Bases of Zanes

One last thing I found really interesting at Olympia. These pedestals outside the entrance to the stadium originally held statues of Zeus (“Zanes” was the plural of Zeus in the local dialect.)

The statues were paid for by the fines imposed on athletes caught cheating in the games, and were inscribed with their names. All of the athletes had to walk past them on their way into the stadium, so they were a reminder of the shame of cheating.