Rio de Janeiro was the first South American city to host the Olympic Games in 2016. In 2016, the inaugural Summer Games were staged exclusively during the winter season. The other two summer Olympics held in the southern hemisphere began in winter and ended in spring. The Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro began and ended in August. The modern Olympic Games were founded by Greek athletes who met in 688 B.C. to compete against the world in wrestling matches. These games were held only twice (in Athens and Sardis) because of political problems. In A.D. 148, Emperor Titus hosted more Olympiads to celebrate the conclusion of wars and to encourage peace among nations. In A.D. 392, Alaric the Visigoth stole the Olympic torch from its shrine and used it to light up the night sky with flames; this act is why we use torches at night at modern Olympic events. In 776, the emperor Leo III decided to hold a new series of Olympic Games after the original ones had not been held for several years. So, he called for competitions in boxing, running, jumping, wrestling, and swimming. The emperor also invited foreign athletes to come to Rome and compete as part of their acceptance into the Roman Empire. But only three people came to Italy. One was an Indian athlete named Varus who won four out of five events that he participated in. The second person was a German soldier named Maximus who won four events too.