DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14547#0050
Ever since the fifth century, the area between Dipylort
and Eridanos was occupied by a large building of which only
scanty traces remain. They were discovered recently by Jo-
hannes, below the ruins of a fourth century successor which
had been excavated in 1927-28 and at once identified as the
Pompeion, the storehouse for processions (pompe in Greek)
mentioned by various ancient authors. A spacious central court
surrounded by colonnades offered easy accommodation for
carts and other cumbrous properties used in the great proces-
sions to Eleusis. Deep ruts in the pavement of a fine columnar
entrance on the town side show that heavy vehicles have
passed in and out of the building, for many generations. An
irregular group of square rooms bordered the main structure
on the north and west. Space was restricted here by the city
wall and the Dipylon, while to the south the Eridanos made
any outer rooms impossible. The Pompeion was evidently
built soon after the remodeling of the fortifications by Konon,
and in connection with it. It was used occasionally for a
public distribution of grain, or for lectures. A statue of So-
crates stood somewhere within it, and portraits of orators and
comic poets adorned the walls; the building must have served
some educational or artistic purpose, in addition to its original
use.
Sulla's conquest proved disastrous for the Pompeion, as:
numerous stone balls, poured into it from Roman siege ma-
chines, were found among its ruins. We have no evidence of
a remodeling for more than two centuries.13 Then, on a higher-
level of accumulated debris which hid the Greek building,
a new Pompeion arose, probably in the reign of the Emperor
Hadrian, who did so much to embellish Athens, between
12) The clubhouse of a guild of actors stood in this neighborhood. A splen-
did marble comic mask, discovered in 1915, evidently served as a sign above
the door. See A. Brueckner and M. Bieber, Skenika (1915), pp. 32 ff. Pis. 4-6.
M. Bieber, History of the Greek and Roman Theatre (1939), p. 192, Fig. 266.
13) The ruins of the Pompeion destroyed by Sulla were occupied for some
time by a producer of purple, whose activity is attested by thousands of pounded
murex shells, then by a blacksmith and a potter who made clay lamps and coarse-
vases. See A. M. 56, 1931, pp. 90 ff.
and Eridanos was occupied by a large building of which only
scanty traces remain. They were discovered recently by Jo-
hannes, below the ruins of a fourth century successor which
had been excavated in 1927-28 and at once identified as the
Pompeion, the storehouse for processions (pompe in Greek)
mentioned by various ancient authors. A spacious central court
surrounded by colonnades offered easy accommodation for
carts and other cumbrous properties used in the great proces-
sions to Eleusis. Deep ruts in the pavement of a fine columnar
entrance on the town side show that heavy vehicles have
passed in and out of the building, for many generations. An
irregular group of square rooms bordered the main structure
on the north and west. Space was restricted here by the city
wall and the Dipylon, while to the south the Eridanos made
any outer rooms impossible. The Pompeion was evidently
built soon after the remodeling of the fortifications by Konon,
and in connection with it. It was used occasionally for a
public distribution of grain, or for lectures. A statue of So-
crates stood somewhere within it, and portraits of orators and
comic poets adorned the walls; the building must have served
some educational or artistic purpose, in addition to its original
use.
Sulla's conquest proved disastrous for the Pompeion, as:
numerous stone balls, poured into it from Roman siege ma-
chines, were found among its ruins. We have no evidence of
a remodeling for more than two centuries.13 Then, on a higher-
level of accumulated debris which hid the Greek building,
a new Pompeion arose, probably in the reign of the Emperor
Hadrian, who did so much to embellish Athens, between
12) The clubhouse of a guild of actors stood in this neighborhood. A splen-
did marble comic mask, discovered in 1915, evidently served as a sign above
the door. See A. Brueckner and M. Bieber, Skenika (1915), pp. 32 ff. Pis. 4-6.
M. Bieber, History of the Greek and Roman Theatre (1939), p. 192, Fig. 266.
13) The ruins of the Pompeion destroyed by Sulla were occupied for some
time by a producer of purple, whose activity is attested by thousands of pounded
murex shells, then by a blacksmith and a potter who made clay lamps and coarse-
vases. See A. M. 56, 1931, pp. 90 ff.