Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/828

Rh 768 O L Y M P I A two separate Doric buildings of identical form, viz., oblong, having a single row of columns dividing the length into two naves, and terminating to the east in a semicircular apse. The orientation of each was from west -south -west to east -north -east, one being south-south-east of the other. In the space between stood a small square building. In front, on the east, was a portico extending along the front of all three buildings ; and east of this again a large trapeze-shaped vestibule or fore-hall, enclosed by a colonnade. This bouleuterion would have been available on all occasions when Olympia became the scene of conference or debate between the representatives of different states, whether the subject was properly political, as concerning the amphictyonic treaties, or related more directly to the administration of the sanctuary and festival. Two smaller Hellenic buildings stood immediately west of the bouleu terion. The more northerly of the two opened on the Altis. Their purpose is uncertain. 2. Close to the bouleuterion on the south, and running parallel with it from south-west by west to north-east by east, was the South Portico, a late but handsome structure, closed on the north side, open on the south and at the east and west ends The external colonnade (on south, east, and west) was Doric ; the interior row of columns Corinthian. It was used as a promenade, and as a place from which to view the festal processions as they passed towards the Altis. 3. East of the bouleuterion was a gateway of Roman age, with triple entrance, the central being the widest, opening on the Altis from the south. North of this gateway, but at a somewhat greater depth, traces of a pavement were found in the Altis. This was manifestly the gateway by which the sacred processions entered the Altis in Roman times. The older processional route, however, prob ably struck the south boundary of the Altis at a point somewhat to the west of the Roman gate, proceeding past the front of the bouleuterion and the eastern end of the south portico. C. East Side. The line of the east wall, running due north and south, can be traced from the north-east corner of the Altis down about three-fifths of the east side, when it breaks off at the remains known as &quot; Nero s house. 1 These are the first which claim atten tion on the east side. 1. Pausanias mentions a building called the Lconidaion, erected by the Elean Leonidas outside the Altis, and near the Processional Gate.&quot; This Leonidaion was the point from which he set out on many of his walks in the Altis. Its original form is traceable in Hellenic remains at the south-east angle of the Altis, which show that the Leonidaion an oblong structure with colonnade on north, west, and south stood within the Altis. But the Greek Leonidaion was afterwards absorbed into a Roman house which projected be yond the Altis on the east, the south part of the east Altis wall being destroyed to admit of this. A piece of leaden water-pipe found in the house bears NER. AVG. Only a Roman master could have dealt thus with the Altis, and with a building which, like the Leonidaion, stood within its sacred precinct. It cannot be doubted that the Roman house from which three doors gave access to the Altis was that occupied by Nero when he visited Olympia. Later Roman hands again enlarged and altered the building, which may perhaps have been used for the reception of Roman governors. But Pausanias, who speaks only of a Leonidaion, shows that the old Greek name was retained, even when the building of Nero s time had placed the new Leonidaion beyond the limits of the Altis. 2. Following northwards the line of the east wall, we reach at the north-east corner of the Altis the entrance to the Stadion, which extends east of the Altis in a direction from west-south-west to east-north-east. The apparently strange and inconvenient posi tion of the Stadion relatively to the Altis was due simply to the necessity of obeying the conditions of the ground, here determined by the curve of the lower slopes which bound the valley on the north. The German explorers excavated the Stadion so far as was necessary for the ascertainment of all essential points. Weak walls had originally been built on west, east, and south, the north boundary being formed by the natural slope of the hill. The walls were afterwards thickened and raised. The space thus defined was a large oblong, about 214 metres in length by 32 in breadth. There were no artificial seats. It is computed that from 40,000 to 45,000 spectators could have found sitting-room, though it is hardly probable that such a number was ever reached. The exact length of the Stadion itself which was primarily the course for the foot-race was 192 27 metres, an important result, as it determines the Olympian foot to be 3204 metre. In the Heraion at Olympia, it may be remarked, the unit adopted was not this Olympian foot, but an older one of 297 metre. The starting- point and the goal in the Stadion were marked by limestone thresholds. Provision for drainage was made by a channel running round the enclosure. The Stadion was used not only for foot-races but for boxing, wrestling, leaping, quoit-throwing, and javelin- throwing. The entrance to the Stadion from the north-east corner of the Altis was a privileged one, reserved for the judges of the games, the competitors, and the heralds. Its form wa&quot;s that of a vaulted tunnel, 100 Olympian feet in length. Dating from about 350-300 B.C., it is one of the oldest examples of vaulted work in cut stone. To the west was a vestibule, from which the Altis was entered by a handsome gateway. 3. The Hippodrome,, in which the chariot-races and horse-races were heldj can no longer be accurately traced. The overflowings of the Alpheus have washed away all certain indications of its limits. But it is clear that it extended south and south-east of the Stadion, and roughly parallel with it, though stretching far beyond it to the east, From the state cf the ground the German explorers inferred that the length of the hippodrome was 770 metres or 4 Olympic stadia. D. North Side. If the northern limit of the Altis, like the west, south, and east, had been traced by a boundary wall, this would have had the effect of excluding from the precinct a spot so sacred as the Cronion, the hill inseparably associated with the oldest worship of Zeus at Olympia. It seems therefore unlikely that any such northern boundary wall ever existed. But the line which such a boundary would have followed is partly represented by the remains of a wall running from east to west immediately north of the treasure-houses (see below), which it was designed to protect against the descent of earth from the Cronion just above. This was the wall along which, about 157 A.D., the main water-channel constructed by Herodes Atticus was carried. Having now surveyed the chief remains external to the sacred precinct on west, south, east, and north, we proceed to notice those which have been traced within it. II. REMAINS WITHIN THE ALTIS. The form of the Altis, as indicated by the existing traces, is not regularly rectangular. The length of the west side, where the line of direction is from south-south-east to north-north-west, is about 195 metres. The south side, running nearly due east and west, is about equally long, if measured from the end of the west wall to the point which the east wall would touch when produced due south in a straight line from the place at which it was demolished to make way for &quot;Nero s house.&quot; The east side, measured to a point just behind the treasure-houses, is the shortest about 180 metres. The north side is the longest. A line drawn eastward behind the treasure-houses, from the Prytaneion at the north-west angle, would give about 250 metres. The remains or sites within the Altis may conveniently be classed in three main groups, viz. (A) the chief centres of re ligious worship ; (B) votive buildings ; (C) buildings, &c., connected with the administration of Olympia or the reception of visitors. A. Chief Centres of Religious Worship. 1. The earliest Hellenic phase of the sanctuary, when a pre-Hellenic worship of Zeus was combined with a cult of the hero Pelops, is recalled by the Altar of Zeus. This, the central object of the older temenos, stood a little east of the Pelopion, and after the Altis had been enlarged was still nearly at its centre. The basis was of elliptic form, the length of the lozenge being directed from south-south-west to north- north-east, in such a manner that the axis would pass through the Cronion. The upper structure imposed on this basis was in two tiers, and also, probably, lozenge -shaped. This was the famous &quot;ash-altar&quot; at which the lainidse. the hereditary gens of ^avreis, practised those rites of divination by fire (IJ.O.VTLKT] Si ^wvpuv) in virtue of which more especially Olympia is saluted by Pindar as &quot;mistress of truth&quot; (Sfairoiv dXaOelas). The steps by which the priests mounted the altar seem to have been at north and south. 2. The Pelopion, to the west of the Altar of Zeus, was a small precinct in which, from the time when Pisa was founded by the Achseans, sacrifices were offered to the Achaean tfpus Pelops. The traces agree with the account of Pausanias, Walls, inclined to each other at obtuse angles, enclosed a plot of ground having in the middle a low tumulus of elliptic form, about 35 metres from east to w r est by 20 from north to south. A Doric propylaion with three doors gave access on the south-west side. The three temples of the Altis were those of Zeus, Hera, and the Mother of the gods. All were Doric. All, too, were completely surrounded by a colonnade, i.e., were &quot;peripteral.&quot; 3. The Temple of Zeus, south of the Pelopion, stood on a high substructure with three steps. The colonnades at the east and west side were of six columns each ; those at the north and south sides (counting the corner columns again) of thirteen each. The cella had a prodomos on the east and an opisthodomos on the west. The cella itself was divided longitudinally (i.e., from east to west) into three partitions by a double row of columns. The central partition, which was the widest, consisted of three sections. The west section was shut off ; it contained the throne and image of the Olympian Zeus. The middle section, next to the east, contained a table and stelse. Here, probably, the wreaths were presented to the victors. The third or easternmost section ; which had side porticos, was open to the public. This temple was most richly adorned with statues and reliefs. On the east front Paeon his had represented in twenty-one colossal figures the moment before the contest between (Enomaus and Pelops. The west front exhibited the fight of the