Ekecheiria
(
ἐκεχειρία). The “truce of God”
(literally, “holding of hands”), observed in Greece at the great festivals
which were visited by strangers—e. g. the national games and the Eleusinia in
Attica. This peace was proclaimed by heralds throughout Greece, to secure the visitors to the
games freedom in passing backwards and forwards and security during the festival. In the case
of the Eleusinia the truce lasted one and a half month and ten days. See Gell. i.25.8; and the
article
Eleusinia.