DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.796#0040
THE EARLIEST HISTORIC PERIOD 19
Just what buildings on the Acropolis are to be attributed
to the Pisistratids it is difficult to say. An ancient Propylon
or gateway may be referred to this period, and also large
walls built of polygonal masonry, which were added to the
earlier built Pelasgic walls and formed with them what was
called the Pelargicon, to be more fully described presently.
Whether the great cisterns built into the rock east of the
Propylaea and close to the north wall (see 31 Plan) are
connected with the Pisistratids is not clear; they are dated by
Middleton as belonging to the fifth century, but Dorpfeld (25)
is inclined to connect them with a period earlier than the
fifth century.
That at this time the rich and abundant building material of
Attica first came to be widely used is most probable. The
earliest building material of a durable nature employed was
the limestone of which the Acropolis and the neighboring hills
were constituted, and also a coarser and softer limestone,
which was sometimes called Peiraic from the fact that it was
found most abundantly in the promontory adjacent to Peiraeus
and named Akte. This stone is also called by the Greek name
ofporos, a term frequently adopted by modern scholars. Later,
a reddish, harder limestone found in the lower slopes of
Hymettus, and now called Kara limestone from the name of a
neighboring village, was employed. This seems to have been
a favorite stone with the Pisistratids, especially for stylobates
and for steps that were exposed to much wear. For statuary
the marble earliest in use was imported from the islands of
the Aegean, especially from Paros. But the earliest examples
of statuary were made of the coarse limestone above
mentioned. The rich quarries of Pentelic marble were not
extensively worked before the fifth century.
With an abundance of resources such as had never before
been possessed by any previous ruler, Pisistratus and his
sons made good use of this wealth of building material in
beautifying the city and in honoring the gods with public
edifices and shrines of worship. Athena especially, as the
patron divinity of the royal house, which had made her
olive tree a means of divination, was honored by adorning
her temple on the Acropolis with a handsome peristyle. In
her honor also Pisistratus is credited with having instituted
Just what buildings on the Acropolis are to be attributed
to the Pisistratids it is difficult to say. An ancient Propylon
or gateway may be referred to this period, and also large
walls built of polygonal masonry, which were added to the
earlier built Pelasgic walls and formed with them what was
called the Pelargicon, to be more fully described presently.
Whether the great cisterns built into the rock east of the
Propylaea and close to the north wall (see 31 Plan) are
connected with the Pisistratids is not clear; they are dated by
Middleton as belonging to the fifth century, but Dorpfeld (25)
is inclined to connect them with a period earlier than the
fifth century.
That at this time the rich and abundant building material of
Attica first came to be widely used is most probable. The
earliest building material of a durable nature employed was
the limestone of which the Acropolis and the neighboring hills
were constituted, and also a coarser and softer limestone,
which was sometimes called Peiraic from the fact that it was
found most abundantly in the promontory adjacent to Peiraeus
and named Akte. This stone is also called by the Greek name
ofporos, a term frequently adopted by modern scholars. Later,
a reddish, harder limestone found in the lower slopes of
Hymettus, and now called Kara limestone from the name of a
neighboring village, was employed. This seems to have been
a favorite stone with the Pisistratids, especially for stylobates
and for steps that were exposed to much wear. For statuary
the marble earliest in use was imported from the islands of
the Aegean, especially from Paros. But the earliest examples
of statuary were made of the coarse limestone above
mentioned. The rich quarries of Pentelic marble were not
extensively worked before the fifth century.
With an abundance of resources such as had never before
been possessed by any previous ruler, Pisistratus and his
sons made good use of this wealth of building material in
beautifying the city and in honoring the gods with public
edifices and shrines of worship. Athena especially, as the
patron divinity of the royal house, which had made her
olive tree a means of divination, was honored by adorning
her temple on the Acropolis with a handsome peristyle. In
her honor also Pisistratus is credited with having instituted