DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4265#0008
PREFACE.
From the bridge of the Cephisus the bearing is 85° 30' en. to the centre of the Temple of
Minerva in the Acropolis, and from Port Phalerum the bearing is 69° 45' en. to the centre of the
Temple of Minerva in the Acropolis. The bearing likewise from Port Phalerum to Hymettus, is
81° en. a ; and lastly, the bearing of the Temple of Minerva to Hymettus is 56° 30' es. ; which
gives, by intersection, the summit of Hymettus; the distance between the Temple of Minerva and
Hymettus being 31,000 feet, that is, within G80 feet of six British statute-miles. Whence the
distance, between Port Phalerum and the bridge of the Cephisus, was the inferred station, laid down
by Mr. Stuart without a scale. The bearings were protracted upon a scale as large again as that on
the map. Mr. Revett says, that the ruins of the middle or maritime wall, (also called the third wall,
as uniting with the two long walls) might be clearly tracedb: it was ten feet thick, and flanked with
square towers, and joined to the long walls0 at the Ports Piraeus and Phalerumd. The map of Delos,
The ruins of the maritime towns of Greece, from the facility
of transport, have now almost entirely disappeared; few of the
edifices of Phalerum, Munychia, and Piraeus which according
to the historian, vied in dignity with Athens itself, can therefore
he expected to remain. Excavations, however, in the rocks, ap-
parently for habitations and magazines, wells, fragments of
marble, tiles and pottery, together with the foundations of walls,
and sarcophagi on the sea shore, attest the dense population that
once covered this peninsula, but which even in the time of Strabo
had dwindled into a village.
North-east of the isthmus of the Munychian Peninsula may be
yet traced the site of the Piraic theatre, which has been found to
be about 240 feet in diameter. This theatre is spoken of in an
inscription copied by Dr. Chandler, and now in the British Mu-
seum, in which the people of Athens and those of Piraeus arc
distinctly, and conjointly, mentioned. Beyond this theatre, on
the right of the road to Athens, are ruined foundations enclosing
a square, supposed to be the remains of the Agora called Hippo-
dameia, from the name of the architect Hippodamus ; and Sir W.
Cell mentions a stadium, on the western slope of the hill of Phale-
rum, measuring less than 500 feet; which stadium had not been
alluded to or previously observed by any other author or traveller.
Within the monastery of St. Spiridion, which is probably built
on the site of an ancient edifice, is the marble chair or thronos,
described at page 20, Vol. I., which bears a Roman inscription,
said to relate to one of the Fratres Arvales.
At Phalerum, the most ancient of the ports, near which stood
many celebrated temples and altars, and particularly those of the
Unknown Gods ; no remains of the ancient arsenals or monuments
are now to be discovered. Of Port Munychia the works are equally
razed, with the exception of the foundations of some walls below
the water, projecting at right angles from the shore, which formed
probably the substructions of ancient docks : but near the isthmus,
in the vicinity of the ports, are vestiges sufficient to indicate the
position of a small Doric Temple, (now the site of a ruined Greek
church,) supposed to have been that of Diana Munychia. The
foundations of the cella remain, together with frusta of unfluted
columns 2 feet 6 inches diameter, and some triglyphs 1 foot 10
inches and 1 foot 5 inches in height; and to the north of the
temple facing the port, the coilon of a small theatre may be
traced, which is that probably spoken of in the history of Thu-
cydides.
The monument, however, of the highest classic interest, if
it could be satisfactorily identified, would be the Tomb' of
Themistocles, supposed to exist at a spot commanding a view
of the scene of his immortal renown, the Straits of °Salamis.
To the sw. of Cape Alcimus a sepulchral stele, now overthrown,
seen on the coast, in the vicinity of an excavation in the rock
formed for the reception of a sarcophagus, exposed to the
surf, is supposed by some to be the place to which his remains
were transferred from Magnesia : but it is recorded by Plutarch
to have been on the sea-shore where the water was smooth, and
that it resembled an altar (£*>,»<»»$?). Pausanias also speaks of
its position as at or near to the great harbour, ^ ^ my^
Jujkoi, which descriptions would lead to the conclusion that it
was on the northern shore of the peninsula, within the mole which
is now submerged. This site must have been the southern and
most frequented side of the harbour; and it would appear that
the Monument of Themistocles was raised at Piraeus, more with
reference to his being the founder of the Piraean arsenal and
fortress, than with relation to the triumph at Salamis. Could,
however, any tradition of the Greeks themselves, who, followed
by Lord Byron, call - That tomb which, gleaming o'er the cliff,"
(a conspicuous quadrangular basement seen to the right on sail-
ing into the Piraeus), the tomb of Themistocles, be authenticated,
we might still persuade ourselves, in opposition to the above au-
thorities, of having in reality visited the sepulchre of that great
admiral and statesman.
Meursii Piraeus. Chandler's Travels. Clarke's Travels. Plut.
in Themist. Paus. Att. C. I. Hobhouse's Travels. Dodwell's
Travels. Gell's- Itin. of Greece. Hawkins's Topography of Athens
and Haygarth's Panoramic View of Athens illustrated in Wal-
pole's Memoirs. Leake's Topography of Athens. Atlas du
Voyage d'Anacharsis, 1824. Lord Byron's Giaour, 1. 3.
[EI,.]
a According to Dr. Clarke, the bearing of Phalerum from the
highest pinnacle of Hymettus is w. by n., and Piraeus wnw.;
and Mr. Dodwell gives the bearing of the Piraean Peninsula
and the Acrocorinthos as n. 82. w. Wheler also speaks of
Phalerum and Piraeus as bearing west, and w. by n., conse-
quently Hymettus bears from Phalerum k. by s., requiring the
above en. to "be corrected to es. The diagram here given ap-
pearing to he fallacious in other respects; it has therefore been
preferred to adopt a new scale resulting from more recent obser-
vations. Clarke's Travels, Part II. Sec. II. Chap. VI. Dod-
well's Travels, Vol. I. p. 493. Wheler's Journey into Greece, p.
410. [bd.]
b In the new chart of the ports of Athens, Plate III., the re-
mains of the wall here described are indicated. Ce»-1
c The Long Walls, those stupendous monuments of the energy
of the Athenians, and the wonder of the ancients themselves,
were first contemplated by Themistocles, who commenced the
northern or Piraic wall, which was forty stadia, or about five miles
in length; after which Cimon and Pericles completed the southern
or Phaleric wall, thirty-five stadia, or above four miles in length.
A passage of Thucydides has been supposed to allude to a third
wall built by Pericles, which a French author conjectures to have
been raised as a reinforcement to the first; hut added to the im-
probability that the wall built by Themistocles was insufficient,
no vestiges of such third wall now exist, while remains of the
Piraic and Phaleric walls, called r« o-xjihn ' the legs', by the
Greeks, and by the Romans, brachia ' arms', terms denoting them
to have been two, are decidedly to be traced. On the conquest
of Attica by the Lacedaemonians, these walls, which even durin"-
their construction were an object of jealousy to Sparta, were over-
thrown by Lysander; they are recorded to have been reinstated
afterwards by Conon, in which condition (with the exception
of being injured by Philip, son of Demetrius, in an attempt to
surprise Athens) they existed till their destruction by Sylla, and
they appear to have lain in ruins till hastily restored in the reign
of the Emperor Valerian to resist an expected invasion of the Gauls.
Their foundations may be still observed after quitting the Piraeus,
bearing by the compass e. by n. They run parallel, and, accord-
ing to Col. Leake, are 550 feet apart. The northern wall is di-
rected from near the centre of the Piraic port towards the northern
side of the Acropolis, and the southern wall in the direction of the
southern side of the Acropolis. It appears from the foundations
that these walls were flanked at proper intervals with square
towers, and that they were twelve feet thick, and constructed
with large square stones united with cramps run with lead, and
From the bridge of the Cephisus the bearing is 85° 30' en. to the centre of the Temple of
Minerva in the Acropolis, and from Port Phalerum the bearing is 69° 45' en. to the centre of the
Temple of Minerva in the Acropolis. The bearing likewise from Port Phalerum to Hymettus, is
81° en. a ; and lastly, the bearing of the Temple of Minerva to Hymettus is 56° 30' es. ; which
gives, by intersection, the summit of Hymettus; the distance between the Temple of Minerva and
Hymettus being 31,000 feet, that is, within G80 feet of six British statute-miles. Whence the
distance, between Port Phalerum and the bridge of the Cephisus, was the inferred station, laid down
by Mr. Stuart without a scale. The bearings were protracted upon a scale as large again as that on
the map. Mr. Revett says, that the ruins of the middle or maritime wall, (also called the third wall,
as uniting with the two long walls) might be clearly tracedb: it was ten feet thick, and flanked with
square towers, and joined to the long walls0 at the Ports Piraeus and Phalerumd. The map of Delos,
The ruins of the maritime towns of Greece, from the facility
of transport, have now almost entirely disappeared; few of the
edifices of Phalerum, Munychia, and Piraeus which according
to the historian, vied in dignity with Athens itself, can therefore
he expected to remain. Excavations, however, in the rocks, ap-
parently for habitations and magazines, wells, fragments of
marble, tiles and pottery, together with the foundations of walls,
and sarcophagi on the sea shore, attest the dense population that
once covered this peninsula, but which even in the time of Strabo
had dwindled into a village.
North-east of the isthmus of the Munychian Peninsula may be
yet traced the site of the Piraic theatre, which has been found to
be about 240 feet in diameter. This theatre is spoken of in an
inscription copied by Dr. Chandler, and now in the British Mu-
seum, in which the people of Athens and those of Piraeus arc
distinctly, and conjointly, mentioned. Beyond this theatre, on
the right of the road to Athens, are ruined foundations enclosing
a square, supposed to be the remains of the Agora called Hippo-
dameia, from the name of the architect Hippodamus ; and Sir W.
Cell mentions a stadium, on the western slope of the hill of Phale-
rum, measuring less than 500 feet; which stadium had not been
alluded to or previously observed by any other author or traveller.
Within the monastery of St. Spiridion, which is probably built
on the site of an ancient edifice, is the marble chair or thronos,
described at page 20, Vol. I., which bears a Roman inscription,
said to relate to one of the Fratres Arvales.
At Phalerum, the most ancient of the ports, near which stood
many celebrated temples and altars, and particularly those of the
Unknown Gods ; no remains of the ancient arsenals or monuments
are now to be discovered. Of Port Munychia the works are equally
razed, with the exception of the foundations of some walls below
the water, projecting at right angles from the shore, which formed
probably the substructions of ancient docks : but near the isthmus,
in the vicinity of the ports, are vestiges sufficient to indicate the
position of a small Doric Temple, (now the site of a ruined Greek
church,) supposed to have been that of Diana Munychia. The
foundations of the cella remain, together with frusta of unfluted
columns 2 feet 6 inches diameter, and some triglyphs 1 foot 10
inches and 1 foot 5 inches in height; and to the north of the
temple facing the port, the coilon of a small theatre may be
traced, which is that probably spoken of in the history of Thu-
cydides.
The monument, however, of the highest classic interest, if
it could be satisfactorily identified, would be the Tomb' of
Themistocles, supposed to exist at a spot commanding a view
of the scene of his immortal renown, the Straits of °Salamis.
To the sw. of Cape Alcimus a sepulchral stele, now overthrown,
seen on the coast, in the vicinity of an excavation in the rock
formed for the reception of a sarcophagus, exposed to the
surf, is supposed by some to be the place to which his remains
were transferred from Magnesia : but it is recorded by Plutarch
to have been on the sea-shore where the water was smooth, and
that it resembled an altar (£*>,»<»»$?). Pausanias also speaks of
its position as at or near to the great harbour, ^ ^ my^
Jujkoi, which descriptions would lead to the conclusion that it
was on the northern shore of the peninsula, within the mole which
is now submerged. This site must have been the southern and
most frequented side of the harbour; and it would appear that
the Monument of Themistocles was raised at Piraeus, more with
reference to his being the founder of the Piraean arsenal and
fortress, than with relation to the triumph at Salamis. Could,
however, any tradition of the Greeks themselves, who, followed
by Lord Byron, call - That tomb which, gleaming o'er the cliff,"
(a conspicuous quadrangular basement seen to the right on sail-
ing into the Piraeus), the tomb of Themistocles, be authenticated,
we might still persuade ourselves, in opposition to the above au-
thorities, of having in reality visited the sepulchre of that great
admiral and statesman.
Meursii Piraeus. Chandler's Travels. Clarke's Travels. Plut.
in Themist. Paus. Att. C. I. Hobhouse's Travels. Dodwell's
Travels. Gell's- Itin. of Greece. Hawkins's Topography of Athens
and Haygarth's Panoramic View of Athens illustrated in Wal-
pole's Memoirs. Leake's Topography of Athens. Atlas du
Voyage d'Anacharsis, 1824. Lord Byron's Giaour, 1. 3.
[EI,.]
a According to Dr. Clarke, the bearing of Phalerum from the
highest pinnacle of Hymettus is w. by n., and Piraeus wnw.;
and Mr. Dodwell gives the bearing of the Piraean Peninsula
and the Acrocorinthos as n. 82. w. Wheler also speaks of
Phalerum and Piraeus as bearing west, and w. by n., conse-
quently Hymettus bears from Phalerum k. by s., requiring the
above en. to "be corrected to es. The diagram here given ap-
pearing to he fallacious in other respects; it has therefore been
preferred to adopt a new scale resulting from more recent obser-
vations. Clarke's Travels, Part II. Sec. II. Chap. VI. Dod-
well's Travels, Vol. I. p. 493. Wheler's Journey into Greece, p.
410. [bd.]
b In the new chart of the ports of Athens, Plate III., the re-
mains of the wall here described are indicated. Ce»-1
c The Long Walls, those stupendous monuments of the energy
of the Athenians, and the wonder of the ancients themselves,
were first contemplated by Themistocles, who commenced the
northern or Piraic wall, which was forty stadia, or about five miles
in length; after which Cimon and Pericles completed the southern
or Phaleric wall, thirty-five stadia, or above four miles in length.
A passage of Thucydides has been supposed to allude to a third
wall built by Pericles, which a French author conjectures to have
been raised as a reinforcement to the first; hut added to the im-
probability that the wall built by Themistocles was insufficient,
no vestiges of such third wall now exist, while remains of the
Piraic and Phaleric walls, called r« o-xjihn ' the legs', by the
Greeks, and by the Romans, brachia ' arms', terms denoting them
to have been two, are decidedly to be traced. On the conquest
of Attica by the Lacedaemonians, these walls, which even durin"-
their construction were an object of jealousy to Sparta, were over-
thrown by Lysander; they are recorded to have been reinstated
afterwards by Conon, in which condition (with the exception
of being injured by Philip, son of Demetrius, in an attempt to
surprise Athens) they existed till their destruction by Sylla, and
they appear to have lain in ruins till hastily restored in the reign
of the Emperor Valerian to resist an expected invasion of the Gauls.
Their foundations may be still observed after quitting the Piraeus,
bearing by the compass e. by n. They run parallel, and, accord-
ing to Col. Leake, are 550 feet apart. The northern wall is di-
rected from near the centre of the Piraic port towards the northern
side of the Acropolis, and the southern wall in the direction of the
southern side of the Acropolis. It appears from the foundations
that these walls were flanked at proper intervals with square
towers, and that they were twelve feet thick, and constructed
with large square stones united with cramps run with lead, and