Gymnasiarch ( la, gymnasiarchus, from el, γυμνασίαρχος, ''gymnasiarchos''), which derives from Greek γυμνάσιον (''gymnasion'', gymnasium) + ἄρχειν, ''archein'', to lead, was the name of an official of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

whose rank and duties varied widely in different places and at different times. In

Classical Athens The city of Athens ( grc, Ἀθῆναι, ''Athênai'' .tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯ Modern Greek: Αθήναι, ''Athine'' or, more commonly and in singular, Αθήνα, ''Athina'' .'θi.na during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) wa ...

during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E., a gymnasiarch was chosen annually from each tribe to bear the expenses of the torch races (see

Lampadephoria Lampadephoria (Λαμπαδηφορία) and Lampadedromia (Λαμπαδηδρομία) was an ancient Greek type of torch race. The race was run usually on foot, but sometimes it was also on horses by ephebi (a Greek youth entering manhood). The ...

). The duties included the payment of all expenses connected with the training of the competitors, and the office was one of the most expensive of the public services demanded by Athens of her wealthy citizens. The name seems to imply that the gymnasiarch had also certain rights and duties in the gymnasia during the training of the youths, but there is no definite information on this subject. After the establishment of Macedonian power, there was a change at Athens. One gymnasiarch was chosen annually, and his office was one of great dignity. He had the general oversight of order and discipline in the gymnasium of the

epheboi ''Ephebos'' (ἔφηβος) (often in the plural ''epheboi''), also anglicised as ''ephebe'' (plural: ''ephebes'') or archaically ''ephebus'' (plural: ''ephebi''), is a Greek term for a male adolescent, or for a social status reserved for that ...

and sometimes financed heavy expenses from his own purse. The same name was given to rich epheboi, who undertook for a longer or shorter period, generally one month, to bear certain heavy charges for their comrades, such as the expenses of festivals, or of furnishing the oil needed in the gymnasium. Outside of Athens and the states which copied her gymnastic system, the term denoted either magistrates who had charge of the gymnastic and literary instruction, or those who have to provide for certain expenses connected with the gymnasium or festivals, either from their own property or from the public funds. There was a wide diversity in details.

Notable gymnasiarchs

* Claudia Metrodora

References

* This work in turn cites: ** Glatz, “Gymnasiarchia,” in Daremberg and Saglio, ''Dictionnaire des antiquités'' (Paris, 1896)

Notable gymnasiarchs

References

Further reading