Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1048

 1028 SPARTA. of the mother of the gods, — and the heroa of Hippo- lytus and Aulon. The Aphctais upon quitting; the city joined the great Hyacinthian road which led to the Aniyclaeuin. (Pans. iii. 12. §§ 1 — 9.) The next most important street leading from the Agora ran in a south-easterly direction. It is usually called Scias, though Pausanias gives this name only to a building at the beginning of the street, erected by Theodorus of Samos, and which was used even in the time of Pausanias as a place for the assemblies of the people. Near the Scias was a round structure, said to have been built by Epimenides, containing statues of the Olympian Zeus and Aphrodite; next came the tombs of Cy- nortas. Castor, Idas, and Lynceus, and a temple of Core Soteira. The other buildings along this street or in this direction, if there was no street, were the temple of Apollo Carneius, who was worshipped lieie before the Dorian invasion, — a statue of Apollo Aphetaeus, — a quadrangular place surrounded with colonnades, where small-wares (piffos) were an- ciently sold, — an altar sacred to Zeus, Athena, and the Dioscuri, all surnamed Ambulii. Opposite was the place called Colona and the temple of Dionysus Colonatas. Near the Colona was the temple of Zeus Euanemus. On a neighbouring hill was the temple of the Argive Hera, and the temple of Hera Hypercheiria, containing an ancient wooden statue of Aphrodite Hera. To the right of this hill was a statue of Hetoemocles ,who had gained the victory in the Olympic games. (Pans. iii. 12. § 10 — iii. 13.) Although Pausanias does not say that the Colona was a hill, yet there can be no doubt of the fact, as KoXuiva is the Doric for KoXdiuj], a hill. This height and the one upon which the temple of Hera stood are evidently the heights NV. of the village of Psy- ckiJco between the Eurotas and the plain to the S. of the theatre (Map, C). After describing the streets leading from the Agora to the S. and SE. Pausanias next mentions a third street, running westward from the Agora. It led past the theatre to the royal sepulchres of the Agiadae. In front of the theatre were the tombs of Pausanias and Leonidas (iii. 14. § 1). From the theatre Pausanias probably went by the hollow way to the Eurotas, for he says that near the Sepulchres of the Agiadae was the Lesche of the Crotani, and that the Crotani were a portion of the Pitanatae. It would appear from a passage in Athenaeus (i. p. 31) that Pitane was in the neigh- bourhood of the Oenus; and its proximity to the Eurotas has been already shown. [See above, p. 1026, a.] It is not improbable, as Curtius observes, that Pitane lay partly within and partly without the city, like the Cerameicus at Athens. After proceeding to the tomb of Taenarus, and the sanc- tuaries of Poseidon Hippocurius and the Aeginetan Artemis, Pausanias returns to the Lesche, near which was the temple of Artemis Issoria, also called Limnaea. Issorium, which is known as a stronghold in the neighbourhood of Pitane (Polyaen. ii. 1. § 14; Plut. Ages. 32), is supposed by Curtius to be the hill to the north of the Acropolis (Slap, C). Leake, as we have already seen, regards this hill as the Acropolis itself, and identities the Issorium with the height above the ruined amphitheatre or circus. Pau- sanias next mentions the temples of Thetis, of Demeter Chthonia, of Sarapis, and of the Olympian Zeus. He then reached the Dromus, which was used in his day as a place for running. It extended along the stream southwards, and contained gym- SPAETA. nasia, one of which was dedicated by a certain Euiycles. The Roman amphitheatre and the sta- dium, of which the remains have been already described, were included in the Dromus. In the Dromus was a statue of Hercules, near which, but outside the Dromus, was the house of Menelaus. The Dromus must have formed part of Pitane, as Menelaus is called a Pitanatan. (Hesych. s. •y.) Proceeding from the Dromus occurred the temples of the Dioscuri, of the Graces, of Eileithyia, of Apollo Carneius, and of Artemis Hegemone; on the right of the Dromus was a statue of Asclepius Agnitas ; at the becjinning of the Dromus there were statues of the Dioscuri Aphetarii ; and a little further the hcrouni of Alcon and the temple of Poseidon Domatites. (Paus. iii. 14. §§ 2 — 7.) South of the Dromus was a broader level, which was called Platanistas, from the plane-trees with which it was thickly planted. It is described as a round island, formed by streams of running water, and was entered by two bridges, on each of which there was a statue of Hercules at one end and of Lycurgns at the other. Two divisions of the Spartan Ephebi were accustomed to cross these bridges and fight with one another in the Plataniston ; and, though they had no arms, they frequently inflicted severe wounds upon one another. (Paus. iii. 15. § 8, seq.; hncian, Anachais. 3S; Cic. Tztsc. Quaest. v. 27.) The running streams surrounding the Platanis- ton were the canals of the Trijpwiiko, which were fed by several springs in the neighbourhood, and flowed into the Eurotas. Outside the city was the district called Phoebaeum, where each division of the Ephebi sacrificed the night before the contest. The Phoe- baeum occupied the narrow corner south of the Pla- taniston formed by the Tryp'wiiko and the Eurotas. Pausanias describes it as near Therapne, which was situated upon the Menelaium, or group of hills upon the other side of the Eurotas, mentioned below. The proximity of the Phoebaeum to Therapne is mentioned in another passage of Pausanias (iii. 19. § 20), and by Herodotus (vi. 61). The heroum of Cynisca, the first female who conquered in the chariot- race in the Olympic games, stood close to the Plata- niston, which was bordered upon one side by a colon- nade. Behind this colonnade there were several heroic monuments, among which were those of Alci- mus, Enaraephorus, of Dorceus, with the fountain Dorceia, and of Sebrus. Near the latter was the sepulchre of the poet Alcman ; this was followed by the sanctuary of Helena and that of Hercules, with the monument of Oeonus, whose death he here avenged by slaying the sons of Hippocoon. The temple of Hercules was close to the city walls. (Paus. iii. 14. § 8 — 15. § 5.) Since the poet Alcman, whose tomb was in this district, is described as a citizen of Mesoa _Dict. ofBiogv., art. Alcman], it is probable that this was the position of Mesoa, the name of which might indicate a tract lying between two rivers. (Comp. yiea-qvh — inrh Svo iroTd/xwu — fieffa^Ofxevri, Steph. B. s. V. M€(r(TT)frj.) After reaching the SE. extremity of the city, Pausanias returns to the Dromus. Here he mentions two ways : the one to the right leading to a temple of Athena Axiopoenus, and the other to the left to another temple of Athena, founded by Theras, near which was a temple of Hipposthenes, and an ancient wooden statue of Enyalius in fetters. He then de- scribes, but without giving any indication of its po- sition, the painted Lesche, with its surrounding heroa of Cadmus, Oeolycus, Aegeus, and Amphilo-