It has been already mentioned that Philadelphus founded a gymnasium at Athens. Curtius suggests that the palaestra and gymnasium at Olympia were the work of the same benefactor. Neither of these buildings is likely to be earlier than his time, but there is no real proof to connect them with Philadelphus. The fact recorded by Pausanias that Euanoridas, who won the boys’ wrestling match in 252 B.C., afterwards as Hellanodicas had the list of Olympic victors inscribed and set up in the gymnasium at Olympia, proves at the most that the gymnasium must have existed at the close of the third century.[231] There is still less evidence for Curtius’ view that the founding of the gymnasium and palaestra was an attempt to counteract the one-sided athleticism of Olympia by founding a sort of public school at Olympia where the youth of Greece could receive mental as well as physical instruction. Olympia was not, and was not likely to become, a residential place. This is proved by the story of the eccentric philosopher Alexinus the Litigious, as he was nicknamed, who tried to set up there a school of philosophy but failed, being deserted by all his followers owing to the want of accommodation and difficulty of obtaining supplies. The palaestra of Olympia, which will be described in a later chapter, was of the ordinary Greek type, and the fact that some of the rooms were provided with benches does not prove that the place was intended for a school. Seats and stools are no uncommon accompaniment of athletic scenes on the vases, where they serve, among other purposes, for the athletes to put their clothes upon. That the gymnasium and palaestra were intended for competitors at the festivals and were little used at other times is proved by an inscription at Delphi which contains the contracts for preparing for the festival not only the stadium and hippodrome, but also the gymnasium and palaestra.[232] Before the festival and during it these must have been thronged with athletes practising, and must have been as favourite a resort of visitors interested in their performances as is the paddock to-day at Epsom or Ascot. I have dwelt at some length on the monuments of this period because they illustrate the extension of Hellenism and therefore of the influence of Olympia over the East. Further, while honorary statues of distinguished men are multiplied the athletic statues gradually fall off in number, ceasing almost entirely after the middle of the second century.[233] Of the thirty-two statues erected during this period no less than fifteen were erected by the Eleans, a striking testimony to the wealth of Olympia. In the list of Olympic victors the noticeable feature is the almost complete disappearance of names from Sicily and Italy,[234] and also from the old states of the mainland, such as Athens and Sparta. Their place is taken by competitors from the East, from Aetolia and Achaia and the newer cities of the Peloponnese.