Footnote 454: _Electra_, 680 ff. Footnote 455: On earlier black-figured vases the finish is represented by tripods or vases set as prizes (Gerh. _A. V._ 257), or by the seats of the judges as on the Amphiaraus vase (Fig. 3). CHAPTER XIII THE FOOT-RACE The length of the various foot-races was determined for the Greeks by the length of the stadium. The stade-race, as its name implies, was a single length, approximately 200 yards. The diaulos was twice the length of the stadium, or 400 yards. The length of the dolichos or long race is variously stated as 7, 12, 20, or 24 stades, from seven furlongs to nearly three miles.[456] The divergence of these statements is probably due to the fact that the distances varied at different festivals, and at different periods, as they do at the present day. For Olympia the evidence is slightly in favour of a 24 stades race. These three races seem to have been universal. At the Isthmia, Nemea, and Panathenaea there was also a double diaulos of four stades called the horse diaulos (ἵππιος or ἐφίππιος) from the fact that the length of the course in the hippodrome was two stades, or double that of the stadium.[457] There were different races for different ages, and it is possible that the boys’ races were shorter than those for men. Plato, in sketching his ideal scheme of physical education, lays down that boys are to run half the length of the men’s course, and the “beardless” two-thirds of the course.[458] We do not know whether his scheme had any foundation in fact, but it is certain that in the girls’ races at Olympia the course was one-sixth shorter than the usual course.[459] Besides these purely athletic events, there were races in armour, introduced for military purposes towards the close of the sixth century, and various ceremonial races such as the torch-race, survivals of ancient religious rites. It will be convenient here to say a few words as to the ages of competitors. What is true of the foot-race holds good, of course, of all other competitions.