DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4099#0442
404 RUINS OF SPARTA.
tricate himself as well as he can, from the dark mazes of conjecture
and uncertainty, by the topographical light of Pausanias, and by
the few scattered materials of some other authors.
The hill which rises from the theatie, and which is not apparently
above fifty or sixty feet above the level of the plain, has evidently
served as a citadel, and has been surrounded with walls which
appear to have been constructed in haste, since they are composed
of those materials which were ready at hand, as fragments of
columns and inscriptions, small stones, bricks and mortar. Plutarch1
alludes to constructions of this kind. Sparta was originally without
walls, and Lycurgus prohibited their erection.* Justin3 asserts that
the Spartans first surrounded their capital with Avails when Cas-
sander entered the Peloponnesos. According to Livy4 they were
built by the tyrants, and Plutarch5 says that they were destroyed
by Philopoemen. Pausanias6 asserts that the walls were constructed
with precipitate haste when Demetrius and Pyrrhus besieged Sparta.
They were afterwards strongly fortified by the tyrant Nabis, and
destroyed by the Achaeans, by whom it appears that they were
afterwards rebuilt.7 According to Pausanias8 there were several
hills in Sparta, the highest of which was the acropolis. lie com-
pares it to the Kadmeia of Thebes and to the Larissa of Argos, and
says that it contained several temples. The former glory of the
Spartan acropolis, with all its splendid temples, is now indicated
only by some strong foundations and scattered blocks of stone!
A fine sepulchral chamber of a square form, regularly constructed
with large blocks, is situated nearly opposite the theatre, and a
short distance from it. It has been opened, and the interior is com-
posed of brickwork. According to Pausanias, the monuments of
the Spartan kings Pausanias and Leonidas were opposite the theatre.
Many other detached ruins are dispersed in this direction, some
' De prof, in virt. sent. p. 148. s Plutarch's life of Agesilaos. ' B. 14. c. 5.
4 B. 34-. c 38. * Life of Philopoemen. ° B. 1. c. 8. » Pausan. b. 7. c. 9.
8 B. 3. c. 17.
tricate himself as well as he can, from the dark mazes of conjecture
and uncertainty, by the topographical light of Pausanias, and by
the few scattered materials of some other authors.
The hill which rises from the theatie, and which is not apparently
above fifty or sixty feet above the level of the plain, has evidently
served as a citadel, and has been surrounded with walls which
appear to have been constructed in haste, since they are composed
of those materials which were ready at hand, as fragments of
columns and inscriptions, small stones, bricks and mortar. Plutarch1
alludes to constructions of this kind. Sparta was originally without
walls, and Lycurgus prohibited their erection.* Justin3 asserts that
the Spartans first surrounded their capital with Avails when Cas-
sander entered the Peloponnesos. According to Livy4 they were
built by the tyrants, and Plutarch5 says that they were destroyed
by Philopoemen. Pausanias6 asserts that the walls were constructed
with precipitate haste when Demetrius and Pyrrhus besieged Sparta.
They were afterwards strongly fortified by the tyrant Nabis, and
destroyed by the Achaeans, by whom it appears that they were
afterwards rebuilt.7 According to Pausanias8 there were several
hills in Sparta, the highest of which was the acropolis. lie com-
pares it to the Kadmeia of Thebes and to the Larissa of Argos, and
says that it contained several temples. The former glory of the
Spartan acropolis, with all its splendid temples, is now indicated
only by some strong foundations and scattered blocks of stone!
A fine sepulchral chamber of a square form, regularly constructed
with large blocks, is situated nearly opposite the theatre, and a
short distance from it. It has been opened, and the interior is com-
posed of brickwork. According to Pausanias, the monuments of
the Spartan kings Pausanias and Leonidas were opposite the theatre.
Many other detached ruins are dispersed in this direction, some
' De prof, in virt. sent. p. 148. s Plutarch's life of Agesilaos. ' B. 14. c. 5.
4 B. 34-. c 38. * Life of Philopoemen. ° B. 1. c. 8. » Pausan. b. 7. c. 9.
8 B. 3. c. 17.