# Are there any accounts of the lives of hemerodroi (day runners) in ancient Greece? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-accounts-of-the-lives-of-hemerodroi-day-runners-in-ancient-greece/791812 "2017-07-21T17:24:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-accounts-of-the-lives-of-hemerodroi-day-runners-in-ancient-greece/791812/1 "2017-07-21T17:24:30Z")
Hi I’m trying to find out something about the daily lives of hemerodroi/hemrodromes? in Ancient Greece.I’d prefer to focus on real people as opposed to semi-historical ones (at best) like Pheidippides. What would have been daily obstacles? Wild beats (lions, bears, wolves??) What would have been their training regimen and diet? I look forward to your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-accounts-of-the-lives-of-hemerodroi-day-runners-in-ancient-greece/791812/2 "2017-07-22T09:10:06Z")
I guess you already know the accounts by Herodot and Livius. The Hemerodromoi are mentioned in a couple of history books (for example, Julius Jüthner (1912): Hemerodromos. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE). Band VIII,1, Stuttgart 1912, 232 ff.). I also found two articles that are available online: [Victor J. Matthews (1974) The “Hemerodromoi”: Ultra Long-Distance Running in Antiquity. In: The Classical World. Vol. 68, No. 3 (Nov., 1974), pp. 161-169](https://www.jstor.org/stable/4348144). [John Haberstroh (2012): Ancient Greek Long-Distance Runners: The Cross-Section of Athletics, Religion, and the Military.](https://www.academia.edu/4924324/Ancient_Greek_Long-Distance_Runners_The_Cross-Section_of_Athletics_Religion_and_the_Military) Quickly added: [Herodotos and Hemerodromoi: Pheidippides’ Run from Athens to Sparta in 490 BC from Historical and Physiological Perspectives](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261892603_Herodotos_and_Hemerodromoi_Pheidippides'_Run_from_Athens_to_Sparta_in_490_BC_from_Historical_and_Physiological_Perspectives) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-accounts-of-the-lives-of-hemerodroi-day-runners-in-ancient-greece/791812/3 "2017-07-22T13:24:06Z")
Daily regime and diet, that of any other runner in that same climatic area before stuff from the New World became common; which in turn means, a lot of them spent more time farming than running, specially those who didn’t work in a single city. They worked either within a city or distances short enough that they wouldn’t justify paying for a mounted courier. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-accounts-of-the-lives-of-hemerodroi-day-runners-in-ancient-greece/791812/4 "2017-07-27T07:41:28Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Daily regime and diet, that of any other runner in that same climatic area before stuff from the New World became common; which in turn means, a lot of them spent more time farming than running, specially those who didn’t work in a single city. They worked either within a city or distances short enough that they wouldn’t justify paying for a mounted courier. Thanks wintertime and Nava. Very helpful.