Hieromenia and Ekecheiria
The hieromenia means the holy or sacred month, and represented the month or period during a month that was dedicated to a festival, including the various games held all over Ancient Greece. All business and lawsuits including verdicts were suspended during this time, anything that would ‘disturb the peace’ or would otherwise ruin the celebrations of the festival. Some hieromenia were restricted to regions that celebrated a particular festival, and one in particular applied to the entire Greek world; the games at Olympia.
The ekecheiria means the holding of hands, and represents the “truce of God.” This is an armistice, a truce, where all hostilities were suspended between participating states to allow competitors and visitors to travel to and from, and enjoy the festival safely. This means wars were suspended, armies were forbidden to move or enter the festival state/s, and again lawsuits including death sentences were prohibited. An inscription describing the truce was written on a bronze discus which was displayed at Olympia. Heralds were dispatched to announce the beginning of the ekecheiria, and these heralds were also protected by proxy.
Several violations have been recorded in history and were usually dealt with through heavy fines against the accused state. A few other memorable instances of the hieromenia in action include the battle at Thermopylae where Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought the Persians alone as the remaining Spartan army were celebrating a sacred festival.
Modern Day
Since 1993 the International Olympic Committee revived the ekecheiria or Olympic truce to harness the power of sport to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation more broadly. The modern olympic truce for participating countries begins seven days before the opening ceremony and seven days after the closing ceremony to allow all parties to travel safely.
The UN is in support of the Olympic truce and adopts a resolution called "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal". It asks member states to observe the truce each Summer and Winter Olympic Games, though at times some states refuse. This is typically in political protest against offensive behaviour in other member or host states, though the truce itself is still upheld in spirit.
The ekecheiria has only been violated three times in modern history, as recently as 2022.
Today the Olympic Truce has become an expression of mankind's desire to build a world based on the rules of fair competition, peace, humanity and reconciliation. — United Nations.
Wiki Olympic Truce
IOC Olympic Truce
UN and the Olympic Truce
Perseus Olympic Truce
Wiki Hieromenia
Perseus Hieromenia
Perseus Hieromenia 2
Perseus Ekecheiria