RHAMNUS 



309 



by a broad ravine. The walls, Fxpvcvg reTxH% which were of the 

 finest masonry, are still visible round the greater part of the area, and 

 towards the land are of considerable height. The groupes of mastich 

 which overhang them form a peculiarly picturesque view near the 

 entrance. 



Of the buildings of the town hardly a vestige remains ; great heaps 

 of marble and stone are scattered over the surface of the hill, and are 

 partly hid by the low wood. The only fragment of which the original 

 form can be ascertained, is the base of a large marble chair resembling 

 those which are to be seen in the church of St. Soteera at Athens. 

 It presents an inscription, serving, in addition to the correspondence 

 of distances, to mark the identity of this site with Rhamnus. The 

 words are PAMNOTIIOS KnMniAOIF, and probably they commemo- 

 rate the honorary gift of the chair to some players who had contri- 

 buted to the entertainment of the people. The materials of these 

 chairs and their decoration render them objects of curiosity. Their 

 form resembles that of the heavy arm-chair now in fashion ; on those 

 at Athens owls are sculptured under the arms, in allusion to the em- 

 blem of the city ; and on the sides of the base, garlands, such as were 

 appropriated to victors in the games, are formed in basso-relievo. 

 Their solidity is such as to render them nearly immovable, and to this 

 and to their strength is to be attributed their preservation. It is not 

 likely that such masses of stone should ever have been intended for 

 articles of furniture within the walls of a house, but all we know of the 

 customs and way of life of the ancients suggests a different use. 

 They were probably placed at the expense of the state, or of indivi- 

 duals for seats in the public places, in the popular assembly, the' 

 agora, or even the streets. Thus Homer I. 504, describing a judicial 

 process, says 



01 ce ytpovreg 

 Iiolt \tt\ £ecT0i<ri XiGoig, /spa evl zvy.Xu: 



Herodotus represents the citizens of Apollonia as taking the op- 



* Scylac. Perip. 21 . — Hudson, G. M. i. 



