The race in armour was first introduced at the close of the sixth century.[510] It was a military exercise, and its introduction was an attempt to restore to athletics that practical character which under the stress of competition was even then in danger of being lost. Its practical character naturally won for it the approval of Plato, who proposed to introduce in his ideal state races in heavy and in light armour. Appealing as it did to the whole body of soldier-citizens rather than to specialized athletes, it was an extremely popular event, and its popularity was enhanced by its picturesqueness, which made it a favourite subject for the vase painter. For the same reason it seems not to have possessed, at all events in later times, the same athletic importance as the purely athletic events: it was no race for the specialist; rather it belonged to that class of mixed athletics, such as obstacle races and races in uniform, which are a popular and also a valuable feature in military sports. Hence at Olympia and elsewhere the race in armour was an appropriate close to the athletic programme,[511] marking as it did the connexion between athletic training and real life. [Illustration: Fig. 54. R.-f. kylix ascribed to Euphronius. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, 523.] There were many varieties of the armed race, differing from one another in distance, in equipment, and in rules. The most strenuous of all these competitions was that at the Eleutheria at Plataea, partly, Philostratus tells us, owing to the length of the course; partly owing to the completeness of the armour worn, which enveloped the athlete from head to foot; partly owing to a remarkable rule that any competitor who having once won the race entered again and failed incurred the penalty of death. Perhaps this regulation means no more than that no previous winner was allowed to compete a second time.[512] At Nemea the race was over the hippios course of four stades, at Olympia and at Athens it was a diaulos of two stades.[513] Elsewhere the distance may have been different. Similarly the equipment varied. The runners at Olympia originally wore helmets and greaves, and carried round shields, twenty-five of which were kept there for the use of competitors. The wearing of greaves was discontinued at a later date.[514] The vase paintings, which mostly represent Athenian practice, show that while the usage varied previous to 520 B.C., greaves became general after that date, but disappear entirely after 450 B.C.[515] There is no evidence that the runners ever carried weapons. The danger of such a practice is obvious. We often see processions of hoplites thus armed proceeding at a double, and these are often described as races.[516] It seems safer and more reasonable to regard them merely as military processions, or perhaps competitions such as we know took place at the Athenian festivals. [Illustration: Fig. 55. R.-f. kylix. Formerly in Berlin. (_J.H.S._ xxiii. p. 278.)]