DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4263#0024
en
'Ption:
OF A DORIC PORTICO AT ATHENS.
23
merI^>PPoneda
in the
a Augusta
5 emperor Adrian,
resent it is muci,
■ liberty, had decLired
is was slain the Atlie-
i thej- honored Brutus
id, by a public decree,
i, near those of Har-
1 long revered as the
their country. The
sure of Augustus on
hem with the cruelty
of some considerable
iver yEgina and Ere-
Mte their animosity
■ to follow more tern-
;le between Augustus
Athenians sided with
established Augustus
:1 the Athenians who
1 the statues of Bru-
iblised to recommend
) the clemency of Au-
> them recording that
their republic, and,
principal-persons of
dace, and bestowing
the embassy of En-
; inscription
had no
>f Augustus, and t
ffi, &c.
it without discover-
iginal place, or that
choice of a trophy,'»
ad immediately P^
Topography o^*""
[mi-
It is evident from tlie inscription on the architrave, which is now first given entire, that this
building was not dedicated to Augustus but to Minerva; and, on farther examination, there appear
strong presumptions that it was not only not dedicated to Augustus, but that it was not a temple, for
the wall in which the door is placed, extended on each side beyond the lateral walls of the porticoa;
whereas, the usual plan of temples is a rectangular parallelogram, and their lateral walls are continued
without interruption, from the antaa of the portico, to the posticus or back-frontb. Besides this, the
diameters of these columns are in a smaller proportion to their height, than the diameters of any that
are found in the ancient temples of this order now extant; which circumstance, considering the dis-
tinction Vitruvius has made between the proportion of those columns which are employed in temples,
and of those which are placed in buildings of inferior dignity0, adds a considerable weight to this
opinion.
It may likewise be remarked, that there is an appearance of impropriety in supposing that an
edict relating to the sale of oils, was inscribed on the gate of a temple; neither indeed did Wheler
and Spon, when they conceived this to be a temple, understand that the inscription here mentioned
was on a part of the building itself; they supposed that it was removed hither from the Prytaneum,
or some other neighbouring ruin ; whereas in truth it is, as was before observed, in its original situa-
tion. It should seem therefore a more reasonable opinion, and more naturally to be inferred from the
subject of this inscriptiond, that the portico here treated of, is the remains of an agora or market; the
entrance to which must be allowed a much properer place than the gate of a temple for exhibiting to
the public a law which regulated so important a branch of commerce.
The inscription likewise on the base, which formerly supported the statue of Julia Augusta,
furnishes an argument in favor of this opinion, for why else should the names of two persons be men-
tioned in it as prefects of the market, when only one was at the expense of the statue ? The donor
might indeed justly claim this privilege, wherever it was erected, but the other prefect cannot be
supposed by any right to enjoy this honor unless the building before us had some relation to his
office.
It may be proper to observe that there were two agoras in Athens, one called the Old Agora, and
the other the New; the first of them seems to have been in the Ceramicus within the walls, near the
Dipylon ; and the other, which is probably that under our present consideration, was in a part of the
city, called Eretria; they were ornamented with monuments of the most celebrated actions0 of the
■ Athenians, and with statues of those persons who had deserved well of the Republic.
a In the examination of the plan of this building, as accessible
in its present state, the continuation of the wall, marked B. B.
(Plate in. Fig. 2.), is not clearly to be traced. CED-D
b This may be understood by comparing the plan of this por-
tico with the plan of the Ionic temple in the next chapter.
c Columnarum autem proportiones et symmetries, non erunt
iisdem rationibus, quibus in aedibus sacris scripsi. Aliam enim
in Dcorum templis debent habere gravitatcm, aliam in porticibus,
et caeteris operibus subtilitatoni. Vitruvius, L. v. C. 9.
' The proportions of columns reemployed in porticos] and their
symmetry, shall not be in the same ratios with those I prescribed
for sacred edifices; because an appearance of dignity and solidity
is requisite to the temples of the gods, but a less massive species
of building is proper for porticos and other works of that kind.'
rt This inscription which we have so often mentioned, is a law
relating to the duties which were imposed on such oils and
olives as were the produce of Attica; we learn from the remains
of it, what proportion of this produce was to be deposited at a
certain public office in Athens, &c.—Entries were likewise here-
1 The trade in oil, always the wealth of Attiea, was recently
by ordered to be made at the proper office, not only of the entire
quantities produced on the lands of every person who cultivated
olives, but likewise of the quantities each of them sold, &c.—
If this produce was sold for exportation, an entry was required,
setting forth the price it sold for, the buyer's name, and the name
of the place or places to which the vessel freighted with it was
bound, &c.—The penalties likewise which were incurred by those
who neglected to make the above-mentioned entries, and by those
who made them falsely or fraudulently, were herein specified;
and the whole seems to conclude with a detail of the manner of
prosecuting the offenders against this law'.
e Attuvtuv ya.{3 v^v rwr x.aAwt tcyuvTa. UTro/z^j^aTa sv Tri ccyoscc civa-
xiiTa-t. (Eschines, in his Oration against Ctesiphon.) ' The mo-
numents of all your great achievements are placed in the agora.'
In this place, besides the statues of ITarmodius and Aristogi-
ton, and of Brutus and Cassius which have been already men-
tioned, there were also those of Solon, of Conon, of Timotheus,
of Demosthenes, with many others. It would be tedious to cite
all the authors who mention them.
subject to severe regulations by the Turks, [eo.]
Book 64.
'Ption:
OF A DORIC PORTICO AT ATHENS.
23
merI^>PPoneda
in the
a Augusta
5 emperor Adrian,
resent it is muci,
■ liberty, had decLired
is was slain the Atlie-
i thej- honored Brutus
id, by a public decree,
i, near those of Har-
1 long revered as the
their country. The
sure of Augustus on
hem with the cruelty
of some considerable
iver yEgina and Ere-
Mte their animosity
■ to follow more tern-
;le between Augustus
Athenians sided with
established Augustus
:1 the Athenians who
1 the statues of Bru-
iblised to recommend
) the clemency of Au-
> them recording that
their republic, and,
principal-persons of
dace, and bestowing
the embassy of En-
; inscription
had no
>f Augustus, and t
ffi, &c.
it without discover-
iginal place, or that
choice of a trophy,'»
ad immediately P^
Topography o^*""
[mi-
It is evident from tlie inscription on the architrave, which is now first given entire, that this
building was not dedicated to Augustus but to Minerva; and, on farther examination, there appear
strong presumptions that it was not only not dedicated to Augustus, but that it was not a temple, for
the wall in which the door is placed, extended on each side beyond the lateral walls of the porticoa;
whereas, the usual plan of temples is a rectangular parallelogram, and their lateral walls are continued
without interruption, from the antaa of the portico, to the posticus or back-frontb. Besides this, the
diameters of these columns are in a smaller proportion to their height, than the diameters of any that
are found in the ancient temples of this order now extant; which circumstance, considering the dis-
tinction Vitruvius has made between the proportion of those columns which are employed in temples,
and of those which are placed in buildings of inferior dignity0, adds a considerable weight to this
opinion.
It may likewise be remarked, that there is an appearance of impropriety in supposing that an
edict relating to the sale of oils, was inscribed on the gate of a temple; neither indeed did Wheler
and Spon, when they conceived this to be a temple, understand that the inscription here mentioned
was on a part of the building itself; they supposed that it was removed hither from the Prytaneum,
or some other neighbouring ruin ; whereas in truth it is, as was before observed, in its original situa-
tion. It should seem therefore a more reasonable opinion, and more naturally to be inferred from the
subject of this inscriptiond, that the portico here treated of, is the remains of an agora or market; the
entrance to which must be allowed a much properer place than the gate of a temple for exhibiting to
the public a law which regulated so important a branch of commerce.
The inscription likewise on the base, which formerly supported the statue of Julia Augusta,
furnishes an argument in favor of this opinion, for why else should the names of two persons be men-
tioned in it as prefects of the market, when only one was at the expense of the statue ? The donor
might indeed justly claim this privilege, wherever it was erected, but the other prefect cannot be
supposed by any right to enjoy this honor unless the building before us had some relation to his
office.
It may be proper to observe that there were two agoras in Athens, one called the Old Agora, and
the other the New; the first of them seems to have been in the Ceramicus within the walls, near the
Dipylon ; and the other, which is probably that under our present consideration, was in a part of the
city, called Eretria; they were ornamented with monuments of the most celebrated actions0 of the
■ Athenians, and with statues of those persons who had deserved well of the Republic.
a In the examination of the plan of this building, as accessible
in its present state, the continuation of the wall, marked B. B.
(Plate in. Fig. 2.), is not clearly to be traced. CED-D
b This may be understood by comparing the plan of this por-
tico with the plan of the Ionic temple in the next chapter.
c Columnarum autem proportiones et symmetries, non erunt
iisdem rationibus, quibus in aedibus sacris scripsi. Aliam enim
in Dcorum templis debent habere gravitatcm, aliam in porticibus,
et caeteris operibus subtilitatoni. Vitruvius, L. v. C. 9.
' The proportions of columns reemployed in porticos] and their
symmetry, shall not be in the same ratios with those I prescribed
for sacred edifices; because an appearance of dignity and solidity
is requisite to the temples of the gods, but a less massive species
of building is proper for porticos and other works of that kind.'
rt This inscription which we have so often mentioned, is a law
relating to the duties which were imposed on such oils and
olives as were the produce of Attica; we learn from the remains
of it, what proportion of this produce was to be deposited at a
certain public office in Athens, &c.—Entries were likewise here-
1 The trade in oil, always the wealth of Attiea, was recently
by ordered to be made at the proper office, not only of the entire
quantities produced on the lands of every person who cultivated
olives, but likewise of the quantities each of them sold, &c.—
If this produce was sold for exportation, an entry was required,
setting forth the price it sold for, the buyer's name, and the name
of the place or places to which the vessel freighted with it was
bound, &c.—The penalties likewise which were incurred by those
who neglected to make the above-mentioned entries, and by those
who made them falsely or fraudulently, were herein specified;
and the whole seems to conclude with a detail of the manner of
prosecuting the offenders against this law'.
e Attuvtuv ya.{3 v^v rwr x.aAwt tcyuvTa. UTro/z^j^aTa sv Tri ccyoscc civa-
xiiTa-t. (Eschines, in his Oration against Ctesiphon.) ' The mo-
numents of all your great achievements are placed in the agora.'
In this place, besides the statues of ITarmodius and Aristogi-
ton, and of Brutus and Cassius which have been already men-
tioned, there were also those of Solon, of Conon, of Timotheus,
of Demosthenes, with many others. It would be tedious to cite
all the authors who mention them.
subject to severe regulations by the Turks, [eo.]
Book 64.