The first Olympic games at Olympia, in Greece, were held in 776 BC. (That was 2776 years ago!) According to a Greek writer who made a list of Olympic victors in 400 BC (400 years before the birth of Christ), the only event held at the first Olympics was the stadion footrace. Scholars think that the games in 776 BC were not the first games, but rather the first games held after they were organized into festivals held every four years. This was as a result of a peace agreement between the city-states of Elis and Pisa. The Eleans traced the founding of the Olympic games to their King Iphitos, who was told by the Delphic Oracle to plant the olive tree from which the victors' wreaths were cut.
The Olympic Games took place without fail every four years in ancient Greece. The games were even held in 480 BC during the Persian Wars, and they coincided with the Battle of Thermopylae (which was a very important battle). Although the Olympic games were never suspended as they have been in modern times, the games of 364 BC were not thought to be proper Olympic games because the Arkadians had captured the sanctuary and reorganized the games.
After the Battle of Chaironeia in 338 BC, Philip of Makedon and his son Alexander gained control over the Greek city-states. They put up the Philippeion (a family memorial) in the sanctuary, and held political meetings at Olympia during each Olympiad. In 146 BC, the Romans gained control of Greece and, therefore, of the Olympic games. In 85 BC, the Roman general Sulla plundered the sanctuary to finance his campaign against Mithridates. Sulla also moved the 175th Olympiad (80 BC) to Rome.
The games were held every four years from 776 BC to 393 AD, when they were abolished by the Christian Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I. The ancient Olympic Games lasted for 1170 years. If the Modern Olympic games last that long, they will still be held in 3066 AD!
These are the remains of the part of Olympia where the athletes swore an oath before competing.