Why were the Dion games not part of the Pan-hellenic games?

[adisciplus]

When Philip formed the Hellenic League, he proposed that the council would hold meetings at the four Pan-Hellenic festivals: Olympia, Delphi(Pythian), Nemea and the Isthmus(Corinth). Why were the games at Dion excluded?

[amyntoros]

Probably because the games at Dion were not considered to be truly Panhellenic, but were part of a regional or civic festival much like the Panathenaic Games at Athens. The following is from Athletics in the Ancient World by Zahra Newby:

Page 36-37: In addition to the development of the Panhellenic circuit, other games were also introduced as part of civic festivals. One of the most well-known examples is the Panathenaic Games at Athens, held in honour of the patron godess Athena. Every four years an especially lavish version of the festival was celebrated as the great Panathenaid, with a full progrmme of athletic, equestrian and musical contests. This too was instituted in the early sixth century, in 566/5 BC. Yet there were differences between the four Panhellenic games and local festivals like the Panathenaia. The Panhellenic games were held at sanctuaries deemed to be open to all the Greeks, even if they were administered by particular Greek states, whereas the Panathenaid took place within the city-state of Athens, though like the Panhellenic festivals it and many other local festivals could attract competitors from across the Greek world. The prizes also differed. Although in their earliest days the contests at Olympia and Delphi may have awarded valuable prizes such as metal tripods, for the majority of their history the prizes were simple crowns of vegetation. These types of festivals are often referred to as 'crown' or 'sacred' games. In contrast games such as those at Athens awarded monetary prizes ... ... Unlike at Olympia, where only the winner gained a crown, here prizes were also available for second place and occasionally even beyond. Festivals which gave cash prizes instead of simple crowns are often called thematitai or chrematitai after the Greek words for money and property.

Best regards,

[abm]

These four crown games were indeed more prestigious: they formed a kind of 'Grand Slam'.
see http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be ... 012EN.html