Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/150

 Fortified Towns and their General Characteristics, i i

views were taken close to the castle ; the imagination can alone — taking in the general view of the city as it appears to the spectator, who should stand on the rising ground of the right bank of the Cephisus — conjure up here the whole panorama which would unroll before him, and which, for reasons of space, we have imperfectly figured. His attention would first be drawn to those detached forts frowning from the summits of precipitous ravines, or placed at the outlets of defiles to guard the approaches to the valley ; then he would follow the broad firm outline of massive causeways, leading to the royal borough, and built, like the bridges thrown athwart tearing torrents, for eternity ; whilst in the middle distance, beyond the river, his eye would dwell pleasantly on fields and orchards, mayhap, then as now, on clustering olives ; and farther on, spread out leisurely amidst gardens and terraced walks, he would note the houses of a vast suburb, whose site is now occupied by the village of Charvati, and the more compact groups of habitations enclosed by the external enclosure ; finally, in the distance, great pieces of embattled ramparts en- circling the acropolis would break the line of grand and lofty ridges, at that time finely timbered.^ Behind this stony zone, a pyramid-like pile of structures was soldered on to the rock, the peak itself being crowned with the imposing mass of the palace erections. At that period, there probably was no spot washed by the Mge^n which, from the multitude of men dwelling within its walls, the amplitude of the edifices, and length of line of the fortified enclosure, could challenge comparison with the Mycenae of the Atridse. Minyan Orchomenos may not perhaps have been wanting in a certain massive grandeur, which in some respects approached to this, but we cannot gauge its importance on the sole testimony of tradition, or picture to ourselves the outward appearance of the town from a unique building confessedly much weathered. If we are to believe the tale of the Arcadians, there are older remains than those of Mycenae and Tiryns, and they should be sought at Lycosura, situated on the southern slopes of Mount Lycaeum, of which Pausanias writes : " A little higher is seen ^ Indirect proof that the country was covered with forests in antiquity is furnished by the presence of boars' teeth, found in great profusion in these graves. The animal, as is well known, thrives and multiplies only when sheltered by thick undergrowth (Tsoundas, MvKrjvai),