POSTE ITALIANI on June 1960 issued a set of First Day Cover stamps marking the XVII Olympiad in Rome ("GIOCHI XVII OLIMPIADE"). The stamp design drew attention to the ancient Olympic champions of Magna Grecia, in order to stress the historical continuity of the Games. The postmark cancellation originated from Bergamo, Italy.
The stamps shown:
- L.5 - Capitoline Wolf, symbol of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.
- L.15 - Roman Consul
- L.35 - Myron's Discobolus is an ancient Greek sculpture completed at the start of the Classical period in around 460–450 BC that depicts an ancient Greek athlete throwing a discus.
- L.110 - Seated Boxer was a sculpture originally made by Lyssipus of Sikyon, a sculptor who worked for Alexander the Great, (or a work of Apollonius?, c. 225 BC ), Terme Museum Rome, Italy (Roman Copy 50 BC?). The boxer is wearing something like today's boxing gloves, the himantes.
- L.200 - Apoxyomenos statue was originally an ancient Greek sculpture by Lysippus from around 320 B.C. It portrayed an athlete scraping oil and dust from his body with a strigil -- a familiar act of self-care after exercise.
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