DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4265#0025
24
ON THE PLAN OF ATHENS.
be too uninteresting to present to our readersJ; a small part however is expressed near the Acropolis,
it extends from the temple of Theseus, and the Areopagus westward, to the Gate of Hadrian eastward,
and forms a kind of oval, which is continued northward beyond the church of Georgio Pico.
Some years ago the city of Athens was sacked and plundered by a small body of Albanians,
immediately after which it was thought expedient by the governor and magistrates to erect a wall for
the defence of the city against any future surprise of this nature ; the inhabitants concurred with zeal
in the undertaking, and a slight irregular wall, pierced with loop-holes for the discharge of musquetry,
was carried round the city, in a space of time remarkably short for a work of such extentb.
The head-piece of this description, shown in Plate IV. fig. 2. is composed of two Ionic capitals,
cut out of one block of marble c, and an imperfect inscription on a very fine piece of marble, which
seems to have been the upper moulding of a pedestald; both found in a ruined church on the road of
Menidi, about three miles and a half from Athens, before you cross the Cephissus.
The tail-piece, shown in Plate IV. fig. 3, is a basso-relievo, in the church of Panagia Crysta-
liotissae.
derable foundations, and near is the Piraean gate ; so that if we
suppose those foundations to be the situation of the temple of
Ceres, it exactly answers to what this author says of the entrance
into the city by that gate, and it will follow, that the temple of
Ceres he there describes as near the Pompeion, is the same with
this, from the entire description of which he is deterred by a
dream. It should be remembered, that the Athenians had no
aqueducts before the time of the Romans, of consequence they
had no artificial fountains; but, after Hadrian's aqueduct was
finished, it is more than probable that they also had some, or at
least one fountain, and no place could so properly receive this or-
nament as the Ceramic square, which seems to have been the no-
blest and best frequented part of the city; and Pausanias per-
haps means, by saying the only fountain, not only spring, for
there are now three in Athens, but the only artificial fountain,
like those of Rome, &c. Be it as it will, there is a manifest
blunder in Pausanias', nor do I believe it the only one. Of this
fountain see the quotations, pp. 30 and 67, Vol. I. Pliny makes
two fountains of Callirhoe and Enneacrounos, as does Solinus.
a A plan of Athens, with the streets of the modern town pre-
vious to the war, has been published in the Atlas of the Travels
of Olivier, in Tweddell's Remains, and by Mr. Hawkins, after
an original survey by Fauvel. See Walpole's Memoirs, Vol.
I. p. 480. CEU-3
k Letter A on the Plan of Athens, PI. I. is not referred to in
the text: it denotes the foundations of the ancient walls of the
Asty, or city of Athens, as observed by Stuart. CED0
c Stuart gives no dimensions of this singular capital: it is
evident that the two divisions of it were not intended to be sepa-
rated, and from the rotundity of the echinus between the volutes,
it would appear to have been a capital to two coupled columns.
The face of the capital in Stuart's sketch is rude and unfinished.
[BD.]
d The fragment of a pedestal here mentioned, appears to have
been inscribed with the words Tot «f;/'£<;CQa r£i Y.i$a.a-ru>t Ti/3.
YJkuvlwv, x. r. X., as at the beginning of the inscription on a pe-
destal dedicated to Tib. Claudius Atticus Herodes, chief priest
of the Caisars, &c. introduced in Vol. II. p. 77, Note a. It may
be observed also that this capping to a pedestal bears some
resemblance to that of the pedestal of Agrippa, at the Pro-
pyls^. CED-D
' Boeckh supposes this relief to represent three youths
united in friendship, and that it is not a sepulchral marble : he
restores the inscription, with an amendment of the first word,
from Dr. Chandler's transcript, with two names only, to this
form :
......f Eo-Tiai'; 'AvQta-rrigios
......L°Jy 'A^9.=a"TJ7g(oy 'LriCpa.vov
£ AXanvf^ AXctuvf AXccitvg.
But if Stuart's design be referred to, which has every appear-
ance of being faithful, at least as far as regards the position of
the words, it will appear that there could not possibly have been
space for the three words in a line, as here proposed, on the top
of the marble, which has a very usual sepulchral form. This cir-
cumstance controverts the notion that this was a triple dedica-
tion. We have seen an Attic marble, of a very general form,
among cippi, in Lord Guildford's collection, bearing a vase in
relief, on which are two figures of men, and at the base of it two
sphinxes, and inscribed with these two names,
Afp£fa.Jt]j TloXipovixoi;
Ayvowcrio; A^jxattii;
which the German literati, Aug. Boeckh and G. O. Miiller both
suppose not to be sepulchral, the last of whom observes, " Haec
vasa admodum frequentia sunt, atque ut figlina multa in amici-
tia; memoriam videntur donata esse." We accord with the sen-
timent that these and other similar marbles may be memorials of
friendship, but indeed of a friendship terminated probably on the
same occasion, in the grave. See Boeckh, Corp. Ins. Grsec.
Vol. I. pp. 494, 490. Chandler. Ins. Grsec. P. II. Ins. 98.
1 Pausanias,Lib. I. C. XIV. says Q^iarot ph xcu'hik vratryisrn$ vacuusla-n, tmyk
Vt avrn potti: " there are wells in every part of the city, but this is the only foun-
tain." He mentions afterwards the fountain near the Grotto of Pan, and that in
the Temple of iEsculapius, both of which are unpotablc. In the above passage
he therefore doubtless meant that there was only one spring of sweet water,
a fact alluded to by Vitruvius, and attested by modern observation. The con-
demnation of the ancient topographer by Stuart on this occasion, seems therefore
to be somewhat inconsiderate. See Vit. Lib. VIII. C. III. [ed.]
ON THE PLAN OF ATHENS.
be too uninteresting to present to our readersJ; a small part however is expressed near the Acropolis,
it extends from the temple of Theseus, and the Areopagus westward, to the Gate of Hadrian eastward,
and forms a kind of oval, which is continued northward beyond the church of Georgio Pico.
Some years ago the city of Athens was sacked and plundered by a small body of Albanians,
immediately after which it was thought expedient by the governor and magistrates to erect a wall for
the defence of the city against any future surprise of this nature ; the inhabitants concurred with zeal
in the undertaking, and a slight irregular wall, pierced with loop-holes for the discharge of musquetry,
was carried round the city, in a space of time remarkably short for a work of such extentb.
The head-piece of this description, shown in Plate IV. fig. 2. is composed of two Ionic capitals,
cut out of one block of marble c, and an imperfect inscription on a very fine piece of marble, which
seems to have been the upper moulding of a pedestald; both found in a ruined church on the road of
Menidi, about three miles and a half from Athens, before you cross the Cephissus.
The tail-piece, shown in Plate IV. fig. 3, is a basso-relievo, in the church of Panagia Crysta-
liotissae.
derable foundations, and near is the Piraean gate ; so that if we
suppose those foundations to be the situation of the temple of
Ceres, it exactly answers to what this author says of the entrance
into the city by that gate, and it will follow, that the temple of
Ceres he there describes as near the Pompeion, is the same with
this, from the entire description of which he is deterred by a
dream. It should be remembered, that the Athenians had no
aqueducts before the time of the Romans, of consequence they
had no artificial fountains; but, after Hadrian's aqueduct was
finished, it is more than probable that they also had some, or at
least one fountain, and no place could so properly receive this or-
nament as the Ceramic square, which seems to have been the no-
blest and best frequented part of the city; and Pausanias per-
haps means, by saying the only fountain, not only spring, for
there are now three in Athens, but the only artificial fountain,
like those of Rome, &c. Be it as it will, there is a manifest
blunder in Pausanias', nor do I believe it the only one. Of this
fountain see the quotations, pp. 30 and 67, Vol. I. Pliny makes
two fountains of Callirhoe and Enneacrounos, as does Solinus.
a A plan of Athens, with the streets of the modern town pre-
vious to the war, has been published in the Atlas of the Travels
of Olivier, in Tweddell's Remains, and by Mr. Hawkins, after
an original survey by Fauvel. See Walpole's Memoirs, Vol.
I. p. 480. CEU-3
k Letter A on the Plan of Athens, PI. I. is not referred to in
the text: it denotes the foundations of the ancient walls of the
Asty, or city of Athens, as observed by Stuart. CED0
c Stuart gives no dimensions of this singular capital: it is
evident that the two divisions of it were not intended to be sepa-
rated, and from the rotundity of the echinus between the volutes,
it would appear to have been a capital to two coupled columns.
The face of the capital in Stuart's sketch is rude and unfinished.
[BD.]
d The fragment of a pedestal here mentioned, appears to have
been inscribed with the words Tot «f;/'£<;CQa r£i Y.i$a.a-ru>t Ti/3.
YJkuvlwv, x. r. X., as at the beginning of the inscription on a pe-
destal dedicated to Tib. Claudius Atticus Herodes, chief priest
of the Caisars, &c. introduced in Vol. II. p. 77, Note a. It may
be observed also that this capping to a pedestal bears some
resemblance to that of the pedestal of Agrippa, at the Pro-
pyls^. CED-D
' Boeckh supposes this relief to represent three youths
united in friendship, and that it is not a sepulchral marble : he
restores the inscription, with an amendment of the first word,
from Dr. Chandler's transcript, with two names only, to this
form :
......f Eo-Tiai'; 'AvQta-rrigios
......L°Jy 'A^9.=a"TJ7g(oy 'LriCpa.vov
£ AXanvf^ AXctuvf AXccitvg.
But if Stuart's design be referred to, which has every appear-
ance of being faithful, at least as far as regards the position of
the words, it will appear that there could not possibly have been
space for the three words in a line, as here proposed, on the top
of the marble, which has a very usual sepulchral form. This cir-
cumstance controverts the notion that this was a triple dedica-
tion. We have seen an Attic marble, of a very general form,
among cippi, in Lord Guildford's collection, bearing a vase in
relief, on which are two figures of men, and at the base of it two
sphinxes, and inscribed with these two names,
Afp£fa.Jt]j TloXipovixoi;
Ayvowcrio; A^jxattii;
which the German literati, Aug. Boeckh and G. O. Miiller both
suppose not to be sepulchral, the last of whom observes, " Haec
vasa admodum frequentia sunt, atque ut figlina multa in amici-
tia; memoriam videntur donata esse." We accord with the sen-
timent that these and other similar marbles may be memorials of
friendship, but indeed of a friendship terminated probably on the
same occasion, in the grave. See Boeckh, Corp. Ins. Grsec.
Vol. I. pp. 494, 490. Chandler. Ins. Grsec. P. II. Ins. 98.
1 Pausanias,Lib. I. C. XIV. says Q^iarot ph xcu'hik vratryisrn$ vacuusla-n, tmyk
Vt avrn potti: " there are wells in every part of the city, but this is the only foun-
tain." He mentions afterwards the fountain near the Grotto of Pan, and that in
the Temple of iEsculapius, both of which are unpotablc. In the above passage
he therefore doubtless meant that there was only one spring of sweet water,
a fact alluded to by Vitruvius, and attested by modern observation. The con-
demnation of the ancient topographer by Stuart on this occasion, seems therefore
to be somewhat inconsiderate. See Vit. Lib. VIII. C. III. [ed.]