488 



ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF ATHENS. 



micus as far as Dipylon ; nay, there are several who assure us, that it 

 ran through the gates and overspread the suburbs." Now, the 

 position of the gate here mentioned is ascertained by the following 

 passage in Livy : — " Ab Dipylo accessit. Porta ea, velut in ore urbis 

 posita, major aliquanto patentiorque quam ceterce, est; et intra earn ex- 

 traque latce sunt vice, ut et oppidani dirigere aciem a foro ad portam 

 possent : et extra limes mille ferme passus, in Academice Gymnasium 

 ferens, pediti equitique hostium liberum spatium prcebereV Lib. xxxi. 

 c. 24. And its vicinity to the Academy is confirmed by the testimony 

 of Cicero: — " Sex ilia a Dipylo stadia in Academiam confecimus" 



The gate, therefore, called Dipylon, must have stood on the north 

 or the north-west side of the Acropolis, for it was in this direction 

 that the Academy was situated. And there is a gate of the modern 

 city in the same quarter, which leads to a spot still distinguished by 

 the name of Kathymia, * or Akathymia. 



* The following extract from my Journal, Nov. 1794, relates to this curious fact: — 

 " The weather being dry and cool in consequence of the north-easterly wind, we took 

 a walk this evening to a spot about one mile north from the city walls, which, from the 

 circumstance of its being called KkaI^iu (Acathymia) by the peasants of Attica, must 

 have been without doubt the scite of the celebrated Academy. It is situated near two little 

 hills or rather knolls of ground, one called "Ayioj M«A»«vo?, and the other "Ayioj NucoAaoj, 

 from two chapels which stand on them. 



" All antiquaries have agreed in placing the academy on this side of the city, and at 

 this distance from it; but as there existed no remains of the buildings which once adorned 

 it, its position was not known with any degree of certainty ; for the present Athenians are 

 too ignorant of their own history, and too inattentive to the researches of curious travellers, 

 to have been struck with this coincidence between the ancient and the modern name of this 

 interesting spot. 



" It was a mere accident which threw it in my way, and led to the discovery; for 

 M. Fauvel appears to have been ignorant of it. 



" The Consul (Procopius) not being thoroughly acquainted with the topography of the 

 plain, we enquired of several peasants whom we met the position of the spot called 

 Akathymia, and were thus enabled to ascertain it with more precision. 



" It is rather extraordinary that the spot should still be distinguished by any particular 

 name, since it is now an open piece of ground, and presents nothing remarkable in its 

 appearance. The name is confined to an area not exceeding five acres in the lowest and 

 most stagnant part of the plain. The soil here is a stiff loam, which being nuturally too 

 tenacious of moisture, has been improved by drainage. A few scattered olive trees 



