The first Olympic athletes stepped into the great stadium in Olympia in 776 b.c.e. Held every four years, the Olympic Games were the most important sporting events in ancient Greece. Wars and arguments of the Greek city-states were put aside while Greece’s best athletes displayed their strength and speed. Crowds flocked to magnificent stadiums, and the Olympic winners were treated as heroes. Open the pages of Ancient Olympics to read about: The ancient Greek world and the first democratic government; The ancient Greek gods and which god the Greeks believed had created the first Olympics; The athletes and many events at the Olympics, from chariot-racing and discus-throwing to an event in which athletes ran a race dressed in full armor; Why only men were allowed to compete at the Games and why some women were forbidden from even being in the stadium; All the beliefs, rituals, and celebrations that made the ancient Olympics one of the most spectacular events ever; Why the Olympic Games were eventually banned and why they were restarted in the late 1800s. - from Amzon