Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/302

the Syrian to whom Pausanias alludes. "This monument was built in a form slightly concave towards the front. The chord of the curve was about 30 feet in length: in front it presented three niches between four pilasters; the central niche was wider than the two lateral ones, concave with a semi-circular top; the others were quadrangular. A seated statue in the central niche was obviously that of the person to whom the monument was erected. An inscription below the niche shows that he was named Philopappus, son of Epiphanes, of the demus Besa (*(X4in*m 'Enfibmit Bifriu* Jt). On the right hand of this statues was a king Antiochus, son of a king Antiochus, as we learn from the inscription below it (flBjriX^ut 'An-loX"' BaaiXtrnt 'Arrii- Xov}. In the niche on the other side was seated Seleucus Nicator (_0aaAtbt aiXiixoi 'Amdx» Hucinv)' On the pilaster to the right of Philopappus of Besa is the inscription C.IVLIVS C.F.FAB (i. e. Caius Julius, Caii filius, Fabiâ) ANTIOCHVS PHILOPAPPVS, COS. FRATER ARVALIS, ALLECTVS INTER PRAETORIOS AB IMP. CAESARE NERVA TRAINO OPTVMO AVGVSTO GERMANICO DACICO. On that to the left of Philopappus was inscribed BorAiii 'AitI*x** *iX^>ra**or, AwlAaaf lin- fj*«w(, TsS 'AtTi^xw- Between the niches and the base of the monument, there is a representation in high relief of the triumph of a Roman emperor

similar to that on the arch of Titus at Rome. The part of the monument now remaining consists pf the central and eastern niches, with remains of the two pilasters on that side of the center. The statues in two of the niches still remain, but without heads, and otherwise imperfect; the figures of the triumph, in the lower compartment, are not much better preserved. This monument appears, from Spon and Wheler, to have been nearly in the same state in 1676 as it is at present; and it is to Ciriaco d'Ancona, who visited Athens two centuries earlier, that we are indebted for a knowledge of the deficient parts of the monument." (Leake, p. 491, seq.; comp. Stuart, vol. iii. c. 5; Prokesch, Denkwürdigkeiten, vol. ii. p. 383; Böckh, Inscr. no. 362; Orelli, Inscr. no. 800.)

Of the fortress, which Demetrius Poliorcetes erected on the Museium in B.C. 229 (Paus. i. 25. § 8; Plut. Demetr. 34), all true has disappeared.

There must have been many houses on the Museium, for the western side of the hill is almost ATHENAE. covered with traces of buildings cut in the rocks, and the remains of stairs are visible in several places,—another proof that the ancient city wall did not run along the top of this hill. [See above, p. 261.] There are also found on this spot some wells and cisterns of a circular form, hollowed out in the rock, and enlarging towards the base. At the eastern foot of the hill, opposite the Acropolis, there are three ancient excavations in the rock; that in the middle is of an irregular form, and the other two are eleven feet square. One of them leads towards another subterraneous chamber of a circular form, twelve feet in diameter at the base, and diminishing towards the top, in the shape of a bell. These excavations are sometimes called ancient baths, and sometimes prisons: hence one of them is said to have been the prison of Socrates.

5. The Dionysiac Theatre.

The stone theatre of Dionysus was commenced in B.C. 500, but was not completely finished till B.C. 340, during the financial administration of Lycurgus. (Paus. i. 29. § 16; Plut. Vit. X. Orat. pp. 841, 852.) A theatre, however, might, as a Gothic church, be used for centuries without being quite finished; and there can be no doubt that it was in the stone theatre that all the great productions of the Grecian drama were performed. This theatre lay beneath the southern wall of the Acropolis, near its eastern extremity. The middle of it was excavated out of the rock, and its extremities were supported by solid piers of masonry. The rows of seats were in the form of curves, rising one above another; the diameter increased with the ascent. Two rows of seats at the top of the theatre are now visible; but the rest are concealed by the accumulation of soil. The accurate dimensions of the theatre cannot now by ascertained. Its termination at the summit is evident; but to what extent it descended into the valley cannot be traced. From the summit to the hollow below, which may, however, be higher than the ancient orchestra, the slope is about 300 feet in length. Then can be no question that it must have been sufficiently large to have accommodated the whole body of Athenian citizens, as well as the strangers who flocked to the Dionysiac festival. It baa been supposed from a passage of Plato, that tho theatre was capable of containing more than 30,000 spectators, since Socrates speaking of Agathon's dramatic victory in the theatre says that "his glory was manifested in the presence of more than three myriads of Greeks" (if4^o»J(- iyiim h liifmnri rSr 'EMjpmr rAto t) rpia- iuip'"t. Plat, Symp. p. 175, e.) It may, however, be doubted whether these words are to be taken literally, since the term "three myriads" appears to have been used as a round number to signify the whole body of adult Athenian citizens. Thus Herodotus (v.1 97) says that Aristagoras deceived three myriads of Athenians, and Aristophanes (Eccl. 1132) employs the words 'oft£v vktua ^ rptatajpUn/ ex.- actlj in the same sense.

The magnificence of the theatre is attested by Dicaearchus, who describes it as "the most beautiful theatre in the world, worthy of mention, great and wonderful" (SS« i|i' tut ir rf autov/itrp itd-

• irrron fiarpar, iiiiAayar, fiiyo aol Baviiiurrir, t3i 'EAArfJot, p. 140.)^[1] The

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