When Was the First Set of Olympic Games?

When Was the First Set of Olympic Games?

Like so much of ancient history, the origins of the Olympic Games are shrouded in myth and legend (see: Games, Rituals, and Warfare). The Greeks dated events from the first Olympiad (the four-year period between games) in in 776 B.C. -- two decades before the legendary founding of Rome, so the founding of Rome can be dated "Ol. 6.3" or the third year of the 6th Olympiad, which is 753 B.C.