Citizenship and the ancient Olympic Games
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11510%2F25%3A10514250" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11510/25:10514250 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=vzrUZtzTGJ" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=vzrUZtzTGJ</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.14712/23366052.2026.3" target="_blank" >10.14712/23366052.2026.3</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Citizenship and the ancient Olympic Games
Original language description
For people in antiquity, citizenship was crucial, since only citizens enjoyed full rights. Citizenship encompassed not only rights but also responsibilities, including the duty to train and be physically prepared to defend their polis. Citizens who neglected this duty were often labeled idiotai, or “untrained”. Citizenship granted access to active participation in Olympic events in the stadium, and only citizen-aristocrats could compete as horse and chariot owners in the hippodrome. This structure changed with the rise of Macedonian kings like Alexander I, Archelaus, Philip II, and significantly with Alexander the Great and his successors, who divided and ruled the vast empire he had established. This shift also transformed public perceptions of citizenship and fandom, as exemplified by the Olympic boxing match between Cleitomachus of Thebes and Aristonicus of Alexandria. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, the Games opened to other nations, and in 212 AD, Emperor Caracalla’s Constitutio Antoniniana (Antonine Edict) extended Roman citizenship to all free individuals across the empire. This development enabled athletes from across the Roman Empire to participate in the Olympic Games, broadening the event’s inclusivity beyond its traditional Greek confines.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>ost</sub> - Miscellaneous article in a specialist periodical
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
30306 - Sport and fitness sciences
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Acta Universitatis Carolinae. Kinanthropologica
ISSN
1212-1428
e-ISSN
2336-6052
Volume of the periodical
61
Issue of the periodical within the volume
2
Country of publishing house
CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC
Number of pages
11
Pages from-to
85-95
UT code for WoS article
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EID of the result in the Scopus database
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