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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



211 



between this and the Prytaneium was the new Agora, and the 

 tower or horologia of Andronicus Cyrrhestes. 



Let us novy turn to the south-east, where the llissus flows past 

 the city, and where the Calhirroe spiings, the only natural foun- 

 t.iin of sweet water in Athens. On an island, formed by the 

 llissus, stood the Eleusiniuni, a buildiuij so sacred, that when the 

 inhabitants of Attica crowded within the fortifications of Athens, 

 on the breaking out of the Peloponnesian war, the Acropolis and 

 the Eleusiniuui were the only places they scrupled to inhabit. In 

 this temple the lesser mysteries were celebrated. 



On the northern hank of the river is seen the great ])eribolus 

 and Temple of Jupiter Olynipius; and, on the south, the stadium 

 appropriated to the Panatheuaic games. Following the course of 

 tlie llissus we reach the Lyceium, the school of .Aristotle and his 

 peripatetic disciples; and at the foot of Mount Anchesmus was the 

 Cynosarges, the sacred grove of Hercules, where Autisthenes 

 founded the school of cynic philosophers. On ail sides without 

 the city gates were cemeteries and monuments; and beyond, over 

 the country, spread the different demi, or districts studded with 

 villas, and planted with olive groves and vineyards. 



Nor were the Athenians unmindful of the poor; for we ::ve told 

 that there were no less than 300 places where the destitute might 

 iind warmth and shelter for the night. 



To return to the .\cropolis and its fortifications. The walls of 

 the citadel show traces of various periods, some parts being com- 

 posed of those unhewn blocks known as Cyclopean ; others of 

 accurately fitted polygonal blocks; and others, near the entrance, 

 show a later style, the stones being placed in regular courses, with 

 the joints broken as in modern masonry. The polygonal masonry 

 appears to have been the work of the Pelasgians, who were sent for 

 to fortify the citadel, as being the best military architects; and a 

 space of ground below the northern side of the w^ll, allotted for 

 their residence, was called the Pelasgicon. 



Shortly, however, the Athenians became jealous of their assist- 

 ants; the Pelasgians were driven from the country, and it was 

 ordained that the Pelasgicon should in future lie waste, for the 

 better protection of the citadel. After the destruction of the city 

 by the Persians, the walls of the .Acropolis were repaired so hastily 

 that the ruins of the old buildings were used in its construction. 

 Many architectural fragments may yet be seen in different parts. 

 The walls enclosing the city were about 7i^ miles in circuit ; they 

 were 60 feet in height, and were composed of massive rectangular 

 blocks of stone, fastened together with iron cramps, run in with 

 lead. This manner of fastening the blocks was very common in 

 Greece, where cement was seldom used. The stones are now fre- 

 quently found bored with holes, made for the purpose of abstracting 

 the metal. 



A beautiful example of Greek masonry exists in the pavement of 

 the Propylea at Eleusis. It consists of blocks of Pentelic marble, 

 6 feet in length and breadth, and 13 inches thick, so exquisitely 

 fitted that the joints are in many places imperceptible. 



In the time of Themistocles, in order to prevent the enemy from 

 cutting-off the communication between .Athens and the Piraaeus, 

 the celebrated Long AV'alls were commenced, 175 b.c: theywerecon- 

 tinued by Cimon, and finished by Pei'icles. These walls, including 

 the city, and extending in a double line thence to the ports, and 

 nearly encircling the Munychian Peninsula, were about 19 miles 

 in length, and were flanked at intervals by towers. ^V'here the 

 ground was marshy, the foundations were laid with chalk and large 

 blocks of stone; and upon these the walls were raised, so wide that 

 two loaded wagons could pass on the summit. They were in part 

 overthrown by the Lacedaemonians, after the Peloponnesian war, 

 but rebuilt by Conon, after an interval of ten years, and were 

 finally destroyed by Scylla (86 B.C.) 



Of the three ports of Athens, Phalerum, Munychis, and Piraeus, 

 which once vied in dignity with the city itself, few ruins remain; 

 the ease with which statues and fragments could be carried away, 

 rendering them a tempting prey to the spoiler. The sites of several 

 buildings may yet be traced, as that of the Pir.-eic theatre and the 

 Agora, called Hippodamia, after the arcliitect llipjjodamus. 



jMauy splendid structures are described as existing at Phalerum, 

 the most ancient port. Amongst the rest, the altar inscribed "to 

 the unknown gods;" but all these have long since disappeared. 



The Spartans pursued an opposite course to the Athenians. It 

 was the policy of Lycurgus to dissuade tliem from fortifying their 

 city, preferring that they should trust to their own bravery as the 

 best means of defence. It is to be observed, however, that the 

 whole country of Lacedajmon is naturally fortified by the steep 

 mountains that surround it. 



The most interesting example of ancient fortification now re- 



maining is the wall of Messene, built from the plans and under 

 the superintendence of Epimanondas, after the defeat of the 

 Lacedaemonians at Leuctra (371 n.c.) 



The kind of masonry with which these walls are composed was 

 called empleetori, having faces of rectangular stone blocks in 

 regular courses, filled-in with rubble work. The two faces of the 

 wall are bound together by transverse courses, or through stones, 

 placed from 7 to 10 feet distant. 



Towers were erected at intervals along the wall, of rectangular 

 form, with the exception of two on the north-east side, the fronts 

 of which are semicircular. The towers consist of two stories, 

 with windows and embrasures in each. In the lower story they 

 were splayed to facilitate the discharge of missiles. Flights of 

 steps led to the top of the wall and to the towers from the interior 

 of the city. One of the gates was double, enclosing a circular 

 court 63 feet diameter. There was also an outer area 31 feet in 

 breadth, defended by the projecting walls. On the paved road 

 leading from the inner gateway into the city, the marks of wheels 

 are still visible. 



The walls of Pharsalia are similarly constructed, and are 15g 

 feet in thickness. 



The ancients bearing the shield on the left arm, the right side 

 was comparatively unprotected. This influenced the Greek mode 

 of fortification in the plan of the approaches and the position of 

 the towers. If an enemy were climbing the road leading to the 

 entrance of the Acropolis of Athens, their right side would be 

 exposed to the defenders during the whole ascent. 



The masonry principally employed by the Greeks was either the 

 before-mentioned empleeton, the isodomon, in which the courses 

 are of equal height, or the pseudo-isodomon, where the courses 

 differ both in height and in the length of the stones. The roads 

 were paved with oblong blocks of stone. 



Greece is remarkably rich in stone and marble. In Attica alone 

 are the quarries of white Megarian, the grey stone of Eleusis, 

 the bluish Hymettian, the veined Carystian, and above all, the 

 snowy marble of mount Pentelicus. The buildings of the age 

 of Pericles are all constructed with Pentelic marble, which, on 

 account of its white and glittering surface, was, for architectural 

 purposes, preferred to the more creamy Parian. Time, however, 

 has brouglit their comparative excellencies and defects to light: 

 while the Parian hardens with age, and presents a beautiful and 

 wax-like surface, the Pentelic is apt to decompose, from being 

 traversed by veins of extraneous mattei'. Works executed in this 

 marble are now, therefore, somewhat rough and earthy in appear- 

 ance. 



Dr. Clarke gives an interesting account of his visit to the 

 quarries of Paros. He says: "VVe seemed to view the grotto 

 exactly according to the state in which it had been left by the 

 ancients. All the cavities, cut with the greatest nicety, showed to 

 us, by the sharpness of their edges, the number and size of every 

 mass of Parian marble which had been removed for the sculptors 

 of ancient Greece. If the stone had possessed the softness of 

 potter's clay, and had been cut by wires, it could not have been 

 separated with greater nicety, evenness, and economy. The most 

 evident care was everywhere displayed, that there should be no 

 waste of this precious marble." The following anecdote may 

 give some idea of the value of marble amongst the ancients: — 

 When the Ephesians were about to erect a temple to Diana, 

 they met to consult upon the best means of procuring material; 

 the quarries then worked were far off, and the cost of transport 

 would have been enormous. While they were deliberating, a 

 shepherd of the name of Py.xodorus happened to be feeding his 

 flock on Mount Pioa, or Prion, near the city; and two rams 

 beginning to fight, one of them missing his aim, struck his horn 

 against the rock and broke off a fragment, which proved to be of 

 the purest white marble. The shepherd immediately ran with it 

 into the city, where it was received with acclamations of delight. 

 Pyxodorus was in consequence, not only honoured, but canonised, 

 his name being changed by the grateful Ephesians to Euangelus, 

 ' the good messenger.' " A monthly sacrifice v.as offered to his 

 memory, on the spot where the discovery was made; and this 

 custom continued to the time of Augustus Caesar. 



After providing for the defence of his city, the next care of the 

 devout Greek was to erect fitting temples to the gods. 



The pious Athenian believed himself under the protection of 

 some particular divinity, in every event and circumstance of life 

 Each profession and employment had its tutelary god. The 

 sailor sacrificed to Neptune and Amphitrite; the student to 

 Apollo and the Muses; the artist to Minerva; and the hunter 

 to Diana. The Temple of Bacchus was situated near the theatre, 



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