Olympiad

OLYMPIAD, a Space of four Years. The Greeks commonly compute Time by Olympiads. They began to reckon in this Manner chiefly from the 27th Olympiad, in which Chorœbus was Victor; so that it was but one hundred and eight Years after their first Establishment by Iphitus. Before this Time they kept no exact Register of the Names of the Conquerors at the Olympick Games; and ‘tis thought that Timæus was the first Historian who inserted the Years of the Olympiads into his History. Timæus liv’d in the Age of Ptolemy Philadelphus. After him Eratosthenes and Polybius followed the same Method. But before them the Greek Historians were not very careful to express the Dates of their Chronology. On this Head may be be seen Marsham’s Canon. Ægypt. Sæcul. 15.

The Olympic Games, which were celebrated at Elis every four Years, with a vast Concourse of all the People of Greece, began in the Year of the World 3120, before Christ 880, before the Vulgar Æra 884. But generally the Beginning is taken only from the twenty-eighth Olympiad, wherein Chorœbus was Conqueror, in the Year of the World 3228, before Christ 772, before the Vulgar Æra 776. This is properly the Epocha of the Historical Times among the Grecians; for before that their History had a great Mixture of Fable¹. The Term Olympiad is not found in Scripture, in the Sense in which we use it; but it is of so great Use in Matters of Chronology, that we could not but treat of it here. In the Books of the Maccabees the Æra made use of is that of the Seleucidæ, or of the Greeks, which begins in the Spring of the Year of the World 3692, according to the first Book of the Maccabees; or at the Autum of the same Year, according to the second Book of the Maccabees. See under the Articles of the YEAR of the Greeks, or of the ÆRA of the

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