The ruins of this city are seen at a place called Ardachar, or, as it is more frequently called in the East, Ardechier; sometimes Ardesh. The city rose above the plain with fortress, palaces, and temples; and two more splendid than the rest, one dedicated to Anaites or Armatea, the other, a magnificent structure to Apollo. Statues were raised in all.
Artaxata was the capital of Armenia, and the residence of the Armenian kings. It was situate on a plain, upon an elbow of the Araxes, which formed a peninsula, and surrounded the town, except on the side of the isthmus. This isthmus was defended by a broad ditch and rampart.
It was built by Artaxias in consequence of Hannibal's having recommended the spot as a fit place for the king's capital; and there Artaxias' successors resided for many generations.
Lucullus having defeated the Armenians, under their king Tigranes, did not venture to lay siege to this place, because he considered it impregnable. The gates were, however, thrown open to the Roman general Corbulo, but the city itself was burnt and razed. It was afterwards called Neronia, in compliment to the emperor Nero, who commanded Tiridates to rebuild it.A few families, of the poorest order of people, are now the sole occupants of this once famous city.
"On reaching the remains of Ardisher," says Sir Robert Ker Porter, "I saw the earth covered to an immense extent, and on every side, with that sort of irregular hillocks, which are formed by Time over piles of ruins. These, with long dyke-like ridges, evidently by the same venerable architect, and materials connecting them in parts, told me at once I was entering the confines of a city, now no more. It is not in language to describe the effect on the mind in visiting one of these places. The space over which the eye wanders, all marked with the memorials of the past, but where no pillar or dome, nor household wall of any kind, however fallen, yet remains to give a feeling of some present existence of the place, even by a progress in decay. All here is finished; buried under heaps of earth; the graves, not of the people above, but of their houses, temples, and palaces; all lying in death-like entombment. At Anni I found myself surrounded by a superb monument of Armenian greatness; at Ardechier I stood over its grave. Go where one will for lessons of Time's revolutions, the brevity of human life, the nothingness of man's ambition, they nowhere can strike upon the heart like a single glance cast on one of these motionless life-deserted 'cities of the silent[45].'"
Artemita was a large town in Mesopotamia, according to Pliny the naturalist; but Strabo, more correctly, places it in Babylonia, five hundred stadia east of Seleucia, on the banks of the lake Arsissa, now called Argish.
Though Chosroes was undoubtedly sovereign of Ctesiphon and built the splendid palace, of which theremains are visible; he did not approach the gates of that city for nearly four-and-twenty years. His favourite residence was Dustegerd (Artemita), situate on the Tigris, not less than sixty miles north of Ctesiphon; and here, since the length of his residence at Ctesiphon has not been clearly ascertained, and with a view of giving the reader some idea with respect to the power and splendour of this prince, we will cite the description that has been given of the wealth and magnificence for which his name has been rendered remarkable to all posterity. "The adjacent pastures were covered with flocks and herds; the paradise or park was replenished with pheasants, peacocks, ostriches, roebucks, and wild boars; and the noble game of lions and tigers were sometimes turned loose for the bolder pleasures of the chase. Nine hundred and sixty elephants were maintained for the use and splendour of the great king; his tents and baggage were carried into the field by twelve thousand great camels and eight thousand of a smaller size; and the royal stables were filled with six thousand mules and horses, among which the names of Shebdiz and Barid were renowned for their speed and beauty." The treasure, which consisted of gold, silver, gems, silk, and aromatics, were deposited in one hundred subterranean vaults; and his palace walls are described as having been hung with thirty thousand rich hangings, and thousands of globes of gold were suspended in the dome to imitate the planets and constellations of the firmament. When this palace was sacked by Heraclius, the conqueror found in it, as we are informed by Cedrenus, sugar, ginger, pepper, silk robes woven, and embroidered carpets; aloes, aloes-wood, mataxa, silk, thread, muslins, muslin garments without number, and a vast weight of gold bullion.
Dustegerd stood upon the spot where now are seen the vast ruins of Kesra-Shirene. These havebeen described by Sir R. Ker Porter. "We are told, that the city of Dustegerd was the most stationary residence of Khosroo Purviz, and that it contained his most superb palace, treasury, and public buildings. There he passed his winters, with the beautiful object of his idolatry[46]; and thence he flew with her from the conquering arms of the emperor Heraclius. We entered upon a chain of hills, amongst which our road led in the most circuitous and intricate mazes I had ever trod; heights and depths, ravines, dry or water courses, rugged promontories, short stony plains, in short, every species of mountain difficulties, diversified our path for full fifteen miles, till we arrived at a once formidable barrier, not far from which we caught a view of the meandering river Zohaub. All along the alpine bridge we mounted, runs a massy wall of large hewn stone, which, in many places, like a curtain, closes the openings left by nature in the rocky bulwarks of the country. It had evidently been intended for a defence against any hostile approach from the eastward, and, on passing it, we went through what had formed one of its gates."
Journeying on a mile or two further, the traveller came to a second wall, still higher and stronger, and from that ran a third wall, which partly enclosed a large angular space. On various spots lay large stones of a great length, and hollowed in the middle, as if they were the remains of some ancient covered channel to convey water. This is still called the aqueduct of Khosroo Purviz; and the natives told Sir Robert, that it was one of the works constructed by that prince to win the smiles of his beloved Shirene.
Numerous fragments and continuations of the great rampart wall tracked their way, till they came to the ruins of another wall, the position and extent of which seemed to declare it to have been one side of the battlements of some large and ancient city. This they were informed was Kesra-Shirene.
They passed under a gateway of simple construction, formed of hewn stones, twelve feet high and about six in thickness. The wall ran to a considerable distance, then disappeared, and then started up in massy fragments; the whole seeming to have formerly enclosed an area of several miles, and likely to have been occupied by the streets, courts, and public buildings of a very noble city. "The first ruined edifice we approached," continues Sir Robert, "was built of stone, and consists of long ranges of vaulted rooms, nearly choked up with the fallen masses of what may have been its magnificent superstructures. A little onward, we came to the remains of some place of great magnitude. It is a square building of nearly a hundred feet along each side; four entrances have led into the interior, and the arches of these portals, which are falling to the last stage of decay, cannot be less than from thirty to forty feet in height. The walls are of equal elevation, and of a more than ordinary thickness for any structure to stand the brunt of war, being twelve feet in solidity. The interior of the place, which seems to have been one enormous chamber or hall, is covered with lime, stones, and other fragments of masonry. No remnant of any sculptural ornaments or inscription was to be seen. At the southern angle of the great arch within the city walls, on a commanding rise of ground, stands a ruin of a stronger character; the massiveness and form of the work proving it to be the remains of a fortress. The building is of stone and brick; the latter being of a large square surface,but not very thick. Various lofty arched chambers, as well as deep subterraneous dungeons, compose this noble ruin. In ranging over the rest of the ground, contained within the circuit of the great interior walls, we found it covered with every indication that there had once stood the busy streets of a great and populous city[47].
"Look! on the Ægean shore a city stands,Built nobly, pure the air and light the soil.Athens! the eye of Greece, mother of artsAnd eloquence, native to famous wits,Or hospitable in her sweet recess.City or suburban studious walks and shades!See there the olive groves of Academe,Plato's retirement, where the Attic birdThrills her thick-warbled notes the summer long.There, flowery hill, Hymettus, with the soundOf bees, industrious murmur, oft invitesTo studious musing; there Ilissus rollsHis whispering stream. Within the walls then viewThe schools of ancient sages; his who bredGreat Alexander to subdue the world.Lyceum there and painted Stoa next."—Milton.
The Athenians thought themselves the original inhabitants of Attica; for which reason they were called "Sons of the Earth;" and "grasshoppers." They sometimes, therefore, wore golden grasshoppers in their hair, as badges of honour, to distinguish themselves from the people of later origin and less noble extraction; because these insects are supposed to be sprung from the ground. "Our origin," said Socrates, "is so beautiful, that none of the Greeks can give such pure appellations to their country as we can. We can truly style the earth on which we tread our nurse, our mother, our father."
ATHENSATHENS.
It was governed by seventeen kings, in the following order:—
After a reign of fifty years, Cecrops was succeeded by
B. C.Cranaus1506Amphictyon1497Ericthonius1487Pandion1437Erictheus1397Cecrops II.1347Pandion II.1307Ægeus1283Theseus1235Menestheus1205Demophoon1282Oxyntes1149Aphidas1137Thymœtes1336Melanthus1128Codrus1091
The history of the first twelve monarchs is, for the most part, fabulous.
Athens was founded by Cecrops, who led a colony out of Egypt, and built twelve towns, of which he composed a kingdom.
Amphictyon, the third king of Athens, procured a confederacy between twelve nations, who met every year at Thermopylæ, there to consult over their affairs in general, as also upon those of each nation in particular. This convention was called the assembly of the Amphictyons.
The reign of Ægeus is remarkable for the Argonautic expedition, the war of Minos, and the story of Theseus and Ariadne.
Ægeus was succeeded by his son, Theseus, whose exploits belong more to fable than to history.
The last king was Codrus, who devoted himself to die for his people.
After Codrus, the title of king was extinguished among the Athenians: his son was set at the head of the commonwealth, with the title of Archon, which after a time was declared to be an annual office.
After this Draco was allowed to legislate, and then Solon. The laws of the former were so severe, that they were said to be written in blood. Those of the latter were of a different character. Pisistratus acquired ascendancy; became a despot, and was assassinated: whereon the Athenians recovered theirliberties, and Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, in vain attempted to re-establish a tyranny. The Athenians, sometime after, burnt Sardis, a city of the Persians, in conjunction with the Ionians; and, to revenge this, Darius invaded Greece, but was conquered at Marathon by Miltiades.
Xerxes soon after invaded Attica, and the Athenians having taken to their "wooden walls," their city was burnt to the ground.
After the victory, gained over the Persians at Salamis, the Athenians returned to their city, but were obliged to abandon it again; Mardonius having wasted and destroyed every thing in its neighbourhood. They returned to it soon after their victory at Platæa. Their first care, after returning to their city, was to rebuild their walls. This measure was opposed by the Lacedemonians, under the pretence of its being contrary to the interest of Greece, that there should be strong places beyond the isthmus. Their real motive, however, was suspected to be an aversion to the rising greatness of the Athenians. Themistocles conducted himself with great art in this matter[48]. He got himself appointed ambassador to Sparta; and before setting out he caused all the citizens, of every age and sex, to apply themselves to the task of building the walls, making use of any materials within their reach. Fragments of houses, temples, and other buildings, were accordingly employed, producing a grotesque appearance, which remained to the days of Plutarch. He then set out for Sparta; but, on various pretences, declined entering on his commission, till he had received intelligence that the work he had set on foot was nearly completed. He then went boldly to the Lacedemonian senate, declared what had been done, and justified it, not only by natural right of the Athenians to provide fortheir own defence, but by the advantage of opposing such an obstacle to the progress of the barbarians. The Lacedemonians, sensible of the justice of this argument, and seeing that remonstrance would now avail nothing, were fain to acquiesce.
No city in the world can boast, in such a short space of time, of such a number of illustrious citizens, equally celebrated for their humanity, learning, and military abilities. Some years after the Persian defeat, Athens was visited by a very terrible calamity, insomuch that its ravages were like what had never been before known. This was a plague. We now adopt the language of Rollin. "It is related, that this scourge began in Ethiopia, whence it descended into Egypt, from thence spread over Libya, and a great part of Persia; and at last broke at once like a flood upon Athens. Thucydides, who himself was seized with that deadly disease, has described very minutely the several circumstances and symptoms of it; in order, says he, that a faithful and exact relation of this calamity may serve as an instruction to posterity, in case the like should ever happen. This pestilence baffled the utmost efforts of art; the most robust constitutions were unable to withstand its attacks; and the greatest care and skill of the physicians were a feeble help to those who were infected. The instant a person was seized, he was struck with despair, which quite disabled him from attempting a cure. The assistance that was given them was ineffectual, and proved mortal to all such of their relations as had the courage to approach them. The prodigious quantity of baggage, which had been removed out of the country into the city, proved very noxious. Most of the inhabitants, for want of lodging, lived in little cottages, in which they could scarcely breathe, during the raging heat of the summer; so that they were seen either piled one upon the other, the dead as well asthose who were dying, or else crawling through the streets; or lying along by the side of fountains, to which they had dragged themselves, to quench the raging thirst which consumed them. The very temples were filled with dead bodies, and every part of the city exhibited a dreadful image of death; without the least remedy for the present, or the least hopes with regard to futurity.
"The plague, before it spread into Attica, had, as we have before stated, made wild havoc in Persia. Artaxerxes, who had been informed of the mighty reputation of Hippocrates of Cos, the greatest physician of that or any other age, caused his governors to write to him, to invite him into his dominions, in order that he might prescribe for those who were infected. The king made him the most advantageous offers; setting no bounds to his rewards on the side of interest, and, with regard to honours, promising to make him equal with the most considerable persons in his court. This great physician sent no other answer but this:—that he was free from either wants or desires; and he owed all his cares to his fellow-citizens and countrymen; and was under no obligation to the declared enemies of Greece.—Kings are not used to denials. Artaxerxes, therefore, in the highest transports of rage, sent to the city of Cos, the native place of Hippocrates, and where he was at that time; commanding them to deliver up to him that insolent wretch, in order that he might be brought to condign punishment; and threatening, in case they refused, to lay waste their city and island in such a manner, that not the least footsteps of it should remain. However, the inhabitants of Cos were not under the least terror. They made answer, that the menaces of Darius and Xerxes had not been able to prevail with them to give them earth and water, or to obey their orders; that Artaxerxes'threats would be equally impotent; that, let what would be the consequence, they would never give up their fellow citizens; and that they depended upon the protection of the gods.
"Hippocrates had said in one of his letters, that he owed himself entirely to his country. And, indeed, the instant he was sent for to Athens, he went thither, and did not once stir out of the city till the plague had ceased. He devoted himself entirely to the service of the sick; and, to multiply himself, as it were, he sent several of his disciples into all parts of the country, after having instructed them in what manner to treat their patients. The Athenians were struck with the deepest sense of gratitude for this generous care. They therefore ordained, by a public decree, that Hippocrates should be initiated in the most exalted mysteries, in the same manner as Hercules the son of Jupiter; that a crown of gold should be presented him, of the value of a thousand staters[49], and that the decree by which it was granted him, should be read aloud by a herald in the public games, on the solemn festival of Panathenæa: that the freedom of the city should be given him, and himself be maintained at the public charge, in the Prytaneum all his lifetime, in case he thought proper: in fine, that the children of all the people of Cos, whose city had given birth to so great a man, might be maintained and brought up in Athens, in the same manner."
In the time of Agis and Pausanias, kings of Lacedemonia, Lysander was sent to besiege Athens. He arrived, therefore, at the Piræus, with a fleet of one hundred and fifty sail, and prevented all other ships from coming in or going out. The Athenians, besieged by land and sea, without provisions, ships,hope of relief, or any resources, sent deputies to Agis, to propose a treaty with Sparta, upon condition of abandoning all their possessions, the city and port only excepted. He referred the deputies to Lacedemon, as not being empowered to treat with them. When they arrived at Salasia, upon the frontier of Sparta, and had made known their commission to the Ephori, they were ordered to retire, and to come with other proposals, if they expected a peace. The Ephori had demanded, "that one thousand two hundred paces of the wall on each side of the Piræus should he demolished;" but an Athenian, for venturing to advise a compliance, was sent to prison, and prohibition made against proposing any thing of that kind for the future.
The Corinthians and several other allies, especially the Thebans, insisted that it was absolutely necessary to destroy the city without hearkening any further to a treaty. But the Lacedemonians, preferring the glory and safety of Greece to their own grandeur, made answer, that they would never be reproached with having destroyed a city that had rendered such great services to all Greece; the remembrance of which ought to have much greater weight with the allies than the remembrance of private injuries received from it. A peace was, therefore, concluded under these conditions:—"that the fortifications of the Piræus, with the long wall that joined that port to the city, should be demolished; that the Athenians should deliver up all their galleys, twelve only excepted; that they should abandon all the cities they had seized, and content themselves with their own lands and country." The deputies, on their return, were surrounded by an innumerable throng of people, who apprehended that nothing had been concluded; for they were not able to hold out any longer,such multitudes dying of famine. The next day they reported the success of their negociation; the treaty was ratified, and Lysander, followed by the exiles, entered the port. It was on the very day the Athenians had formerly gained the famous battle of Salamis. He caused the works to be demolished to the sound of flutes and trumpets, as if all Greece had that day regained its liberty. Thus ended the Peloponnesian war, after having continued during the space of twenty-seven years.
The walls, thus demolished, were rebuilt by Conon. He did more; he restored Athens to its former splendour, and rendered it more formidable to its enemies than it had ever been before.
Philip[50]having gained the battle of Cheronæa, Greece, and above all, Athens, received a blow from which she never recovered. It was generally expected, that Philip would avail himself of this opportunity of entirely crushing his inveterate enemy. That prudent prince, however, foresaw that powerful obstacles were yet to be encountered, and that there was still a spirit in the Athenian people which might render it difficult to hold them in subjection. It would appear, also, says an elegant writer, as if the genius and fame of Athens had, in the hour of her calamity, thrown a shield over her: for Philip is reported to have said, "Have I done so much for glory, and shall I destroy the theatre of that glory?" A treaty, in consequence, was entered into; and thus the Athenians, though reluctant to exist by Philip's clemency, were permitted to retain the whole Attic territory.
The number of men able to bear arms at Athens, in the reign of Cecrops, was computed at twenty thousand; and there appears to have been no considerable augmentation in the more civilised age ofPericles; but in the time of Demetrius Phalareus, there were found twenty-one thousand citizens, ten thousand foreigners, and forty thousand slaves.
Philip[51], son of Demetrius of Macedon, seems to have been one of the most inveterate enemies by whom Athens was ever ravaged. With unsparing cruelty he destroyed almost every thing which had either escaped the Persian invaders, or which had been erected after their final expulsion. Livy tells us, that, not content with burning and destroying the temples of the gods, he ordered that the very stones should be broken into small pieces, that they might no longer serve to repair the buildings; and Diodorus Siculus asserts, that even the inviolability of the sepulchres could not command his respect, or repress his violence.
Athens, however, still recovered some portion of its power; for when Sylla arrived before the Piræus, he found the walls to be sixty feet high, and entirely of hewn stone. The work was very strong, and had been raised by order of Pericles in the Peloponnesian war: when, the hopes of victory depending solely upon this port, he had fortified it to the utmost of his power.
The height of the walls did not deter Sylla. He employed all sorts of engines in battering them, and made continual assaults. He spared neither danger, attacks, nor expense, to hasten the conclusion of the war. Without enumerating the rest of the warlike stores and equipage, twenty thousand mules were perpetually employed in working the machines only. Wood happening to fall short, from the great consumption made of it in the machines, which were often either broken or spoiled by the vast weight they carried, or burned by the enemy, he did not spare the sacred groves. He cut down the trees in thewalks of the Academy and Lycæum, which were the finest and best planted in the suburbs, and caused the high walls that joined the port to the city to be demolished, in order to make use of the ruins in erecting his works, and carrying on his operations.
Notwithstanding all disadvantages, the Athenians defended themselves like lions. They found means either to burn most of the machines erected against the walls, or by undermining them, to throw them down and break them to pieces. The Romans, on their side, behaved with no less vigour. Sylla, discouraged by so obstinate a defence, resolved to attack the Piræus no longer, and confined himself to reduce the place by famine. The city was now at the last extremity; a bushel of barley having been sold in it for a thousand drachms (about 25l.sterling). In the midst of the public misery, the governor, who was a lieutenant of Mithridates, passed his days and nights in debauch. The senators and priests went to throw themselves at his feet, conjuring him to have pity on the city, and to obtain a capitulation from Sylla; he dispersed them with arrow-shot, and in that manner drove them from his presence.
He did not demand a cessation of arms, nor send deputies to Sylla, till reduced to the last extremity. As those deputies made no proposals, and asked nothing of him to the purpose, but ran on in praising and extolling Theseus, Eumolpus, and the exploits of the Athenians against the Medes, Sylla was tired of their discourse, and interrupted them by saying,—"Gentlemen haranguers, you may go back again, and keep your rhetorical flourishes to yourselves. For my part, I was not sent to Athens to be informed of your ancient prowess, but to chastise your modern revolt."
During this audience, some spies having entered the city, overheard by chance some old mentalking of the quarter called Ceramicus (the public place at Athens), and blaming the tyrant exceedingly for not guarding a certain part of the wall that was the only place by which the enemy could scale the walls. At their return into the camp, they related what they heard to Sylla. The parley had been to no purpose. Sylla did not neglect the intelligence given him. The next night he went in person to take a view of the place; and finding the wall actually accessible, he ordered ladders to be raised against it, began the attack there, and, having made himself master of the wall, after a weak resistance, entered the city. He would not suffer it to be set on fire, but abandoned it to be plundered by his soldiers, who, in several houses, found human flesh, which had been dressed to be eaten. A dreadful slaughter ensued. The next day all the slaves were sold by auction, and liberty was granted to the citizens who had escaped the swords of the soldiers, who were a very small number. He besieged the citadel the same day, where Aristion and those who had taken refuge there, were soon so much reduced by famine, that they were forced to surrender themselves. The tyrant, his guards, and all who had been in any office under him, were put to death. Some ten days after, Sylla made himself master of the Piæaus, and burned all its fortifications.
The reputation for learning, military valour, and polished elegance, which Athens enjoyed during the splendid administration of Pericles, was tarnished by the corruption which that celebrated person introduced. Prosperity was the forerunner of luxury and universal dissipation; every delicacy was drawn from distant nations; the wines of Cyprus, and the snows of Thrace, garlands of roses, perfumes, and a thousand arts of buffoonery, which disgraced a Persian court, were introduced; instead of the coarsemeals, the herbs and plain bread, which the laws of Solon had recommended, and which had nourished the heroes of Marathon and Salamis.
Sylla's assault was the final termination of the power and greatness of Athens; she became a portion of the Roman empire; but in the reign of Hadrian and the Antonines, she resumed, at least in outward appearance, no small portion of her former splendour. Hadrian built several temples, and, above all, he finished that of Jupiter Olympius, the work of successive kings, and one of the greatest productions of human art. He founded, also, a splendid library; and bestowed so many privileges, that an inscription, placed on one of the gates, declared Athens to be no longer the city of Theseus, but of Hadrian. In what manner it was regarded too in the time of Trajan, may be gathered from Pliny's letter to a person named Maximus, who was sent thither as governor.
"Remember," said he, "that you are going to visit Achaia, the proper and true Greece; that you are appointed to govern a state of free cities, who have maintained liberty by their valour. Take not away any thing of their privileges, their dignity; no, nor yet of their presumption; but consider it is a country that hath of long time given laws, and received none; that it is to Athens thou goest, where it would be thought a barbarous cruelty in thee to deprive them of that shadow and name of liberty which still remaineth to them."
The Antonines trod in the steps of Hadrian. Under them Herodes Atticus devoted an immense fortune to the embellishment of the city and the promotion of learning.
But when the Roman world felt the wand of adversity, and her power began to decline, Athens felt her share; she had enjoyed a long respite fromforeign war, but in the reign of Arcadius and Honorius a dreadful tempest burst upon her.
Alaric, after over-running the rest of Greece, advanced into Attica, and found Athens without any power of defence. The whole country was converted into a desert; but it seems uncertain, whether he plundered the city, or whether he accepted the greater part of its wealth as a ransom. Certain, however, it is, that it suffered severely, and a contemporary compared it to the mere skin of a slaughtered victim.
It is reported that, during their stay in the city, the barbarians, having collected all the libraries of Athens, were preparing to burn them; but one of their number diverted them from their design, by suggesting the propriety of leaving to their enemies what appeared to be the most effectual instrument for cherishing and promoting their unwarlike spirit.
After the devastations of Alaric, and, still more, after the shutting up of her schools, Athens ceased almost entirely to attract the attention of mankind. These schools were suppressed by an edict of Justinian; an edict which excited great grief and indignation among the few remaining votaries of Grecian science and superstition. Seven friends and philosophers,[52]who dissented from the religion of their sovereign, resolved to seek in a foreign land the freedom of which they were deprived in their native country. Accordingly, the seven sages sought an asylum in Persia, under the protection of Chosroes; but, disgusted and disappointed, they hastily returned, and declared that they had rather die on the borders of the empire than enjoy the wealth and favour of the barbarian. These associates ended their lives in peace and obscurity; and as they leftno disciples, they terminate the long list of philosophers who may be justly praised, notwithstanding their defects, as the wisest and most virtuous of their times[53].
After the taking of Constantinople by the Latins, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, the western powers began to view Greece as an object of ambition. In the division of the Greek empire, which they made among themselves, Greece and Macedonia fell to the share of the Marquis of Montferrat, who bestowed Athens and Thebes on one of his followers, named Otho de la Roche. This prince reigned with the title of Duke of Athens, which remained for a considerable time[54].
It was afterwards seized by a powerful Florentine family, named Acciaioli, one of whom sold it to the Venetians; but his son seized it again, and it remained in that family tillA. D.1455, when it surrendered to Omar, a general of Mahomet II., and thus formed one of the two hundred cities which that prince took from the Christians. He settled a colony in it, and incorporated it completely with the Turkish empire. What has occurred of late years has not been embodied in any authentic history; but the consequences of the tumults of Greece may be in some degree imagined, from what is stated by a recent traveller in regard to Athens[55]. "When I sallied forth to explore the wonders of Athens, alas! they were no longer to be seen. The once proud city of marble was literally a mass of ruins—the inglorious ruins of mud-houses and wretched mosques forming in all quarters such indistinguishable piles, that in going about I was wholly unable to fixupon any peculiarities of streets or buildings, by which I might know my way from one part of the capital to another. With the exception of the remains of the Forum, the temple of Theseus, which is still in excellent preservation, the celebrated columns of the temple of Jupiter Olympius, and the Parthenon, nothing now exists at Athens of all the splendid edifices with which it was so profusely decorated in the days of its glory."
It has been well observed, that, associated in the youthful mind with all that is noble in patriotism, exalted in wisdom, excelling in art, elegant in literature, luminous in science, persuasive in eloquence, and heroic in action, the beautiful country of Greece, and its inhabitants, must, under every circumstance, even of degradation, be an interesting object of study. "We can all feel, or imagine," says Lord Byron, "the regret with which the ruins of cities, once the capital of empires, are beheld. But never did the littleness of man, and the vanity of his very best virtues, of patriotism to exalt and of valour to defend his country, appear more conspicuous than in the record of what Athens once was, and the certainty of what she now is."
The former state of Athens is thus described by Barthelemy. "There is not a city in Greece which presents so vast a number of public buildings and monuments as Athens. Edifices, venerable for their antiquity, or admirable for their elegance, raise their majestic heads on all sides. Masterpieces of sculpture are extremely numerous, even in the public places, and concur with the finest productions of the pencil to embellish the porticoes of temples. Here every thing speaks to the eyes of the attentive spectator."
To describe Athens entire would be to fill a volume. We shall, therefore, only give an account of the chiefmonuments of antiquity as they existed till very lately; the rest, as they give one little or no sort of idea of their ancient magnificence, were better omitted than mentioned.
The Piræus[56]is one of the finest ports in Greece, and, being bounded by rocks, has experienced hardly any change in its form or dimensions. The sea, however, appears to have encroached a little, as some ruins are seen under water. The general depth of the port is from two to ten fathoms, in some places twenty. The Piræus was decorated with a theatre, several temples, and a great number of statues. As the existence of Athens depended on the safety of this harbour, Themistocles secured it against sudden attack by building a wall, sixty stadia in length, and forty cubits high. As to its thickness, it was greater than the space occupied by two waggons. It was built of huge square stones, fastened together on the outside by iron and leaden cramps. Without the gate was a cenotaph, erected in honour of Euripides, on which was inscribed "The glory of Euripides has all Greece for a monument."
The old city of Athens was seated on the top of a rock in the midst of a pleasant plain, which, as the number of inhabitants increased, became full of buildings, which induced the distinction of Acro and Catapolis,i. e., of the upper and lower city.
The inside of the citadel was adorned with a multitude of edifices. The flat space on the rock of the Acropolis is not more than eight hundred feet in length, and about four hundred feet in breadth,—a small extent for the site of the primitive city of the Athenians; but an area of great size, when considered as the base only of temples and marble palaces, containing not a single structure which might not bedenominated a masterpiece of art[57]. The most remarkable of these were a magnificent temple of Minerva, styled Parthenon, because that goddess was a virgin—this the Persians destroyed, out it was rebuilt with still greater splendour by Pericles—the temple of Neptune and Minerva jointly; a temple dedicated to Victory, adorned with paintings, principally the work of Polygnotus, and constructed of white marble. Within the citadel, also, was an immense number of statues, erected by religion and gratitude, on which the chisels of Myron, Phidias, Alcamenes, and other artists of renown, seemed to have bestowed animation. Of these statues, some were those of famous Athenian generals; such as Pericles, Phormio, Iphicrates, and Timotheus; and others, those of the gods.
It appears surprising that so many temples should have been crowded together within the narrow compass of the Athenian Acropolis; but the Roman Capitol, though not much more spacious, contained at least thirty temples[58].
"In its pride and glory," says Chandler, "the Acropolis appeared as one entire offering to the deity, surpassing in excellence, and astonishing in richness. Heliodorus employed on it fifteen books. The curiosities of various kinds, with the pictures, statues, and pieces of sculpture, were so many and so remarkable, as to supply Polemo Periegetes with matter for four volumes; and Strabo affirms, that as many more would be required in treating of Athens and of Attica.
As the stranger draws near to the present entrance of the citadel, he passes before the façade of the Propylea; the old entrance to the Acropolis, between its Doric pillars, being walled up. Pausanias says,"There is only one entrance to the Acropolis of Athens; it being in every remaining part of its circuit a precipice, and fortified by strong walls. This entrance was fronted by a magnificent building, called the Propylea, covered with roofs of white marble, which surpassed, for beauty and the dimensions of the marble, all that I have seen." This is now in ruins.
This was the most expensive work undertaken by Pericles, and is said to have cost 2,500 talents (£452,700). It took five years in building, and was completedB. C.437.
"To a person who has seen the ruins of Rome," says Dr. Clarke, "the first suggestion, made by a sight of the buildings in the Acropolis, is that of the infinite superiority of the Athenian architecture. It possesses the greatness and majesty of the Egyptian or of the ancient Etruscan style, with all the elegant proportion, the rich ornaments, and the discriminating taste of the most splendid era of the arts." Its present condition is thus described by Mr. Williams. "The scene of desolation in the Acropolis is complete; the heaps of ruins of wretched houses, and various buildings, are constructed part with clay and marble, the marble looking doleful through the mud. On entering the temple one is struck by the worn steps, and curved or circular marks of the great doors of old; the pavement, too, that had been trodden by the luminaries of Greece."
The walls of the Acropolis[59]exhibit three distinct periods of construction; that is to say, the masonry ofmoderntimes in the repairs,—a style of building which can only be referred to the age ofCimon, or ofPericles;—and the ancientPelasgicwork, as mentioned by Lucian. Themodernwalls of thecity are about ten feet high, and not two in thickness. They were constructed about the year 1780, as a defence against pirates and hordes of Arnauts, who sometimes entered the town at night, and threatened to pillage it. The walls embrace a circuit of nearly three miles, and enclose not only the town and citadel, but also some open spaces for cattle. They were built in seventy-five days, all hands being employed night and day. All kinds of materials which were at hand were employed in their construction, and in some places they exhibit large blocks of stone and marble, and several fragmental inscriptions[60].
The lower city had thirteen gates, and among the principal edifices which adorned it were, 1. The Olympian temple, erected in honour of Athens and all Greece. 2. The Pantheon, dedicated to all the gods; a noble structure, supported by one hundred and twenty marble pillars, and having over its great gateway two horses, carved by Praxiteles. 3. The temple of Theseus; a noble structure, of Pentelic marble.
The Gymnasia of Athens were many, but the most remarkable were the Lyceum, Academia, and Cynosarges. The Lyceum stood on the banks of the Ilissus; some say it was built by Pisistratus; others by Pericles; others by Lycurgus.
The Academy was so called from Academus. The Cynosarges was a place in the suburbs, not far from the Lyceum.
The Areopagus is situated a few hundred feet west of the Acropolis. It consists of an insulated rock, precipitous, and broken towards the south; on the north side it slopes gently down towards the temple of Theseus, and is rather lower than the Acropolis."Higher up, ascending a hill covered with thistles and red pebbles, you arrive," says M. La Martine, "at the Pnyx; the scene of the stormy assemblies of the people of Athens, and of the fluctuating triumphs of its orators or its favourites; enormous masses of black stone, some of which measure twelve or thirteen cubic feet, lie upon one another, and support the terrace, upon which the people collected. Still higher up, at the distance of about fifty paces, we perceive a huge square block, wherein steps have been cut, which probably served for the orator to mount his tribunal, which thus overlooked the people, the city, and the sea. This possesses not the character of the people of Pericles, but seems Roman. The recollections it inspires are, however, delightful. Demosthenes spoke from thence, and roused or calmed that popular sea, more stormy than the Ægean, which he could also hear roll behind him."
"From the odeum of Regilla," says Dr. Clarke, "we went to the Areopagus, wishing to place our feet upon a spot where it is so decidedly known that St. Paul had himself stood; and to view with our own eyes the same scene which he beheld, when he declared unto the Athenians the nature of theunknown god, whom they so ignorantly worshipped. * * * We ascended to the top by means of steps cut within the natural stone, which is of breccia. The sublime scene here exhibited is so striking, that a brief description of it may prove how truly it offers to us a commentary upon St. Paul's words, as they were delivered upon the spot. Before him there was spread a glorious prospect of mountains, islands, seas, and skies; behind him towered the lofty Acropolis, crowned with all its marble temples. This very object, whether in the face of nature, or among the works of art, conspired to elevate the mind, and to fill it with reverence towards thatBeing, 'whomade and governs the world;' who sitteth in that light which no mortal eye can approach, and yet is nigh unto the meanest of his creatures; 'in whom we live, and move, and have our being.'"
Near the Piræan gate is still to be seen, in a state of admirable preservation, the ground-plot and entire town of the Pnyx, or place ofparliamentof the Athenians, as it was appropriated by Solon to the use of the citizens. Nearly the whole of it is an excavation of the rock, and the several parts of it were carved in stone of one solid mass, with the exception only of the semi-circular area, the farthest part of which consists of masonry. "To approach the spot," says Dr. Clarke, "once dignified by the presence of the greatest Grecian orators, to set our feet where they stood, and actually to behold the place where Demosthenes addressed 'the men of Athens,' calling to mind the most memorable examples of his eloquence, is a gratification of an exalted nature. But the feelings excited in viewing the Pnyx, peculiarly affect Englishmen: that holy fire, so much dreaded by the Athenian tyrants, and which this place had such a remarkable tendency to agitate, burns yet in Britain; it is the very soul of her liberties, and it strengthens the security of her laws; giving eloquence to her senate, heroism to her armies, extension to her commerce, and freedom to her people: although annihilated in almost every country of the earth, it lives in England, and its extinction there, like the going out of the sacred flame in the temple of Delphi, would be felt as a national calamity."
Among the loose fragments, dispersed in the Acropolis, has been found a small piece of marble, with an inscription, but in so imperfect a state, that Dr. Clarke considered it only worth notice as a memorial of the place where it was found, and in its allusion to the Prytaneum, which is the only legible part of it.
The Prytaneum, where the written laws of Solon were kept, however, was not in the Acropolis, but in a lower part of the city. The Gymnasium of Ptolemy, which stands near the temple of Theseus, is greatly dilapidated, and, in no small degree, concealed by dwellings[61]. The Erectheum is situated about one hundred and fifty feet to the north of the Parthenon. This structure consisted of two contiguous temples; that of Minerva Polias, with its portico towards the east; and that of Pandrosus towards the west, with its two porticoes standing by the north and south angles, the entrance to the Pandroseum being on the northern side. The Turks made a powder-magazine of one of the vestibules of this building, which contains one of the finest specimens of Ionian architecture now existing; and it has been judiciously remarked of the sculpture, every where displayed in this edifice, that it is difficult to conceive how marble has been wrought to such a depth, and brought to so sharp an edge, the ornaments having all the delicacy of works of metal.
In that portion of the Erectheum which was dedicated to Minerva Polias, the columns of the front porch are standing, but without any part of their entablature. The marble[62]of this ruin is of virgin whiteness; and the workmanship, as the structure is very diminutive in comparison with the specimens of the Parthenon, is a still more exquisite example than that temple, of the polish and edge which were given to all the parts of Grecian architecture. The line of no pencil can excel the delicate accuracy of contour in the swell of the torus, and the ornaments of the base; and the hand, in passing repeatedly over the marble, seeks in vain for the slightest inequality or even roughness on the surface.
A bluish-grey limestone[63]seems to have been used in some of the works; particularly in the exquisite ornaments of the Erectheum, where the frieze of the temple and of its porticoes are not of marble like the rest of the building, but of this sort of slate-limestone. This resembles the limestone employed in the walls of the cella at the temple of Ceres, at Eleusis, and in buildings before the use of marble was known for purposes of architecture: such, for example, is the sort of stone employed in the temple of Apollo at Phigalia, and in other edifices of equal antiquity; it effervesces briskly in acids, and has all the properties of common compact lime, except that it is hard enough to cut glass, and, of course, is susceptible of a fine polish, exhibiting a flat conchoidal fracture, which is somewhat splintery. We could not discover a single fragment of porphyry; which was remarkable, as this substance was almost always used by the ancients in works of great magnificence.
The temple ofAnchesmian Jupiterstood upon a commanding eminence. The pagan shrine has been succeeded by a small Christian sanctuary. Of the scene from the top of this steep and craggy rock, Wheler speaks in a style of enthusiasm, rather unfrequent with him:—"I wish I could make you taste the same satisfaction, while I describe the prospect, that I then did, and still do, when I consider it. Here, either a Democritus might sit and laugh at the pomps and vanities of the world, whose glories so soon vanish; or a Heraclitus weep over the manifold misfortunes of it, telling sad stories of the various changes and events of life. This would have been a place to inspire a poet, as the brave actions, performed within his view, have already exercised the pens of great historians. Here, like Virgil, he might have sate, and interwoven beautiful descriptions ofthe rivers, mountains, woods of olives, and groves of lemons and oranges, with the celebrated harbours on the shores and islands, all lying before him, as on a map, which I was content to do only in contemplation; and with a sea-compass to mark out the most considerable places on paper."
The Odeum of Regilla stands at the foot of the rock of the Acropolis. The remains of this edifice are those which Wheler and all former travellers, excepting Chandler, have described as the theatre of Bacchus[64]. Of thetheatreofBacchus, nothing remains except the circular sweep for the seats; as in the earliest ages of dramatic representation, it was universally formed by scooping the sloping side of a rock[65]. The[66]passion of the Athenians for the theatre is not conceivable. Their eyes, their ears, their imagination, their understanding, all shared in the satisfaction: nothing gave them so sensible apleasure in dramatic performances, either tragic or comic, as the strokes which were aimed at the affairs of the public, whether some chance occasioned the application, or the address of the poets, who knew how to reconcile the most remote subjects with the transactions of the republic. They entered by this means into the interests of the people, took occasion to soothe their passions, authorise their pretensions, justify, and sometimes condemn their conduct, entertain them with agreeable hopes, instruct them in their duty in certain nice conjunctures; in effecting which they often not only acquired the applauses of the spectators, but credit and influence in the public affairs and councils: hence the theatre became so grateful, and so much the concern of the people[67].
The temple, dedicated to Augustus, consists of four Doric pillars of white marble, fluted, and, like those of all the other buildings of this order, without plinths or bases; they still support their architrave with the pontoon, on the top of which is a square piece of marble, seeming to have been placed there as the pedestal to some statue. There seems, also, to be some inscription on it, but by reason of the height, unintelligible. It is impossible to give a plan of the whole; the remains of it affording but little light towards discovering what form it was of.
Of the remains of the Stadium Panathenaicum, the most wonderful of all the works of Herodes Atticus:—"It has been usual to say of this," says Dr. Edward Clarke, "that nothing now remains of its former magnificence. To our eyes, every thing necessary to impress the mind with an accurate idea of the object itself, and of its grandeur, and of the prodigious nature of the work, seemed to exist, as if it had been in its perfect state. The marble covering of the seats, indeed, no longer appears; but the lines are visible of the different ranges; and perhaps a part of the covering itself might be brought to light by a removal of the soil."
This memorial of Attic splendour, and of the renown of a private citizen of Athens, became ultimately his funeral monument; and a very curious discovery may be reserved for future travellers in the majestic sepulchre of Herodes himself, who was here interred with the highest obsequies and most distinguished honours a grateful people could possibly bestow upon the tomb of a benefactor, who spared no expense for them while he was living, and every individual of whom participated in his bounty[68]at his death[69].
Beneath the arch of Hadrian persons are conducted from the old city of Theseus to the new Athens, built by Hadrian. The stones are put together without cement; but the work is adorned with a row of Corinthian pilasters and columns, with bases supporting an upper tier in the same style of architecture. It was erected commemorative of Hadrian's return to Athens. A new city had arisen under his auspices. Magnificent temples, stately shrines, unsullied altars, awaited the benediction of this sacerdotal monarch; and it would, indeed, have been marvellous if the Athenians, naturally prone to adulation, neglected to bestow it on a benefactor so well disposed for its reception. The triumphal arch was of course prepared, and lasting characters thereon inscribed have proclaimed to succeeding ages, that "The Athens of Hadrian eclipsed the city of Theseus[70]."
Besides this arch, there are other remnants of structures erected in honour of Hadrian. Of these are the stupendous pillars which bear his name. In the time of Pausanias, there were one hundred and twenty pillars of Phrygian marble. Of these, sixteen columns of white marble, each six feet in diameter, and sixty feet in height, now remain; all of theCorinthian order, beautifully fluted, and of the most exquisite workmanship. "Certainly," says Wheler, "this was a work alone that may justify the liberality of Hadrian, and the great care he took to adorn the city; for this must needs have been a wonderful portico, both for beauty, use, and grandeur." Pausanias says, that it was enclosed with a cloister, in which were built rooms of the same stone, only the roofs of alabaster, gilded with gold, and the whole excellently adorned with statues and pictures. He founded also a library and a gymnasium.
The Tower or Temple of the Winds[71]is more attractive by its singularity than its beauty. It was the water-clock, the chronometer, and the weather guide of Athens. It was built by Andronicus Cyrrhestes[72]. On the top stood a brazen Triton, contrived so as to turn round with the wind, and with a wand, that he held in his hand, to point to the figure of the wind which blew. The Triton is now wanting; the rest remains entire. It is a small octagon tower; the roof is built pyramidically. On every side is represented the figure of a wind, with proper attributes, characterising the nature of it, in very goodbasso rilievo, and their names written above them in Greek characters. The god Zephyrus is represented as a beautiful young man, gliding gently along with an imperceptible motion, with his bosom full of flowers. They are all drawn with wings, and flying on with more or less rapidity, according to the violence of each wind in those parts. This structure is known to be the same which Vitruvius mentions, but it is entirely unnoticed by Pausanias[73]. Some suppose that it was one of the sacred structures of the ancient city, and that, as a place of religious worship, it answered other purposes than that of merely indicating the direction of the winds, the seasons, and the hours.
As Dr. Clarke drew near to the walls, he beheld the vast Cecropian citadel, crowned with temples, that originated in the veneration, once paid to the memory of the illustrious dead, surrounded by objects, telling the same theme of sepulchral grandeur, and now monuments of departed greatness, mouldering in all the solemnity of ruin. "So paramount is this funereal character in the approach to Athens from the Piræus," says he, "that as we passed the hill of the Museum, which was, in fact, an ancient cemetery of the Athenians, we might have imagined ourselves to be among the tombs of Telmessus, from the number of sepulchres hewn in the rock, and from the antiquity of the workmanship, evidently not of later date than any thing of the kind in Asia Minor. In other respects, the city exhibits nearly the appearance so briefly described by Strabo, eighteen centuries before our coming; and perhaps it wears a more magnificent aspect, owing to the splendid remains of Hadrian's temple of Olympian Jove, which did not exist when Athens was visited by the disciple of Xenacchus."
"The first monument," says La Martine, "which attracts your attention, is the temple of Olympian Jupiter, the magnificent columns of which rise alone upon a deserted naked spot, on the right of what was Athens—a worthy portico of a city in ruins." This temple[74]was pretended by the Athenians to have been originally founded in the time of Deucalion, and to have subsisted nine hundred years; but in the end falling into ruin, it began to be rebuilt by Pisistratus, and having received additions from several hands during the space of seven hundred years, was completely finished by the Emperor Hadrian, and dedicated to Jupiter Olympus, to whose honour the same prince erected a colossal statue ofimmense value, both on account of the richness of its materials and the beauty of its workmanship. Nothing in all Greece, nor even in the whole world, was equal to the magnificence of this temple. Its area was computed to be four stadia. The inside was embellished with statues by the best hands, placed between each column, which were gifts from all the cities of Greece, that were desirous of paying their court to the Emperor; among whom the Athenians distinguished themselves by the colossus, erected by them in honour of the monarch himself. It is impossible from the remains to collect the plan of the whole building; there being nothing left but ten beautiful Corinthian pillars, with their friezes, architraves, and cornices, two fluted, the remaining eight plain. Close behind the eight, which stand in one rank, is a wall of white marble, the same as the columns, and, at the south end, the two that project, being fluted, and on a different line from the others, seem to have formed the entrance of the temple[75].
The solitary grandeur of these marble ruins[76]is, perhaps, more striking than the appearance presented by any other object at Athens; insomuch that the Turks themselves seem to regard them with an eye of respect and admiration; large parties of them being frequently seen seated on their carpets, in the long shade of the columns. "Rome," says Chandler, "afforded no example of this species of building. It was one of the four marble edifices, which had raised to the pinnacle of renown the architects who planned them; men, it is said, admired in the assembly of the gods for their wisdom and excellence."
Of this temple seventeen columns were standing in 1676; but, a few years before Chandler arrived at Athens, one was thrown down, for the purpose of building a new mosque in the market-place.
Some of the columns still support their architraves, as we have before stated, one of which was found to equal three feet in width, and although of one entire piece of marble, it extended in length twenty-two feet six inches. On the top of the entablature is shown the dwelling of a hermit, who fixed his abode upon this eminence, and dedicated his life entirely to the contemplation of the sublime objects by which his residence was on all sides surrounded.
The beauty of the temple of Theseus[77]is not at all prejudiced by its littleness; but still remains a masterpiece of architecture, not easy to be paralleled, much less exceeded. Much of the history of Theseus is expressed in relievo, on the pronaos of the front and west end, where all the tricks and art of wrestling seem well expressed. There are, also, some in women's habits, to express the war of the Amazons.
This elegant building[78]is supposed to have furnished the model of the Parthenon, which resembles it in the most essential points, though it is nearly of double the size. Indeed, the Theseion impresses the beholder more by its symmetry than its magnitude. It is now converted into a Christian church. "On approaching the temple of Theseus," says La Martine, "though convinced by what I had read of its beauty, I was astonished to find myself quite unmoved; my heart sought to bestir itself; my eye sought to admire; but in vain. I felt what one always feels at the sight of a work without faults,—a negative pleasure,—but as to a real, strong impression, a sense of powerful or involuntary delight, I experienced nothing. This temple is too small; it is a kind of sublime plaything of art. It is not a monument for the gods; nor even for men for ages. I felt but one instant of ecstacy, and that was when, seated at the western angle of the temple, on its last steps,my eye embraced, at one glance, the magnificent harmony of its forms, the majestic elegance of its columns, the empty and more sombre space of its portico; and on its internal frieze, the combats of the Centaurs and the Lapithæ; and above, through the opening of the centre, the blue and resplendent sky, shedding a serene and mystical light on the cornices and the projecting slopes of the bassi-rilievi, which seem to live and to move." All this seems rather extraordinary.
"On your way from Piræum to the city of Athens," says Lord Sandwich, "you pass all along the ruins of Themistocles' wall. The road is in the middle of a beautiful plain, covered with vineyards and olive trees, which, being bounded on one side by mountains, and on the other by the sea, affords a most delightful prospect. Before your entrance into the city, the first monument of antiquity that presents itself to your view, is the temple of Theseus, built by the Athenians, in honour of that hero, soon after the battle of Marathon. This temple was allowed the privilege of being a sanctuary for all fugitives, in memory that Theseus, in his lifetime, protected the distressed. It cannot be too much commended, both on account of the beauty of the materials and regularity of the architecture; besides which, it has the advantage of being in a manner entire, there being nothing wanting to it but a small part of the roof."
In spite of its beauty, what says Monsieur La Martine? "No; the temple of Theseus is not worthy of its fame; it cannot be said to live as a monument. It is not suggestive of what it ought to be. It is beautiful, no doubt; but it is a kind of frigid, dead beauty, of which the artist alone ought to go and shake the shroud, and wipe the dust. As for me, I admired unquestionably; but quitted it without any desire to see it again. The beautiful stones ofthe columns of the Vatican, the majestic colossal shadows of St. Peters at Rome, never suffered me to leave them without regret, or the hope of return." Can all this be real? or is it merely an affectation?
"During our residence of ten weeks," says Sir John Hobhouse, "there was not, I believe, a day of which we did not devote a part to the contemplation of the noble monuments of Grecian genius, that have outlived the ravages of time, and the outrage of barbarous and antiquarian despoilers. The temple of Theseus, which was within five minutes' walk of our lodgings, is the most perfect ancient edifice in the world. In this fabric, the most enduring stability, and a simplicity of design peculiarly striking, are united with the highest elegance and accuracy of workmanship, the characteristics of the Doric style; whose chaste beauty is not, in the opinion of the first artists, to be equalled by the graces of any of the other orders."
"That the Theseion was originally a tomb," says Dr. Clarke, "like other Grecian temples, is scarcely to be doubted. The building is believed to bear date from the event mentioned by Plutarch, when, after the conquest of Scyros, the son of Miltiades arrived in Athens, bearing the mouldering bones and weapons he had discovered. This occurred during the archonship of Apsepion; so that the Theseion has now braved the attacks of time, of earthquakes, and of barbarians, during a lapse of considerably above two thousand years."
This beautiful Doric temple[79], more resembling in the style of its architecture the temples of Pæstum, than that of Minerva in the Acropolis, and the most entire of any of the structures of ancient Greece, were it not for the damage which the sculpture has sustained, may be considered as still perfect. Theruined state of the metopes and frieze has proved a very fortunate circumstance; for it was owing solely to this that the building escaped the ravages which were going on in the Parthenon. The entire edifice is of Pentelican marble. It stands east and west, the principal front facing the east; and it is that kind of building which was called by ancient architects, as it is expressed in the language of Vitruvius and explained by Stuart, a Peripteros; that is to say, it has a portico of six columns in each front, and on each side a range of eleven columns, exclusive of the columns on the angles. All these columns remain in their original position, excepting two, that separated the portico from the pronaos, which have been demolished. Like all pillars raised according to the mostancientDoric style of buildings, they are without bases or pedestals; standing with inexpressible dignity and simplicity upon the pavement of the covered walk around the cell of the temple. Some of the metopes represent the labours of Hercules; others the exploits of Theseus; and there are some which were never adorned with any sculpture. Above the antæ of the pronaos is a sculptured frieze, the subject of which cannot now be determined; and the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ is represented upon a similar frieze of the porticoes. In the tympanum of the pediment, over the eastern front, Stuart observed several holes in the marble, where metal cramps had been fixed for sustaining sculpture in entire relief, as over the eastern entrance to the Parthenon. The action of the atmosphere in this fine climate upon the marble has diffused over the whole edifice, as over the buildings in the Acropolis, a warm ochreous tint, which is peculiar to the ruins of Athens. It bears no resemblance to the black and dingy hue, which is acquired by all works in stone and marble, when they have been exposed to the open air in themore northern countries of Europe, and especially in England. Perhaps to this warm colour, so remarkably characterizing the remains of ancient buildings at Athens, Plutarch alluded in that beautiful passage, cited by Chandler, when he affirmed that the structures of Pericles possessed a peculiar and unparalleled excellence of character. "A certain freshness bloomed upon them," says he, "and preserved their faces uninjured, as if they possessed a never-fading spirit, and had a soul insensible to age."