DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.796#0047
24 THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS
as the Pelargicon or Pelasgicum, and, second, the date when
the Acropolis ceased to be a citadel and became simply a
temenos or precinct of sanctuaries. In Appendix II. will
be found some additional points bearing upon this question.
Here it must suffice to indicate what topographical considera-
tions and ancient remains, and what evidence from ancient
writers are involved in this discussion, and to state briefly
the views held by some of those who have given the most
serious study to this subject.
First let us consider the topography and the existing re-
mains that are supposed to give data for the location and
extent of the Pelargicon. As one looks at the Acropolis
from a point near the " Theseum" or from the base of the
Areopagus, he will easily observe that a fortification that is
to be adequate to protect the entire western slope of the
Acropolis, and that is to include any territory immediately
around the base of the hill, would naturally enclose the
Clepsydra at the north-west corner and the adjacent caves
of Apollo and Pan. How much further to the east on this
side of the Acropolis the wall of the Pelargicon would go
is not so clear. If it were to protect the small and partly
secret ascents or gates to the Acropolis on the north side, it
would have to extend beyond the Agraulium from which there
was an ascent. But no walls have been found on this side
that can be surely identified as belonging to the Pelargicon.
No clear indications of the extent of the Pelargicon on
the west slope of the hill have been gained from the recent
excavations made on the site by the German Archaeological
Institute (32). These excavations have, however, made more
clear the location of the old roadway leading up to the
Acropolis and the probable extent of the Pelargicon on
that side.
As in modern so in ancient days the approach to the
Acropolis was by means of a winding road leading from one
terrace to another, which were probably defended by walls.
As is suggested by Miss Harrison {Primitive Athens, p. 33),
the fortified Turkish Athens, which had a succession of
redoubts on the west slope of the Acropolis, is in this respect
more like the old Pelargicon fortress than the Acropolis as
we see it to-day. When we turn to the south side we find
as the Pelargicon or Pelasgicum, and, second, the date when
the Acropolis ceased to be a citadel and became simply a
temenos or precinct of sanctuaries. In Appendix II. will
be found some additional points bearing upon this question.
Here it must suffice to indicate what topographical considera-
tions and ancient remains, and what evidence from ancient
writers are involved in this discussion, and to state briefly
the views held by some of those who have given the most
serious study to this subject.
First let us consider the topography and the existing re-
mains that are supposed to give data for the location and
extent of the Pelargicon. As one looks at the Acropolis
from a point near the " Theseum" or from the base of the
Areopagus, he will easily observe that a fortification that is
to be adequate to protect the entire western slope of the
Acropolis, and that is to include any territory immediately
around the base of the hill, would naturally enclose the
Clepsydra at the north-west corner and the adjacent caves
of Apollo and Pan. How much further to the east on this
side of the Acropolis the wall of the Pelargicon would go
is not so clear. If it were to protect the small and partly
secret ascents or gates to the Acropolis on the north side, it
would have to extend beyond the Agraulium from which there
was an ascent. But no walls have been found on this side
that can be surely identified as belonging to the Pelargicon.
No clear indications of the extent of the Pelargicon on
the west slope of the hill have been gained from the recent
excavations made on the site by the German Archaeological
Institute (32). These excavations have, however, made more
clear the location of the old roadway leading up to the
Acropolis and the probable extent of the Pelargicon on
that side.
As in modern so in ancient days the approach to the
Acropolis was by means of a winding road leading from one
terrace to another, which were probably defended by walls.
As is suggested by Miss Harrison {Primitive Athens, p. 33),
the fortified Turkish Athens, which had a succession of
redoubts on the west slope of the Acropolis, is in this respect
more like the old Pelargicon fortress than the Acropolis as
we see it to-day. When we turn to the south side we find