Women were forbidden under the penalty of death to part take in the games or even watch them as a spectator. All athletes were male and would take part in the games in total nudity. The games would take place in the stadium and people would watch them from the hills around it. Also, offerings and ceremonies in the temple of Zeus and the temple of Hera were practiced to ask for the favor of the gods. Before the games, the high priestess of Olympia marked the beginning of the games lighting the Olympic flame. However, the athletes would stay for 1 or 2 months before the games in Olympia to practice their sports in Palaestra. This athletic festival occurred every four years and lasted for five days, including wrestling, chariot and horse racing, the pentathlon (discus throwing, javelin throwing, long jump, running and pancratium). This event was so important for the ancient world that even all warfares would stop for a month so that the towns would send their best youth to participate in the games. However, along the centuries, these games gained more and more popularity and all city-states of Greece would send their finest men to participate in the games. Historical records indicate that the games began in 776 BC as a local festival to honor god Zeus. The history of Olympia is strongly connected to the Olympic Games.
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