32 ARCHITECTURE. 
open spaces surrounded by many gradually rising rows of seats. They 
were erected for the spectators at public games or combats. The theatres 
proper had the stage attached on one side of the circular area. 
The odeons were erected for similar purposes with the theatres, but their 
stages were not so spacious, as only few persons acted on the same. The 
odeons had mostly permanent roofs, whilst the theatres were covered with 
large sun tents (velarza) as a protection against the sun and the dust. 
The stadva, or racecourses, were of an elliptical form, and contained lists 
between whichythe horses ran, and a column (meta) ee the winning 
point. They were surrounded by an amphitheatre for the spectators. The 
hippodromes were similar structures arranged for chariot races. 
The halls (stow) belong to the same class of buildings. They were erected 
for public meetings and business purposes, and were large inclosures pro- 
tected against the sun and rain by a roof resting upon columns. Sometimes 
the cahmnne were connected by walls, and had three or five parallel colon- 
nades (naves), the lateral ones often aes double tiers of columns, so as to 
form upper galleries; the front space was termed the chalcidicum ; the rear, 
sometimes of a semicircular shape, the tribunal. These pailgien were the 
prototypes of the Roman baszlzea. 
The gymnasia, or therm, may also be classed here, the former being halls 
or inclosures for physical exercises, the latter for bathing purposes. 
The tombs, or mausoleums, were erected with a view to the preservation of 
the body or the ashes of the departed, or as monuments in honor of their 
memory. The rock-cut tombs were almost exclusively intended for the 
former purpose, though sometimes a frontispiece invited public attention 
to the same. In Greece and her colonies in Lower Italy the chambers were 
usually wrought in the shape of a coffin (sarcophagus). The monumental 
tombs frequently also contained a chamber for the corpse of the deceased. 
The most appropriate form for the combination of the sepulchre and monu- 
ments is that of a pyramid or of a tower-like building. The idea of the 
terrace-like monuments was probably derived from the shape of the funeral 
pile. Honorary monuments were analogous structures, but without any 
reference to the reception of bodies. They were erected for the purpose of 
receiving an image or emblematic group either into a niche or under a roof 
resting on columns. 
The triumphal arches combine in an ingenious manner the two objects 
of commemorating victories and of affording prominent places for the 
statues of the heroes. 
2. Special Description of Grecian Structures. 
1. Cyctopran Structures. Almost all the cities in Greece were originally 
built on mountains, the natural defence of which was increased by thick 
walls around the cities. In time the increase of population made it necessary 
to extend the cities beyond the wall, and they were gradually grouped round 
the foot of the mountain, which, with its fortified walls, became the citadel 
of the city, and was called Acropolis. It served also to preserve in safety 
32 
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