Title: The Olympic Games | Ancient Greece
Headings: The Olympic Games
The Olympic Games
The Olympic Sporting Events
The End and the Beginning

Content: Attendees to the Games came from Greek colonies and trading port cities from present day Turkey, Sicily/Italy, Egypt, North Africa, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Russia and more. Over time however, the new power of the Western World, Rome; replaced the huge Greek Empire of Alexander the Great and the North African empire of Carthage, and became the biggest empire the world had seen. Even though the Romans now ruled the Greek nation states, the Olympic Games continued to thrive as Romans were heavily influenced by the Greeks centuries before they became the dominant Western power. Romans honored the same gods as the Greeks and adapted many cultural, artistic, political and military attributes of the Greeks. The Romans allowed and enthusiastically supported the Olympic Games. Over the centuries, the Roman Empire slowly converted to the major force of the time, Christianity. Christians, once severely persecuted by the Romans for their rejection of Roman gods and their allegiance to a single God, became the official religion of the Empire when Emperor Theodosius converted to Christianity. In 394 AD, Emperor Theodosius outlawed the Olympic Games to help the Empire suppress pagan religions. The Games had lasted for twelve centuries.