Athletics, festivals and Greek identity in the Roman East

Greek festivals continued to play a central part in civic life under Roman rule, but were reformed and adapted to fit the transfer of power to Rome. Participation in athletic contests expanded to include athletes from all over the Greek East. Festivals often involved imperial patronage ; the picture of a decline into professionalism is not borne out by the evidence, which points to a predominance of upper-class participants or of upwardly mobile individuals