ATHKNS. 



ATHENS. 



I 



Pausanias (I 25). According to the inscription* it was erected by 

 Philopappua, or in honour of Philopappus the BOD of Epiphanes, in 

 the reign of Trajan : it contained three nichen, two of which remain, 

 in which were placed the statue of Philopappus himself, occupying 

 the centre, of his grandfather Antiochus, the last king of Commagene, 

 and that of Seleucus Nieator, the founder of the dynasty of the 

 SeleuciJov Between the niches and the base of the monument is a 

 representation in high relief of the triumph of a Roman emperor. 

 The sculptures are in a very imperfect condition. (Spon, ii. 157. 

 Amst ed. ; Dodwell's ' Travels,' L 392 ; the view in Stuart, iii. 99 ; 

 Leake, 494 ; Prokeach, ii. 888 ; Bockh, 'Insc.' No. 862 ; Orelli, 800.) On 

 the western side of the hill of the Museium are numerous traces of 

 I. m - 



We have now noticed the chief existing monument* of Atheni in 

 the lower part of the city, with the exception of the small choragic 

 monument of Lysicrates, erected about B.C. 334 (the year of 

 Alexander's expedition into Asia), vulgarly called the Lantern of 

 Demosthenes. This little edifice, which consists of a circular colon- 

 nade of eight Corinthian columns resting on a high quadranglar 

 basement and supporting a cupola, is only 6 feet in diameter in the 

 interior ; its whole height wag 34 feet. The frieze, of which there are 

 casts in the British Museum, represents the destruction of the 

 Tyrrhenian pirates by Dionysus. The choragi who were victorious in 

 the contests of the theatre were accustomed to dedicate to Dionysus 

 the tripods which they had gained, and occasionally these tripods were 

 placed in small temples erected in the vicinity of the theatre or in 

 the street, hence called the ' Street of the Tripods,' which ran along 

 the eastern side of the Acropolis from the Prytaneium to the sacred 

 inclosure of Diodysus near the theatre. This temple, raised as the 

 inscription on the architrave records to commemorate the victory 

 gained by Lysicrates when he led the chorus and the boys of the tribe 

 of Acamantis conquered, stands in the Street of the Tripods, between 

 the south-east angle of the Acropolis and the great Temple of Jupiter. 

 The tripod was placed on the central piece which rises from the 

 cupola. Only one other of these choragic temples remains, that of 

 Thrasyllus, which stands above the Dionysiac Theatre, and of the 

 architectural features of that but little is left. 



One of the fundamental errors in former topographies of Athens 

 was, that ever since the time of Meursius it was believed that at two 

 different times Athens had two market-places (Ityopai), an old and a 

 new one, the former to the west and the other to the north of the 

 Acropolis. Leake thinks that the Agora was transferred to the north 

 in the time of Augustus, or in the last century before the Christian 

 era. But the passages quoted in support of this supposition are far 

 from proving the case ; and what was formerly called the gate of the 

 New Agora it proved both by its style and inscriptions not to have 

 been a gate, but part of a building erected out of the donations of 

 C. Julius Caesar and Augustus to the honour of Athena Archegetis. 

 That whole district in which the New Agora is supposed to have been, 

 was in the time of Thucydides not occupied by houses, but consisted 

 of gardens (Thucyd. ii. 17 ; Xenoph. ' De Vectigal.' 2. 6). The 

 building known as the Gate of the New Agora is a portico of four 

 fluted Doric columns of Pentelic marble supporting an entablature and 

 pediment It is an edifice suitable enough for what it doubtless was 

 intended to be, the portico of a small temple, but very ill adapted for 

 the propytaum of an agora. The boundaries of the Agora, vulgarly 

 called the Old Agora, are not distinctly ascertained. On the east it 

 reached as far as the ascent of the Propylsea, where stood the Temple 

 of Aphrodite Pandemus and the statues of Harmodius and Aristo- 

 geiton, which are expressly stated by ancient writers to have stood 

 within the Agora. On the west it extended as far as the Pnyx ; and 

 it was probably bounded on the north by the Areiopagus, and on the 

 south by the Museium. Near the middle of the Agora stood the 

 famous statue of Hermes Agonous, close to a triumphal arch raised to 

 commemorate the victory of the Athenians over the troops of 

 Cassander. On the west side, on the lower part of the slope of the 

 Pnyx Hill, were the temples of Aphrodite Urania and Hephmstus, the 

 monument of Philopappua, the Stoa Pcccile, with it* rich paintings, 

 and the statue of Solon in front of it, and a little farther that of 

 Seleucus. On the south were the Stoa Bauleius, or Royal Colonnade, 

 in which the Archon Basileus held his court. Upon the roof of the 

 Stoa Basileius were statues of Theseus throwing Scinu into the sea, 

 and of Hemera (Aurora) carrying off Cephalus. Near the portico 

 were statues of Conon, Timotheus, and Evagorus. East of the Stoa 

 Basilcius was the Stoa Eleutherius, in which were painting* of the 

 gods, Ac. In front of this stoa was the statue of Zeus (Jupiter) 

 Eleutherius. At the southern part of the east side of the Agora was 

 the Temple of Apollo Patrons. North of this was the Metroum, or 

 Temple of the Mother of the Gods, in which the statue of the deity 

 was the work of Phidia*. The public records were kept in tlii 

 temple. Beyond it was the Bouleuterium, or < 'minril H.mxr of the 

 Five Hundred, in which were sanctuaries of Zeus Bouheus and 

 Athena Boubea, also an altar of Hestia Boultca. Immediately north 

 of the Bouleuterium was the Tholus, a circular building surmounted 

 with a stone dome. In this building were placed small silver 

 images of the gods, and here the Prytanes took their meals sad 

 offered their sacrifices. Beyond this were the statues of the Kponymi, 

 or heroes from whom the names of the Attic tribes were derived, 



and several other statues, among the rest those of Lycurgns and 

 Demosthenes, the Altar of the Twelve Gods, and the Temple of 

 Ares. The great street of the Cerameicus, which reached from the 

 Dipylum or Ceramic Gate on the north-west of the city and was 

 bordered by colonnades, passed through the midst of the Agora, 

 whence it was continued to the Fountain of Callirrhoe. The Agora 

 was a part of the Inner Cerameicus. The Outer Cerameicus was 

 outside the walls of the city. 



The Acropolis, or the old Cecropian fortress of Athens, is a square 

 rugged rock, which rises abruptly about 150 feet from the plain, with 

 its sides naturally scarped, except at the west end. Its level summit 

 is about 1000 feet from east to west, and about 500 feet from north to 

 south. The summit is only accessible on the west side, where it is 

 reached by a steep slope. The surface was cut into platforms, which 

 were connected with each other by steps. On these platforms 

 stood the temples and monuments which occupied the summit. 

 From the time of the Persian war it had ceased to be inhabited, and 

 was devoted to the service of Athena and the other guardian deities 

 of the city. It stood in the centre of the city, and was at once its 

 great sanctuary, its fortress, and its museum. Its summit was 

 crowded with the temples of the gods, the masterpieces of Grecian 

 art. In no other spot of similar size was ever gathered HO many of the 

 triumphs of art. No other is invested with such splendid associations. 



Much has been done during the last twenty years in investigating 

 the remains of ancient Athens, hut the Acropolis is the only place in 

 which excavations have been made on a large scale and with son>< 

 like systematic order. Operations were commenced there in 1833 by 

 a private society of antiquaries. The year after, when Athens waa 

 made the capital of the kingdom of Greece, the government took the 

 work into its own hands. The excavations were conducted by the 

 celebrated German architect L. von Klenze, and afterwards by Pro- 

 fessor Ross, assisted by the architects Schaubert and Cleanthes, who 

 were afterwards succeeded by Hansen and Pittakis. Mr. Penrose 

 and M. BeuU have also taken part in the investigations ; the 

 results have been published by these gentlemen and others in the 

 languages of Modern Greece, of Germany, France, and England. 



Before we describe briefly the edifices which stand on the summit 

 of the Acropolis, we must notice those which stood immediately around 

 its base. 



Along the base, on the east side, extending southward from the 

 supposed site of the Prytaneium, probably ran the street to which 

 Pausanias gave the name of Tripods (i. 20). This street or quarter, 

 as already mentioned, was so called from a number of small temples 

 or edifices crowned with tripods, to commemorate the victories gained 

 by the choragi in the neighbouring theatre ; and at its south-eastern 

 angle stands the choragic monument of Lysicrates. Westward of 

 this was the Odeium of Pericles. A little farther to the west was the 

 great Dionysiac Theatre, the place for dramatic i-xhiliitimm. The erec- 

 tion of this theatre was commenced about B.C. 500, but it was not 

 completed till B.C. 340. The inner curve was excavated in the rock, 

 and the part which projected into the plain was formed of masonry. 

 In the recess of this excavation, and above the upper seats of the 

 theatre, Pausanias (i. 21) describes a cavern, which was converted by 

 Thranyllus (B.C. 320), a victorious choragus, into a small temple. A 

 noble seated statue of Dionysus of colossal size, which originally was 

 placed on the entablature of the small temple, is in the Elgin Room 

 (No. Ill) in the British Museum. A brass coin of Athens in the 

 British Museum represents the interior of the Dionysiac Theatre, 

 showing distinctly the seats for the spectators, with the caves (for 

 there are more than one) just under the south wall of the Acropolis ; 

 rising above which we observe the Parthenon and other buildings 

 which stand on the platform of the rock. 

 DionyiUc Theatre. Brit. Mm. 



Rsalste 



1 I.. .,>. ,1. 



The dimensions of this theatre cannot now be ascertained, but we 

 may safely infer it was a very large one ; if a passage in Plato w IMT.- 

 he makes Socrates speak of the three myriads of spectators who wit- 

 nessed Agathon's victory were to be understood literally, it would 

 seem that it was capable of holding more than 30,000 peroon* ; but 

 the term 'three myriads' was frequently employed as a round nuiuln'i- 

 to designate the whole body of the Athenian citizens. Dictearchus 

 expresses his admiration of its unequalled beauty. 



On the south-west side of the Acropolis is the site of the Odeium, 



