a and Gaul.

The second bond of union was a community of religious rites and
festivals. From the earliest times the Greeks appear to have
worshipped the same gods; but originally there were no religious
meetings common to the whole nation. Such meetings were of gradual
growth, being formed by a number of neighbouring towns, which entered
into an association for the periodical celebration of certain religious
rites. Of these the most celebrated was the AMPHICTYONIC COUNCIL. It
acquired its superiority over other similar associations by the wealth
and grandeur of the Delphian temple, of which it was the appointed
guardian. It held two meetings every year, one in the spring at the
temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the other in the autumn at the temple
of Demeter (Ceres) at Thermopylae. Its members, who were called the
Amphictyons, consisted of sacred deputies sent from twelve tribes, each
of which contained several independent cities or states. But the
Council was never considered as a national congress, whose duty it was
to protect and defend the common interests of Greece; and it was only
when the rights of the Delphian god had been violated that it invoked
the aid of the various members of the league.

The Olympic Games were of greater efficacy than the amphictyonic
council in promoting a spirit of union among the various branches of
the Greek race, and in keeping alive a feeling of their common origin.
They were open to all persons who could prove their Hellenic blood, and
were frequented by spectators from all parts of the Grecian world.
They were celebrated at Olympia, on the banks of the Alpheus, in the
territory of Elis. The origin of the festival is lost in obscurity;
but it is said to have been revived by Iphitus, king of Elis, and
Lycurgus the Spartan legislator, in the year 776 B.C.; and,
accordingly, when the Greeks at a later time began to use the Olympic
contest as a chronological era, this year was regarded as the first
Olympiad. It was celebrated at the end of every four years, and the
interval which elapsed between each celebration was called an Olympiad.
The whole festival was under the management of the Eleans, who
appointed some of their own number to preside as judges, under the name
of the Hellanodicae. During the month in which it was celebrated all
hostilities were suspended throughout Greece. At first the festival
was confined to a single day, and consisted of nothing more than a
match o