DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47233#0036
20
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS.
[chap. III.
Difference of
pillars on South
side.
Levels of bases
and slope of
floor.
Nature of floor.
Nature of roof.
.Fallen tiles.
Fallen pillars
broken up and
carried off for
building
elsewhere.
Deposit covering
site.
Remains of
internal pillars.
difference; the rows of pillars on the east and west sides are here prolonged towards the
south wall. They are irregularly arranged as regards their spacing in their rows, but their
positions have been fixed in such a way that we get a row of pillars parallel with the
south wall but 26 feet from it.
It is possible that, when the site is thoroughly cleared, additional evidence may be laid
bare which may help to determine the reason for this variation in the plan.
The levels of the base stones of the pillars, which still remain on the top of the
foundation blocks, show that the floor of the hall must have sloped downwards from the
outer walls towards the central point in a regular line on the three sides, while on the south
side, where the plan is different, the levels also vary, tending to suggest that there was
probably a sudden drop down from a higher to a lower level beside the line of the pillars
26 feet inwards from the south wall. Further excavation may throw additional light on
this point also. It may be noted, in this connection, that the floor of the hall at Eleusis
appears to have been level and to have had rows of seats extending round the walls on each
side between these walls and the outer range of pillars.
With regard to the nature of the floor itself it is extremely probable that it was of
wood. The natural ground level has sloped considerably downwards from the Theatre towards
.the river, and while at the south side of the hall it seems to have been only 18 inches below
the level of the floor of the portico, beside the north wall it was from 6 to 7 feet below the
same level. We can see this by the depth of the foundation piers &c., and by the arrangement
of the courses on the external face of the west wall (Pl. X., Fig. 5). It is extremely
unlikely that this considerable divergence of level between the floor and the ground was.
filled up solid, and it is therefore more than probable that a wooden framework of beams
was put in to carry the sloping floor which would naturally in this case have also been
of wood.
Of the nature of the roof we have little evidence, but we can hardly doubt that it
was constructed of wood and covered with tiles. The wide spacing apart of the pillars
indicates that they must have supported wood beams or principals, which in their turn
supported rafters on which the tile covering was laid. How the roof was arranged we have
no means of accurately judging, and whether any part of the central portion of the hall was
open to the air it would be impossible to determine with the evidence at present before us;
but in any case it is likely that special support would have been required for such a large
roof at . certain places, and what place could have been more suitable than the line of the
third row of pillars ? These pillars are much closer together than the others and therefore
/would have formed a stronger line of support and at the same time they occupy a special
structural position in the planning, as they carry on the line of the ends of the portico into
the hall.
How the hall was lighted, we have no means of judging. It may have been lighted
by windows in the enclosing walls, although these in themselves would not have given enough
light, or it may have had a clerestory in addition, probably on the line of the third row of
pillars with the central part of the roof standing up higher over it; but this must remain
always more or less conjectural.
A general layer of tiles, which seems to exist some distance below the present surface
of the ground, suggests the probability that the wooden roof had fallen in—perhaps it was
burnt—and it is likely that if it fell in it would have dragged down the stone pillars which were
built in pieces and were not monoliths. A bed of broken limestone chips immediately above
the tile fragments goes to show that these fallen columns had probably been gradually broken
up on the spot into smaller pieces and carried off for other building purposes. It is also
extremely probable that some specially heavy storms and floods had eventually covered the
whole area to the depth of several feet with the main deposit of earth which now exists, as
if this had been a gradual process of years it is little likely that anything would have
existed to-day under it. If, during further excavations, a careful observation were to be
made of the nature of the deposit over the whole area of the site, it might help to
enlighten us further on this point.
Of the internal pillars which supported the roof only the foundation piers remain of
of the outer row. In the inner rows many of the square base stones on which the pillars
rested still exist and, in one case only, a piece of the actual pillar is in position. The
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS.
[chap. III.
Difference of
pillars on South
side.
Levels of bases
and slope of
floor.
Nature of floor.
Nature of roof.
.Fallen tiles.
Fallen pillars
broken up and
carried off for
building
elsewhere.
Deposit covering
site.
Remains of
internal pillars.
difference; the rows of pillars on the east and west sides are here prolonged towards the
south wall. They are irregularly arranged as regards their spacing in their rows, but their
positions have been fixed in such a way that we get a row of pillars parallel with the
south wall but 26 feet from it.
It is possible that, when the site is thoroughly cleared, additional evidence may be laid
bare which may help to determine the reason for this variation in the plan.
The levels of the base stones of the pillars, which still remain on the top of the
foundation blocks, show that the floor of the hall must have sloped downwards from the
outer walls towards the central point in a regular line on the three sides, while on the south
side, where the plan is different, the levels also vary, tending to suggest that there was
probably a sudden drop down from a higher to a lower level beside the line of the pillars
26 feet inwards from the south wall. Further excavation may throw additional light on
this point also. It may be noted, in this connection, that the floor of the hall at Eleusis
appears to have been level and to have had rows of seats extending round the walls on each
side between these walls and the outer range of pillars.
With regard to the nature of the floor itself it is extremely probable that it was of
wood. The natural ground level has sloped considerably downwards from the Theatre towards
.the river, and while at the south side of the hall it seems to have been only 18 inches below
the level of the floor of the portico, beside the north wall it was from 6 to 7 feet below the
same level. We can see this by the depth of the foundation piers &c., and by the arrangement
of the courses on the external face of the west wall (Pl. X., Fig. 5). It is extremely
unlikely that this considerable divergence of level between the floor and the ground was.
filled up solid, and it is therefore more than probable that a wooden framework of beams
was put in to carry the sloping floor which would naturally in this case have also been
of wood.
Of the nature of the roof we have little evidence, but we can hardly doubt that it
was constructed of wood and covered with tiles. The wide spacing apart of the pillars
indicates that they must have supported wood beams or principals, which in their turn
supported rafters on which the tile covering was laid. How the roof was arranged we have
no means of accurately judging, and whether any part of the central portion of the hall was
open to the air it would be impossible to determine with the evidence at present before us;
but in any case it is likely that special support would have been required for such a large
roof at . certain places, and what place could have been more suitable than the line of the
third row of pillars ? These pillars are much closer together than the others and therefore
/would have formed a stronger line of support and at the same time they occupy a special
structural position in the planning, as they carry on the line of the ends of the portico into
the hall.
How the hall was lighted, we have no means of judging. It may have been lighted
by windows in the enclosing walls, although these in themselves would not have given enough
light, or it may have had a clerestory in addition, probably on the line of the third row of
pillars with the central part of the roof standing up higher over it; but this must remain
always more or less conjectural.
A general layer of tiles, which seems to exist some distance below the present surface
of the ground, suggests the probability that the wooden roof had fallen in—perhaps it was
burnt—and it is likely that if it fell in it would have dragged down the stone pillars which were
built in pieces and were not monoliths. A bed of broken limestone chips immediately above
the tile fragments goes to show that these fallen columns had probably been gradually broken
up on the spot into smaller pieces and carried off for other building purposes. It is also
extremely probable that some specially heavy storms and floods had eventually covered the
whole area to the depth of several feet with the main deposit of earth which now exists, as
if this had been a gradual process of years it is little likely that anything would have
existed to-day under it. If, during further excavations, a careful observation were to be
made of the nature of the deposit over the whole area of the site, it might help to
enlighten us further on this point.
Of the internal pillars which supported the roof only the foundation piers remain of
of the outer row. In the inner rows many of the square base stones on which the pillars
rested still exist and, in one case only, a piece of the actual pillar is in position. The