summit of Mount Anchesmos, and tell the Saint the news of the town. Five thousand piastres were found concealed in her dwelling at the period of her decease. Mons. Tavernier,' whose descriptions of antiquities are extremely ludicrous, says of this temple, "Il y a encore dix sept colonnes de marbre qui restent de trois cens que l'on dit avoir eté anciennement au palais de Thesée premier Roy d'Athenes." The two following inscriptions were found in the vicinity of this temple, and are apparently sepulchral: the first records the name of Egesias, son of Egesippos, of the tribe Erchiea: the second relates to Decimus Cossutius, a Roman, son of Publius. It will be recollected that a Roman by the name of Cossutius was employed in finishing the Olympicion. ΗΓΗΣΙΑΣ ΗΓΗΣΙΠΠΟΥ ΕΡΧΙΕΥΣ ΥΣΙΑΝ. ΔΕΚΜΟΣ ΚΟΣΣΟΥΤΙΟΣ ΠΟΠΛΙΟΥ There are some imperfect traces, and scattered blocks of stone and marble, in the space which is between the Olympieion and the Musæuni. A fountain is seen near the Albanian gate, with several foundations, and a little garden; which, though containing only a few small trees, gives relief to the eye, which, during the summer months, is fatigued by the parched and arid aspect of the Athenian plain. The temple of Jupiter, the gate of Hadrian, and Mount Anchesmos, seen from this spot, form a picturesque and striking view. Near the banks of the Ilissos are the remains of a structure composed of brick, small stones, and cement; which were no doubt originally coated with marble. The chamber, which was possibly sepulchral, is arched; the superstructure terminates in the form of a large pedestal, which probably supported an equestrian statue. The foundations of the town walls, and the imperfect vestiges of a gate, are perceived a few yards nearer to the Acropolis. This may be the sepulchre that is mentioned by Pausanias; the summit of which was embellished by an equestrian statue made by Praxiteles. The neighbouring traces appear to be the remains of a gate by which Pausanias may have entered Athens; for before he came to the town he visited the ports, and perhaps set off for Athens from Phaleron; in which case he would enter the city by this and not by the Piraan gate. He does not particularize the name; but it was probably the ITπades. If he proceeded to Athens from the Piræus, as some imagine, he would enter the city by the Piræan gate. Stuart's description of the monument of Philopappos leaves little to be added to what he has said upon that subject. It has its faults and deficiencies, but it is an elegant and imposing object. In the interior of the basement are some blocks of the grey Hymettian marble, and the soft stone from the Piræus. The superstructure is of Pentelic marble. In the Barbarini library at Rome there is an ancient manuscript copy3 from Cyriac of Ancona, with drawings and descriptions of some antiquities of Greece, amongst which is the monument in question, which is represented entire, and eighty feet in height. The third niche and statue are given, and under them the following inscription: The sculpture is in the Roman style, and has a resemblance to that of the arch of Titus, but is inferior in the execution. On the front of the car is represented a figure with a human body, but the legs and feet terminating in fishes' tails, or serpents' heads; this figure is so small and corroded, that it is not easy to discriminate its precise form. It may either represent a Triton, or Erichthonios. The same device is seen upon the trophy which was on the tympanon of a temple at Eleusis, and upon the UTоTodov of a υποποδιον marble thronos at Mitylene. Near the monument is a tumulus, which was opened a short time before my arrival at Athens; the only things found in it were some burnt bones and ashes, some broken pottery, and a heap of nails; the latter may have belonged to the coffin in which the bones were deposited. Pausanias1 says it was reported that Musæus was buried on this hill, but Spon2 mentions an inscription, in which Port Phaleron is mentioned as the place of his sepulture. This Musæus was of Eleusis, son of Antiphemos, father of Eumolpos, and disciple of Orpheus. At a few paces to the west of the monument, on the summit of the hill, the traces of a wall are seen, extending nearly in a straight line down the northern side of the hill, to the hollow between the Museum and the Pnyx, where the Piraic gate was probably situated: this may be the wall of the city, or perhaps the remains of the fortifications raised by Demetrius; for Pausanias leaves it doubtful whether the whole of the Musæan hill, or only a part of it was within the walls. His words are, eσti de EVTOS εστι δε εντός του περιβόλου αρχαιον το Μουσειον. Demetrius3 by making it a fortress kept the Athenians in awe : it is not quite so high as the Acropolis. Its base is cultivated, but the upper parts are barren and rocky, producing only some stunted shrubs, a scanty pasture for goats and sheep, and a great quantity 1 B. 1. c. 25. VOL. I. 2 Voyage de Grece, t. 2. liv. 5. p. 204. 3 Plutarch's Life of Demetrius. 3 E of the bulbous root squills, and of the marrubium which Dioscorides terms Yeudodin Taμvos, and which the Athenians at present call μαυρομapyo; but the word μaupo, which signifies black, seems given to this plant by Antithesis, as the leaves are covered with a glossy down of a white colour. The eastern side of the Museum, which faces the Acropolis, exhibits several artificial terraces, or platforms, which were no doubt anciently cultivated. The western side of the hill is almost covered with traces of buildings cut in the rocks, and the remains of stairs are visible in several places. In this spot we also find some wells and cisterns of a circular form, hollowed out in the rock, and enlarging towards the base. Of these receptacles for water, the smaller probably belonged to private individuals; but some of larger dimensions were for the use of those who lived within four stadia, according to the law enacted by Solon.1 The best panoramic view of Athens, its plain, and its ports, is from this hill; it comprehends the Acropolis, the town, the whole of the plain, with its surrounding mountains, the ports, the Saronic Gulph, bounded by the Peloponnesian mountains; amongst which the principal are Methana and Arachnaion. Towards the west is seen the Acrocorinth, and beyond it the snowy summits of Cyllene in Arcadia; the principal islands which appear are Kalauria, Ægina, Salamis, and Psyttalia. The following beautiful lines of Milton' might lead us to suppose that he had actually contemplated Athens from this spot, and in a transport of admiration had exclaimed "Look !-on th' Egean shore a city stands, Built nobly; pure the air, and light the soil; 1 Plutarch's Life of Solon. * Paradise Regained, b. 4. Athens: the eye of Greece, mother of arts City, or suburban, studious walks and shades! To studious musing; there Ilissos rolls His whispering stream. Within the walls then view Great Alexander, to subdue the world; Lyceum there, and painted Stoa next.' At the eastern foot of the Musæum, 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 to 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 called Taraia λourpa, the ancient baths. They have their magic properties, and are imagined to be the haunt of evil spirits. If they were baths, they were too small for public use. The circular chamber was perhaps the unoxavorov, or sudatory; the next adjoining it may have been the atroduTnpov, or undressing room; and the other, the axeπTapiov, or anointing room. The Roman baths had the caldarium, the tepidarium, and the frigidarium. 1 I have seen similar bell-shaped excavations in many Grecian fortresses: they were also observed at Eleusis, and in the island of Ithaca, and at several places in Italy; particularly at Circæi, Ariccia, Agylla, or Cære, and at Isola Farnese, supposed to be the ancient Veii. Excavations of a similar form are very common in Africa, where they are used for preserving corn. |