View of the stone starting line in the stadium. The line is indented with post-holes for a hysplex, a gate device for timing the start of the race, and grooves functioning as a sort of starting block.
View looking down the starting line at the stadium. The line is stone, marked with grooves and post-holes. The grooves functioned as starting blocks, giving a place for the racers to place their toes for improved grip. The holes supported a starting device called a hysplex (ὕσπληξ), a series of gates all connected to a single rope held by a referee. These gates restrained the runners, preventing early starts, before all being released at once. These were a fairly common feature of Greek stadiums, being found also at Corinth, Nemea, and Epidauros.
Creation date unknown. Photograph processed July 1978. Notes written on the slide or index: Stadium - starting line.
