is based on the observations
of Broneer, to date the addition of the hyspleges to the preexisting balbides in the 3rd
century BC "or later." 148
If we examine closely the relevant facts of each monument we will see that the
securest chronological evidence for the placement of the type of hysplex discussed here
comes from Nemea, where all the construction work of this phase of the stadium is to
be dated in the period from ca. 330 to ca. 270 BC.14? In Corinth the balbis of this phase
was set in place after 280 BC and remained in use until 146 BC.150 We have a more
general chronological framework for Stadium II at Isthmia, which appears to have
been the new stadium of a building program associated with Alexander the Great; 151
Epidauros places us in the first half of the 3rd century BC if we accept the connection
of the installation of the hysplex with the known inscription according to which the
Corinthian engineer Philon and his guarantor, the Corinthian banker Nikon, were
fined 500 Alexandrian drachmas because Philon had not finished the installation of a
hysplex system during the agreed-upon period in the stadium of the Asklepieion. 152
146. See above, p. 4; compare also E.N. Gardiner, Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals (London 1910)
277.
147. Broneer 49 ff. and 65, and here, above, pp. 7-8.
148. Romano 211.
149. For the large building program at Nemea during the period 330-270 BC, see most recently
S.G. Miller in D.E. Birge, L.H. Kraynak, and S.G. Miller, Nemea I: Topographical and Architectural
Studies (Berkeley 1992) xxx. See also Miller et al, Nemea: A Guide 42-43, 57-61. Romano, on
the contrary, dates this phase of the balbis with the hysplex to after 145 BC, after the supposed (but
undocumented) return of the games from Argos to Nemea, despite the complete lack of archaeological
evidence for any activity in the stadium in the 2nd century BC. See Miller op. cit. and "Excavations
at Nemea, 1984-1986," Hesperia 57 (1988) 9-10, 12, 18-19. I believe that the close similarity of the
Nemea hysplex with those of the other Peloponnesian stadia weakens even more the late chronology
of Romano.
150. See most recently Williams 11 ff.
151. For new construction or renovation of stadia in Late Classical and Early Hellenistic times,
see Broneer 66; Romano 53 ff., 62, 242-244; Stephen G. Miller in the preface to the new edition of
E. Norman Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World (Chicago 1978) viii-ix.
152. IG IV 2 1.98. R. Patrucco, Lo Stadio di Epidauro (1976) 111 n. 30, gives the whole text. Compare
also Harris 70 and the translation of the text into English in Arete 65, # 6 1 . The usual dating of the
inscription is in the first half of the 3rd century, but A. Burford, "Notes on the Epidaurian Building
Inscriptions," BSA 61 (1966) 320, dated the inscription on the basis of some details in the text to the
mid- or late 3rd century BC. Patrucco, op. cit., 109-112 and plate on p. 112, places the balbis of the
stadium at the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 3rd century BC, while he dates the hysplex (122
and plate on p. 122) to the period between the second quarter and the end of the 3rd century BC,
apparently, however, only with reference to the inscription, since he ignores completely the added
bases that supported the hysplex. Compare Patrucco 105 ff. See also Romano 14, 211.
Thus, since no work took place at Nemea after ca. 270 BC, the hysplex must already
have been in place by that time. Again, in Corinth the new balbis was not put in
place before 280 BC. These chronological facts show that the first installation of the
hysplex in the stadia of this region must have taken place late in the first third of the
3rd century BC. Likewise, the pronounced similarities in the various hysplex bases,
and therefore in the machines that once rested in them, show that their dates cannot
be far apart. Broneer 1 5 3 hypothesized that Philon himself had probably installed the
hysplex in his native Corinth before doing that at Epidauros, and it seems he was
correct since the preserved details of the bases at Epidauros resemble closely those
of the right base at Corinth. Broneer's hypothesis is supported by the fact that the
mechanism at Corinth seems to be less developed than the others since the support
bases of the hysplex are set at the ends of the balbis, a detail that is not repeated
at any other stadium. 1 5 4 But the excavation data would place it a little later than
Nemea; one might hesitate to assign such precise dates in this period.
With regard to Athens, however, based on the new information of the vase, we
can safely raise the date of introduction of the new mechanism to the middle of the
4th century BC. Direct evidence for the existence of a hysplex in the Panathenaic
stadium—but from the 2nd century BC—comes from an inscription from the Acropolis
in which, together with other repairs to sanctuaries and public buildings of the city,
mention is made of "starts from the hyspleges of the Panathenaic stadium." 1 5 5 In
any event, the chronological facts of the vase show us that the hysplex predated the
Lykourgan stadium, that had not been completed in the decade of the 330s BC. 1 5 6
Finally, there can be no doubt that the conception of the hysplex with stretched
and twisted neura was a consequence of the development of military machinery that
was seen in the 4th century BC, and especially during the period 360-350 BC to be
ascribed to the engineers of Philip II of Macedonia. It appears not to be fortuitous
that the first reference to a catapult in Athens occurs in a catalog of the Chalkotheke
that is dated to ca. 355 BC. 1 5 7
153. Broneer 141-142.

154. Again, the bases of the Corinthian system seem simpler while the existence of the fixed post
at the side of the ankon seems less practically functional than the fixed column behind the ankon at
The other stadia.
155. IG II/III 1035.50 "αφέσεις τας άπό των υσπλήγων τοϋ παναθηναϊκού σταδίου"; cf. Ch. Tsountas,
" Ε π ι γ ρ α φ ή εξ Ακροπόλεως," ΑΕ 1884, 165 ff. See G. Culley, "The Restoration of Sanctuaries in
Attica," Hesperia 44 (1975) 207 ff.; idem, The Restoration of Sacred Monuments in Augustan Athens
Diss. 1973; Ann Arbor Microfilms 1987) and Jiithner 56. I do not, however, think that the herms that
were found in the stadium can be associated with a hysplex as Gardiner wanted, (supra, n. 151) 133.
See also the thoughts of C. Gasparri, "Lo Stadio Panatenaico," Annuario 36/7 (1974/5) 363 ff., 366.
156. For the discrepancies in the sources concerning the question of whether Lykourgos first founded
the stadium in this region or renewed a preexisting facility on a monumental scale, see Kyle 92 ff.
Compare the novel view of D.G. Romano, "The Panathenaic Stadium and Theater of Lykourgos.
A Reexamination of the Facilities on the Pnyx Hill," AJA 89 (1985) 441 ff., that the stadium of
Lykourgos was not located on Ardettos where the stadium of Herodes Atticus is today but on the
Pnyx where are preserved the foundations of two long buildings that other scholars have regarded
as the foundations of stoas that were never actually constructed. See below, pp. 63-64 with regard
to five rectangular bases with rectangular sockets for the insertion of wooden posts that are to be
associated with the start of a race in the Athenian Agora.
157. IG I I 2 120. For the existence of catapults in Athens after 370 BC, see Marsden I 67. Generally
the second half of the 4th century and the first half of the 3rd century are considered to be the
most significant period for the invention and construction of siege and stone-throwing machines. The
52 Hysplex
With regard to the older type of hysplex (i.e., that of Stadium I at Isthmia), and in
addition to the substantial differences in the working of the mechanisms that we have
already seen, our hysplex has yet another difference. While the barriers at Isthmia I
were located above the balbis, in the new type they stand on other blocks that project
from the balbis, with the result that the barrier is some 0.50-0.60 m. in front of the
balbis. Again, these balbides, and especially the type with the double parallel groove
and the rectangular cuttings at regular intervals, were placed in their stadia at the same
time as or a little earlier than the hyspleges.159. This nearly synchronous placement
brings us to the notion that perhaps the one provoked the other; that is to say, perhaps
the new type of balbis provoked the invention of the new hysplex, or vice versa. We
should remember that just as the barrier cord of the hysplex obliged all the athletes to
stand in the same line, so the double grooves of the balbis forced their feet into similar
positions, with the same distance between the front and rear foot of each. Together
cords and grooves reinforced a complete equality at the start of the race, and the
victory would belong to the athlete whose actual running of the race on the track was
the best.
A straight balbis without continuous grooves and sockets (fig. 4) was constructed in
the Forum of Corinth after 280 BC; it has exactly the same characteristics as the version
that is roughly two hundred years older (although the earlier balbis was curved). 1 5 9
That the new type of balbis with the two parallel grooves and the sockets for posts was
not introduced but the old balbis was simply straightened forces us to consider that
this change might have been due to the addition of the new hysplex system that could
not function with a curved line. This detail together with the fact that the changes
that the excavators observed in the area of the track relative to earlier phases 1 6 0 did
not cause a change in the form of the balbis forces us to conclude that at Corinth it
was the new type of hysplex that provoked the change of the balbis. If this conclusion
is correct, then we have very strong evidence at Corinth that the hysplex bases are
not chronologically distinct from the balbis. Therefore, the hysplex system (and not
just the balbis) must date to shortly after 280 BC.
But in some of the other stadia from the the 4th century BC—that is, before the
placement of the new balbis—there already existed a balbis with a single groove. 1 6 1
Although the date of the Panathenaic amphora does not preclude the existence of the
hysplex together with such balbides, I think that in the cases of the stadia at Nemea,
Isthmia II, and Epidauros, where the support bases of the hyspleges are later than
inventions of that era were not surpassed until the 15th century after Christ with the discovery of
gunpowder. See Schramm 221, 228, and Garlan, op. cit. (n. 94) 165 ff.
158. See above, pp. 50-51. Romano, 229, has the opinion that "Generally speaking, it is safe to
say that double grooved starting lines are introduced in the Hellenistic period." See also N. Serwint,
review of Mind and Body: Athletic Contests in Ancient Greece, in AJA 94 (1990) 508.
159. As shown by calculations, the balbis with a semicircular form may have been created to place
all the runners in the dolichos at the same distance from the kampter, see D.G. Romano, "Athletics
and Mathematics in Archaic Corinth," AJA 97 (1993) 336. Repairs to the first balbis took place at
the end of the 5th or the 4th century BC; see Williams 2 ff., 10 ff. A similar curvilinear arrangement
of a balbis has been suggested for the individual bases of the xystos of the gymnasion of Amphipolis
by K. Lazaride, ΠΑΕ 1989 [1992] 207 ff., pls. 142 ff.
160. Op. cit., 11, 13. Compare also the report of C. Williams in ArchRep. 1980-81, 9 ff., esp. 11.
161. Romano 206, 208.
the balbis, the new type of hysplex followed the placement of the new balbis with two
grooves. l62
Representations of a Hysplex in Monuments of a Roman Date
Two monuments of Roman Imperial date present portrayals of a type of hysplex

like that with which we are concerned. The first of these is in the Codex Vaticano
Latino 3439 (formerly the Codex Coburgensis), which was written in the middle of
the sixteenth century after Christ, but the picture that interests us here was copied, as
is stated explicitly in the margin, from a now lost relief that then was "retro Belvedere"
(fig. 36). 1 6 3 The representation shows four runners, two beardless and two bearded,
with the "cirrus in vertice" hairdo typical of the professional athlete of this period
standing in front of a hysplex that is shown here in a simplified form as a Π, with
two vertical posts holding a horizontal round stick. It is interesting that the two end
athletes hold the horizontal stick with one hand and with the palm up. On the right
side of the representation there is preserved the right side of a himation-wearing figure
with woven sandals, 1 6 4 apparently some official of the games, and on the left there is
a herm. 1 6 5
Despite the objections of some students of ancient athletics, I think there can be
no doubt that Codex Vaticano Latino 3439 provides a depiction of a hysplex—and
of the same type as shown on the Panathenaic amphora even if in some variation of
it. 1 6 6 That the horizontal element is shown as large as the vertical ankones perhaps
represents a replacement of the cord that sagged in the middle with a thin stick, the
kanon or the xylon, that is mentioned in some sources. 1 6 7 Regarding the specific action
of the end athletes, I suggest that how and where they hold the stick is intended
to show that they have just lifted the stick from the ground and replaced it in its
162. Harris (1964) 69 supports the idea that the change in stance of the runner during the start from
that with legs spread, as at Corinth, to a stance "πόδα παρά πόδα" (foot next to foot) was caused by
the installation of the hysplex. See above, nn. 72, 76.
163. O. Jahn, "Zeichnungen antiker Monumente im Codex Pighianus," SechsGesBer 1868, 161 ff.,
esp. 184. O. Kern, "Ein neues Coburgensisblatt," RM 5 (1890) 150 ff. More recently see the drawing
from the codex, but printed backwards, in the catalog of the exhibition Lo Sport nel mondo antico.
Ludi, munera, certamina a Roma (27/8-25/10/87) 37, fig. 3. See also A.M. Colini, Stadium Domitiani
(1943) 99.
164. For this type of shoe worn by officials at the games, see Valavanis 351.
165. An especially nice reference for the existence of herms beside the balbis and the hysplex is in the
poem of Philippos (Pal. Anth. 6.259): "Τις τόν άχνουν Έρμήν σε παρ' ύσπλήγεσσιν εθηκεν" (who set
you up, beardless Hermes, by the hyspleges?). And such have been actually found in the Panathenaic
stadium in Athens (see Travlos, Bildlexikon 502, and Gasparri, op.cit. [n. 155] 313 ff., esp. 361-367).
For bases of statues at the ends of the balbis see Miller (1976) 197, and Nemea: A Guide 179 ff.
Compare also Romano 215. For herms at the carceres of the Roman circus see Humphrey passim.
166. R. Hauser, "Zur Tübinger Bronze II," Jdl 10 (1895) 194; Jüthner 82 and n. 158; Roos 150 n. 7;
Krinzinger 217.
167. See above, pp. 4-6. Since, then, we have a wood stick in some cases, this is the sense in which
we should understand the word kanon, which is mentioned for the hysplex in the scholia to Dionysios
Periegetes 121. For the significance of the kanon as both a wooden stick and as a cord used to
make a straight line in ancient architecture, see A.K. Orlandos and I.N. Travlos, Λεξικού αρχαίων
αρχιτεκτονικών ορών (1986) s.v. Aupert, 60 ff., has hypothesized a wooden stick instead of a cord for
the stadium at Delphi because of the large distance of 20-25 m. t h a t the cord would have to bridge.
But with the existence of the central ankon this distance is reduced to 10-12.5 m.
54 Hysplex
Figure 36: Codex Vaticano Latino 3439 (after O. Kern, RM 6 (1890) pl. 7).
original position. If this interpretation is correct, then we have seen the first and only
representation of the raising of the hysplex from the ground and of the placing of it
in an upright position. 1 6 8
The second monument is a recent discovery. It has presented new information but
has also created problems (fig. 37). This is a large mosaic of the first half of the
4th century after Christ from Tunisa with fourteen depictions of a full program of
169
athletic competitions, that include scenes ranging from the beginning (the fall of
the mappa) to the awards for the victors—the victory lap (περιαγερμός) and the
170
accompanying showers of flowers (φυλλοβολία). In the nine representations of actual
competitions there is included the start of a race with the depiction of a hysplex.171
It appears that a part of a similar hysplex is depicted in another partly destroyed
mosaic in Tebessa, although only one official and no athletes are shown in the preserved
168. T h e representation on a fragmentary relief in the Lateran (Benndorf-Schöne 37 and recently

in the catalog of an exhibition in Rome [supra, n. 163] 37 fig. 21) where we have the lower part of
the bodies of three men behind a Π-shaped (?) construction, t h a t Kern (supra, n. 163), 156 with
figure, a t t e m p t s to connect with the hysplex, does not, I think, have anything to do with athletic
competitions. Rather, it shows a crew of men (slaves?) who are pushing some equipment (the winch
of a well?). For another meaning of the word μάγγανον (winch), in an inscription from Aphrodisias,
t h a t perhaps is relevant to the hysplex, see Jüthner 85.
169. T h e mosaic covered the floor of baths in the region Baten Essamour, 60 km. east of Gafsa in the
museum of which it is displayed. The excavator, M. Khanoussi, has published a number of articles,
which include good photographs, in recent years: CRAI 1988, 543 ff., figs. 2, 3; AntW 1991, 147 ff.;
RM 98 (1991) 315 ff., pl. 74; and Archeologia 297 (Jan 1994) 10 ff.
170. For similar representations of awards for the victors, περιαγερμός, and φυλλοβολία in Attic vase
painting, see Valavanis 325 ff.
171. M. Khanoussi, AntW. 1991, figs. 5, 6, upper left, and 13; CRAI 1988, fig. 3.
Figure 37: Mosaic at Gafsa (after M. Khanoussi, AntW 1991, figs. 5, 6, 13).
part (fig. 38). 172 We see here depictions of a hysplex just like that in the codex, which
leaves no doubt about the interpretation of the representation in the codex that we
presented above. At the same time it proves that unless the mosaicist was simply
copying an older picture type, even in Roman times this same simple type of hysplex
continued to be used at the same time as monumental versions that had been installed
in some stadia already in late Hellenistic times. 173 Such a long life for this old type of
hysplex, despite the great developments in technology, shows clearly its success since it
was a relatively small and cheap mechanism that seems, nonetheless, to have fulfilled
its purpose faultlessly.
And in the Tunisian mosaic, just as in the codex, four runners (of whom only three
are preserved) stand ready for the start at a hysplex, that also consists of two vertical
posts on which is "supported a horizontal long stick, a detail that proves the possibility
of replacing the cord with wood in that position. On the right stands the bearded
official who is responsible for the start, dressed in a tunica adorned with clavi (red
stripes). In his left hand he holds the palm branch of victory, and he wears the special
sandals characteristic of his position.
The basic difference between this mosaic and the codex is that here the one runner
who is relatively well preserved not only grasps the horizontal stick from above with
both hands but also leans on the stick with the weight of his body leaning forward
to a pronounced degree. This position of his body and the use of both hands does
not agree with the codex but seems to imply a different motion whereby the runners
push the kanon forward. But since the whole philosophy of the hysplex was to provide
an equal start for all with, naturally, no interference from the runners themselves, it
172. S. Gsell, Musée de Tebessa (1902) 67-69, esp. 69, pl. 9.1, where it is described as "quelques
vestiges d'un objet qui servait peut-être à des exercises de gymnastique." Cf. R.-D. Pausz and W. Rei-
tinger, "Das Mosaik der gymnischen Agone von Batten Zammour, Tunesien," Nikephoros 5 (1992)
119-123.
173. See below, pp. 95-141.
56 Hysplex
Figure 38: Mosaic at Tebessa (after S. Gsell, Musée de Tebessa (1902) pl. 9.1.)
seems improbable to me that we have here a "pushing away of the kanon" by the
1 74
runners.
Thus, unless we have in these two depictions a type of hysplex that worked in a
different way from that of the Classical type examined above, the final and most
likely interpretation that remains for us is that these two depictions of Roman times
are mistaken reproductions of an original. Thus while the athletes actually leaned
forward in the known starting stance with their arms and hands stretched out above
the horizontal stick, the copyist of the codex (or perhaps the sculptor of the Roman
relief?) and the mosaicist showed them grasping the stick, with the result that both
works produce an impression completely different from reality. 175
174. See above, pp. 3-4 on the scholion to Dionysios Periegetes.

175. For similar mistakes during the Renaissance in drawing antiquities, see T. Stephanidou-Tiveriou,
Νεοατηκά (1979) 156 ff. Compare the mistakes of Carrey in copying the sculptures of the Parthenon
in T h . Bowie and J. T h i m m e , The Carrey Drawings of the Parthenon Sculptures (1971).
Observations on the Starting Lines of Various Stadia
From the data that we have studied to this point and from the conclusions that we
have reached concerning the shape and the operation of the Classical hysplex, we may
now proceed to observations about some characteristics in the starting lines in other
stadia that seem to be relevant to the hysplex mechanism.
Mainland Greek Stadia
OLYMPIA
Two constructions were added at the ends of the last phase of the western balbis.
These project and make a right angle with the balbis, and they have created problems
for the excavators of the most famous stadium of the ancient world. 176 At one end
this addition consists of a brick foundation about 1.50 m. long (fig. 39) that continues
the line of the balbis southward. In front of the end of the brick construction there has
been placed upside down, apparently in a second or third use, a stone plinth (block y)
with typical cuttings on two of its surfaces.177 At a corresponding position at the
north end of and at a right angle to the same balbis there was a wall of poros stone
and bricks. These constructions have been associated by more recent scholars (with
reservations) with a system of ending the race; 178 only P. Aupert has connected them
with the hysplex.179 These constructions, because of their material, their form, and the
position where they were found, should be assigned to the final phase of the stadium
IIIF), which is dated to the second quarter of the 3rd century after Christ. 180
D.G. Romano hypothesized the existence of a hysplex in earlier phases of the sta-
dium because, in three of the blocks that have been reused in the parapet of the exedra
of the Hellanodikai of the Roman period, he noted cuttings that he believes resem-
ble the known cuttings in the support bases of the hyspleges of other Peloponnesian
stadia. 181
Although I am not convinced by Romano's interpretation of these cuttings, the
probability of the existence of a hysplex in the stadium of Olympia, and of the type
that we have seen in other Peloponnesian stadia, is unquestioned and supported by
some other details. On the track side of some blocks of the eastern balbis of the
176. E. Curtius, F. Adler, et al., Die Ausgrabungen zu Olympia V (1881) 25, pl. 35. Cf. Romano
Bg. 100.
177. It is worth noting that the characteristic of block y—that is, the broad square cutting that is
continued to a great depth in a narrower cutting—is reminiscent of the cuttings of the end bases of
the hysplex of Stadium I of Miletos, where instead of the upper rectangular cutting, however, there
is a circular cutting. See below, p. 68.
178. See Mallwitz 16 ff.; 41 ff. pl. 9; and 43 ff. Also Krinzinger 212 and H. Berve and G. Gruben,
Griechishe Tempel und Heiligtümer (1961) 144.
179. Aupert 59.
180. Recently Schilbach 33-38, has advanced a redating of the phases of the stadium at Olympia.
181. Romano 14, 140 n. 21, fig. 99. See also Lee 105.
57
Figure 39: Olympia. Above: Brick foundation next to block y at the southern end of the western balbis
with cuttings for the receipt of the hysplex. Below: block y seen from above. (From R. Borrmann,
Die Baudenkmäler von Olympia (1892) figs. 29, 30.)
stadium that we see today (phase HIB or IIIC, recently dated by Schilbach to 367/6-
360 BC and 340-330 BC, respectively) 1 8 2 there are semicircular cuttings that, in their
dimensions and their shape, resemble the corresponding cuttings of other balbides, to
which were added a hysplex and which we have interpreted as intended to receive the
fixed column of the hysplex.193 Such are the cuttings in blocks c and i of the eastern
balbis (fig. 40). 1 8 4 It is worth noting that block c of the eastern balbis corresponds to
the position of the second and next to last runner—that is, they correspond to the
place where the support bases of the hysplex were added to the balbis at Nemea and
in Stadium II at Isthmia. Moreover, the cutting in block c measures about 0.30 x
0.09 m., which is about the same as that at Isthmia. 1 8 5
Also, in the projections added to the west balbis, which as already noted belong to
the final phase of the stadium, there are indications of their use. 1 8 6 The end of the
northern projecting wall and block y of the southern end (with its cutting for the
insertion of a wooden post) are on exactly the same line, which is 0.40 m. away from
and parallel to the balbis. This is exactly the same distance between the ankon and the
first groove of the balbis at Nemea. 1 8 7 All these details provide very strong indications
that there were starting mechanisms in the stadium at Olympia in all its phases from
the 4th century BC and later. This does not preclude, of course, the possibility that
mechanisms existed in even earlier phases together with the balbides no traces of which
survive. 1 8 8
The Finish of the Foot Races
With regard to those added constructions that have been found in the stadium at
Olympia there has been expressed, as noted, the opinion that they probably had
something to do with a construction for the end of the race ("Zielvorrichtung"). 1 8 9 If
I have understood correctly, it is hypothesized that a vertical post would have been
set in the rectangular cutting of block y, and it, together with a corresponding post
on the other side of the track, would have held the finish tape. This hypothesis gives
me the opportunity to express here some thoughts about the finish of the footraces in
antiquity.
Using for this problem the same evidence that we have for athletic displays in
general—that is, written sources, architectural remains, and pictorial representations—
is of no help because the details are almost nonexistent, and the few that do exist are
182. Schilbach 33-38.

183. See above, pp. 15-17.
184. See Mallwitz 16 ff., 41 ff., pl. 9.
185. See above, n. 60. The cutting on slab i measures 0.30 m. χ 0.20-0.22 m.
186. R. Borrmann, Die Baudenkmäler von Olympia (1892) 63 ff., figs. 29 and 30, pl. 47. Cf. also
Romano fig. 102.
187. Mallwitz, pl. 9, did not leave block y in the place where it was found but moved it into the
same line as the rest of the balbis, and to be sure with a different side up; that is, as it would have
stood in its earlier use. See also his reservations, op. cit., 43 ff.
188. There are also blocks from older balbides that were discarded on the south of the stadium (not
visible today), some of which certainly have grooves on both sides; that is, they were used in two
different phases of the stadium. See E. Kunze, OlBer 5 (1956) 10 ff. and fig. 4.
189. See above n. 184 and compare Zschietzschmann 37. Also, Romano, 106, maintains that the large
isolated square block in the stadium at Nemea, which has a rectangular cutting and which Miller has
interpreted as a kampter, "will have held the finish post for all the running races of the stadium."
60 Hysplex
Figure 40: Olympia. Detail of block i in the eastern balbis with the semicircular cutting intended to
receive the hysplex.
contradictory and self-cancelling. Beginning with the sources, we see that the finish
usually is simply mentioned without a precise indication of the place or of special equip-
ment, except for the two references that we have seen that connect it with the balbis
or the hysplex.190 With regard to the probability that there was a tape stretched as
happens today—and without being enamored of the argumentum ex silentio—I think
that if there had in fact existed such a tape, it would have been a sufficiently provoca-
tive element at least for the poets (e.g., Pindar and those of the Palatine Anthology)
to have remarked on it.
With regard to pictorial representations, we see in some certain scenes of the end
of the race in Attic vase painting—indicated either by the presence of officials or by
the special output of intense motion by the runners themselves—columns as tall as
the men. 191 However, we also frequently see such columns in representations of the
start or of the turn of the race. 192 Some South Italian vases are of special interest
for they depict human figures—not always athletes but in an athletic setting—next
190. See above, p. 6 f.

191. See, for example, the representation on a black-figure kantharos of the "Perizoma Group" in
Paris, Bibl. Nat. #354 ( = ABV 345.2; Jiithner 27, fig. 2). For other representations that probably
show the finish of the hoplitodromia, see Gardiner, 284 ff.
192. See, for example, the recently published Panathenaic amphora by the Achilles painter cited by
Valavanis (supra, n. 84).
The representation of a horse race on Hydria #12145 in the museum of Rhodes is very interesting.
The horses and riders are shown between the start (left) and the end (right) of the race where the
Observations on the Starting Lines of Various Stadia 6l
to little columns or little pillars that bear inscriptions including that of Τ Ε Ρ Μ Ω Ν . 1 9 3

It is believable that these representations of little columns have a metaphorical sig
nificance, as J.M. Moret 1 9 4 has suggested; that is, these are not depictions of real
pillars or columns but imaginary columns used as a means of showing the inscriptions.
Despite this, however, I believe that in the back of his mind the vase painter saw the
corresponding real columns of athletic places, especially the posts of the balbis, that
constituted the starting place of the race as we know from the remains of balbides and
from the customary presence of such elements in scenes of the start of races. Now if
in some cases the sense of the word ΤΕΡΜΩΝ is that of the end of life and is to be
connected with the eschatological character that the vase painter wanted to give to all
these scenes, then what more appropriate iconographie symbol could he use to show
the end of life of men than the end of the "footrace" (αγώνα δρόμου) of life?
We see then that in a series of representations of the finish, the terma is indicated
by an element that also exists at the start. Thus we are led to the conclusion that the
finish did not have some especially characteristic mark that was to be found in the
line of the balbis-hysplex. For this reason, when the vase painters wanted to show the
finish, they adopted something from the illustrative elements that they used also for
the s t a r t . 1 9 5
This conclusion is reinforced also by the archaeological evidence. In the stadium at
Epidauros, where both sets of the balbis-hysplex system are preserved—that is, both
that of the entrance, where the start of some and the finish of all the races took place,
and that of the far end of the stadium, where only the start of the stadion and no
finishes occurred—no difference has been observed in the two systems. 1 9 6 Again in
other stadia there has been noted no special construction or even a cutting in the
balbides that could be connected with the terma.197
DELPHI
Γη the stadium at Delphi, despite the lack of adequate archaeological data, I believe
the attempt by Aupert to reconstruct a hysplex is justified. 1 9 8 Anyone who studies
ancient stadia understands that the presence of such a mechanism is necessary not only
for the unhindered execution of the games—a factor absolutely indispensable for their
credibility and reputation—but also for the creation of an impression on the spectators
during the start, with the spectacle of the fall of the hysplex and the reverberation of
the sound that it made. In general, the element of crowd-pleasing impression making
ought not to be ignored even for earlier periods of athletic displays.
judges await them. The columns that denote the start and the finish are exactly the same, and each
has a row of four small rectangles near the top.
193. See J.M. Moret, "Un Ancêtre du Phylactère: le pilier inscrit des vases Italiotes," RA 1979, 3 ff.,
235 ff.
194. Op. cit., 9 ff.
195. For the little columns that appear in representations of the start, see above, n. 84. See also
F. Chamoux, "L'Athena Mélancolique," BCH 81 (1957) 141-159, where all these columns are called
"-έρματα."
196. Cf. "αφεσις und τέρμα waren in Olympia gleich konstruirt" (Fiechter 1970).
197. For the characteristics of the starting lines of the stadia, see, in general, Zschietzschmann 35 ff.;
Romano 205 ff.; Krinzinger 207 ff.
198. Aupert 59 ff., pl. 22.
62 Hysplex
The only indication that the balbis of the stadium at Delphi provides for the place-
ment of a hysplex is the reduction before the middle of the 3rd century BC of the
positions for runners from 20 to 17, which probably was caused by the placement of
the three bases of the hysplex at the two ends and in the middle of the balbis in the
same way that we saw in the Peloponnesian stadia. 199 Unfortunately, nothing was
discovered in situ and the stones that were used as the base of the system do not bear
any of the elements that we have seen in the bases of the late Classical hysplex. Thus
the representation of the hysplex in his plate 22 is, as Aupert himself admits, a simple
conjecture. 200
Nonetheless, the lack of adequate evidence cannot in any way be taken to mean
that there was no starting mechanism at Delphi. The principles and the practices of
the ancients indicate that such an element was present in every stadium, especially in
one of the most significant stadia of the ancient world. 201 It is, moreover, very possible
that no trace of the hysplex would remain because, as we have seen, the support bases
of the system were surface constructions, only one block deep, without foundations,
at least in the pre-Hellenistic period. It is also not impossible that in some stadia
these bases, since they were additions to the balbis, were thought to be added in later
antiquity and that the purist tendencies of the original excavators did not leave them
in place.
Thus, and because of the absence of any mention of such a system in the known
inscription of the archon Dion (247/6 BC?) 202 that relates the expenses for the repairs
of the athletic installations at Delphi, we are brought to the view that perhaps at
Delphi, just as in other stadia, 203 there was a very simple, completely portable mech-
anism that was brought in front of the balbis together with its base only during the
time of the games, just as happened elsewhere with the basic core of the mechanism,
as we saw above. 204 Such a movable starting system perhaps existed in the gymnasia,
in the xystoi and paradromides of which the youths and athletes in general must have
practiced the start of the race with such a mechanism. 205
199. See above, pp. 19-19. In this phase the positions of the runners at Delphi had a width of 1.37 m.,
except for the central one, t h a t was 1.56 m. See also P. Aupert, "Le cadre des Jeux Pythiques," in
Proceedings 67 ff., and esp. 69.
200. Aupert 61. Cf. also S.G. Miller, AJA 85 (1981) 504 f.
201. J ü t h n e r 82 ff. and 90, on the contrary, does not believe t h a t there were any barriers at the start
of the races in the Panhellenic games.
202. See Aupert 62 n. 2 and the ancient text at 153.14. English translation in Arete 63 ff. # 6 0 .
J. Pouilloux, "Travaux à Delphes à l'occasion des Pythia," Etudes Delphiques (BCH Suppl. 4, 1977)
103 ff., provides commentary for the inscription. Since 36 kampteres are mentioned in the inscription,
T h . Homolle, BCH 23 (1899) 566 ff., already thought t h a t this word referred to the posts in the
balbides of the stadium. Pouilloux also adopted this position, as does Miller (1980) 163.
203. See, for example, below pp. 68 f. in Stadium I at Miletus.
205. It is possible t h a t the older type of hysplex, like that of Isthmia I, continued to live in the
gymnasion. An indication of such a possibility comes from Amphipolis where, in the xystos of the
gymnasion small cuttings in the upper surface of the blocks t h a t held the wooden posts must have
served as the point of attachment of rings for the purpose of guiding cords up to the top for the
individual barrriers. See Lazaride op. cit. (n. 86) pl. 143a.
Maffre, 357, connects with such exercising in the gymnasion the depictions of the start of a race
t h a t appear in Attic vase painting after the Persian Wars. He attributes the absence of a hysplex
from these representations to the fact that scenes are being shown from practice and not from actual
competitions.
Certainly the construction of such completely portable systems was possible only
after a probable change of the means of effecting the torsion in the support bases of the
hysplex. This change must have occurred with the replacement of the bulky and heavy
neura by a smaller and much lighter but equally effective system made from bronze
strips as happened around the middle of the 3rd century BC with war machines. 2 0 6
THE ATHENIAN AGORA
In the early 1970s, on the north side of the Athenian Agora, immediately northeast of
the Altar of the Twelve Gods, there was uncovered a row of five limestone bases with
dimensions of 0.47 χ 0.38 m., each of which bears a square cutting, 0.12 m. on a side,
on its top surface. These bases are set in a straight line with a distance of 1.38 m.
from base to base (or 1.85 m. on centers). The race that we know to have occurred in
the Agora was that for the epheboi of the ten Attic tribes. 2 0 7 Based on these remains,
there has been drawn a starting line with ten such bases, as well as a "dromos" with
a length of 600 feet, that split the Agora from the northwest to the southeast and
reached the east end of South Stoa I . 2 0 8 The use of this starting line, as revealed by
excavation data, lasted only from the middle until the end of the 5th century BC. 2 0 9
In any case, these bases—as they appear and by themselves—cannot have worked
as a proper starting line. 2 1 0 In stadia and tracks where there was no continuous balbis,
the starting line must have been indicated by a line drawn in the ground. But in that
case, however, the existence of a hysplex was still more indispensable since it would
have provided the only fixed point for the start of the races. Since, however, our type
of hysplex had not yet been invented in the middle of the 5th century BC and since no
relevant elements were discerned in the excavation which would allow the placement in
•he Athenian Agora of a hysplex like that of the contemporary Stadium I at Isthmia,
we must look for some other solution, based on the excavation data.
At the western end of the five bases was found "a perfectly circular pit" with a
diameter of 1.20 m. from which, as the excavator mentions, some circular base had
206. See below, pp. 65-67.

207. Shear 362 ff. and Kyle 60 ff. The width of the lanes does not preclude their use for the known
equestrian competitions in the Athenian Agora. Compare J.McK. Camp, The Athenian Agora: A
Guide* (1990) 111 ff., esp. 113 and fig. 65.
208. See, for example, J.McK. Camp, The Athenian Agora: Excavations in the Heart of Classical
Athens (1986) 89, fig. 66.
209. Such a short period of use of this system is a problem, while an impossible detail in the
restoration of ten such bases in a row (see Camp, loc. cit.) is that the first runner on the right would
have been blocked at the start of his race by the corner of the Altar of the Twelve Gods. However,
based on the new chronology of the altar by L.M. Gadberry, "The Sanctuary of the Twelve Gods in
the Athenian Agora: A Revised View," Hesperia 61 (1992) 447-489, it appears that the second of
;hese problems have been solved.
210. This system with isolated bases, as opposed to that with a continuous balbis in other mainland
Greek stadia and racetracks, perhaps was occasioned in the Athenian Agora by the choice of a
construction of less bulk since it happened to be on top of the paving of the Panathenaic Way and
ought not to have impeded the daily use of the road. The system of isolated bases was customary
preeminently in the stadia of Asia Minor from the 4th century and later (see below, p. 67.). Regarding
the distinction between continuous balbides and isolated bases, Stephen G. Miller in his preface to
the American edition of E.N. Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World (Chicago 1978), x-xi, asks "if
these may represent an ethnic (Ionic here) variation in athletic practice, or whether they were ritual
:n character."
64 Hysplex
"obviously" been removed. 2 1 1 This pit surely had something to do with the starting
line because it is precisely in the same line as the five bases and at the same distance
from the last of them. For this reason it has been interpreted as the probable position
of a kampter.212 However, the pit is very large for such a use and, given its perfectly
circular form and well-preserved edges—which would not be expected if something
had been pried from it—we might well suppose that it formed a part of the system
and was not for the receipt of a base. Based on these hypothetical details, another
possible use for it might have been as follows. In many cases we have already noted
that the central position on the starting line was wider than the rest and that this
probably had to do with the presence there of the aphetes, who checked the position
of the runners and who started the race. Here, then, I would suggest that the pit was
the position for the aphetes who could, from this place, not only have looked left and
right at the runners but also have held a horizontal cord that, connected to the tops
of the wooden posts, could have made up some type of hysplex. We have seen such a
pit—albeit behind the runners—in Stadium I at Isthmia, 2 1 3 and we will also see below
the example at Rhodes where the well-like construction for the aphetes has a similar
diameter of 1.20 m . 2 1 4
Stadia of Asia Minor and the Islands
Three stadia in Asia Minor, that do not have a continuous balbis but rather isolated
individual bases with rectangular sockets in their upper surface for the insertion of
wooden posts exactly as in the Athenian Agora, present interesting elements relevant
to starting mechanisms. We will examine below the starting lines that are next to the
Temple of Apollo at Didyma and the original starting lines in the stadia of Priene and
Miletos, as well as the starting line in the stadium of Rhodes, which is of particular
interest.
DIDYMA
At Didyma, in the stadium that lies alongside the Temple of Apollo the steps of which
served as seats for spectators, the system consists of stone blocks of two different
sizes with sockets of correspondingly different sizes: 2 1 5 there are six small slabs with
a thickness of 0.15-0.22 m. that have rectangular sockets measuring 0.10 χ 0.10 m.
intended for the placement of posts that simply divided the positions of the runners
(fig. 41). In addition, three large blocks measuring 0.68 χ 0.74 m. are located at the
two ends and in the middle of the six small blocks that have large square deep cuttings
211. Shear 363.

212. Shear 365.
213. See above, pp. 7-8.
214. See below, pp. 84, 87-90. Of course, the circular pit in the Athenian Agora mentioned here
would have been covered most of the time when the games were not being held.
215. For the track next to the great temple of Didyma see T h . Wiegand and H. Knackfuss, Didyma
I. Die Baubeschreibung (1941) 140 ff.; J ü t h n e r 62, fig. 14; Harris (1972), fig. 4. T h e starting blocks
were placed here in the 2nd century BC when the games became Panhellenic and quadrennial; see
J. Fontenrose, Didyma: Apollo's Oracle, Cult and Companions (1988) 19 f., and ft. N a u m a n n , Didyma
Führer (ca. 1973) 50 and fig. 32.
measuring 0.28 m. on a side. Although they have been disturbed, it appears that these
blocks were originally placed in two parallel rows: the first row consisted of the six
small blocks placed in two groups of three with a canonical width left between them
for the runners and a much larger space in the middle between the two groups. At a
distance of 0.57 m. in front of this row of smaller blocks was placed the row of larger
blocks, one well beyond each end of the row of small blocks and one in the central
larger space.
The excavators and first scholars who studied the area interpreted correctly the
working of the two types of bases. They theorized that the small blocks composed
the balbis and were intended only for the posts that separated the runners and the
large blocks placed 0.57 m. in front were remains of the hysplex and were used for the
insertion of "special posts between the top of which there is to be assumed a single, cord
barrier was stretched." 2 1 6 We see, then, that here too were all the requisite items for the
existence of a hysplex with three ankones as we have seen in Corinth and in the Delian
inscriptions. A further interesting element is the existence in the central large base of
a horizontal hole, rectangular in section ("rechteckige Durchbohrung"), that measures
0.10 χ 0.09 m. This hole pierces the right (south) side of the block and extends to
the rectangular vertical cutting. This hole led the excavators to place the operating
mechanism of the system in the central base. 2 1 7 The existence of the mechanism in
the central base alone, however, would force us to replace the horizontal cord barrier
with a wooden bar or a "ξυλον" as one source calls it and as is represented visually
in the Roman period. This wood must have been of a strength sufficient to span the
distance of 4.369-5.018 m. between the bases, without sagging. This wooden bar would
have been firmly connected to all three vertical ankones and therefore shaped like a
three-legged Π. But such a system is unwieldy, and it is almost impossible to ensure
that all three ankones would strike the ground at the same moment. It is preferable to
think that all three bases were equipped with torsion-introducing machines and that
the more usual cord barriers were used (fig. 42). If this reconstruction is correct, then
we must look for some other explanation for the horizontal hole in the central base.
No particular explanation is immediately obvious, but the possibility of reinforcing
the attachment of the wood to the stone base cannot be excluded.
With regard to the means by which the necessary torsion was introduced as well
as the way in which the "heels" of the ankones were attached to their wooden bases,
I would suggest that, since the bases have no room for the neura, we must look at
other means of producing torsion that existed in antiquity. In fact, if we return once
more to the world of catapults, we see that the Alexandrian engineer Ktesibios, a
great technological talent who lived in the period of Ptolemy II (285-247 BC) and was
particularly active in the period between 275 and 260 BC, invented a new throwing
machine, the chalkotonon.218 To produce the necessary torsion in this machine, he
replaced the enormous neura with two metal elliptically shaped plates (lepides as
he called them) that, made from a special alloy of bronze containing 30% tin and
216. Wiegand and Knackfuss, op. cit., 141: ". .. eigendliche Sperre, zwischen denen eine einfache,
hochzuziehende Seilschranke anzunehmen ist."
217. Loc. cit. Bean, 242 ff., on the contrary, expresses many reservations about such a system using
a cord barrier.
218. Philon 67.28 ff. See Schramm I 59 ff., pl. 6; Marsden II 174 ff., diagram 8, pl. 14; and Hall, op.
cit. (n. 80) 712 ff., pl. 644.
Ι 1
0 5 10 Μ
Figure 41: Didyma. Plan and longitudinal cross-section of t h e bases of the balbis and hysplex (after
T h . Wiegand and H. Knackfuss, Didyma I, Die Baubeschreibung (1941) pl. 84).
Figure 42: Didyma. Schematic reconstruction of the balbis and t h e hysplex.

Ο 5 10 15M.
Figure 43: Priene. Plan of the bases of the first phase of the starting line (after Wiegand and Schrader,
fig. 264).
having undergone the appropriate hammering, could be pre stressed and could hold
their torsion for a long time. With this new system, which was much cheaper and less
bulky than the earlier one, "the heel of the ankon had been riveted on the lepides,"
that "having been divided with great force, lifted the heel of the ankon."219 It seems
that this new discovery was not installed in the large machines since the gigantic
onager continued to use the old system with twisted neura for many centuries. 2 2 0 But
for small machines of less power, as would have been true in our hypothetical case,
I do not think it unlikely that there were used similar metal lepides, made from the
new alloy and with the same hammering, that had the ability to preserve the torsion.
PRIENE (STADIUM i)
In the first phase of the starting line in the stadium of Priene 2 2 1 we have eight indi
vidual bases (fig. 43) with rectangular cuttings in their centers for the insertion of the
wood post. These bases form two groups of four each and leave larger spaces between
222
them at the center and between the end bases and the sides of the stadium. These
eight bases, thus placed, do not seem sufficient to serve as a proper starting line.
Again, if we compare the positions of the bases and the spaces between them with
the system that replaced them in the Hellenistic period (fig. 43), and connect these
facts with the example we just saw at Didyma, I think we can with great probability
restore here, too, at the center and at the ends of the balbis three larger rectangular
bases with rectangular cuttings in their centers that would have borne the ankones of
the hysplex, and of which nothing seems to have survived.
219. Philon 70.18 and 70.32 ff.: "ό άγκών τήν πτέρναν εϊχεν έπηρεισμένην επί των λεπίδων" that "δι' δ
και συνέβαινεν μετά βίας πολλής διισταμένας αύτας άναμοχλεύειν τήν άγκώνος πτέρναν." He describes
the advantages of the new invention in paragraph 72.5.
220. It is believed t h a t an attempt by Ktesibios to replace the neura with a metal spring was not
successful. For the onager see above, nn. 124 and 125.
221. Wiegand and Schrader 258 ff.; M. Schede, Die Ruinen von Priene (1934) 88 ff.; Zschiet-
zschmann 38 and 56, fig. 7; Harris (1972) 17; Jüthner 61 ff.
222. The attempt by Bean, fig. 40, to reorganize these stones by regularizing the spaces between
them is wrong. His inaccurate plan was also adopted by Harris (1972) 29, fig. 3.
68 Hysplex
Figure 44: Miletos. State plan and separated plan of the bases of the first phase of the starting line
at the eastern end of the stadium (after von Gerkan, pl. 5c).
MILETOS (STADIUM I
Also in the first phase of the stadium at Miletos, 223 which was set in place in the
first half of the 2nd century BC and is preserved in good condition just in front of the
monumental entrance of the eastern side, we encounter two sizes and types of bases.
The first consists of ten slabs measuring 0.38-0.48 x 0.58-1.10 m. with a thickness of
0.15-0.20 m. without foundations (fig. 44). Their top surfaces have rectangular sockets
measuring 0.10 χ 0.10-0.11 m. for the posts of the balbis. The second is two of the
original three larger blocks for the ankones of the hysplex; the foundations for all three
survive. The central block is square in plan, measuring 0.98 m. on each side, and has
a height of 0.50 m. The surviving (right) ankon base measures 0.87 χ 0.98 m. with
a height of 0.57 m. The new feature that we have not encountered heretofore is that
all these are in a single straight line. This fact need not surprise us since in the stadia
where there is not a continuous balbis with grooves for the feet of the runners, they
could have stood not exactly between the posts but a little back of them so that they
would not be bothered by the horizontal cord that was stretched in front of them on
the three ankones of the hysplex.
The back part of the cutting of the central base is rectangular while the front is
semicircular. The cutting measures 0.54 χ 0.48 m. with a depth of 0.10 m. (fig. 45).
At the bottom of this cutting is another, smaller, cutting that is, again, rectangular at
the back but pointed at the front. It measures 0.29 x 0.44 m. and continues downward
through the whole of the remaining 0.30 m. of the block. At a depth of 0.24 m. from
the top of the block (0.14 m. from the top of the smaller cutting) a horizontal cutting
with a height of 0.26 m. extends from the curved side to the front of the block.
The surviving side base has a circular cutting 0.40 m. in diameter with a depth of
0.08 m. in the center of which is a square cutting, 0.18 m. on a side, that extends
through the whole block to the foundations beneath.
223. von Gerkan 6 ff., pl. 1, with perceptive thoughts about the probable way in which the system
operated. See also Zschietzschmann 31 and figs. 8 and 9; Jüthner 61 ff.; Krinzinger 216.
Figure 45: Miletos. Cross-sections through the bases of the starting lines at the eastern end of the
stadium (after von Gerkan, pl. 6).
The publication of the stadium at Miletus by von Gerkan suggested a probable

reconstruction of the system with the placement on the three large bases of the frames
for the hysplex:
. . . it is then probable that higher posts, but with a different shape, stood
in the middle and at the ends of the barrier, as is to be concluded from the
sockets that are larger and deeper than any others, and that the backsides
are cut so that the ends and the middle of the bar could be lifted with the
help of strings to the desired height. The way the strings worked can not
be established although it must have been connected with the hole drilled
forward through the middle supporting block, and one may suppose that
the strings were guided from the ends through this to the central post. 2 2 4
In fact, it would be possible to place in the stone bases wooden elements with a
height of about 1.00-1.20 m. in a size dictated by the cuttings in the bases that are
to receive them. In other words, the two outside elements would have the shape of a
column with a diameter of 0.40 m. while the central half column would measure 0.54 χ
0.48 m. Perhaps the shape of the central element was adopted to give uniformity to the
facade of the whole system. The two outside columns must have been solid, with the
narrower, lower parts wedged into the deep central cutting. The central half column,
however, must have been pierced in the middle in accordance with the horizontal
cutting that extends from the curved front of the cutting to the front of the base as a
whole, which appears to have something to do with the operation of the system.
The horizontal barriers must have consisted of two wooden bars with a length of
about 10 m. each (!), perhaps suspended from pulleys that were on the sides of the
top of the columns. The problem of a central sag in these bars, and the effect of that
sag on the bars when they met the ground (ends and center bouncing at different
times), suggests that such a bar would be, at best, awkward for the start of the race.
Further, the problem of a simultaneous release for all three elements on the three bases
224. von Gerkan 8-9: " . . . es ist daher wahrscheinlicher, daß in der Mitte und an den Enden der
Schranken höhere, anders gestaltete Pfosten standen, was ja auch aus den größeren und vor allem
::eiferen Standlöchern zu erschließen ist, und daß an deren Rückseiten die Enden und die Mitte der
Stange nach oben glitten, wenn sie mit Hilfe von Stricken bis zur erforderlichen Höhe emporgezogen
wurde. Die Art der Strickführung läßt sich nicht feststellen, doch muß sie wohl im Zusammenhang mit
der vorderen Durchbohrung des mittleren Lochsteines gestanden haben, und man darf voraussetzen
daß die Stricke von den Enden ebenfalls hierher zum Mittelpfosten geleitet wären."
70 Hysplex
0 5 10 M.
Figure 46: Miletos. General schematic reconstruction of the first phase of the balbis and hysplex.
since only the central one has provision for a release (by means of the lower horizontal
cutting) is one I cannot resolve.
Finally, we should note that a line drawn along the front of the smaller post sockets
of the balbis aligns with the center of the three "column" cuttings of the larger bases,
and this would have hindered the fall of the wooden bars of the hysplex, since they
would have struck the wooden posts of the balbis.
A possible alternative would be to restore an ankon in each of the three bases with a
frame supporting a metallic lepis as the agent of throwing the ankon to the ground as
suggested above for Didyma (fig. 42). The barrier must have been a cord fastened to
the tops of the ankones and thence to anchors on the ground at the two ends so that
it could be tightly stretched to prevent sagging. If these hypotheses are near the truth,
then the whole system of balbis and hysplex must have had the appearance indicated
in figure 46. But once again the existence of the piers of the parodos of the stadium
exactly next to and touching the end bases and the problem of the simultaneous fall
of the three ankones given that there is no space behind the balbis for the aphetes to
stand and hold the operating cords make this solution difficult as well, at least in the
present state of our knowledge.
It should be noted that the remains of the first phase of the starting line at Miletos
are buried today and therefore inaccessible to the scholar, who must necessarily rely
on the published plans and general photographs of the excavators of the stadium. 225
MILETOS (STADIUM II)
A few years after the creation of the system we have just examined, and still within
the later Hellenistic period, 226 it was necessary to replace it, either because it did not
work properly or because a more impressive system was desired. This second hysplex
of Miletos (figs. 44, circles; 45), cannot be categorized with the type of monumental
hyspleges that we will see below. At the same time it differs from the Classical hysplex
since it provides permanent vertical members like the late Hellenistic type. Thus this
type remains isolated and, in some sense, comprises a link between the Classical and
225. It has been suggested that the wooden posts or columns that were inserted into the bases of
the stadia of Asia Minor could have also been kampteres (Miller 163). But the large dimensions, the
distance from the posts of the starting line, the position in such an out of the way place of the three
larger blocks, and the impossibility of turning those in the stadium at Miletos because they are next
to the stone pillars of the parodos of the stadium, weakens considerably such a suggestion, at least
for those larger bases.
226. See von Gerkan 9.
the Hellenistic hyspleges, regardless of whether it is contemporary with or even later

than some of the latter.
Now the small bases for the posts of the balbis and the three large bases of the
hysplex disappear with the rise in ground level of about 0.15 m. The large bases,
however, are replaced by other similar bases that are set immediately in front of the
older examples. 2 2 7 These new bases consist of very short columns in a second use that
have been cut on their back sides (and were not made originally as half-columns),
with a height of 0.95-1.25 m. that rest on foundations of different heights but whose
upper surfaces are at the same level above ground (fig. 45). On their upper surfaces
are rectangular cuttings 0.35 χ 0.44 m. with a depth of 0.17 m. The two end columns
have on their back flat side a vertical channel that is 0.04 m. square in section; the
central column has in a similar position and arrangement two cuttings, with lengths
of 0.10 m. for one and 0.035 m. for the other. Finally, at the upper rear corner of
the foundations of the outside columns are horizontal cuttings, rectangular in section,
that von Gerkan believed were sockets for the receipt of wooden boards that bordered
the edge of the track.
The existence of three vertical members but with a channel only in the two end ones
indicates, at first glance, that we still have here the use of a single barrier for all the
runners that was operated only from the two ends. The dimensions of the cuttings in
the top of the columns, which are similar to those of the previous phase of the same
stadium, and the lack of elements for movement (e.g., channels, etc.) in them indicate
that there should have been inserted here either an entire wooden base that supported
the hysplex or a place for the insertion of wooden posts that lifted the hysplex to a
higher level, perhaps from a wooden epistyle.
If in the first hypothesis the hysplex that was inserted in the three bases was of
the same type as the Classical—if, that is to say, there were upright ankones that fell
forward—the bottom of the hysplex would been at a height of 1.05 m., which would
have presented difficulties during the fall of the ankones and the cords, which would
have touched the ground only after describing an arc of 180 degrees rather than the
90 degrees of the earlier period. Because of this negative detail, the flattening of the
back side of the columns, and the existence of the vertical channels in the two end
columns, we are led to the second hypothesis that a different form of hysplex must
have been used here.
This new type of hysplex would have consisted of three wooden half columns with
the same size as and set on top of the stone columns, and therefore extending their
line upward for a height of perhaps 2.30 m. (but certainly more than the height of a
man). The vertical cuttings in the flat back of the outside columns must also have been
continued to the top of the wooden half columns in those positions. On top of these
columns must have rested a wooden epistyle that spanned the approximately 10.20 m.
228
wide opening between them. The purpose of this epistyle would have been twofold.
First, and by means of a system of pulleys and rollers encased within it and above
the columns, it would have provided the means for supporting horizontal wooden or
227. See von Gerkan 9 ff., figs. 3, 4, 6, and pls. 1, 6, 7. Only the eastern starting line has been
completely excavated, but a similar base was also discovered in a test trench at the western starting
line of the stadium. Op. cit., 11.
228. This is an extremely long span for a single wooden beam, but not without parallel; see L. Kray-
nak in Nemea I (1992) 133-134 with bibliography.
72 Hysplex
O 5 10 M
Figure 47: Miletos. General schematic reconstruction of the second phase of the hysplex starting
mechanism.
metallic bar barriers and for releasing those bars to fall to the ground, allowing the
runners to start. Secondly, the epistyle would have provided a means of support for the
center bar, thus eliminating the problem of sag. The outside ends of the bars would
have been raised by cords running through the vertical cuttings on the back of the
outside columns while the inside ends of the bars were supported by cords suspended
on the sides of the central column as can be seen in the drawing (fig. 47). To avoid
problems of the athletes tripping over the bar, it must have fallen into a channel cut
into the surface of the track. This explains the cutting across the upper rear corner of
the foundations for the outside columns (described above) as well as the lack of that
cutting on the central foundations.
In the description above we noted the existence of two cuttings on the back surface
of the central column (as opposed to the vertical channels that ran the entire height of
the outside columns). These appear to be related to the operation of the mechanism
and probably were where the release devices for the inside ends of the bars were
located, attached by means of cords along the back of the column up to rollers in the
epistyle and hence to the common point of release for the whole system.
The working system of the hysplex that I have tried to restore in Stadium II at
Miletos would have had the same principles as the system that was used in Roman
theaters for the sudden fall of the stage curtain, as we learn from the nearly perfectly
preserved architectural remains of the theater at Lyon.229
It would be necessary to re-excavate the remains—which have been recovered by
flooding over the years—and reexamine the actual remains on the spot to confirm or
deny the correctness of the system suggested here.
RHODES
There are preserved on the surface and below the earth in the stadium at Rhodes
interesting remains of the balbides as well as of the hysplex system. Aside from this,
however, also exceptionally well preserved here is the operating system of the hysplex
mechanism, an element that is unique and precious for this attempt to restore the
hysplex in all its details.
229. See A. Audin, "Le théâtre antique de Lyon et les rideaux de scène," Palladio 12 (1962) 1 ff. I
am indebted for the reference to Professor Ch. Bouras.
Unfortunately the stadium at Rhodes (figs. 48-50) remains completely unknown in

scholarly research because its excavation by the Italians has not been published and
the records of its subsequent reconstruction have been lost. 2 3 0 The information we
have at our disposal and on which this study is based, in large part comes essentially
from photographs and drawings that were made about 1972 or 1973 in connection
with excavation research and cleaning and that were graciously provided to me by the
Ephoreia of Antiquities in Rhodes. Despite the meager information available in the
bibliography, I will attempt to make use of the available data so as to reconstruct the
phases of the balbides and the hyspleges in the stadium at Rhodes. The chronology
given is especially to be treated with caution.
(1) The older remains were uncovered in a pit a little south of the northern starting
line. They consist of two poros limestone constructions (figs. 51E, 52, 53). One of
these is formed of two adjacent blocks, of roughly the size of the bases of the Classical
hysplex. Their interiors are hollowed out to form a place for the insertion of a cylindri
cal, probably wooden, element that most likely held the mechanism. The horizontal
cylindrical cutting in one of the two stones contributes to this interpretation, for it is
an indication of the insertion of some horizontal element like the neura of the Clas
sical hysplex. The same role must have been played by the slightly later (?) second
poros construction (fig. 53) with a large but shallow cutting the rim of which is open
only toward one short end, and that in the same direction as the ankon of the earlier
fell. This small amount of information does not allow an attempt to reconstruct the
mechanisms. But these observations are sufficient to lead us surely to the placement
of the starting line of the first stadium of Rhodes with a north-south orientation.
Therefore, we are forced to conclude that the stadium of the 4th century BC to which
these remains belong must have had an east-west orientation, contrary to that which
survives today (fig. 51). It must have been between the two ancient roads P16 and
P17, occupying the same space as the later Hellenistic gymnasion (fig. 54). 2 3 1
Also with the balbis of this starting line might be associated two marble slabs that
were reused in the next phase of the starting line (figs. 51Z, H, 55-60) and each of
which bear a single crescent-shaped shallow , intended apparently for the placement
232
of a foot by the runners. It seems, then, that in the first phase of the stadium at
Rhodes, in the 4th century BC, there was a balbis with individual isolated cuttings
230. See, in general, for the stadium at Rhodes, A. Maiuri, Clara Rhodos I (1928) 48 ff.; L. Laurenzi,
-I Monumenti dell' Antica Rodi," MemFERT 2 (1938) 25 ff.; P. Mylonas, Περί Σταδίων (1952), pl. 47
drawing by Sp. Iakovides); Kondis 153, with a nice aerial photograph on pl. 126. See also Zschiet-
zschmann pls. 21-24 and G. Konstantinopoulos, 'Αρχαία Ρόδος (1986) 215, fig. 238. Only Krinzinger,
130 ff., has dealt at length with the stadium at Rhodes when he describes its characteristics, on which
he bases his chronology.
231. These remains were attributed to the 4th century also by Krinzinger; see AD 29, 1973/4 B3,
965 (E. Zervoudake). He also believes that in this period the racetrack was oriented slightly toward
the southeast. The stadium of the 4th century must have been a simple construction that is not to
be compared with its monumental Hellenistic successor. This site was chosen as an appropriately
level location that needed no extraordinary effort to create a racetrack as was the case for the
later Hellenistic stadium (see below, p. 79). For the location occupied by the Hellenistic gymnasion,
see ΠΑΕ 1952, 563 ff, and 565, fig. 10. Cf. Kondis 153. The new location suggested above for the
Classical stadium agrees completely with the layout of the Hippodameian city, which is not true for
the orientation proposed by Krinzinger. For the city-planning system of Rhodes, see Kondis, and
W. Hoepfner and E.L. Schwander, Haus und Stadt im antiken Griechenland (1986) 21 ff.
232. Harris (1964) 67 and 70 has also noted these notches.
Figure 48: Rhodes. Plan of the stadium (based on the plan of S. lakovides in Ρ Mvlonas ΠεοΙ
σταδίων (1952) pl. 47). '
Figure 49: Rhodes. General view of the stadium from the odeion in 1973.
Figure 50: Rhodes. General view of the stadium from the sphendone (i.e., from the south), 1992.
In the foreground appear the upper part of the circular pit and operating channel from the third
phase of the hysplex together with the rectilinear retaining wall built by the Italian restorers that
surrounded the earth-covered remains of the hysplex.
Figure 51: Rhodes. Plan with the various phases of the stadium and its starting lines: broken line:
first phase; hatched area = second phase; dotted line = third phase.
Figure 52: Rhodes. Remains of the left base of the hysplex of the first phase, from the southwest,
probably 1973.
Figure 53: Rhodes. Remains of the left base of the hysplex of the first phase, from the east, probably
1973.
ΤΕΙΧΟΣ
ΟΔΟΙ
ΛΙΜΕΝΙΚΑ! ΕΓΚΑΤΑΣΤΑΣΕΙΣ
Figure 54: Rhodes. Plan of the city with the new position of the stadium of the 4th century BC
shown in dotted lines (based on G. Konstantinopoulos, AAA 3 (1970) plan 1).
for the feet of the runners like those we have seen in the racecourse at Corinth and
also some system of hysplex at its ends the mechanism of which must not have been
very different from that of the Classical hysplex. This location for the stadium and its
starting system must have been used until the great earthquake of 227 BC.
(2) In the following years, and probably in the 2nd century BC, the construction
of the new stadium must have taken place in the location where it survives today. It
represents a part of the basic changes of the architecture of the city during this period
which occurred simultaneously with the general remodeling of the akropolis. 2 3 3 The
new stadium was constructed on the eastern side of the akropolis parallel to the
retaining walls of the latter. This followed on a large-scale cut into and removal from
the akropolis of large quantities of earth, that were subsequently used for the eastern
embankment of the stadium. This, in turn, was used to support the seats on this
side of the track. This location had benefits beyond the obvious practical ones, for it
complied with basic principles of Rhodian public architectural and town planning. 2 3 4
Remains of the bases for the hyspleges of this phase are preserved at the two nar
row ends of the stadium, but the balbis cannot be described accurately without new
excavations (figs. 48B, Γ). On the northern side, at the entrance, is preserved a series
of limestone slabs that make up a section of the balbis and probably belong to the
next phase (figs. 55, 56). At the western end of this series of slabs is still preserved a
construction consisting of four blocks reused (probably from the earlier balbis) in this
position apparently for the support of the hysplex mechanism (figs. 51Z, 57, 58). 2 3 5 On
the southern side, toward the sphendone, this phase is represented only by a similar
construction (figs. 51H, 59, 60) consisting of four similar blocks in the tops of which
can be clearly discerned the place for setting the frame of the hysplex mechanism with
a semicircular cutting on the side for the neura and an opening on the right for the
fall of the ankon.236 These blocks, with regard to their size and shape and especially
to the cavity they form, resemble the two blocks that are set on either side of the large
central base of the next, third phase (see fig. 51). It is then possible that the former
blocks come from a base, but of the second phase when they were set in place. On
blocks of both of these constructions there can be distinguished +-shaped incisions
that indicate the ancient measuring points at the two ends of the stadium's track. 2 3 7
(3) As is natural, the third and final phase of the stadium is the best preserved. This
is to be dated to the Roman Imperial period, probably in the 2nd century after Christ,
233. The view that the construction activity of the Rhodians after the earthquake was not restricted
to those areas that had been damaged, but provided an opportunity for a general renovation of the
city (see Kondis 156), is supported also by the case of the stadium. This simple, low construction
should not have been damaged by the earthquake but was, nonetheless, moved to a new location.
234. See Kondis 150, 153; Konstantinopoulos (supra n. 230) 117 ff. Krinzinger dates this phase to
the turn of the 2nd to the 1st century BC because of its connections with the odeion, that cannot,
typologically in his opinion, be dated any earlier. See Krinzinger 137; cf. AD 29, 1973/4 B3, 965.
235. No connection is apparent between this construction and the series of slabs south of it because
the latter is in front of the former (see figs. 55, 56), while for obvious reasons the reverse should be
true.
236. This base seems not to be connected with the balbis of this side (which belongs to the next
phase as we shall see below, p. 90 f.) because it is relatively far removed from it. In the next phase
this base appears to have been replaced by the limestone base constructed behind it (see figs. 61-65).
237. Krinzinger noted these traces and measured the length of the track of the stadium from them.
He found it to be 202.36 m., which permits the length of the foot used to be calculated at 33.726 cm.
Therefore in the stadium of Rhodes a construction foot rather than an athletic foot was used.
80 Hysplex
Figure 55: Rhodes. The right base of the northern hysplex of the second phase, from the northwest,
1973. Above and in a reused position is a sill block with a lunate cutting for the foot of a runner
from the preceding phase. Within the circle is a T-shaped incised mark that denotes the start of a
measurement; the arrow indicates the cutting for the insertion of the axis of the neura.
perhaps on the occasion of the visit by Hadrian in 123 AD and probably before the
earthquake of the middle years of the same century. 2 3 8 In addition to the construction
of an impressive propylon at the entrance, 2 3 9 we also note during this period the
reorganization of some elements of the stadium that seem to have been caused by
the influence of the Roman circus. That is, there was undertaken a completely new
construction of the starting line with the hysplex at the southern end only (toward
the sphendone; fig. 48B), while at the northern end only a series of limestone slabs has
240
been preserved, perhaps for the foundations of the balbis (fig. 48Γ). At the same
time there appeared, on the long axis of the stadium, a channel (fig. 48Δ).
In the reconstructed stadium of the ancient city, and at the south end of the track
toward the sphendone (fig. 48), there are well preserved remains of the working system
of the hysplex, that the modern Italian re-constructors surrounded with a row of blocks
238. The third phase of the stadium ought not to have occurred after the earthquake because,
according to Aelius Aristides 32, the stadium suffered no damage ("και τόν μεν των Αλιείων αγώνα
ποιήσετε, και τό χωρίον μεμένηκε σων [σώον] où ποιήσετε") [And you will conduct the games of the
Halieians, and the place where you will conduct them remained undamaged]). Most repairs after the
earthquake have been observed in domestic buildings. It has not been possible to recognize the repairs
and reconstructions of public buildings mentioned by Pausanias (8.43.4) and attributed by him to
Antoninus Pius. See Kondis 157.
239. Similar monumental propyla were added in the 2nd or 3rd century after Christ to the stadia at
Delphi (see Aupert 95 ff. and idem in Proceedings, 70) and Miletus (von Gerkan 2, fig. 1 and plate 5,
top, and Zschietzschmann 31 and figs. 8, 9).
240. It is not possible from photographs alone (figures 57, 58) to verify whether the two blocks that
rest at a higher level (one of which projects at right angles to the series of slabs below) on top of the
base for the hysplex of the previous phase had the same purpose as that base.
Figure 56: Rhodes. The right base of the northern hysplex of the second phase, from the southwest,
1973.
Figure 57: Rhodes. The remains of slabs of the balbis of the third phase and the base of the hysplex
of the second phase on the northern end of the stadium, from the west, 1973. The thin wall next to '
the slabs is the work of modern Italian restorers.
Figure 58: Rhodes. The remains of slabs of the balbis of the third phase and the base of the hysplex
of the second phase on the northern end of the stadium, from the east, 1973. In the foreground and
out of place are bases for the placement of posts of the balbis. Here it is clear that the first of the
series of the stone slabs projects beyond the face of the base and that it therefore does not belong to
this phase.
84 Hysplex
Figure 59: Rhodes. The left base of the southern hysplex of the second phase, from the east, 1973.
At the lower right (in a position of reuse from the preceding phase) is a stone sill with a lunate
cutting for the foot of a runner. Encircled is a T-shaped incised mark that denotes the start of a
measurement. The arrow at the center of the photograph shows the depression for the insertion of
the axis of the neura.
in a rectangle measuring 4.10 χ 28 m. in order thus to preserve at a deeper level

whatever had remained from the elements of the starting line at this end (fig. 61).
The operating system consists of a well-like construction that is at the southernmost
part of the track and from which extends a long channel that leads today to the
rectangle made by the Italians around the remains of the starting line (figs. 62-63).
The well-like construction has a diameter of about 1.20 m. and a depth of 0.46 m.
It is constructed of gray marble blocks in a second use that form, on their upper
surfaces, a circular rim 0.035 m. high. At four points on the rim there were marked
out dowel holes measuring 0.04 χ 0.06 m. of which only two were finally carved out.
The interior of the well-like structure is notable for its rough workmanship—perhaps
an indication that it was not intended to be visible to the spectators (fig. 64). The
channel (figs. 61-63) has a rectangular section and a length of 8.30 m., a width of
0.28 m., and a depth estimated at 0.35 m. in its entire length from the end to the
circular pit where the bottom slopes downward to reach the bottom of the pit, which
is at a depth of 0.46 m. It was built of gray marble oblong blocks that are bound along
its length with Π-clamps. In the whole length of the channel, as well as at the exit
of the well-like construction, two types of cuttings are preserved. One type is a small
cutting each of which measures 0.04 χ 0.06 x 0.035-0.04 m.; they are located at the
rim of the channel, at regular intervals of one meter. The second type is located on
the facing vertical sides of the channel, at intervals of 1.80-2.10 m., and consists of
vertical channels cut with a rectangular section and dimensions of 0.025 χ 0.02 m.
These begin at the top edge and reach the bottom of the channel.
The lower level at which the remains of the starting line are preserved as well as the
poros limestone of which they are built show that they are parts of the foundations of
the line. Immediately in front of the end of the channel and about 0.05 m. deeper than
its bottom (fig. 61) is a large block measuring about 1.90 x 1.50 m. on either side of
which stretches out a continuous row (with a total length of about 22.50 m.) of smaller
blocks the dimensions of each of which are in the range of 0.80-1.10 χ 0.50-0.70 m.
In front of this row and at intervals that vary from 0.70 to 1.00 m. are a series of 14
(seven on each side of the central block) similar but isolated blocks with dimensions
of about 0.70-0.80 χ 0.40-0.60 m. projecting away from the continuous line.
At two points in particular near the ends of the long row of blocks there is a shallow
channel of which the one on the right (from the runner's perspective) end has a length
of 2.70 m., a width of 0.30 m., and a depth that varies from 0.09 to 0.12 m. The
corresponding channel at the left end has a length of 1.70 m., a width of 0.22 m., and
a depth of 0.02-0.04 m. Similar channels with depths of 0.04-0.05 m. are on three of
the individual projecting blocks on the right side. 2 4 1
241. The differences in dimensions and generally the inadequacies of the channels probably indicate
that the blocks are reused here from some earlier construction. In general in the stadium of Rhodes,
as in many other stadia of the ancient world, many and constant reuses of the same stones can be
seen in various phases of the balbis and hysplex. This phenomenon is characteristic of the perceptions
and the practices of the ancients vis-à-vis older material that was already in place, even though many
of these constructions were concerned with monumental reconstructions of stadia, and this reveals
economic comfort and ability to make provision for new material.
Near each of the two ends of the starting line are a group of four or five poros blocks
that form the foundation for a larger base (fig. 61). The face of these two foundations
is 0.30-0.45 m. in front of the face of the row of individual projecting blocks but is in
line with the face of the large central base.
We have here, then, a starting system that consists of three large bases in between
which extends a continuous row of blocks, and in front of the latter are placed a total
of 14 smaller blocks. Not in situ but at a short distance away lie two square blocks of
hard gray limestone that have on their upper surface dimensions of 0.41 χ 0.44 and
0.575 χ 0.50 m. and a rectangular deep cutting measuring 0.115 χ 0.115 and 0.115 χ
0.10 m., respectively (figs. 56, 65). In other words, they have the same characteristics
as similar bases that held the wooden posts that divided the positions of the runners
as we have seen in other stadia in Asia Minor and in the Athenian Agora.
On the basis, then, of the the data from the stadium of Rhodes, the corresponding
elements that we can provide from similar constructions and especially that of Sta
dium I at Isthmia for the operating system 2 4 2 and that of Stadium I at Miletos for the
starting system, 2 4 3 together with what we know of the practices of the ancients, we
might reconstruct the mechanism of the hysplex at the stadium of Rhodes as follows
(fig. 66). On top of the long continuous foundations of the starting line there should
be stone slabs of marble like that of the channel and of the well-like construction.
These slabs would have worked as a continuous balbis like those we saw in mainland
Greece and probably like that at Corinth without sockets for vertical posts. The posts
should have stood on top of the 14 individual bases that project from the balbis, on top
of each of which should be placed a square block with a rectangular cutting like the
two blocks that lie near at hand. The dimensions of those blocks, which are generally
slightly smaller than the underlying, still-in-place, blocks, strengthens this suggestion.
There are, thus, positions, each about a meter wide, for 14 runners—a number cus
tomary in ancient Greek stadia. 2 4 4 On the three larger bases there must have rested
the support bases for the ankones of the hysplex as we saw at the corresponding points
in Stadium I at M i l e t o s . 2 4 5 It is to be noted that the hysplex mechanisms were set in
place only during the time of the games and were removed thereafter, as also happened
with the wooden posts of the balbis.
Of course, it is not possible to ascertain accurately the type of mechanism from the
foundations alone. The size of the bases, however, points toward the use of twisted
neura, that we know from ancient sources continued to be used in these later years
in large catapults. 2 4 6 The way in which the operation channel was connected with
the balbis, and especially the difficulty of connecting it with the side bases of the
hysplex, initially leads us to believe that the mechanism existed only in the central
base. But since it would have been impossible for the whole barrier to fall forward
simultaneously, we are obliged to restore mechanisms at the two outside ankones as
well. 2 4 7
242. See above, pp. 7-8.
243. See above, pp. 67-70.
244. For the number of runners and the width of the "lanes" in ancient stadia, see Zschiet
zschmann 36; Jüthner 58 ff.; Romano 212 ff.
245. See above, pp. 68-70.
246. See above, p. 41 and n. 220.
247. If there existed a mechanism only in the central ankon, it would have been impossible to transfer
motion to the outside ankones by means of the horizontal cord barriers alone. In such a case, the
The aphetes, then, who either stood in a crouch or knelt within the circular pit, must
have held in his hand three release cords that passed through the channel to reach the
top of the central ankon. Only one was tied there; the other two continued in opposite
directions, perhaps suspended by rings from the cord barriers and extending to the
tops of the outside ankones. W i t h the release of these trigger cords, the ankones, that
were "planted" in the pre twisted neura, fell with force forward, pulling everything else
down with them and thus providing the start for the runners.
The free and easy motion of the cords within the channel seems to have been
facilitated by thin wooden boards that slid into the slits that face one another at
intervals in the channel (figs. 62, 63). These boards must have had holes in them
through which the cords passed so they could not become tangled in the channel. The
other small square cuttings that are a meter apart and in pairs facing each other on
the upper edge of the channel must have been used for the placement of small wooden
sticks in the form of a bridge that would have supported other, larger boards used
as a cover over the channel to keep it closed and clean. Finally, the four small dowel
holes that were drawn on the lip of the well-like construction (figs. 62-64) would have
been intended, like the channel, for the receipt of some cover to protect it from being
filled with dirt during the longer periods when there were no games.
central ankon would have fallen first and the outside ankones would have followed with some small
delay, that is not acceptable in such a system.
As we have said, in the third phase of the Rhodian stadium, balbis and hysplex are
securely documented only on the end toward the sphendone. On the other, entrance,
end of the stadium, at the north, one can identify with certainty only a row of slabs for
the foundations of the balbis (see above p. 79), although the existence of bases for the
hysplex is not impossible (see n. 233). But the existence of a channel and operating
pit should be considered impossible since the monumental propylon was placed east
of the balbis during this period. In general, space is not available for the operation
of a system from behind since the balbis is exactly at the entrance of the stadium
(fig. 48). A n d whatever might have existed cannot be compared with the system at
the southern end.
However, at the same, northern, end, west of the balbis and on the long axis of
the stadium there was constructed during this same period a channel constructed of
limestone slabs with a length of 12.60 m. and a depth of 0.07 m. (figs. 48 Δ, 67).
A characteristic of this channel is the trapezoidal cross-section of the interior sides
and widening toward the southern end. These details, as well as its location precisely
on the long axis of the stadium, indicate that the channel was used for the insertion
of a parapet, probably of wood, that must have resembled a shortened spina of the
Roman circus. 2 4 8 This interpretation is also reinforced by the widening of the channel
toward its southern end, as well as the many sockets around it that apparently would
have received and supported some taller element like the meta in the circus. 2 4 9 It is
also significant that the spina was not permanent; as is indicated by the trapezoidal
cross-section of the channel, it could be set up temporarily and removed like the lewis
used in construction, as we have seen at the other end of the stadium with all the
projecting wooden elements of the balbis and the hysplex.
In this last phase of the Rhodian stadium in Roman Imperial times, that is, when in
the stadia of other neighboring regions monumental starting systems with impressive
architectural forms were being built, 2 5 0 there was adopted at Rhodes an old but trusted
system with its own particular characteristic: all the elements above ground were made
of wood and removable. If we connect this fact with the appearance of this type of
starting system only at one end of the stadium, and with a kind of spina at the other
end, we are forced to conclude that in this period the stadium at Rhodes was also
used as a hippodrome. Despite the difficulties that emerge from such a hypothesis,
which have to do especially with the narrowness of the space (about 30 m. wide in
a stadium, but about 60 m. wide in a circus), as well as with the need for a curved
starting system in the circus, 2 5 1 I believe that the Rhodian stadium was used, if only
for a short time, for both purposes with the placement for every race for men or for
horses of the appropriate wooden elements at the starting line and the t u r n . 2 5 2 The
248. See, for example, a similar construction in Harris (1972) 189, fig. 13. The similar channel in
the Panathenaic stadium (see A. Koster, Das Stadion von Athen [1906] 14, and Krinzinger 176 n. 1)
does not provide adequate evidence for such an interpretation.
249. For the meta and its characteristics, see also Humphrey 38 ff.; cf. Harris, loc. cit.
250. See below, pp. 96-141.
251. See Humphrey 3, where he presents the similarities and the differences between stadium and
circus.
252. In general, in the Roman period only the larger cities had both a stadium and a circus. Usually
the cities in the western Empire had only a circus where they could—on rare occasions—display
athletic contests of Greek type. The cities of Greece and Asia Minor usually were equipped only with
Figure 66: Rhodes. Schematic reconstruction of the southern starting line of the third phase of the
stadium.
short length of the spina is of interest; it is as short as possible and used only for
guiding the turn of the horses.
This hypothesis, which is noted here for the first time in ancient architecture, verifies
the correctness of scholars who have proposed that in Italy and Asia M i n o r equestrian
competitions took place in stadia. 2 5 3 The same might be true in this period at Rhodes,
although we have no knowledge of the fate of the hippodrome. Nor do we have evi
dence for the location of the hippodrome, but epigraphical reference to victors in the
equestrian events of the Halieia shows clearly that a hippodrome existed in earlier
periods. 2 5 4 The use of the stadium for horse races during Imperial times can be un
derstood if the hippodrome of the city was out of use. This suggestion is reinforced by
a stadium. In these regions circuses were built only in the 2nd and 3rd centuries after Christ; see
Humphrey 71 and 526.
253. See Humphrey, 572 and 574-575, who refers to the stadia at Puteoli and Sebasta in Italy
where "the building was deliberately made longer than most stadia so that it could also house certain
equestrian events." The same idea exists for the stadium at Aphrodisias in Karia where the track
has a sphendone at both ends but has a width of only 25 m., and for the "cloudy" stadium of large
dimensions that was noted longer ago in the plain below the akropolis of Pergamon (Humphrey 526).
Broneer, "Hero Cults in the Corinthian Agora," Hesperia 11 (1942) 128 ff., esp. 145 ff., has also noted
indications for chariot races in the Forum at Corinth. See also Pausanias 6.24.2 for horse races in
the agora of Elis and Pliny 27.45 for contests with four-horse chariots in a very restricted area on
the Capitoline in Rome. It is usually said that the hippodrome at the Sanctuary of Zeus Lykaios was
also used as a stadium, perhaps after the cessation of horse racing at the site; see K. Kourouniotis,
ΠΑΕ 1909, 189 ff., pls. 1, 5-8; Harris (1972) 163; Romano 172 ff. This is, however, based only on
the written documentation for the existence of horseraces in the Lykeia without any archaeological
evidence to support the statement.
254. See the inscriptions in I.C. Pdngwood Arnold, "Festivals of Rhodes," AJA 40 (1936) 432 ff.;
G. Pugliese Carretelli, Annuario 30-32 (1952-54) 250 ff.; L. Moretti, Iscrizioni Agonistiche Greche
(1953) 127, 151, 224, 228, 244, 257; D. Morelli, / culti in Rodi (1959) 17 ff. and 97 ff.; J. Ebert,
Griechische Siegerepigramme auf Sieger an Gymnischen und Hippischen Agonen (1972) 238 ff., esp.
an inscription on the base of a dedication of the 2nd century after Christ where the
names of various religious associations are written. Implicit in the name of the last
association "of those who worked together on the hippodrome" (τών συνεργαξαμένων
255
τον ίππόδρομον) might be the construction or reconstruction of the hippodrome.
Monumental Hyspleges Of Later Hellenistic Date
Beginning in the 2nd century BC impressive monumental installations were created for
the balbis and the hysplex even while the classical hysplex system was maintained at
older sites. These new installations occurred in mainland Greece and in Asia Minor.
These naturally satisfied the practical need for a proper start for the races and, at least
from a technical viewpoint, were equipped with even better systems. But at the same
time they satisfied the new spirit that then reigned in architecture for monumental
entrances and impressive forms in general. 2 5 6 A characteristic common to all these
constructions is the use of the large stone pillar-half columns that stand on isolated
bases or on a continuous balbis.257 These have on their side and back surfaces sockets,
channels, and other kinds of cuttings, in which were placed and within which moved the
cords of a new hysplex system. Similar channels also exist in the horizontal members of
these constructions, both in the foundations and in the epistyle or the geison. A basic
difference between the new system and the old was the "growth" of the elements—
both the mechanism and its operation—upward, unlike the horizontally arranged,
essentially two-dimensional isosceles triangle that existed previously. Externally the
new system reminds us only slightly of the Classical hysplex. I think, however, that it
too bears the name hysplex because it performed exactly the same function and, as
we shall see, preserved many of the characteristics of the older systems. 258
A detail common to the new system is that the half columns belong both to the
balbis and to the hysplex, since, at one and the same time, they divide the positions
for the runners and are supports for the barriers and the mechanisms that made the
241; V. Kontorini, "Les concours des grands Éréthimia à Rhodes," BCH 99 (1975) 97 ff.; Id. Chiron
23 (1993) 83-97.
255. See G. Pugliese Carratelli, Annuario 17/18 (1955-56), 157 ff., esp. 158 #3: Α Λ Ι Α Σ Τ Α Ν ,
Α Θ Α Ν Α Ι Σ Τ Α Ν // Ε Ρ Μ Α Ι Σ Τ Α Ν , ΑΡΙΣΤΕΙΔΕΙΩΝ // ΤΩΝ Σ Υ Ν Ε Ρ Γ Α Ξ Α Μ Ε Ν Ω Ν T O N
Ι Π Π Ο Δ Ρ Ο Μ Ο Ν . At about the same time the stadium of the city is referred to in another inscription
IG XII 1 94.4, as well as in the inscription with the rules for the pentathlon, found in the region of
the stadium and gymnasium. See Pugliese Carratelli, op. cit. 289 ff., fig. 55, and L. Moretti, Rivista
di Filologia 34 (1956) 55 ff.
I would like to repeat that most of my conclusions about Rhodes are based on older drawings and
photographs of architectural remains that are covered over with earth today. A reexcavation of those
remains would provide us with much more secure data that might very well change my conclusions.
256. Krinzinger 225 ff.
257. These architectural elements consist of a pillar the main face of which is worked into a half
column. For this type, see H. Busing, Die griechische Halbsäule (1970) 2, fig. 2 (Halbsäulen-Pfeiler).
258. Since, as is quite natural because of their many shared characteristics, all the systems of barriers
at the starting line were covered by the name hysplex, some of the reservations mentioned above (see
pp. 3-4) about the reliability of written sources of later periods, since we cannot know if they refer
to hyspleges contemporary to them or to older ones, can be withdrawn. Reverse logic leads to the
thought that, since the sources of different periods refer in the same way to these systems, then we
had for the whole of antiquity either one and the same system or, as we have seen, many successive
systems with, however, the same general characteristics and the same basic operation.
96 Hysplex
Figure 68: Epidauros. Plan of the second phase of the starting line at the eastern end of the stadium
(after Kavvadias pl. Bl-4).
barriers fall. It is also interesting that in the new system each individual athlete had
his own barrier; we have returned, that is, at least with regard to this detail, to the
principles of the oldest-known hysplex in Stadium I at Isthmia.
Despite these common elements, there are many differences between these new sys
tems, differences that indicate continuous development. Since, however, the extent of
our present knowledge does not allow us to date them more precisely than simply
in the late Hellenistic period, we will examine them in an evolutionary order from
the simplest to the most complicated without intending a chronological progression
as well. We will, then, look below at the hyspleges of the second phase of the stadia
at Epidauros (Epidauros II) and of Priene (Priene II), as well as the wonderfully well
preserved system of the stadium at Kos.
EPIDAUROS (STADIUM II)
At Epidauros five Ionic half columns were set immediately in front of the slabs of the
259
older balbis during the 2nd century B C These were placed on separate individual
bases spaced equidistant and about 3.20 m. apart (fig. 68) and at an estimated original
260
height of about 3.35 m . They are made of gray limestone and measure 0.44 χ 0.37 m.
Today parts of their lower elements are preserved, mostly on the eastern starting line.
These half columns consist of the lowest unfluted part with its typically Ionic base,
that has a total height of ± 0.35 m. (figs. 69, 70). The second drum, measuring
± 0.95 m., has near its upper edge the beginnings of 11 Ionic flutes. Fluted drums
from positions higher in the column today lie on the site, but we rely on Kavvadias's
description and sketches for the fragments on which he based his restored drawing of
a single Ionic capital (fig. 71). 2 6 1 On both sides of the lowest unfluted parts of all five
259. Romano, 10 ff., provides the best study of the stadium at Epidauros. For his criticism of the
work of R. Patrucco, Lo Stadio di Epidauro (1976), see Romano 29 and n. 19. See also Jüthner 60,
fig. 11; Patrucco, pls. 4.1, 5.1-2, 30.1, 31.1-2.
260. For the chronology of half columns in this period, see Busing (supra n. 257) 50; for the type of
the bases, see 5, fig. 3b. For the height of these half columns, see Kavvadias, plan Γ1.
261. Kavvadias 78-92, pls. Γ3, 4, 5.
98 Hysplex
half columns 2 6 2 is a vertical rough-picked stripe that is, for the most part and in most
cases, completely superficial; only on one side of two different columns is this "stripe"
a little deeper, forming a recessed area 0.068-0.070 m. wide and 0.01 m. deep. (figs.
71.3, 72). A l l of the drums are provided with matching dowel holes measuring 0.055
χ 0.030 m. on their upper and lower surfaces.
Aside from these, and only on the upper horizontal and immediately adjacent ver
tical surfaces of the second drum, there are two additional cuttings, one on each side
of the drum and exactly above the rough-picked stripe on the side, that are of special
interest and importance (figs. 71.3, 73). These cuttings have, in section, the shape of
a Γ. They are roughly 0.02 m. wide and 0.085-0.105 m. in length, seen from above
(fig. 74) and from the sides (fig. 75). The ends of the Γ have holes cut at right angles
to the side and the top of the block which extend, like the hook of a clamp, to a
greater depth in the stone. Were they extended slightly farther, they would intersect
each other. 2 6 3 It would appear that all these cuttings existed on all five half columns
of both starting lines.
However, some additional interesting details appear on the central half column of
the eastern starting line. Starting from the bottom, we note that the foundation base
for the column is not monolithic like all the others but consists of two parallel shelly
limestone slabs with dimensions of 0.50 χ 0.45 m., which have been set in place in
such a way as to form a channel 0.09 m. wide between them (fig. 76). At the front part
of this channel Kavvadias discovered the tip of the metallic half-pipe that he describes
and draws (fig. 77.6). 2 6 4
The right (northern) of the two foundation base stones today slopes downward about
0.10 m. toward the channel, but this is very probably its original position, because
the element that rested on these stones has, on its bottom, a comparable channel
(fig. 78δ). Furthermore, the "legs" formed by the two sides of this channel have an
unequal length (the left is 0.27 m. long, and the right is 0.32 m. long) and bottom
surfaces that mirror the inequalities of the upper surfaces of the base (figs. 79-81).
Thus, when that element is set in place on the base, its upper surface is brought into
a perfectly level position (figs. 81, 82). 2 6 5 The channel on the bottom surface of the
column has a width of 0.11 m., and the surface of the channel itself is worn with
thinner grooves and at its center is a clearly deeper square cutting that measures
0.11 m. on each side (fig. 78ε). The exit of this channel appears at the front of the
column and at the back as well whence a channel continued on the back surface of
the half column upward. It is most probable that it continued for the entire height of
the column until it reached the epistyle (figs. 77.7, 78γ, 83). For the greater part of
the preserved portion of this channel it has a rectangular section with dimensions of
0.06 χ 0.05 m. at the lower part to 0.065-0.075 for the remainder. 2 6 6 From a height
262. And not only the four outside columns as Kavvadias (90) reports.
263. Exactly the same characteristics are to be found on a similar drum on the western starting line.
264. See Kavvadias, pl. Γ 6 and p. 90, for his description: "a deep cutting extended along the length
and was connected with a channel in the base of the column that ended at the front in a pipe."
265. This situation seems very odd because it appears to have existed from the beginning. I do not
think that it is due to the needs of the system (see further below). Equally difficult to believe is the
possibility that this base together with its pipe belonged to the older type of hysplex for the receipt
of a central ankon.
266. At the lower edge of the second drum the channel deepens to 0.08 m. and 0.05 m. higher it
returns to a depth of 0.06 m. thus forming a small indentation.
of a meter and above it changes to a semicircular section with a depth of 0.11 m. and
a width of 0.05 m. which narrows as it rises to a width of 0.03 m. at the top of the
drum. Near the top of this drum, at a height above the ground of about 1.15 m., two
cuttings appear, one on either side of the channel, 0.14 m. apart, on center. As their
position and their form indicate, they must have held a horizontal Π-shaped metallic
element the legs of which were doweled into the stone on either side of the channel.
A similar element was probably held by two holes near the top of the lower drum at
a height of 0.23 m. above the ground (figs. 77.7, 785). They are on either side of the
channel and 0.22 m. apart with a diameter of 0.01-0.02 m.; the depth of the right one
is 0.06 m., and in the left hole are the remains of a metal rod of circular section and
diameter of 0.01 m. (fig. 84). There is no reason to doubt its antiquity.
To judge from the roughly worked upper surface of the capital that survived and by
analogy with other known examples, I conclude that the half columns at Epidauros
267
had wooden epistyles.
Very little has been written to date about the way in which this system worked.
Only Romano has suggested that
267. The Stoa of the Athenians at Delphi is the best-known example of stone columns that sup
ported wooden epistyles. See recently J . F . Bommelaer, "Les Portiques des Delphes," RA (1993) 32 ff.
According to oral communication from S.G. Miller, similar examples with rough-worked top surfaces
exist at Nemea in the apodyterion of the stadium. See also Oikos 9 in Nemea: A Guide 68 and 70.
Krinzinger, 231 and n. 3, interprets the unpolished upper surfaces as the result of incomplete work.
Thus he compares them with this phase of the hysplex and not with the earlier epigraphically known
penalty against Philon for the failure to complete the installation of the hysplex system in the early
3rd century BC (see above, pp. 50 f.) But after the dating of this phase to the 2nd century BC, the
association suggested by Krinzinger is impossible.
a cord passed through the east-west channel of the stone base of the cen
tral half column, and that the cord is likely to have attached to a sliding
metal element on the rear vertical face of the same central half column. It
seems possible that this vertical element made attachments to horizontal
elements, cords or more likely bars, which made some connection to the
shallow vertical cuttings in the sides of the four flanking half columns.
The horizontal bars would have fallen to the level of the racecourse floor
between the front of the grooved starting line blocks and the rear of the
bases for the Ionic half columns, all of which projected slightly above the
floor level. Thus the horizontal bars would not have been stumbled over
by the starting athletes. 2 6 8
The basic principle in Romano's suggestion for the working of the whole system with
a cord that passed though the pipe in the middle half column is generally correct. I
also agree that the barriers should have been "horizontal bars", probably wooden.
But it seems that the barriers cannot have been behind the half columns but only in
between them as is indicated by the fact that the half columns project from the balbis
(0.60 m.) as much as the support bases of the older type of hysplex (fig. 68) while the
vertical channels in the sides of the half columns are as far away from the balbis as
the ankones of the older hysplex type. 2 6 9 Finally, the argument that the bars behind
these half columns would been able to fall into an empty area deeper than the floor
level is not valid because, as the drawings of Kavvadias also show (fig. 71), the bases
of the half columns are larger than the half columns themselves and thus prevent the
barriers from falling into a lower level between them and the balbis.
Based on the characteristics of the half columns described above, I believe that we
can suggest with confidence that the ankones and the horizontal barriers in front of
the runners have now become one and the same (fig. 85). We should attach these new
"anfcon-barriers" in the Γ-shaped cuttings that face one another from the sides of the
half columns at the top of the second drum (i.e., about 1.30 m. above the ground which
is an indication of the maximum length of the ankones) . 2 7 0 In their horizontal position
these wooden "anfcon-barriers" would have passed in front of the chests of the runners
and, falling suddenly down, would permit the start of the race. This hypothesis is
reinforced by the existence of the rough-worked vertical stripes on the sides of the
half columns, which apparently were created to help ensure full contact between the
wood and the stone. Based on this suggestion, the rear view of the hysplex system at
Epidauros II will have appeared as in the drawing (fig. 86).
The problem of the form of the barriers is also connected with the number of runners
allowed by the new system. Romano suggests that, by analogy with the barriers that he
places (one in every intercolumniation), there could run simultaneously "6 or possibly
4," a number that seems to me very small. At the same time, the intercolumniations
268. Romano 15 ff.

269. As is indicated by the relationship between the upper surface of the balbis and that of the
foundation bases of the half columns, the balbis continued to be used in the usual way also with the
new hysplex system. This also means that the surface of the racetrack itself remained at the same
level in both phases.
270. Two matching ankones in each intercolumniation were not sufficient to close the space com
pletely; apparently it was not necessary to do so.
Figure-86: Epidauros. Schematic reconstruction of the hysplex of phase II at the eastern end of the
stadium, with wood barriers and wood epistyle through which ran a cord (dotted line).
of ± 3.20 m. are huge for single runners. 2 7 1 Based on the new hypothesis—that is the
attachment of a barrier to every Γ-shaped cutting of a half column (i.e., two for every
intercolumniation)—I think that ten runners could have run simultaneously. This is a
number closer not only to earlier phases of the starting line at Epidauros (11 and 9,
respectively) but also to the principles of all ancient games and the other stadia. 2 7 2
Although the system I have suggested has the same basic principle as Stadium I
at Isthmia—that is, an individual barrier for each athlete, consisting of a horizontal
wooden ankon barrier pendant from a vertical element—the differences between the
systems of Isthmia I and Epidauros II are very great.
(1) The need or desire for a monumental system was the cause for the placement of
half columns instead of wooden posts.
(2) The need to create places for ten athletes caused the choice of a widely spaced
construction because the now-monumental vertical elements would have taken too
much space had there been one for each athlete.
(3) The greatest innovation was that now the suspension of the barriers, and by
extension their fall, was not from a low post next to them but from above—from the
wooden epistyle (figs. 85, 86). Probably with the help of metal rings or, better, of
small wheels or rollers, the individual cords that held each barrier would have been
connected to the wooden epistyle and would have joined with a central cord that would
have ended at the channel in the back of the central half column.
The differences between this system and that of Isthmia I do not allow us to suppose
that the fall of the ankon at Epidauros was created only by means of its own weight,
271. Romano 25, where, however, the measurements he adopted (2.38-2.49 m.) do not refer to the
intercolumnar dimensions but to the distances between the bases of the half columns. Also, the two
end intercolumniations with dimensions of 3.18 and 3.39 m. that Romano, 16, uses do not belong
to this phase, since the two end columns belong rather to the older phase of the balbis. See also
Kavvadias (supra n. 55) 111, 114; and Kavvadias 89. Wiegand and Schrader, 262, also refer to six
runners at Epidauros.
272. See above, pp. 19-19.
112 Hysplex
as appears to have been the case at Isthmia I a few centuries earlier. 2 7 3 That the
Hellenistic hysplex of Epidauros follows on an older system in which a mechanism was
used for the creation of torsion-produced force, in the context of the great technological
advances of the period, leads us to the reconstruction of a more advanced system in
which were used the lepides of the chalkotonon of Ktesibios discussed above. 2 7 4
I would, then, restore at each Γ-shaped cutting such a lepis, attached to the "heel"
of each ankon barrier, in order to drive it down with force (fig. 85). 2 7 5
Further, we can now suggest the following concerning the operating system in the
central half column. As we have already concluded, in that part of the channel on
the back of the column that is semicircular there passed a central cord to which was
attached the individual cords coming from each of the barriers through metallic rings
attached to the wooden epistyle (figs. 77.7, 84). Through the lower part of the channel,
which is larger and of rectangular section, it appears that together with the cord was
some other wooden or metallic element like a plug that went up and down with the
c o r d . 2 7 6 This element (the plug) ought to have been tied to the cutting in the center of
the bottom surface of the half-column or at the lower horizontal hook-shaped metallic
clamp. This tie was necessary because the cord was pulled with force by the ankones
thanks to the pressure of the lepides.
When the aphetes released the plug, it flew up and allowed the ankones to fall,
and was stopped by the upper hook-shaped horizontal clamp. Thus these two clamps
not only held the cord firmly in place in the channel but also limited the movement
of the plug. To prepare the mechanism for the next use, the aphetes pulled the cord
downward and tied the plug to the lower point. At the same time the ankones were
raised to the horizontal and, twisting the lepides, cocked for action.
T h e aphetes, who was responsible for the operation of the system must have stood
in front of the central half column, as is indicated by the rectangular opening in the
front of the base of the column as we have also seen in the hysplex of Miletos I. The
existence of the pipe that Kavvadias discovered could support the idea that the cord
passed through this point to reach the hands of the aphetes. But, as is shown in the
drawing (fig. 77.6), the pipe is lower than the ground level of the stadium, while with
the opening in the bottom part of the base of the column the passage of the operating
cord could have been higher than the ground lever. Still, the horizontal position of
the pipe does not appear to guide anything toward a higher position. Further, it is
below the level of the surface of the racetrack and does not, then, serve to support the
hypothesis. 2 7 7
273. Naturally, the possibility cannot be excluded there, as in several other cases, of the existence
of another, simpler means for effecting the fast fall of the horizontal barrier. For example, that a lead
weight was placed in its "nose."
274. See above, pp. 65-67.
275. On the drawing, this spring has been indicated in a simplified form with a straight line.
276. If we look for similar constructions in the area of ancient technology we find several similarities
with the kanones that were used for the operation of the theodolite (διόπτρα) of Heron, Περί διόπτρας
188 ff., and the reconstruction in the edition of H. Schöne (1903) 202, fig. 85a. We see in this light
instrument, and naturally at a much smaller scale, the vertical movement of a shield disk by means
of a corresponding movement of another element within a similar channel. This element is attached
to a cord that is hung at the top from a wheel.
277. For another idea about the purpose of the pipe, see above, n. 265.
116 Hysplex
(2) We do not know for certain if all these channels or only some of them ran the
whole height of the pillars, as the vertical holes and the continuous channel on top of
the geison indicate.
(3) Since the construction is preserved only to the bases of the pillars, we do not
know if other elements were present in their shafts or in what way they bore the
horizontal barriers of the hysplex. Since the lack of information precludes suggesting
another solution, we can only indicate on the drawing (fig. 89), and by analogy with
Stadium II at Epidauros, the placement of horizontal wooden elements at a height of
about a meter above the balbis which are held by vertical wooden posts wedged into
the lower part of the interior channel of each gate. Again, it seems necessary to place
here metal spring plates for the introduction of torsion in the barriers, as we did above
also in Stadium II at Epidauros. Finally, since the four right gates have their channel
on the opposite parastade from the four left gates, the whole system must have had
an overall image like that shown in figure 90. 280
In the event that these vertical channels were intended only for the receipt of wooden
posts, they might not have reached all the way to the epistyle, and then the cord that
suspended the horizontal barriers would have hung free in the air between the pillars
(fig. 90). But if the channels extended up to the epistyle, then the suspension cord
would have been tied to the horizontal barrier in the fashion shown in figure 89 and
then have risen up to the epistyle hidden in the vertical channel. In the horizontal
channel of the geison these individual cords would have been connected with a heavier
one that was divided into two halves and that would have moved horizontally from the
two ends toward the center of the epistyle where, by means of the larger hole in the
central wider intercolumniation, it would have ended up in the hands of the aphetes.
The existence of two parts of the system is also strengthened by the double exit of the
channel of the balbis toward the front, in the central wider intercolumniation (fig. 87),
which is reminiscent of the pipe at Epidauros. If we interpret this element as we did at
Epidauros, we will be led to a basic hypothesis that the aphetes who stood in front of
280. Harris (1972) 29 ff. accepts that within the channels of the balbis there must have passed the
cords of the mechanism, but he does not preclude the possibility that the barriers of the hysplex
might have fallen into these channels as well, moving up and down and guided in the side channels
like a guillotine. He cites as evidence for this view the reference in Statius, Theb. 6.593: "Ut ruit atque
aequum submissit régula limen, corripuere levés spatium" (When the bar fell and left the threshold
level, the speedy runners leaped onto the track [trans. Harris]). But as we have seen, only the end
gates have two channels. On the contrary, in the other gates with only one channel it is impossible
for the barrier to have fallen down on a horizontal since it is not suspended from two cords but is
supported only on one side. Furthermore, I believe that the meaning of the phrase in Statius could
correspond to any fall of the barrier whatsoever.
Bean, 209 ff., provides an informal restored sketch of the Priene system similar to ours but suspend-
ing the horizontal barriers from a free-hanging cord tied to the epistyle. Since, however, he believes
that the horizontal barriers would impede the runners, and perhaps even hit their knees, during its
fall, he attempts (278 ff.) to show that the stance for the runners at the start was with the body
leaning markedly toward the rear. Ignoring the many representations of vase painting, he not only
adopts the translation of Fowler in the text of Plato's Phaidros (see above, n. 26), but also offers as
proof of such a stance a bronze statuette in New York that shows a nude youth leaning toward the
rear. This statuette, however, probably does not depict a runner as is shown by a similar statuette
from Taranto (see Jüthner, pl. 14, with the caption: "Athlet bei unklarer Beschäftigung"). Bean him-
self regards the channel in the base of the system as a "drain" so that the athletes would not slip in
case of rain (!).
For some thoughts about the working of the Priene system, see Humphrey 69 and Fiechter 1970.
the central intercolumniation must have pulled or released at the same time two cords
one of which freed the four right gates and the other the four left gates.281
In any case, the number and the length of the "passageways" formed by the hori-
zontal channels in the base and in the geison and the vertical channels in many if not
all the perpendicular members are impressive. Curious also are the three "exits" of
the system from which the cords of operation apparently departed—one in the large
vertical hole that passed through the central epistyle and the other two in the channel
of the base. I think that the only way to justify so many channels and exits is to
posit two systems, one to introduce torsion into the mechanism and one to release
it. W i t h the hypothetical reconstruction suggested here, the upper elements belong
to the system of producing torsion while those in the channel of the base must have
been used for the passage of the cords of the release system. These must have begun
from the bronze spring plate of each of the barriers if we accept that the system was
instituted for the release of the spring plate. Thence the cords would have passed
along the wooden posts down to the channel in the foundations where they would
have joined with a single cord on each half of the system, just as we have seen in
the geison. These two cords, one on each side, reached the exits of the channel in the
central intercolumniation and then the hands of the aphetes.
Thus, the aphetes would pull the cords that came from above, from the hole through
the epistyle, to raise the fallen ankones and tie their heels to the bronze spring plates.
281. For another view by Harris concerning the use of the central wider intercolumniation, see above,
n. 68.
Afterward, he would pull the two cords that came from below, from the channels of
the foundation, to release the ankones, which, propelled by the torsion of the spring
plates, would fall downward with force.
Now that we have placed these two systems in the appropriate channels, there
remain unassigned only the channels in the outer sides of the two end gates and in the
inner sides of the central wider intercolumniation. Since they enclose the four gates on
each side of the balbis, these probably had running through them cords to connect the
cords of the balbis and the geison, tying them together and organizing all the cords
into two parts of a single unified system.
The lack of upper elements at Priene hinders us in conceptualizing in greater detail
the mechanism and the way the system worked. I believe, nonetheless, that an on-the-
spot study of the architectural remains together with a correlation with the hysplex and
of other possible parts of the upper construction would lead to a clearer understanding
of these problems. 2 8 2
KOS
We are fortunate to have preserved in Kos not only the base of a monumental and
relatively complicated starting system but also all of its architectural members, from
which we learn many entirely new details of a prototypical hysplex mechanism of the
Hellenistic period. 2 8 3
The remains in Kos (figs. 91-92) consist of a monumental construction of the
2nd century BC the foundation of which, made of local limestone, has been uncov
ered for a length of at least 23 m. with a width of 2.25 m. On top of the foundation
is a stylobate of local blue-gray marble that consists of two parallel rows of blocks
that have between them a channel 0.18 m. wide and 0.34 m. deep. 2 8 4 On top of this
stylobate are 14 bases with dimensions of 0.695 χ 0.58 m. and a height of 0.30 m.
with a molding at their bottom. They are pierced by a square vertical hole, 0.15 m.
on each side (figs. 93, 94), which connects with the channel in the stylobate. Five of
these bases still bear the lower part of Ionic pillar-half columns of local white marble,
which, in accordance with Hellenistic custom, are unfluted. Behind the pillar part
of this composite architectural member and at a distance of 0.15 m. stands a simple
orthostate. Thus the empty space formed between these two vertical members is the
same width as the hole in the base below them. The next drum in the half column
part is fluted, and the pillar part has a vertical hole measuring from 0.15 χ 0.15 m.
to 0.16 χ 0.16 m., which indicates that this hole passed all the way to the epistyle.
The intercolumniations are 0.98 m. wide (1.56 m. on axis), except for the central one,
that is 2.20 m.
282. See Wiegand and Schrader 260, where the parts of the superstructure discovered in the exca
vations are presented.
283. Excavations took place in 1900 by R. Hertzog and in 1939-40 by L. Morricone. See AA 1901,
134, fig. 2, and idem, Kos I (1932) 25. See also L. Laurenzi, "Nuovi Contributi alia Topographica
Storico-archeologica di Coo," Historia 5 (1931) 611, and Morricone 222 ff. The only scholar who has
dealt with the mechanism of the stadium heretofore is Krinzinger 226 ff., pl. 51, figs. 81-83. See also
AD 29 (1973/4) Β 3, 965, pl. 730γ.
284. This channel does not have notches for a covering like that at Priene noted above, p. 113.
124 Hysplex
Alongside the half columns was found a section of Doric epistyle that preserves
the fascia with regulae and guttae, and that evidently comes from this construction
(fig. 95). Its dimensions (1.505 m. long, 0.53 m. wide, and 0.315 m. high) are similar
to the interaxial dimensions of the "gates", and there are in addition holes 0.18 m. on
a side cut into the ends of the block with a point (fig. 96). These correspond precisely
to the vertical holes of the pillar-half columns. 2 8 5 On the upper surface of the same
epistyle is another, oval, hole resembling a funnel (fig. 97; dimensions at the top: 0.20
χ 0.14 m.) which was also hastily cut with a point. It ends at the bottom in two small
holes, aligned parallel to the long axis of the block, each with a diameter of 0.035 m.,
and each opened with a drill.
Lying together with the epistyle are two pieces of Ionic geison (figs. 95, 96) the
surfaces of which are so broken that their original dimensions cannot be recovered. It
is, however, very probable that they come from this same construction since in this
place and at that time the combination of Doric epistyles with Ionic geisons was the
most common practice. A visit to the archaeological areas of Kos where the buildings
are reconstructed by the Italians provides many examples of the phenomenon.
L. Morricone associates with the monumental elements of the starting line at Kos
two pillar capitals (or however we are to call this composite architectural member that
crowns the pillar-half columns) that were not found in the excavations but come from
the demolition of houses in 1933 and that have been stored since then in the Anti-
quarium of the castle (fig. 98). The association is based not only on the similarities
of shape and dimensions with those of the pillar-half columns but also and especially
on the existence in the middle of the capitals of a rectangular vertical hole that corre
sponds exactly with the holes of the drums of the pillar-half columns. 2 8 6 We have yet
another combination of Doric and Ionic elements in these capitals since the echinus
has been replaced by a zone of Ionic eggs the bottom of which is delineated by a thin
astragal. This idiosyncratic arrangement of the orders is not unique but is paralleled
by other contemporary constructions in the cities of Asia M i n o r . 2 8 7 Finally, it is very
likely, by analogy with Priene, that there was a horizontal channel along the length of
the upper surface of the geison.
What impresses us at first glance in the starting line of the stadium of Kos is the
attempt by the architect to create a variety of color by means of the use of different
local stones, a phenomenon that one sees in the city of Kos in other monuments of
the same period which Morricone, based on the main material used in the buildings,
288
calls the "period of marble."
Also impressive is the fact that the runners along the starting line were hidden
entirely among these large pillar-half columns (fig. 102) just as happens today with
the horses at the hippodrome. Perhaps this phenomenon can be attributed to the taste
285. Krinzinger, 228 and 230, theorizes that this piece of the epistyle comes from the central wider
intercolumniation.
286. Morricone 222 ff. I was able to find only one of these capitals, measuring 0.52 χ 0.68 m.,
with the central hole measuring 0.16 χ 0.17 m. The existence of this hole is decisive evidence for
the assignment since I do not believe that there could be another such construction with pillar-half
columns that would need such holes.
287. For capitals exactly the same as ours, see, for example, those in the Ekklesiaterion and in shops
of the South Agora of Miletos. The example cited by Morricone 245 n. 66 from the South Stoa of
Ephesos lacks the astragal below the echinus.
288. Morricone 245.
of the period for making an impression on the spectators, which certainly would have
been created by the sudden explosion of the runners from their hidden positions. To
that same taste for making theatrical impressions should be ascribed the custom of
hiding all the working elements and moving parts of the hyspleges in this period.
The details of the architecture in the stadium of Kos are similar to those at Priene.289
In every horizontal and vertical member of the construction there are channels, holes,
and cuttings (figs. 99, 100) in which would have been the cords that moved the mecha-
nism. All these elements must have been connected together, thus "tying" the starting
system into a single whole. One of the differences that we note with the corresponding
constructions of Stadium II at Priene is that here the vertical channels of the pillar-
half columns are not on the sides of the pillars but are carefully hidden inside them.
The only place where the channels "show" is the empty space (figs. 101, 102) about
1 m. high and 0.15 m. wide between the two lowest elements of the half columns from
which the indispensable barrier seems to have extended.
Again, another place where the elements of the system would have been visible must
have been at the bottom of the central wider intercolumniation where the channel of
the foundation is interrupted and probably—by analogy with Priene—at a vertical
hole in the epistyle of the central wider intercolumniation.
289. See above, pp. 112-119.

In addition to these elements that we have seen in other cases, there are also ex
tant in Kos, because of the very good state of preservation of the lower parts of the
construction, some other characteristics that allow us now to hypothesize with a great
deal of probability not only the general principles of the working of the mechanism of
the hysplex but also the reconstruction of the system in considerable detail. These el
ements come from a horizontal semicircular cutting (figs. 103-107) with a total length
of 0.425 m. and a diameter—in its longer part—of 0.08 m. chiseled in the back of the
pillar and thus visible in the empty space between the pillar and the orthostate. This
cutting, which has a narrower "mouth" at that side of the half column with a diameter
of 0.067 m., is at a height of 1 m. from the stylobate—that is, at a height that we have
seen associated with the barriers in many hyspleges of various types and times.
In one of the half columns, at the far end of the semicircular cutting, there is pre
served an iron ring, slightly smaller in diameter than the cutting, leaded into the
"shoulder" of the cutting (figs. 106, 107). Corresponding traces indicate the existence
of similar rings in all the half columns. On the bottom side of this cutting and project
ing from it is another cutting with a quarter-circle section and measuring 0.055 m. in
length (from the horizontal semicircular cutting) and 0.04 m. in width. The long axis
of this cutting is exactly on the vertical axis of the half column. Along the interior
edges of the upper surfaces of the pillar and the orthostate there is a matched set of
ledges cut to lengths that vary from 0.365 to 0.40 m. The depth and width of these
ledges range from 0.015 χ 0.015 m. to 0.015 x 0.020 m. in the different half columns.
These ledges begin at the same side of the pillar as do the semicircular cuttings and,
like them, do not extend to the other side; their lengths are the same or slightly shorter
than those of the semicircular cuttings (fig. 107). Finally, at a point at both edges of
both the pillar and the orthostate and at a height of about 0.47-0.50 m. appear two
small L-shaped cuttings (figs. 103, 107), measuring 0.07 χ 0.03 m. overall, which are
to be associated with a pair of shallow oblong cuttings, 0.165 χ 0.02 m., which are on
that part of the base of the half columns (fig. 99) that was left visible by the empty
space between them and the orthostates behind them.
Using only some of these data, but the most characteristic, Krinzinger, the only
scholar who has worked on this system, tried to grasp and analyze the workings of the
mechanism in the following way.
We may assume that in the horizontal cuttings, where we can still recognize
substantial remains of an iron ring, a roller was used. A cord running
vertically, that connected above and below through the channels with the
gate in the middle, could have been coiled on this roller until it achieved
a very great tension and then was held in place by a wedge in the socket
of the central cutting. The horizontal bars would have been so connected
to this cord with such a system that they would be held up by the tensed
mechanism at the starting positions which they closed off. From a central
position the holding wedges in every starting gate could be released at the
same time by a sharp tug on the cord, the cord snapped up inside, the bars
disappeared into the hollow space of the columns, and the track freed to
the runners . . . . The cuttings on the sides [attest] to small wooden covers
130 Hysplex
that were hung for the protection of the mechanism when the games were
not in session. 290
Although I essentially agree with the very general principles for the working of the
mechanism that Krinzinger establishes, I will proceed with an analysis of all the data
and offer a new hypothesis for the detailed working of the hysplex. In fact, we are sure
that the system operated by means of cords that moved through the vertical holes of
the pillar and the horizontal channels of the base and—probably—of the geison. A l l
these cords must have been tied together into two halves (one to the left and one to
the right), as at Priene, and the ends of each would have come together at the hole
of the central epistyle and at the interruption of the channel in the foundation at the
central wider intercolumniation where the aphetes apparently would have stood.
It is also obvious that the parts of the mechanism as well as the barriers themselves
must have been located in the empty space that is formed by the two lower members
of the pillar-half columns that communicated above and below with the system of
cords.
Studying the details of the empty space, starting from the top and proceeding to
the bottom, I propose the following:
(1) In the pair of ledges at the top of the empty space , based on a parallel with
the cuttings in the channel of the stadium at Rhodes, 2 9 1 I suggest the placement of
a thin sliding horizontal wooden board measuring about 0.20 χ 0.40 m. (fig. 108A).
This board would have had an hole through which was passed the cord that came
down from the drum above in order to hold the cord in a stable position so it could
not oscillate very much inside the stone casing at the moment which it was supposed
to work.
(2) The horizontal semicircular cutting in the back of the pillar could have taken
a heavy wooden roller (fig. 108B) that would have rotated on its axis, held in place
by the iron ring at the one end and the narrower mouth of the cutting at the other.
The quarter-circle cutting below the semicircular cutting surely indicates that from
its space and exactly in its center there extended—from the side of the roller in which
it was embedded—a metallic tongue (fig. 108C) that protruded into the empty space
and could have both held and released the heel of the ankon.
(3) If the previous ideas are correct, we have identified the purpose of all the de
liberate cuttings (with one exception) of the empty space for the mechanism, with
the result that it is not possible that the barriers were attached to one of them. The
barriers themselves were probably wooden sticks that protruded horizontally into the
gates in front of the runners. The only element that remains is the pair of facing L-
290. Krinzinger 230: "Wir nehmen nun an, dass in der horizontalen Einarbeitungen, wo sich noch
deutliche Reste eines Eisenringes erkennen lassen, eine Rolle angebracht war. Ein vertical verlaufendes
Seil, das oben und unten durch die Rinnen mit dem mittleren Tor verbunden war, konnte auf diese
Rolle gewickelt werden, bis es unter grosser Spannung stand und in dieser Stellung durch einen Zapfen
in der Lagernut der mittleren Vertiefung arretiert wurde. An diesem Seil waren mit irgendeiner Vor
richtung die Sperrbalken so befestigt, dass sie bei gespannten Mechanismus quer in die Ablaufstände
hereinragten und diese verschlossen hielten. Vom Mittelstand aus konnten nun durch einen Ruck
am Seil die Arretierzapfen in allen Ablaufständen zugleich gelöst werden, die Seile schnellten innen
hoch, die Querbalken verschwanden in den Zwischenräumen: der Weg für die Läufer war frei . . . . die
beiseitigen Einarbeitungen, an denen man zum Schutz des Mechanismus kleine Holztafel einhängen
konnte, wenn der Spielbetrieb ruhte."
291. See above, p. 84 and 90.
shaped cuttings that Krinzinger suggests were used for the placement of wooden lids
so that the mechanism could be closed up when not in use.292 But as we have seen in
every case, and as appears to have been true at Kos as well, all the elements of the
mechanism were movable and were set in place only for the duration of the games.
For the rest of the time they were removed, which means that nothing remained in
the empty space that had to be protected.
Nonetheless, I do agree that the L-shaped cuttings were intended to receive pins
protruding from the sides of boards, the bottom edge of which were held in place by
the oblong sockets that appear on the stone bases in the empty space. The only use
that this perpendicular board could have had was to hold the ankon of the hysplex
(fig. 108 D, E ) . In other words, it is also a basic part of the mechanism with the
ability to be set in place and removed. It must have extended to the height of the
trigger of the roller, and at its top there must have been a slot in which, by means of a
simple wooden pin, the ankon was held. The ankon thus had the ability to move from
a horizontal to a vertical position and back again. The swift and sure movement of
the ankon could have been achieved by means of the appropriate bronze spring plate,
which would have been nailed in place near the joint of the two wooden elements, as
we suggested was also the case at Epidauros, with one end in the vertical support and
the other in the ankon.294
The existence of two openings and of two pairs of facing L-shaped cuttings in every
empty space, as well as the placement of the system of tying and releasing in the center
of the half column, shows that each vertical architectural member held two ankones
that projected horizontally and on opposite sides of its shaft, thereby closing off the
corresponding gates. Yet another decisive detail leads to this same result. In order for
the ankon to cover the width of 0.98 m. of each gate it would have to have been at
least 1.15 m. in length—that is, roughly 0.90 m. for the space of the gate plus 0.25 m.
for its heel to reach to the trigger of the roller. But such a long element could not have
fallen all the way down when released because the distance to the base of the half
column is only about 0.65 m. Therefore we conclude that in each half column there
were two ankones (figs. 108, 109), each 0.70 m. long, of which 0.25 m. was hidden in
the empty space while the remaining 0.45 m. was used to close its gate. Thus each half
column holds two half ankones, except for the middle and end half columns, which
would have held only one each.
We see that the system at Kos surpassed in two ways the closely related system of
Stadium II at Priene. First, the working cords are now completely hidden within the
vertical architectural members. Second, it is now possible to operate two barriers at
the same time with a single working cord.
I would, then, see in all the channels, horizontal and vertical, two systems operating
at the same time, and these two systems divided into two halves, one for each side of
the starting line. One system, which produced the torsion for the mechanism, consisted
of the cords that would have connected the ends of the two half ankones and, passing
through the hole in the base, would have connected with some central cord that
ran in the channel of the foundation. One such cord from the left and one from the
292. Krinzinger 230.
294. See above, pp. 100-101. In the drawing, fig. 85 it has been restored, by convention, with the
form of a triangle.
right half of the hysplex transferred the operation of the system to the central wider
intercolumniation and into the hands of the aphetes.
The second system, for releasing the barriers (fig. 108), passed through the vertical
hole in each half column and, after going through the hole of the wooden board, was
connected to the trigger that held the ankones, already under the pressure of the
torsion, horizontal. The cords of each half column were connected at the top with
a central cord that ran through the channel of the geison (fig. 109). This dropped
through the vertical hole of the central intercolumniation from the two sides into the
hands of the aphetes.
When he wanted to prepare the system for working, the aphetes pulled the lower
cord, producing torsion, lifting the ankones to the horizontal (thus closing the gates),
and securing the heels of the ankones beneath the triggers of the heavy rollers. In this
position the system was ready to work. Then the aphetes would pull the central cord—
which was hanging above him—of the release system, at which point the triggers of
all the half columns were lifted, allowing the half ankones to fall suddenly and freely,
forced by the torsion of their springs.
In this way all the passages of the system are explained without entangling anywhere
the cords of the torsion-producing system, which entered through the foundations to
the lower part of the half columns, with the cords of the release system, which entered
through the geison to the upper part of the half columns. The only elements of the
construction that remain unexplained at this point are the two holes in the epistyle
(fig. 96) that appear to have recurred in every regular gate. 295 These must be connected
with the existence of two barriers in each intercolumniation since through them would
have passed cords that would have been tied to the ends (the noses) of the ankones,
sharing in some way in their operation. But since we saw in the above analysis that all
the passages of the system were hidden inside the architectural members and since the
construction of the holes in the epistyle were seen to be hasty and informal, I think
that we can assign these holes to some repair of the system. During this repair, one of
295. See above, p. 100.

the two systems—either that of the torsion production or that of the release—must
have ceased to be wholly within the architectural elements and have been replaced by
those cords that were in front of the athletes in every intercolumniation.
It is, finally, self-evident that, to avoid malfunctions in the system, there must have
been at every corner either small and sensitive rollers or a working down of the stone
members so that with a good greasing they could facilitate easy movement of the
cords.
Conclusion
With these complicated systems we have come to the end of a series of mechanisms
that, set in front of or on top of the balbides of ancient stadia, had the purpose of
achieving an equal and fair start for all the runners in the races. We should give to
all these systems the name, known from many sources, hyxplex since, despite their
differences and clear evolution, all had as a basic and common characteristic the
existence of barriers in front of the athletes which fell suddenly and with a bang,
thanks to the help of a system of cords, and thus allowed the simultaneous start of the
runners. Such systems must have first appeared in the hippodromes and have been
adopted with some adaptations in stadia in the second half of the 5th century BC,
as we are shown by the oldest preserved system at Isthmia and by a reference in the
comedies of Aristophanes.
These first hyspleges were simple. They consisted of individual wooden posts, one
for each runner, fixed in sockets in the balbis. These posts held, at their upper parts, a
horizontal wooden barrier that, on the appropriate action of the aphetes, fell only due
to its own weight, thus allowing the runners to start. A depiction on a Panathenaic
amphora of the archon Lykiskos (344/3 BC) shows that from the middle of the 4th
century there was conceived a new system with two end posts, and a third central post
that held two tightly stretched cords in front of the runners. Support bases for this
system, added in front of the balbides of four stadia of the northeastern Peloponnesos,
show its installation there around the beginning of the 3rd century BC This system, as
the depiction on the Panathenaic amphora, the cuttings in the bases of the Pelopon-
nesian stadia, and some terminology for parts of the hysplex that we encountered in
inscriptions from Delos show, must have worked in the same way as the great military
machines (i.e., catapults) of antiquity.
Each of the two end posts of the hysplex (i.e., the ankones) was placed within
neura (i.e., within a twisted mass of animal sinews). These were stretched with the
aid of choinikides and epizygides set in rectangular wooden frames that were boxed
in the stone bases in the stadia. Then, with the help of a pipe and a crank, the neura
were twisted, thereby giving to the whole system such torsion as would achieve the
necessary power to be able to hurl the vertical ankon down and out suddenly. The start
must have been given by an aphetes who stood behind the athletes, as in Stadium I
at Isthmia, and who by a single motion released rings or loops that had secured
the top of the ankones. These then fell and pulled with them the horizontal cords
stretched between them (or long wooden sticks attached to them), thereby allowing
the runners to start. The indications from the stadium at Nemea and the exceptionally
well preserved example at Rhodes with the operating channels and the pit for the
aphetes are important evidence for the survival of older effective methods. In all these
systems we have a horizontal layout of the start and of its operational mechanism in
the form of an isosceles triangle on the surface of the ground.
For successive uses of the hysplex it was sufficient to lift the ankones back to their
original position by hand. In the new system that is depicted on the Panathenaic
143
144 Hysplex
amphora, with the existence of a single unified barrier for all the athletes, as opposed
to the individual barriers of Stadium I at Isthmia, as well as with the sudden fall of
the barrier thanks to the use of torsion produced by the twisted neura, it was possible
not only to reduce favoritism or the opposite, whether intentional or not, toward a
certain athlete but also to produce a greater theatrical impression at the significant
moment of the start of the race.
Given the principles and the practices of the ancients a similar type of barrier must
have existed in every Greek stadium. Traces of it are to be noted at Olympia, doubts
about its specific reconstruction at Delphi are expressed, and hypotheses are made
relative to the starting lines of some stadia in Asia Minor in which it is possible that
there was a simpler completely-movable-as-a-whole mechanism that was placed on top
of a heavy base and was transported to the front of the balbis only during the period
of the games, just as took place otherwise with the main part of the mechanism of
the hysplex as we have seen. Again, such a movable system no traces of which remain,
might have existed in the gymnasia—in both the xystoi and the paradromides. Such
a light system could have been constructed after the replacement of the neura for the
production of torsion in war machines by a smaller system of metal springs that was
invented in the middle of the 2nd century BC.
In later Hellenistic years, at the same time that the principles of the classical system
were being preserved in most cases (e.g., at Isthmia, Olympia, Delphi, Didyma, and
Rhodes) and even in the frame of monumental architectural form, remodeling of the
hysplex systems in some ancient stadia is to be noted. Thus, in Epidauros, Priene, and
Kos there are preserved the remains of monumental starting systems with foundations,
pillar-half columns, and epistyles, with channels, holes, and cuttings through which
passed cords that moved the mechanism. In these new systems we have a return to
the old principle of an individual barrier for each runner, but also the improvement of
the mechanisms and of the systems of operation was such that the danger of mistakes
was reduced. In these Hellenistic hyspleges the development of the mechanism was
upward into high architectural members, and the operation of it was by the aphetes
who stood in the central wider intercolumniation. It is characteristic, finally, that the
mechanism in these later hyspleges was divided into two systems, independent of one
another. With the one, that of torsion production, the barriers came into a position
of preparedness, while with the other, that of release, they all fell at the same time,
and the runners were off.296
296. It is worth noting that barriers with the same principle of operation as the ancient hysplex
have been used for starts of different types even today. See Harris (1972) 31 and n. 10. Compare
the related system that is used in our own day for the start of the motorcycles in the "super cross"
competitions.
Appendix
The Rebirth of the Hysplex at Nemea
The problem of the form and method of functioning of the ancient hysplex has vexed
me ever since the discovery of the stone bases for it at Nemea in 1975, but a reading of
an early draft of Panos Valavanis's study convinced me that he had solved all, or nearly
all, the problems of that mechanism. I was, in fact, so convinced of the correctness of
his theories that I asked to be allowed to do an English translation of his work.
During the translation a question nagged: Could the hysplex as hypothetically re-
stored by Valavanis actually work? The idea of a practical demonstration—a life-size
working model based, literally, on the ancient blocks in the stadium at Nemea—was
thus born. Valavanis graciously, if with some anxiety, agreed to allow me to put his
theories to the test. During preliminary discussions, a day spent on the site at Nemea
with Valavanis, Manolis Korres, and Petros Briles 297 was crucial since certain ques-
tions were resolved, at least temporarily, so that decisions could be made about the
actual reconstruction. The latter took place during the first two weeks of July 1993.
What follows here is, in part, a description of our work and, in part, observations
about modifications to a few details of Valavanis's theories.
General Purpose
The overall goal of the project was to recreate, with as much accuracy and precision
as possible, the appearance and the workings of the ancient starting line at the south
end of the Nemea stadium. The principal part of this work was the recreation and
reinstallation of the hysplex starting mechanism, but with this opportunity we decided
also to re-erect the posts of the balbis and of the kampter base.
Materials
The fundamental material in terms of bulk and cost was wood for the posts on the
balbis and the kampter base, for the ankones, for the column behind and to which each
ankon was tied prior to its release, 298 and for the frame of the mechanism that was
to rest in the stone base. Although Valavanis correctly suggests that the wood used
297. Mr. Briles is a local Nemean cabinetmaker and woodworker who, together with his wife Voula,
was responsible for many practical applications of our theoretical plans. Without their enthusiastic
help, the model could not have come to life. I also thank M. Richardson for generous help with
photographic and grammatical work.
298. Initially there was some question whether this column might have been of stone, but a careful
examination of the surfaces of the semicircular cutting of the balbis showed clearly that they were
not intended to be in contact with other stone surfaces and that wood therefore surely had been used
here in antiquity.
145
146 Appendix
in antiquity might have been elm, ash, or boxwood,2 we were limited by the wood
available on the market in a size sufficiently large for the various parts, particularly for
the post of the left end of the balbis.300 We were also concerned with resistance to rot
and with ease of working, as well as with strength. The final decision was for African
mahogany, and even then it was necessary to laminate large planks to produce blocks
of the size necessary for the lower frame and the columns. 3 0 1 Of course, had we taken
more time, we might well have been able to search out larger single blocks of wood of
an appropriate type.
The metallic elements were all of iron or steel, and they did not, as will be seen below,
always reproduce exactly the ancient forms as we understand them. This was due,
mostly, to a desire to use items that were readily available in today's marketplace. Still,
the basic elements of syrinx, choinikis, epizygis, and mochlos302 will be recognized in
their modern steel reincarnations, although in forms that are not absolutely authentic.
For the cords we used hemp rope with a diameter of 0.005 m. I suspect that this is
fairly close to the ancient cords.
The remaining element, the neura, was the most difficult. Again motivated by a de
sire for the easily and quickly attainable, and lacking long-haired women and sinews, 303
we settled on hemp rope again, but this time with a diameter of 0.01 m . 3 0 4
The Posts of the Balbis and the Kampter
Of the post holes of the series cut after the installation of the hysplex support bases 3 0 5
two still retain their lead lining and indicate that the posts were square, measuring
0.065 m. on a side. We accordingly cut and smoothed 12 posts 0.065 χ 0.065 m. and
1.16 m. long. These were inserted in the holes to a depth of 0.11 m. so that they were
visible above the surface of the balbis to a height of 1.05 m.—a height slightly above
my waist and commensurate with the indications of the physical remains and with the
vase painting discussed above by Valavanis. 306
299. Above, p. 36 and n. 110.

300. The various parts were not standardized in size, and the most surprising variation is between
the columns of the two ends. The cuttings for them indicate clearly that the one on the left (or west)
end had a diameter of nearly 0.30 m. while that on the right measured slightly less than 0.25 m. in
diameter. The difference was particularly noticeable to us as we carried the columns out to be set in
place; it was difficult for two men to handle the larger, whereas one (strong and sturdy) man could
carry the smaller by himself.
301. We were assisted in this decision by Mr. G. Hatzinikolaou of Nauplion. I thank him for his
advice and for the substantial discount he gave us on the price of the wood. Although we tried not
to make price a factor in our decision for the best wood, questions of cost always are close at hand.
302. For the mochlos—a lever, bar, or crowbar—see above, p. 42 and n. 128.
303. See above, pp. 39 f. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever successfully reproduced
neura made from sinews or tendons. See H. Diels and E. Schramm, "Über den griechischen Text von
Heron's Belopoiika," Abh.Berlin.Akad. 1918 no. 2, 48, n. 1. See also J.G. Landels, Engineering in the
Ancient World (Berkeley, 1978) 107-111.
304. A trial with the thinner rope quickly resulted in the rope breaking under the pressure we
applied. The heavier rope, however, responded very well.
305. See above, pp. 19-20.
306. See above, n. 84 and fig. 23. By making all the vertical elements end at the same height,
we actually compromised between these apparently higher balbis posts and the lower columns and
ankones as described by Valavanis.
Appendix 147
Since most of the holes were badly weathered and broken as well as missing their
lead lining, 10 of the 12 posts were pinned in place by wooden wedges. But in the two
cases in which the lead was preserved, we discovered that by leaving the posts out in
the sun to dry and shrink, it was possible to slip them easily into the lead sheathing
in the early evening when the lead had cooled and also shrunk. By the next morning,
the dew from the night had caused the posts to swell and fill the holes tightly and
securely. Deliberate dampening during the day, aided by the expansion of the lead
in the heat of the sun, would also have created this tight fit. We further noted that
the sides of the lead lining are smooth as if from wear and do not possess some of
the sharp edges that one might have expected of lead that was poured while molten
around a post that subsequently eroded, leaving its negative impression in the surface
of the lead.
This raises, again, the question about the use of the lead in these holes. Broneer
had stated that the purpose of the lead in the post holes at Isthmia (and by extension
elsewhere) was to fasten turning posts "in the sill so firmly that the runner could
grab his post with his left hand and swing around with a minimum loss of time and
momentum." 307 Sweet, realizing that such a use for the posts would be awkward, at
best, for the hoplitodromoi, hypothesized that those runners reversed the normal—and
so far as I know, universal—counterclockwise turn to the left to make a clockwise turn
to the right. 308 As I have pointed out elsewhere, there is no ancient evidence for any
turn in a clockwise fashion or for swinging on the posts. 309
After our experience with slipping the posts into and out of the lead lining (fig. 110),
I must wonder if the real purpose of the lead was not precisely to facilitate such a
practice. Indeed, once we remember that the wood, if left in these holes between
celebrations of the games every two years, would soon rot, and that for just such
reasons the hysplex itself had to be removable, 310 such a conclusion seems inevitable.
The combination of lead and wood, then, made it possible both to fix the posts firmly
during the day, and yet easily to put them into place—quickly and precisely vertical
and aligned with each other—the evening before the games and to remove them again
the evening after the games.
We cut a 13th post with the same dimensions as those just mentioned, and it fit
neatly into the base of the kampter. That base has no lead in it, and I cannot tell if it
ever did. If it was unleaded, the posts of the balbis and the kampter were of the same
dimensions, as we have recreated them. If it was leaded, the post that originally fit into
this base was either smaller than those of the balbis or of a different type altogether
with the socket in the base actually representing a dowel hole for the attachment of a
pillar significantly larger than the socket.
For each of the two hysplex machines we manufactured a column to rest in the
semicircular cutting in the balbis at the back of the base (figs. 15-17, 111). The column
at the left was 0.295 m. in diameter and 1.24 m. high. Of that height, 0.19 m. was
embedded in the stone cutting on the back side and wedged in place by the wooden
blocks on the front side. The height of the column above the balbis was therefore,
like that of the posts, 1.05 m. The column on the right also extended to a height of
307. Broneer 51.
308. Sweet 31.
309. "The Stadium at Nemea and the Nemean Games," Proceedings 86 n. 26.
310. See above, p. 30 and nn. 90, 93, 111.
1.05 m., but because the stone at the bottom of the socket is broken away, the bottom
of the column rested on the earth surface at a depth of 0.25 m. as excavated below
the bottom of the stone for a total height of 1.30 m. Its diameter is slightly less than
0.25 m.
Wedged into the bases in front of these columns were three pieces of wood as
suggested by Valavanis on the basis of the three back-to-front broad stepped lev-
els (fig. 111). 311 We did not, however, extend the side pieces of wood above the level
of the top of the stone as Valavanis suggests because we felt that the device would
be more sturdy and secure if it was entirely encased in the stone. Thus we attempted
(but not always completely successfully) to bring the upper surfaces of all the wooden
blocks to a level with the upper surfaces of the stone bases. This resulted, as will be
noted below, in considerable variations in heights between, and within, wooden blocks
because of variations in the stone cuttings on which the wooden blocks rest. All six of
these blocks began with a length of 0.72 m., and all were cut down to varying degrees
to fit around the column although the two outer blocks of each base retain their full
original length on their outer faces. 312 If the other dimensions of the blocks of wood
from the two bases are compared in a mirror-image fashion, interesting facts emerge:
311. See above, pp. 38-39. We labeled the blocks, starting from the west, from A through Z, as will
be seen in the table below; see figs. 113 and 114.
312. Several hours of patient cutting and fitting had to be done by the Briles couple. Some of this
was done in his shop with heavy tools, but the final touches had to be done on the spot (fig. 112) as
they worked the surface of the wood to bring as much of it as possible into contact with the stone,
which has considerable irregularities. This maximization of contact was crucial to the distribution of
weight and pressure over the largest possible area of stone surface.
First, we note that there is considerable difference of dimension from one wooden
block to the next within a single base unit and that the central blocks of each unit
are quite different from one another. But, even though the outer and inner blocks of a
single unit (A and Γ, Δ and Z, respectively) are also very different, the outside blocks
of both units (A and Z) and the inside blocks of both units (A and Γ) are quite similar
to one another in their widths (0.171 vs. 0.178; 0.220 vs. 0.230). Finally, the widths
of the inside blocks are about 0.05 m. greater than the widths of the outside blocks.
An explanation for this will be offered below, but at least we can already say that
there appears to be some system at work which was not so apparent from the cuttings
alone.
It needs also to be noted that both of the central blocks, although retained at their
full height at the rear of the system where they are wedged up against the columns,
were cut down for a depth of 0.105 m. to a point 0.105 m. behind (south of) the axis
of the cuttings that extend to the outside of the base supports. As will be seen below,
this was to allow installation and operation space for the "heel" of the ankon and for
the neura in which it was embedded (figs. I l l , 113-115).
The next step was to drill horizontal holes with a diameter of about 0.05 m. through
the side blocks A and Γ, Δ and Z. These were aligned with the axes of the cuttings
that run to the outside of the stone support bases. The size of the drilled holes was
dictated by a desire to make them as large as possible, on the one hand, and by a
fear of making them so large that the wood would be weakened, on the other. Their
purpose was, obviously, for the passage of the neura.
It was now time to provide an anchor for the neura, which we did by means of
countersinking an iron bar, 0.015 m. square, that runs the full length of the block
(0.72 m.), thereby distributing the pressure to come from the torsion over the maxi
mum amount of wooden surface possible. This was done only on the "inside" blocks
(Γ and Δ), and this bar might be thought of as in some way analogous to the epizygis
315
discussed above.
Although we had originally thought that a similar bar should be placed on the
"outside" blocks, it became clear that such a bar interfered with the introduction of
313. This is the maximum width at the bottom of the block, but the width is less at the top in order
to accommodate the inward slope of the cutting in the stone base, and I give it in parentheses.
314. This the the maximum height at the center of the block, but the lower corners are beveled to
fit the cutting in the stone below so that the height on the outer surfaced is 0.14 m.
315. See pp. 40 f. Of course, since torsion is to be introduced only from the "outside" blocks, this
bar is immobilized, apparently unlike the epizygis that was used in association with the choinikis in
catapults. The difference is the result of the introduction of torsion from both sides of the catapult
frame. For ancient examples of various types of the choinikis, made of cast bronze, see D. Baatz,
"Recent Finds of Ancient Artillery," Britannia 9 (1978) 4-6. I thank G. Sines of UCLA for this
reference. See also D. Baatz, "Ein Katapult der Legio IV Macedonica aus Cremona," RM 87 (1980)
283-299; Baatz (1982) 213-222; and Baatz (1985) 680-688. Examples of the iron epizygis are not
so frequently preserved. At Ephyra, for example, only one epizygis is preserved, although there were
probably originally as many as 28; see Baatz (1982) 225-226.
torsion and that a smooth surface was needed for the turning of our version of the
syrinx. Thus large metal iron washers with an exterior diameter of 0.115 m. and an
interior opening diameter of 0.053 m. were countersunk at the point of exit of the
horizontal hole on the outside block toward the channels cut in the stone support
bases (figs. 116, 117). Although clearly the analogy is not precise, these washers might
be thought of as reflecting, but only in part, the choinikides. That they are only
slightly countersunk on the surface of the wooden blocks as opposed to the greater
countersinking of the bar on the "inside" blocks means that the thickness of the wood
that forms the working, pressure-resisting, frame of the hysplex is roughly the same
on both sides. This explains the difference in the overall thicknesses of the blocks as
noted in the table above.
Now the rope (neura) was passed through the holes and looped around the iron bar
on the inside block so that there were three strands on each side of the bar and the
ends of the rope were sufficiently beyond the outside block. The amount of rope was
limited by the size of the holes, although we clearly wanted to use as much rope as
possible in order both to increase the torsion produced and to reduce the likelihood
of breaking the ropes.
The next step was to place the blocks into the stone base, outer blocks first and the
central block last. With all these, and the columns, now in place, the elements were
wedged tightly and securely against one another, and we should note that the wooden
blocks helped considerably—in fact were indispensable—in the fixing of the vertical
columns behind them. Assuming that our reconstruction is, to this point, more or less
like the real hysplex of antiquity, I must agree with Valavanis's suggestion that the
outer blocks (Α, Γ, Δ, and Z), with their metallic attributes now embedded in them,
are very strong candidates for the parastades of the Delian inscriptions. 3 1 6
Now the ends of the rope were passed through the "outside" blocks and thence
through a metal pipe situated in the channels of the stone base. The diameter of this
pipe (0.06 m.) was dictated by the size of the rope; the length (0.15 m.) was somewhat
arbitrary, although considerations of working space (i.e., long enough to be able to
work with it but not so long as to be unwieldy or to extend beyond the outer surfaces
of the stone base) provided general guidelines. This is clearly our version of the ancient
syrinx.
At the outside end of the pipe and perpendicular to its long axis were drilled match
ing holes through which an iron pin with a diameter of 0.016 m. and a length of 0.14 m.
was inserted. On either side of it passed three of the six strands of rope organized in
the same grouping as the loop around the iron bar on the other side of the hysplex.
This pin was, again in vague terms, the equivalent of the epizygis. The ends of the
rope were tied down as tightly as possible on this pin (fig. 111).
At this point, and before entering the ankon into the neura, it was important to
counter twist the ropes on the inside part of the hysplex in such a way as to allow the
torsion introduced from the far side to be translated to this side. As noted above, 3 1 7
316. See above, pp. 35, 30-39. Does the language of Vitruvius (10.10.2) support such an identification
when he calls the sides of the frame of the catapult "parastaticae dextra ac sinistra"? I also wonder
if we would be justified in identifying the central blocks (B and E) with the mesostates known from
the frame for t h e euthytonos, above p. 35 and n. 106.
317. See p. 42. At this point our neura-rope looks very like that in the reconstruction of a miniature
onager shown in Marsden II, pl. 14.
Appendix 155
this pre-twisting was important to keep the ankon more or less centered in the frame
so that it could move freely without contact with any surfaces. But we discovered that
the pre twisting, if done in the proper direction, also increased significantly the force
of the torsion. 318
Now the ankon could be inserted between the two groups of rope and the rope
twisted by means of the pipe and pin. It was usually possible to make two or three
turns by hand, but the final twisting was done by means of a pipe (of an arbitrary
length but sufficient to provide good leverage) the inner diameter of which was just
slightly larger than the outer diameter of the pin so that by slipping this thin pipe
over the pin one was able to exert a great deal of pressure. When the limits of possible
pressure were reached, a wedge of wood placed between the pin and the stone below
held the tensed rope in torsion. The next step was to lift the ankon into a vertical
position, thus "cocking" it for release by the addition of a quarter turn of torsion on
the ropes.
Several additional details about this process should be presented here.
(1) The ankon was a round piece of wood, 0.055 m. in diameter with a height of
1.15 m. Given that the central wooden block was cut down 0.105 m., it thus protruded
1.05 m. (allowing 0.005 m. for movement of the "heel" of the ankon) above the level
of the balbis, as did all the vertical members in our reconstruction. The first few times
we released it, there was a "hesitation" at the point of release. This was due to the
flat bottom of the post the corners of which caught on the recessed upper surface of
the central wooden block. By rounding that end of the post, we enabled the ankon to
fall fluidly and immediately.
(2) As torsion was increased, and particularly during the "cocking" action, there
was a noticeable tendency for the wooden blocks to try to lift out of the stone base.
The purpose of the undercut wedging of the three blocks into the base was surely
intended to counteract this lifting pressure.
(3) The thin iron pipe used to apply greater pressure to the ropes is analogous to
the mochlos (and at a different scale, to the skytale).319 I found this much preferable
to a crank, which could not have produced as much pressure, and I am thereby forced
to disagree with Valavanis's restoration of a crank. 320 I would call attention to a fact
that he makes clear in his text: no ancient source associates a crank with a hysplex.
And the crank is the only technical term used by Valavanis for any part of the hysplex
mechanism that is not mentioned in at least one source relevant to that mechanism. I
also am not very happy with the notion that a pit had to be dug beyond the limits of
the stone for the crank to be turned. My objections are not just those of aesthetics.
Once torsion has been introduced, some means of holding that force in place until
the desired time of release is necessary. Perhaps some sort of rächet catch existed,
but it would have to have been tied to the release mechanism, and I think that is
unnecessarily complicated—and perhaps a little too advanced—for this stage in the
development of the hysplex. At the same time, our pipe and pin is probably a little too
318. The idea for the pre twisting came from Petros Briles, and for doing it in the proper way from
John Quick. I thank both of them for this as for so much else in this project. The need for this
pre twisting is the result of introducing torsion from only one side of the machine, unlike the situation
with the catapult where there was a choinikis — epizygis set on both sides of the frame.
319. See above, pp. 42-43 with nn. 130, 132, and 133.
320. See above, pp. 43 f.
158 Appendix
simple, for the syrinx-choinikis element was surely a specially manufactured element
of greater stability than our version even if the sources that mention it are rather later
in date than our machine (see above, n. 315). But the point here is, what part of the
ensemble is going to take the pressure of holding the torsion in check? I do not think
that the earth, on the one hand, in a supposed crank pit is a very secure candidate,
and I suspect that the wooden elements, on the other, ought not be be subjected to
the sort of pressure that would tend to split them. But the stone base itself is clearly
capable of undergoing such pressure, whether in the form of our simple wooden wedges
or some more elaborate device. If this line of reasoning is valid, then the pipe-turning
element ought not to extend beyond the line of the stone base, and the purpose of the
cutting that runs to the outside of the support bases is revealed as providing space
for the movement necessary to introduce torsion into the ropes as well as for a base
to withstand the pressure of holding that torsion in check.
(4) The modern ground level at the balbis is slightly lower than the ancient level
(because of test trenches), but it is still too high for the hysplex. On our initial trials,
the ankon came down to hit, at a single point in its length, the corner of earth in
front of the stone support base with the obvious danger that the ankon might snap
at that point. It was therefore necessary to excavate a narrow "trough" (not yet done
at the time when the photographs presented here were taken), the bottom of which
was level with the neura so that the ankon would hit the earth along its full length.
This gives added weight to Valavanis's observations about the similar "trough" found
in the excavations at Corinth. 321 But we would now add to the purpose of having the
horizontal cords come down flat onto the ground, that of having the ankon also come
down flat and thus lessening the danger of breaking it.
This increase of contact surface of wood with earth increased the characteristic
bang—a noise heard distinctly and distinctively even before the "trough" was created
but even more emphatically afterward. 322
(5) After three or four "falls," the neura had to be tightened by an additional
half turn on the pipe—sometimes a full turn if we had not succeeded in twisting the
neura adequately at the beginning. I suspect that such a preliminary fine-tuning of
the hysplex in antiquity might have been necessary to ensure that the system was
working at the height of its capacity for the actual competitions (see above n. 129 and
p. 42). Additional tightening might also have been required later in the day after a
few races.
(6) After this extra tightening, the final quarter-turn cocking was extremely dim-
cult and required great strength of arms, legs, and particularly back. As I watched
others perform this task, and did it myself, I was absolutely convinced that Valava-
nis's explanation of Lykophron's metaphor—comparing the exertions of an oarsman
to those of one who is cocking the hysplex—is correct. 323 The positions—sitting in the
boat/standing over the ankon—may be different, but the muscles of legs, back, and
arms are strained in the same way.
321. See above, pp. 14 and 45.

322. No traces of such a trough were observed during the course of excavation in the Nemea stadium,
and given the biennial renewal of the track's surface, it is perhaps not surprising that none survived.
323. See above, p. 49 and n. 142.
Appendix 159
The Release System
We duplicated closely the system suggested by Valavanis324 with a short cord secured
at one end to a nail in the top of the column and at the other end to an iron ring that
slipped over an iron pin in the top of the ankon (fig. 118). This is the ring that held
the force of the torsion in check and that released it when pulled by another, much
longer, cord that was attached to the ring at one end and that ran back to the apex
of the isosceles triangle to the hand of the aphetes.
The actual execution of the release proved interesting for while it is possible to
perform it faultlessly repeatedly, to do so requires skill and strength. Four different
people—including the two whose names appear on this work—tried their hand, and
each failed to cause both ankones to fall together on the first try. Because it is nec-
essary to have the rings at the extreme top of the pins of the ankones in a relatively
treacherous position, the long pull cords must be raised deliberately and carefully off
the ground. Next, the aphetes must be sure that the pull cords have as little sag as
possible and that whatever sag exists is equal for each cord. Needless to say, the length
of the pull cords—that is, the distance from aphetes' hand to ankon's ring—must be
the same for each.
When he releases the ankones the aphetes must pull the cords upward equally and
with considerable force. (It is the requisite strength and upward pull that caused all
four "aphetai" their problems—none was predisposed to believe that so much of each
was necessary.) Part of the reason for this is the height of the tops of the ankones,
which, if lowered, might obviate some of the upward pull. But the main reason is
that for the rings to slip off the pins of the ankones, the latter must be pulled slightly
backward—and the torsion of the neura works in direct opposition to such a movement.
Thus, Valavanis's interpretation 325 of the semicircular pit south of the starting line at
Nemea as a place for the aphetes to stand with the sloping bottom that would allow
his weight to help in his pull is, I am certain, correct.
The Barriers
We tied two thin ropes to the ankones, one near the top at about waist height and
one lower down at about knee height as shown by the Panathenaic amphora discussed
by Valavanis above. The weight of these cords made them sag—as one expected—and
pulled the ankones toward one another and forced them to rub against the sides of
the wooden block frames of the hysplex. We therefore tied an additional rope to each
ankon and pulled it out to the side to form a guy or stay. Since the end of the guy
attached to the top of the ankon would follow the motion of the latter and ultimately
therefore come to rest on the ground, it was important that the other end of the guy
be anchored at ground level. To have anchored it at any height above the ground
would have suspended the released and fallen ankones—and their connecting barrier
cords—in midair. Thereby was a long-standing question answered.
324. See above, pp. 45 and 49.

Appendix 161
Immediately north of the settling basin at the west end of the Nemea starting line
is a large block the placement of which caused a westward shift in the location of the
water channel north of the basin. 326 This change in the water channel brings quickly
to mind the similar change in the posts on the balbis occasioned by the addition of
the hysplex.327 It is clearly tempting to think that both changes were the result of the
same cause—the newly added hysplex. We tied one guy at the bottom of this block so
that the cord would allow the ankon to fall flat on the ground (see above), and the
block worked very well for the anchor of the guy at this end of the line (fig. 119). I
am now confident that this was the original purpose of this block. The corresponding
water basin and channel at the east end of the starting line also show clearly that the
channel there was moved eastward from its original position. 328 About 5 m. directly
north of this location there was discovered in 1976, no longer in place, a block that is
very similar in size and shape to that at the west end of the starting line. 329 We had
no qualms in placing (replacing?) it in a position analogous to its western mate, and
it served equally well as an anchor for the guy at this end (fig. 120). We have, then,
resolved the purpose of these two blocks in the stadium at Nemea.
By tightening the guys, it was possible to bring the two horizontal cords to an almost
perfectly straight line (fig. 121), and the whole system was thus taut with torsion and
tension waiting for release by the aphetes. I suspect that some similar system for the
horizontal cords existed in other stadia, and the suggested use of wooden bars as
barriers can be discarded. It is improbable in any event. First, the bars restored by
Aupert at Delphi are extremely long and certainly would have sagged dramatically
at their centers—and, unlike the cord and guy system, there is no way to straighten
the sag. 330 Secondly, as mentioned above, all meanings of the word hysplex have to
do with rope or cord. 331
If the guys were important to the system when it was cocked and the ankon was in
a vertical position, they were equally important after the fall of the ankon, for they
kept the horizontal barrier cords taut and thus held them firmly on the ground and
prevented them from jumping and flapping and, thereby, creating a hazard for the
runners' feet.
The use of these guys also explains another heretofore enigmatic detail of the Nemea
stadium (see also above, p. 19). Why were the hysplex support bases set so far in from
the ends of the balbis? Why was it necessary to waste two lanes at each end of the
balbis, which in turn forced a rearrangement of the lanes so as to retrieve two of the
four lost lanes? The answer is the need for the guys, and the additional consideration
that the guys exert a downward force on the ankones. This force tends to drive the
ankones down into the base of the hysplex, and the closer the anchor of the guy to
326. Nemea: A Guide 180 and fig. 63.

327. Nemea: A Guide 82; and above, pp. 19-19.
328. Miller (1976) 199 and pl. 42 b.
329. S.G. Miller, "Excavations at Nemea, 1976," Hesperia 46 (1977) pls. 13 c, and 15 d: it can be
seen lying off to the east side of the track where we placed it south of a much larger block found
in the area. The original place of discovery of the block in question was about 3 meters west of the
location seen in the photographs cited.
330. I must, then, disagree with Aupert's theory of wooden bars, although I certainly share his (and
Valavanis's) belief in the existence of a hysplex system at Delphi. See above, pp. 61-63; and Aupert
59-60.
331. See n. 12.
the ankon, the greater the downward force. Thus, given that the system could not
extend outside the limits of the track as defined by the water channel, 3 3 2 the guy
anchor blocks were set at that limit, and the hysplex support bases were set into
the balbis at the shortest distance permitted by the downward force of the guys.
It should be noted that, even with that consideration effected, our ankones—used
only a few dozentimes—wore depressions in the surfaces of the central wood blocks
directly beneath them. This shows that the oblong depressions of wear on the bases
at Corinth noted by Valavanis were, as he maintains, created by the friction of heels
333
of the ankones. The absence of such indications of wear at other sites—including
Nemea—should indicate that the wooden element passed beneath the heel of the
ankon and protected the stone surface from wear at those sites. If this interpretation
is correct, and considering that the friction of wood on wood is less than that of wood
on stone, then we may well have another indication that the Corinthian system was
334
the earliest of the four now known in the northeastern Peloponnesos and that the
addition of the wooden protection—blocks Β and Ε in our reconstruction—was part
of a refinement in a later stage of development of the hysplex. (We might also note
that the central wooden block, even at a lowered level, greatly increases the stability
of the frame and, hence, of the whole system. The two putative causes for its addition
are not, obviously, mutually exclusive.)
332. The height of the top surface of the water channel is above the surface of the track, and were
a guy to pass over the top of the water channel it would, as pointed out above, hold the ankon—and
the cord barriers—above the ground surface and thereby provide difficulties for the runners.
333. See above, pp. 15 and 39, figs. 13-14.
334. See above, p. 15 and n. 159.
In the context of the barriers, we need also to consider the need for a central post
or ankon that Valavanis restores on the Panathenaic amphora 3 3 5 and that he suggests
was necessary to prevent excessive sag in the horizontal cords. As we subsequently
learned, sufficient tension can be exerted through the guys to obviate the need for
such a post. But initially we looked for evidence and discovered that a break along
the front edge and very near the center of the length of the balbis had obscured a
shallow cutting (0.056 m. deep) that is 0.065 m. square. Such a dimension does not,
however, allow for both the lead lining of the other sockets in the balbis and a post of
standard size (but see the kampter above). Further, one of its sides is the front edge
of the block. In other words, it is effectively only three-sided and could never have
secured a post by itself. Nonetheless, it was deliberately cut and seems to have had
something to do with the starting system. We embedded another 0.065 χ 0.065 m.
wooden post in the earth directly in front of this cutting in anticipation of using it
somehow to support the cords—unnecessary in the event. But this post effectively
divided the wider central lane into two smaller lanes about 1.10 m. wide as opposed
336
to the roughly 1.30-m.-wide lanes otherwise typical of this phase of the balbis.
335. See above, p. 29 and fig. 25.

336. See above, p. 19 and n. 64.
It should be pointed out that exactly on the place where we set this central post test excavations
had revealed a cluster of three post holes cut through the bedrock and documenting that a post
like ours did exist in that location at least some of the time in antiquity. See Stephen G. Miller,
"Excavations at Nemea, 1979," Hesperia 49 (1980) 200 and pl. 51 b.
The System in Use
On July 18, 1993, we held a test of the working model. 3 3 7 Since the northern end of
the track at Nemea is not preserved, we halved the length to 300 feet and decided to
run the diaulos event, but at half its total length (i.e., an actual length of 600 feet
or a stadion). The posts on the balbis were duplicated at the 300-foot mark in the
form of smaller stakes driven into the ground at the same intervals from each other as
the originals on the balbis. Given my obvious prejudice—supported by Valavanis—for
338
lanes marked out for the short-distance races, it will not surprise that we used these
posts as the point of contact for string guides for white sand lines that marked off the
lanes (figs. 121-123). By using the central post mentioned above, we created 12 lanes,
or, in the double-lane usage suggested for the diaulos, six pairs of lanes. Valavanis's
337. I would like to thank the Fourth Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Nauplion
and its Ephor, Mrs. F. Pachyianne, for permission to stage this experiment. The participants were
members of the track teams of the local high school at Nemea, coached by Mr. G. Velentsas, and of
Drake High School in Marin County, California, coached by Mr. W. Taylor. The "hellanodikai" were
the mayors of the towns of Archaia and Nea Nemea, Mr. K. Peppas and Mr. A. Kalles, respectively.
The "aphetes" was Mr. T h . Zavitsas, and the "keryx" was Mr. D. Skotades. Preparations of the track
were performed by A. Marmaras, K. Papoutses, V. Papoutses, K. Peppas, E. Skazas, and M. Skoupas.
My sincere thanks to all of them, but especially to the students who actually ran: S. Anderson,
M. Barrall, A. Butterfield, J. Eckert, H. Edde, V. Elia, Α. Glenn, Α. Greenwald, P. Iliopoulou,
J. LaPlante, M. Liakou, Ν. Papadoyianni, A. Peppas, Κ. Peppas, and M. Skoupas.
contention that this was one of the purposes of the posts 339 gained credence in my
mind, although the original purpose of the central post—if, indeed, it existed—remains
obscure. Nonetheless, that central post did work very well for our purposes as the
southern end of one dividing line, and the creation of an even number of lanes fits well
with the notion of a pair of lanes for each runner in the diaulos.
We should also note in this regard that the kampter was almost exactly on a dividing
line and thus was not an impediment to the running of the race (fig. 124).
As the athletes lined up for the race, we noted that they persisted in placing the
rear foot significantly behind the rear groove: they simply and instinctively were not
comfortable with the stance prescribed above with left foot slightly ahead of right,
toes curled into the grooves, and leaning forward at the waist with arms stretched out
over the top of the two horizontal cords. 340 It was necessary for the "hellanodikai" to
"coax" the runners to put their feet in the proper position by gentle taps with their
switches on the offending ankles. I have to wonder, then, if the ancient stance was
not equally uncomfortable for ancient athletes. Perhaps it was introduced by the same
desire to provide an equal start for all the runners as is to be seen in the introduction
of the hysplex. This is surely the meaning of Moeris's reference to the two grooves in
the balbis as understood by Valavanis.341 By forcing the feet of the athletes to fit into
339. Ibid.
340. This stance has produced negative comments from every modern athlete who has been con-
fronted with it. I had thought that the modern aversion was due to the current practice of using
starting blocks with the feet apart and a four-point stance, but I now believe that the ancient stance
is simply unnatural. See above, n. 86, for the stances used a century ago.
168 Appendix
those grooves—as we did at Nemea with the modern runners—we assured an equal
starting stance for every runner.
The start of the races was accompanied by a verbal command from the aphetes.
Our version was a three-part shout using the words "έτοιμοι," "εμπρός," "απιτε," the
last of which was dictated by the documented use of the word in antiquity. 3 4 2 It
became clear that the athletes tried to synchronize a rocking motion with the rhythm
of the commands from the "aphetes" so that the upper parts of their bodies would
be moving forward—no matter how slightly—with the third command. It thus seems
likely to me that such a system of rhythm—whether introduced by verbal commands
or by the accompaniment of a flute—was used in antiquity. It was certainly clear that
the invention and use of the hysplex in no way obviates the need for an audible starting
signal.
But the major question that was answered by the experiment at Nemea was whether
the feet of the runners would become tangled in the cords that were thrown down in
front of them by the ankones of the hysplex.343 The answer is that there were absolutely
no problems. To be sure, a couple of the runners—obviously very concerned with the
possibility of tripping—hopped or jumped out over the cords. But most simply put
their heads down and ran over and beyond the cords without fear and without mishap
(figs. 125-128). 3 4 4 Given the much greater speed of the fall of the cords compared
with that of the first steps by the athletes, 3 4 5 and the position of the cords fiat on
the ground and naturally located between the first and second footfall of the runners,
342. See above, n. 8. The American equivalent is "on your mark," "get set," "go!" A more authentic
version has been pointed out to me by Valavanis: πόδα παρά πόδα: έτοιμοι: απιτε.
343. See above, p. 45 and η. 136. Every one of the dozens of visitors to Nemea with whom I had
previously discussed Valavanis's theoretical reconstruction of the hysplex had voiced this possibility
of entanglement and tripping as a major objection to Valavanis's hysplex.
344. As is visible in the photographs (figs. 125-128) and also to be seen in videotapes taken at the
event, the first step of most of the athletes was with the right foot, which fell naturally just short of the
lower cord. The second step (with the left foot) fell beyond the upper cord, again always naturally
and with no special forethought or maneuver. Two of the athletes, however, made an apparently
instinctive short first step with the left foot before the first full stride with the right. This extra left
foot half-step caused the right foot to fall, in two cases (but with the same athlete), directly on top
of the lower cord, which was already at rest on the ground, and in one case (fig. 127) just beyond
the lower cord. Again, no tangle resulted, nor was any possible with the cord held firmly down by
the weight of the foot resting temporarily on it. It is perhaps significant t h a t these two athletes are
left-handed, but so too was a third whose footfalls were "normal."
345. The same analysis of the videotapes referred to above showed that as the barrier fell, the center
of the cords, and particularly of the upper cord, lagged behind the ends, which were tied to the
ankones. The result was that a slight arc was extended along the cords as they fell. Further, the
ankones and the cords bounced two or three centimeters back up into the air after their initial smash
on the ground and then came back down to rest fully on the ground. Arc and bounce occurred so
quickly—thanks to the great torsion introduced to the hysplex—that neither was apparent to the
naked eye but was captured on film. The bounce was also completed well before the first foot of the
athletes hit the ground. The success of the whole system depends on the speed with which the ankones
and the cords hit the ground, and that speed is a function of the mechanically produced torsion of the
hysplex. It is this element of the "machine" that sets the late Classical hysplex apart from the early
Classical predecessor at Isthmia. I note in this context that the Isthmia example was used for a short
period; see above, p. 8 and n. 44, and Broneer 50, 138. I have to wonder if it was actually used more
than once. That early attempt clearly failed because it could not provide an assuredly equal start for
all the runners. Its operation of individual gates made it quite possible that some gates would open
earlier than others as the string and staple system for each gate responded to the aphetes in different
ways. Even the greater friction developed in the strings of the gates farther from the aphetes could,
at least in theory, have retarded the fall of those gates. The late Classical system, as seen now at
Appendix 169
such an absence of fear and of actual mishaps is natural. The theoretical possibility
of tripping was not encountered in the event, and it provides no basis for objections
to the hysplex system as restored by Valavanis.
In other words, the working model based on Valavanis's hypothetical hysplex func
tioned extremely well and was appreciated by the whole crowd of about 200 spectators—
mostly parents—who gathered to watch the "New Nemean Games". 3 4 6 Particularly
gratifying were the silence that fell upon the crowd as the athletes tensed on the balbis
in anticipation of the start of the race and the unsolicited comments of several in the
crowd about the sharp, harsh, and pervasive "bang" from the hysplex as its ankones
threw the cords to the ground and the races began. This bang was amplified in the
cavity of the Nemea stadium and was actually best heard near the rim. It is clearly
the ψόφος referred to in the ancient sources.
The Finish
Valavanis rightly expresses interest in the question of how the winner was deter
mined. 3 4 7 It was a simple task for our "hellanodikai" to see who crossed the balbis
first, second, and even third. There will have been cases when the finish was ex
tremely close, but our experience (admittedly limited, but in a very short distance
race where the field will have been the closest at the end of the race) suggests that
extremely close finishes were the exception and that the presence of a committee of
"hellanodikai" will have assured—usually—that the winner was determined fairly. 348
Nemea, with its single barrier for all the athletes and its machine-driven fast fall, clearly provided a
secure equal start for all.
[As of June 1, 1996, when the first modern Nemean Games were celebrated in the presence of some
6,000 or 7,000 spectators with 520 athletes from 29 different countries, the reconstructed hysplex at
Nemea has been used more than 65 times, and there have been no problems with its operation and
no misadventures for the athletes.]
346. It was interesting and perhaps worth mentioning t h a t although most of the crowd had gathered
in the curved end of the théâtral area (where the view of the track is best) before the races began,
they instinctively moved to the sides for a better view of the races even though such a move forced
many of them from the shade and into the sun. The preference for sideline over end-zone seats seems
to be a natural, and perhaps venerable, one. On this point, see Robert C. Knapp in Nemea II: The
Early Hellenistic Stadium forthcoming.
347. See above, pp. 59-61.
348. For the three-man committee of the hellanodikai at Olympia who were concerned with the
footraces, and for a rare case of disagreement between them—caused apparently by local favoritism
by some of the judges—about the winner of a race, see Pausanias 6.3.7 (= Arete 74, # 7 9 ) .
By the exchange rate current in the summer of 1993, this was roughly the equivalent
of $1,500. How does this compare with the ancient cost of the hysplex? We know that
Philon of Corinth was to have produced the hysplex for the Sanctuary of Asklepios at
Epidauros for 500 drachmas. 3 5 0 If the formula I have proposed elsewhere 3 5 1 has any
validity, this should be the equivalent of $11,000. At first glance, this appears to be
very different from the cost of our hysplex at Nemea, but the difference is not really
so great. First, the contract at Epidauros must have been for the whole system at
both ends of the track so that our $1,500 must immediately be doubled to $3,000.
Secondly, we received, as noted above, a great discount on the price of the wood so
that our total for both ends of the track would have been closer to $4,000. Thirdly,
and most important, a part of Philon's work must have included the construction of
the four stone support bases for the hysplex and their placement up against the balbis.
I do not know how to estimate the value of that work, but it clearly would take our
costs closer to the supposed cost of $11,000 for the whole if we had been required to
find the stone for the bases and then shape and place them. 3 5 2 Finally, there must
have been some profit for Philon. If we factor into the costs of our reconstruction the
349. This is the expense of the lamination of the wood, cutting it to size, and working it to a precise
fit against the stone base. Br. Briles actually only charged me 80,000 drachmas for this work, but
stated emphatically that he "would have charged an Athenian at least 150,000 drachmas." Note, too,
that we received a hefty discount on the cost of the wood itself. See above, n. 301.
350. IG IV, l 2 , 98. See above, p. 50 and n. 152. I am afraid that my translation of this text in
Arete # 6 1 is misleading. The contract price for the work must have been 500 drachmas, on which are
based (1) the amount paid to Philon for the work actually done (200 drachmas); (2) the remainder,
which he was not to receive (300 drachmas); (3) and the penalty for failure to complete the contract
(50% of the remainder, or 150 drachmas). The upshot is that Philon gets 50 drachmas for the 40% of
the work he was judged to have accomplished. The basic problem stems, I believe, from the obscure
meaning of the word ζημία as "expense" as opposed to its more usual meaning of "penalty." This is
exacerbated by its appearance in the same text with the verbal form ζημιόω which does mean "to
penalize."
351. Arete x-xi.
352. Although there is no evidence, and a certain amount of speculation is required, one might
suppose that the 40% of the contract that Philon fulfilled represents the stone bases that, as we know
from the excavations at Epidauros (see above, pp. 10-19) were actually installed. It does not require
too much fantasy to imagine the agonothetes and the Hellanodikai waiting impatiently in front of
the athletes and the spectators at the games of Asklepios for the arrival of the wooden frames of the
hysplex that were to be set in the stone bases that had already been prepared. If such a suggestion
were to be proven correct, then the cost of the stone work—in preparation for the setting of the
hysplex—might have been in the range of $2,500 to $3,000, taking us even closer to the $11,000 total.
Appendix 173
value of my own labor (slight though it be), I believe that we would probably be close
to the hypothetical cost of $11,000 for the hysplex system at Epidauros. Certainly
the ancient cost and the modern—to the degree that we can establish them—are
sufficiently similar to suggest that we are on the right track.
Conclusion
The re-creation of the hysplex in accordance with the theories of Valavanis—with

minor changes—was a success in every way. This may not prove that his is the hysplex
system that was actually used in antiquity at Nemea and elsewhere, but I am convinced
that no other system will come so close to satisfying all the requirements of the ancient
texts, of the cuttings on the actual stone bases, and of the need to be removable and
to function properly and faultlessly.
Stephen G. Miller
Berkeley, California
June 1, 1994

P. Valavanis Hysplex, The Starting Mechanism in Ancient Stadia

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Reconstruction of the Hysplex System at Nemea. Drawing by Ruben Santos.

A Contribution to Ancient Greek Technology

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Editorial Board: John K. Anderson, David Blank, Richard Janko,

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, LTD.

© 1999 BY THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

Abbreviations and Bibliography xvii

Documents and Documentation of the Mechanism 3

Observations on the Starting Lines of Various Stadia 57

Appendix: The Rebirth of the Hysplex at N e m e a 145

The Finish 169

Summary in Greek 175

Reconstruction of the hysplex system at Nemea frontispiece

30 Drawing showing terms and materials of the basic elements of ancient

In addition to the standard internationally recognized bibliographic abbreviations, the

4. Although we regard it as preferable to duplicate in English the original Greek spelling as

Written Sources and Terminology

32. Lykophron 13: "εγώ δ' δκραν βαλβίδα μηρίνθου σχάσας."

Architectural Features of Stadia

on the inside of the support bases of the hysplex (figs. 8-12).

The New Panathenaic Amphora

The Parts of the Hysplex and Its Means of Operation

Epigraphic testimonia reinforce significantly our attempt to reconstruct the form of

Reconstruction of the Form of the Hysplex

104. LSJ, s.v. παραστάς.

Figure 32: Wooden scale model of the hysplex.

The Operation of the Mechanism

134. See above, p. 14.

136. Roos 150; Harris (1964) 67, 70; Bean 278.

The Chronology of the Hysplex

153. Broneer 141-142.

Representations of a Hysplex in Monuments of a Roman Date

Two monuments of Roman Imperial date present portrayals of a type of hysplex

168. T h e representation on a fragmentary relief in the Lateran (Benndorf-Schöne 37 and recently

174. See above, pp. 3-4 on the scholion to Dionysios Periegetes.

Mainland Greek Stadia

The Finish of the Foot Races

182. Schilbach 33-38.

190. See above, p. 6 f.

to little columns or little pillars that bear inscriptions including that of Τ Ε Ρ Μ Ω Ν . 1 9 3

THE ATHENIAN AGORA

206. See below, pp. 65-67.

Stadia of Asia Minor and the Islands

211. Shear 363.

Figure 42: Didyma. Schematic reconstruction of the balbis and t h e hysplex.

The publication of the stadium at Miletus by von Gerkan suggested a probable

MILETOS (STADIUM II)

the Hellenistic hyspleges, regardless of whether it is contemporary with or even later

Unfortunately the stadium at Rhodes (figs. 48-50) remains completely unknown in

in a rectangle measuring 4.10 χ 28 m. in order thus to preserve at a deeper level

Monumental Hyspleges Of Later Hellenistic Date

EPIDAUROS (STADIUM II)

268. Romano 15 ff.

289. See above, pp. 112-119.

295. See above, p. 100.

The Rebirth of the Hysplex at Nemea

The Posts of the Balbis and the Kampter

299. Above, p. 36 and n. 110.

321. See above, pp. 14 and 45.

The Release System