This account finds some confirmation in one of the groups of the
Parthenon frieze, which represents the apobates in the very act of
mounting a chariot.[409] Dionysius of Halicarnassus[410] makes no
mention of the mounting, but states that at the close of the race,
apparently the beginning of the last lap, the apobates dismounted, and
from this point chariots and apobatai raced together to the finish. The
two accounts are not really irreconcilable if we suppose that Dionysius
is thinking merely of the finish, the most interesting part of the race.
In most of the groups on the north side of the Parthenon the apobates is
represented in the act of dismounting, as he is in Fig. 34. In those on
the south side he is standing in the chariot or by its side.[411] The
latter scene represents the moment before the race, the other scenes
different moments in the race, and there is no need to assume with
Michaelis two different motives for the south and north frieze. In
inscriptions the twofold character of the race is brought out by the
mention of charioteer and apobates as two separate victors. The
charioteer is described as ἡνίοχος ἐγβιβάζων, the charioteer “who lets
his companion dismount,” a title which suggests the assistance which the
charioteer could render to his fellow by a momentary checking of the
pace. The course of the race seems to have been from the Cerameicus to
the Eleusinium, on the slopes of the Acropolis.
So extensive a programme required at least two days: in one inscription
a torch-race is inserted in the middle of the programme, perhaps as
marking the close of the first day. The popularity of the Panathenaea in
the second century is proved by the number of distinguished competitors.
Besides the sons of King Attalus mentioned already, we find Mastanabas,
the son of King Mastanassus, King Antiochus, the son of Antiochus
Epiphanes, and Ptolemaeus, king of Egypt, who competed as an Athenian
citizen of the Ptolemaid tribe. There are numerous victors from Argos,
and the lists include the names of several women. In one list alone we
find two victories won by women, or perhaps by the same woman from
Argos, and a third won by a woman of Alexandria.
Besides these individual competitions, there seems to have been a
cavalry competition between tribes, which took place in the hippodrome,
though we do not know on what day. This ἀνθιππασία[412] was a sort of
sham-fight between two squadrons, each consisting of the cavalry of five
tribes under the command of a hipparchos. Xenophon describes the sight
with enthusiasm. They pursued one another in turn, charged, passed
through each other’s lines, wheeled round, and charging down the whole
length of the hippodrome came to a sudden halt, front to front. It seems
that prizes were given to the tribe which performed best, or perhaps to
their officers.
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