Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1087

 SYRACUSAE. fnr the purpose of fiicilitiitinij the communication with " the outer city," as that on the mainland was tlien called. At a later period it was as;ain severed from the land, probably by the elder Dionysius, when he constructed his great docks in the two ports. It was, however, undoubtedly always connected with the mainland by a bridge, or series of bridges, as it is at the present day. The citadel or castle, con- structed by Dionysius, stood within the island, but immediately fronting the mainland, and closely ad- joining the docks or navalia in the Lesser Port. Its front towards the mainland, which appears to have been strongly fortified, was known as the Pcn- tapyla (ra. iriVTairvKa, Vint. Dion. 29); and this seems to have looked directly upon the Agora or Forum, which we know to have been situated on the mainland. It is therefore clear that the citadel must have occupied nearly the same position with the modern furlifications which form the defence of Sy- racuse on the land side. These were constructed in the reign of Charles V., when the isthmus by which Ortygia had been reunited to the mainland was cut through, as well as a Roman aqueduct de- signed to supply this quarter of the city with water, constructed, as it appeared from an inscription, by the emperor Claudius. (Fazell. Sic. iv. i. p. 169.) Oi'tygia was considered from an early time as consecrated to Artemis or Diana (Diod. v, .3), whence Pindar terms it " the couch of Artemis," and " the sister of Delos " (Si/xviov 'Aprf/xiSos, AaAou Kaaiyvdra, Nem. i. 3). Hence, as we learn from Cicero (I. c), one of tlie principal edifices in the island was a temple of Diana. Some remains of this are supposed to be still extant in the NE. corner of the modern city, where two columns, with a portion of their architrave, of the Doric order, are built into the walls of a private house. From the style and character of these it is e^ddent that the edifice was one of very remote antiquity. JMuch more considerable remains are extant of the other temple, noticed by the orator in the same passage — that of Minerva. This was one of the most mag- nificent in Sicily. Its doors, composed of gold and ivory, and conspicuous for their beautiful workman- ship, were celebrated throughout the Grecian world: while the interior was adorned with numerous paint- ings, among which a series representing one of the battles of Agathocles was especially celebrated. All these works of art, which had been spared by the generosity of Marcellus, were carried off by the in- satiable Verres. (Cic. Verr. iv. 55, 56.) On the summit of the temple was a shield, which served as a landmark to sailors quitting or approaching the port. (Polemon, ap. Athen. xi. p. 462.) There can be no doubt that this temple, which must have stood ou the highest point of the island, is the same which has been converted into the modern cathedral or church of Sta Afnria delle Colonne. The co- lumns of the sides, fourteen in number, are still per- fect, though built into the walls of the church; but the portico and faqade were destroyed by an earth- quake. It was of the Doric order, and its dimen- sions (185 feet in length by 75 in breadth), which nearly approach those of the great temple of Nep- tune at Paestum, show th.at it must have belonged to the first class of ancient edifices of this descrip- tion. The style of the architectural details and proportions of the columns would render it probable that this temple may be ret'errcd to the sixth cen- tury B. c, thus confirming an incidental notice of Diodoras (viii. Fr. 9), from which it would ap- SYRACUSAE. 1063 pear that it was built under the government of the Geomori, and therefore certainly prior to the des- potism of Gelon. No other ancient remains are now extant in the island of Ortygia; but the celebrated fountain of Arethusa is still visible, as described by Cicero, near the southern extremity of the island, on its western shore. It is still a very copious source, but scarcely answering to the accounts of its mag- nitude in ancient times; and it is probable that it has been disturbed and its supply diminished by earthquakes, which have repeatedly afflicted the modern town of Syracuse. At the extreme point of the island, and outside the ancient walls, probably on the spot where the castle built by John Maniaces now stands, was situ- ated a temple of the Olympian Juno, with an altar from which it was the custom for departing sailors to take a cup with certain offerings, which they flung into the sea when they lost sight of the shield on the temple of Minerva (Polemon, ap. Athen. I.e.). Of the other edifices in the island the most remarkable were the Hexecontaclinus (oT/coj 6 'E^7]KovrdKivos KaXovjxevos, Diod. xvi. 86), built, or at least finished, by Agathocles, but the purpose and nature of which are uncertain ; the public granaries, a building of so massive and lofty a construction as to serve the pur- poses of a fortress (Liv. xxiv. 21); and the palace of king Hieron, which was afterwards made the resi- dence of the Roman praetors (Cic. Verr. iv. 52). The site of this is uncertain : the palace of Diony- sius, which had been situated in the citadel con- structed by him, was destroyed together with that fortress by Timoleon, and a building for the courts of justice erected on the site. Hence it is probable that Hieron, who was always desirous to court popu- larity, would avoid establishing himself anew upon the same site. No trace now remains of the ancient walls or works on this side of the island, which have been wholly covered and concealed by the mo- dern fortifications. The remains of a tower are, however, visible on a shoal or rock near the N. angle of the modern city, which are probably those of one of the towers built by Agathocles to guard the en- trance of the Lesser Harbour, or Portus Lacceius (Diod. xvi. 83) ; but no traces have been discovered of the corresponding tower on the other side. 2. AcHKADiNA ('AxpiSiV?;, Diod., and this seems to be the more correct form of the name, though it is frequently written Acradina ; both Livy and Cicero, however, give Achradina), or " tlie outer cify," as it is termed by Thucydides, was the most important and extensive of the quarters of Syracuse. It con- sisted of two portions, comprising the eastern part of the great triangular plateau already described, which extended from the angle of Epipolae to the sea, as well as the lower and more level space which extends from the foot of this table-land to the Great Harbour, and borders on the marshes of Lysimeleia. This level plain, which is immediately ojiposite to the island of Ortygia, is not, like the tract beyond it extending to the Anapus, low and marshy ground, but has a rocky soil, of the same limestone with the table-land above, of which it is as it were a lower step. Hence the city, as soon as it extended itselt beyond the limits of the island, spread at once over this area ; but not content with this, the inhabitants occupied the part of the table-land above it nearest the sea, which, as already mentioned in the general description, is partly separated by a cross valley or depression from the upper part of the plateau, or the heights of Epipolae. Hence this part of the city 3 Y 4