DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0332
293 THEATRE OF HERODES ATTICUS.
which perhaps comes from the salt spring in the Erechtheion.
Some blocks of marble are in the vicinity, with a small sepulchral
column, or Zt?]\vi, of one Pheiletion, ofSinope.
^eiahtixin
einxhiete
Pausanias1 mentions these kind of sepulchral stelai, which he says
contained the name of the person, and the place of his birth ; they
are common all over Greece, and are often without any inscription,
and with no other ornament than a patera or a vase.
Most of the towns in Greece had a theatre, which seems to have
been as necessary a part of their recreation, as baths, temples, and
gymnasia. Many of these theatres were extremely magnificent;
they were composed of white marble, and enriched with exquisite
decorations. Pliny,2 in an epistle to Trajan, mentions one at Nicaea,
in Bithynia, which, although not finished, had cost more than
10,000,000 secterces, or about ,£80,729 of our money, which was
an enormous sum in those times. Plato3 affirms that one of the
Athenian theatres contained 30,000 persons.
Joining the Odeion of Herodes, to the east, are the small remains
of the portico which Spon regards as that of Eumenikos, and Stuart
as the peribolos of the temple of Bacchus. It serves as a part of
the modern enclosure of the town, and extends towards the remains
of another theatre, situated below the monument of Thrasyllos.
Stuart conceives this to be the Odeion of Pericles; for which sup-
position, his principal reason is founded on a passage in Vitruvius.'1
The arches which Spon takes for the portico of Eumenikos, and
Stuart for the peribolos of the temple of Bacchus, are apparently not
more ancient than the Odeidn of Regilla. The portico is marked in
all probability by a single column of white marble to the south of the
theatre ; an ancient foundation of large blocks of stone extends near
1 B. I. c. 2y. '- Epist. 40. b. 10. s in Conviv. * B. 5. c. 9-
which perhaps comes from the salt spring in the Erechtheion.
Some blocks of marble are in the vicinity, with a small sepulchral
column, or Zt?]\vi, of one Pheiletion, ofSinope.
^eiahtixin
einxhiete
Pausanias1 mentions these kind of sepulchral stelai, which he says
contained the name of the person, and the place of his birth ; they
are common all over Greece, and are often without any inscription,
and with no other ornament than a patera or a vase.
Most of the towns in Greece had a theatre, which seems to have
been as necessary a part of their recreation, as baths, temples, and
gymnasia. Many of these theatres were extremely magnificent;
they were composed of white marble, and enriched with exquisite
decorations. Pliny,2 in an epistle to Trajan, mentions one at Nicaea,
in Bithynia, which, although not finished, had cost more than
10,000,000 secterces, or about ,£80,729 of our money, which was
an enormous sum in those times. Plato3 affirms that one of the
Athenian theatres contained 30,000 persons.
Joining the Odeion of Herodes, to the east, are the small remains
of the portico which Spon regards as that of Eumenikos, and Stuart
as the peribolos of the temple of Bacchus. It serves as a part of
the modern enclosure of the town, and extends towards the remains
of another theatre, situated below the monument of Thrasyllos.
Stuart conceives this to be the Odeion of Pericles; for which sup-
position, his principal reason is founded on a passage in Vitruvius.'1
The arches which Spon takes for the portico of Eumenikos, and
Stuart for the peribolos of the temple of Bacchus, are apparently not
more ancient than the Odeidn of Regilla. The portico is marked in
all probability by a single column of white marble to the south of the
theatre ; an ancient foundation of large blocks of stone extends near
1 B. I. c. 2y. '- Epist. 40. b. 10. s in Conviv. * B. 5. c. 9-