We have already had occasion several times to point to the difference between the gymnastic training of youths, continued into manhood with a view to strengthening the body, and the professional gymnastics of the athletes; we must, therefore, say a few words about the position as well as the training of the latter. As the public games increased in importance, and the glory gained by the victors induced ambitious youths and men to strive for a wreath in the gymnastic contests, and thus gain undying fame for themselves and their native city, it gradually became the custom for especially strong and skilful athletes (ἀγωνισταί) to make the development of their body for these gymnastic contests the object of their life, in order, by constant practice, by a particular diet and mode of life calculated to increase their strength, to attain the highest position in this profession, and thus to be almost sure of victory. In this way “agonistics,” which was originally only a development of gymnastics in accordance with the rules of art, became a regular profession, and those who devoted themselves to it were distinctively known as athletes. As athleticism became a profession and a means of making money, it ceased, of course, to be an occupation worthy of a free and noble citizen; and it is, therefore, natural that at Sparta, where every profession by which money could be made was looked down upon, it should have made no way, and that in other places, too, it was only men of the lower classes who devoted themselves to it, however enticing it might seem to an ambitious youth who desired to attain the material advantages enjoyed by the victors in these contests, as well as the glorious honours with which they were specially distinguished.