Finally, on a red-figured vase in the British Museum, we see the finish of the race (Fig. 57). A bearded runner who has passed the winning post looks back in triumph on his rival, who, as he reaches the goal, seems to have thrown down his shield in disgust. The winner holds in his hand his helmet, which he has just taken off. This gesture, which occurs on a number of vases, seems to be symbolical of victory. What could be more natural at the finish of a 400 yards’ race over the hot sand and beneath the scorching sun of Olympia than to take off the heavy, cumbrous helmet? The action reminds one, too, of a cricketer who after a fine innings takes off his cap as he returns to the pavilion. Of the style of the runners little need be said; it resembles the style of the stade runner in the swinging of the arm, and for obvious reasons of symmetry the vase painter always makes the right arm work with the right leg, the left arm, which holds the shield, being generally stationary. The type of runner represented on Panathenaic vases is, as we should expect, sturdier and heavier than is shown in other races. The hoplites on one in the British Museum exhibit that length of body in comparison with length of leg which Philostratus mentions as a useful quality for this event, and we may further note that they run on a flat foot (Fig. 58). Yet in spite of such examples a foreign archeologist has maintained that the hoplitodromos advanced by a series of leaps and bounds, and has deduced therefrom the theory that jumping was the best training for this race, and that therefore the statue of a hoplitodromos practising, described by Pausanias, represented him not running, but jumping! The Greek athlete has certainly been hardly treated by some of his admirers. [Illustration: Fig. 58. Panathenaic amphora. British Museum, B. 608. Archonship of Pythodelus, 336 B.C.]