Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/71

 ATHENS 59 the casual references and allusions of ancient historians, orators, and dramatists ; but most of all from the detailed account of Pausanias, who visited Athens in the tin^ of the An- tonines, a period of great splendor. By the aid of these means of information, interpreted and arranged by many eminent scholars among whom Ool. Leake and the German philologist Forchhammer are prominent as having established the principal points almost beyond a doubt a very accurate idea has been formed of the ancient capital, its fortifications and environs. In describing it, we shall, after a few necessary explanations, follow the route taken by Pausanias, using his descriptions in their order, and filling the gaps left by him with information derivable from other sources. Athens that is, all the district lying within the fortifications consisted of three parts : 1. The Acropolis, often called simply the Polls. 2. The Asty, or upper town, as distinguished from the port towns, and therefore really in- Plan of Athens and the Port Towns. eluding the Acropolis. 3. The port towns, Pirsous, Munychia, and Phalerum. The Acro- polis was in itself a citadel ; the Asty was surrounded by walls ; and three similar walls, the two long walls and the Phaleric wall, con- nected the Asty with the port towns. About the position of these last three there has been little doubt ; but the questions concerning the walls of the Asty itself have been matter for controversy. For a long time the views of Ool. Leake on this point were considered the true ones ; but Forchhammer's theory is now gen- erally adopted as correct. The wall around the Asty measured 60 stadia; that around Piraeus (with Munychia) the same ; the length of each of the long walls was 40 stadia, and that of the Phaleric wall 35. The walls of Pira3us, and probably the others also, were 60 feet in height. Between the long walls, which were 550 feet apart, ran a carriage road from the Asty to Piraeus ; and this was probably lined with houses, so that the city was contin- ued through the whole distance. Although some kind of fortifications probably surround- ed the Asty from the earliest times, the great wall around it, to which we have alluded, was built by Themistocles as soon as possible after the battle of Salamis. The port towns, though also slightly fortified by him, were first regular- ly walled and laid out under Pericles, by whose advice they were connected with the Asty by the northern long wall and the Phaleric wall. The southern long wall was not built until about the beginning of the Peloponnesian war ; the Phaleric wall then became comparatively useless, and was allowed to decay. The posi- tion of the gates in the wall of the Asty has been a matter of much doubt. The locations given in the accompanying map are those agreed upon by the best authorities, though many of them are still uncertain. Pausanias apparently entered the city by the Piraic gate, and his first mention is of the Pompeium, a building used as a depository of certain very valuable sacred vessels (no/tiri: la) when not in use. Here were several statues, among them one of Socrates. Beyond this, in passing toward the Acropolis, were the temples of Demeter (Ceres), Hercules, and several minor deities ; then the gymnasium of Hermes (Mercury) ; all these were on the road leading toward Pirffius, and passing between the hills of the Museum and the Pnyx. The former of these, lying on the his- torian's right, and S. W. of the Acropolis, was a considerable elevation, crowned by a fortress, and probably covered with houses. Upon it was the monument of Philopappus, which still remains in a ruined state. The hill of the Pnyx, the height lying to the left of Pausanias, was one of the famous localities of Athens. Here was the bema, or pulpit of stone, from which the great Athenian orators spoke to the assem- bled people, gathered in a semicircular level area of large extent, which was the Pnyx proper (n.vi>S-). The bema and traces of the levelled area still remain. Beyond the Pnyx, to the northeast, was the Areopagus, or hill of Ares (Mars), on the S. E. summit of which the famous court or council of the Areopagus held its sit- tings. N. W. of the Pnyx was still another hill, that of the Nymphs. Along the road taken by Pausanias colonnades extended, proba- bly forming the entrances to dwellings in the rear. Pausanias next entered the district of the Asty called the inner Oeramicus (the outer Oeramicus lying outside the walls), at that prominent point of Athens, the Agora, or i market place. This was a square surrounded by colonnades, temples, and public buildings, decorated with statues and paintings. On the right, as Pausanias entered it, stood the Stoa Basileius (royal colonnade), in which was held the court of the archon basileus. Upon its roof and near it were numerous statues, which Pausanias describes. Next this stoa was an- other, the Stoa Eleutherius, decorated with paintings by Euphranor. Near this, again, stood the temple of Apollo Patrons, that of the Mother of the Gods, and the council house of the 500. According to the account of the