Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/284

 268 MAKATHOX. transferred to another site; and it was natural that the celebrated name should be given to the prin- cipal place in the district. Three-quarters of a mile to the south-east of the tumuli of Vrand there is a rising p:roimd, upon which are the traces of a Hellenic wall, apparently the peribolus of a temple. This was probably the temple of Her- cules (Plan, 10), in whose sacred enclosure the Athenians were encamped before the battle of 5Ia- rathon. (Herod, vi. 108.) 2. There arc several fragments of antiquity situated at the head of the valley of Marathona at
 * i spot called Inoi, which is no doubt the site of

the ancient Oenoe, one of the four demi of the district. The retired situation of Oenoe accounts for its omission fey Strabo in his enumeration of the demi situated near the coast (is. p. 399). 3. There are also evident remains of an ancient demus situated upon an insulated height in the plain of Siili, near the entrance of the pass leading out of the Marathonian plain to Sidi. These ruins are probably those of Tkicorytiius, the situation of which agrees with the order of the maritime demi in Strabo, where Tricorythus immediately precedes Rhamnus. We learn from Aristophanes and Suidas that Tricorythus was tormented by gnats from a neighbouring marsh (eVTri'y iariv i}Sri TpLKopvaia, Aristoph. Lysistr. 1032; Suidas, s. v. e>7ris); and at the present day the inhabitants of Lower Sidi in the summer are driven by this plague and the bad air into the upper village of the same name. The town was probably called Tricorythus from the triple peak on which its citadel was built. The site of Pkobalinthus is uncertain, but it should probably be placed at the south-west ex- tremity of the Marathonian plain. This might be inferred from Strabo's enumeration, who mentions first Probalinthus, then JIarathon, and lastly Tri- corythus. Between the southern marsh and Mt. Argalilci there are foundations of buildings at a place called Valari, which is, perhaps, a corruption of Probalinthus. Close to the sea, upon a rising ground in the marsh, there are some ancient re- mains, which may, perhaps, be those of the temple of Athena Hellotia (Plan, 1 1 ), which epithet the goddess is said to have derived from the marsh of Jlarathon, where the temple was built. (Schol. ad Find. 01. xiii. 56 ; Etym. M. s. v. 'EXKanls.) The principal monument in the JIarathonian plain was the tumulus erected to the 192 Athenians who were slain in the battle, and whose names were inscribed upon ten pillars, one for each tribe, placed upon the tomb. There was also a second tumulus for the Plataeans and slaves, and a separate monu- ment to Miltiades. All these monuments were seen by Pausanias 600 years after the battle (i. 32. § 3). The tunmlus of the Athenians still exists. It stands in the centre of the plain, about half a mile from the sea-shore, and is known by the name of Soro (o 2op<5s), the tomb. (Plan, 13.) It is about 30 feet high, and 200 yards in circumference, composed of a light mould mixed with sand, amidst which have l)pcn found many brazen heads of arrows, about an inch in length, of a trilateral form, and pierced at the top with a round hole for the reception of the shaft. There are also found, in still greater num- bers, fragments of black flint, rudely shaped by art, which have been usually considered fragments of tile aiTow-hcads used by the Persian archers; but this opinion cannot be received, as flints of the same MAKATHON. kind abound in other parts of Greece, where no Persian is reputed to have set his foot; and, on the other hand, none have been found either at Thermo- pylae or Plataea. At a very small distance from this tumulus Leake noticed a small heap of earth and stones, which is, perhaps, the tomb of Plataeans and Athenian slaves. At 500 yards north of the great tumulus is a ruin called Pyrgo (Jlvpyos'), consisting of the foundation of a square monument, constructed of large blocks of white marble; it is apparently the monument erected in honour of ilil- tiades. (Plan, 14.) We learn from Philochorns that there was a temple of the Pythian Apollo at Marathon {ap. Schol. ad Soph. Oed. Col. 1047); and Demosthenes relates that the sacred vessel was kept on this coast, and that once it was carried off by Philip. (J'hil. i. p. 49.) Pausanias (i. 32. § 3, seq.) mentions in the plain several natural objects, some of which have been noticed already. The lake at the northern extremity of the plain he describes " as for the most part marshy, into which the flying barbarians fell through their ignorance of the ways ; and here it is said that the principal slaughter of them occurred. Beyond the lake (Jnrhp ry-ju Aifj.vriv') are seen the stables of stone for the horses of Artaphernes, to- gether with vestiges of a tent upon the rock. A river flows out of the lake which, within the lake, affords water fit for cattle to drink; but, towards the place where it enters the sea, becomes salt and full of sea-fishes. At a little distance from the plain is a mountain of Pan, and a cavern worthy of inspection : the entrance is narrow ; but within are apartments and baths, and that which is called the goat-stand (ajTrdAiot") of Pan, together with rocks veiy much resembhng goats." Leake observes that the marshy lake, and the river, which, becoming salt towards the mouth, produces sea-fishes, are precisely as Pausanias describes them. The marsh is deepest towards the foot of Mt. Kordhi, where several springs issue from tlie foot of the rocks on the right side of the road leading from the great plain to Lower Sidi. These springs are apparently the fountain Macaria (Plan, 8), which Pausanias mentions just before his description of the marsh. It derived its name from ]Iacaria, a daughter of Hercules, who devoted herself to death in behalf of the Heraclidae before the victory which they gained over the Argives in the plain. (Comp. Strab. viii. p. 377.) A small stream, which has its origin in these springs, is traced through the marsh into a small salt lake (Plan, 9), supplied by subterraneous sources, and situated on the south-eastern extremity of the mai'sh, under a rocky ridge, the continuation of C. Stomi. Both the ridge and salt lake are known by the name of Dhrahonti'ia (rh ApaKw- vipia., i. e. the monster-waters, so called from its si/.e, since SpaKo is a common expression among the modern Greeks for any mar'ellous object). On the eastern side of the great marsh Leake noticed a small cavern in the side of Mi. Dhrakontria, which is perhaps the place called by Pausanias " the stables of Artaphernes." Leake supposes that the Persian commanders were encamped in the adjoin- ing plain of Tricorythus. The mountain and cavern of Pan have not yet been discovered. They would appear, from the description of Pausanias, to have been a little further removed from the plain than the marsh and salt lake. Hence they may be placed iu Mt. Kordlci.