DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9184#0264
242
New Chapters in Greek History. [Chap. VIII.
instance, on which is sculptured the head of a youth
holding a discus. But it would be a mistake to suppose
that the walls of the upper city or Acropolis were thus
hastily piled together. They show, on the other hand,
every mark of care, and are admirably constructed. In
places, it is true, we find, instead of squared stones from
the quarry, the remains of pillar and cornice taken from
the ruined temples lying near ; but it is likely that this
break in the order of the walls was the result not of
haste or parsimony, but of deliberate intention. Pausanias
tells us that some of the Greeks were anxious to leave
all the ruins on the Acropolis lying as they stood for
an eternal memorial of the hate due to the Persians.
This could not be done; but it was found possible to
retain and to embody in the walls of the citadel a me-
morial of the ruin wrought by the barbarians sufficient
to act as a perpetual reminder.
According to Dr. Doerpfeld it is to Cimon that we
must ascribe the reduction of the Acropolis to its present
form. The wall on the north has been ascribed by the
excellent authority of Leake to Themistocles ; but Pau-
sanias says expressly that all the walls of the Acropolis
which did not date from the Pelasgic age were erected
by Cimon. Of the method of formation of the surface
of the Acropolis after the Persian invasion, we must
endeavour to give some account.
The natural rock which is its foundation is not flat
above, but rises in the midst somewhat like a gable
roof. Let us pursue this analogy a little further. Let
us suppose a house with gable roof, of which the ridge
runs parallel to the front and back walls of the house.
Then it is evident that if the two walls of the house are
carried up to the level of the ridge, and the two tri-
angular spaces between ridge and walls filled up, a flat
roof will be the result. This was the plan followed by
New Chapters in Greek History. [Chap. VIII.
instance, on which is sculptured the head of a youth
holding a discus. But it would be a mistake to suppose
that the walls of the upper city or Acropolis were thus
hastily piled together. They show, on the other hand,
every mark of care, and are admirably constructed. In
places, it is true, we find, instead of squared stones from
the quarry, the remains of pillar and cornice taken from
the ruined temples lying near ; but it is likely that this
break in the order of the walls was the result not of
haste or parsimony, but of deliberate intention. Pausanias
tells us that some of the Greeks were anxious to leave
all the ruins on the Acropolis lying as they stood for
an eternal memorial of the hate due to the Persians.
This could not be done; but it was found possible to
retain and to embody in the walls of the citadel a me-
morial of the ruin wrought by the barbarians sufficient
to act as a perpetual reminder.
According to Dr. Doerpfeld it is to Cimon that we
must ascribe the reduction of the Acropolis to its present
form. The wall on the north has been ascribed by the
excellent authority of Leake to Themistocles ; but Pau-
sanias says expressly that all the walls of the Acropolis
which did not date from the Pelasgic age were erected
by Cimon. Of the method of formation of the surface
of the Acropolis after the Persian invasion, we must
endeavour to give some account.
The natural rock which is its foundation is not flat
above, but rises in the midst somewhat like a gable
roof. Let us pursue this analogy a little further. Let
us suppose a house with gable roof, of which the ridge
runs parallel to the front and back walls of the house.
Then it is evident that if the two walls of the house are
carried up to the level of the ridge, and the two tri-
angular spaces between ridge and walls filled up, a flat
roof will be the result. This was the plan followed by