ABSTRACT
In the ancient Greek world pilgrims were reminded of the approach of a panhellenic festival and invited to attend it by messengers sent out by the state which was organising the event. At the same time these messengers would also announce a ‘sacred truce’. 1 The acceptance of this by cities and states signalled the beginning of a sacred truce in which cities would allow unhindered access through their territory for pilgrims who wished to attend the forthcoming festival. These truces did not affect any ongoing hostilities, and warfare did not cease throughout the Greek world. Rather, the truces covered only the safety of the pilgrims travelling to and from the sacred site in question, and depended for their validity upon universal acceptance throughout the Greek world, for if one state refused to accept the truce, then the safety of pilgrims was threatened. 2
