Pedestrianism

16 ANCIENT GYMNASTICS. \ menced with the foot-race which, was the first in order, and the highest in estimation of all the gymnasticexercises. At first, the race, as instituted by Iphitus, was simple I.t consisted of running once fromthe barrierto the goal,^or from the one extremity of the stadium to the other. But in the fourteenth Olympiad,the Diaulus was introduced, which, as the word implies, was doublethe formerdistance. The runners in this race turnedround the goal, andfinished their course at the barrier, whencethey had started. In the next Olympiad, the Doli- chus o,r long course , wasadwdehdic,h con­ sistedof six, twelve, or twenty-four stadia, or in doubling the goal three, six, or twelve times. In the simplefoot-race,fieetness or agility only was required; but in the long course, strengthof body, and command of wind , were indispensable to enable the candidate to gain the prize. Strength and agility are seldom united in the same person; yet there are somemodern examplesof the union of both; and