"FRAN .YVESTLEYT* Friar Sir. > SJu h maloerRi w. near THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY THE UNEDITED ANTIQUITIES OF ATTICA. 8fC. 8$C. 8fC. THE UNEDITED ANTIQUITIES OF ATTIC A • COMPRISING THE ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS OF E LEU S I S, RHAMNUS, SUNIUM, AND THORICUS. BY THE SOCIETY OF DILETTANTI. ■ LONDON: PRINTED BY W. BULMER AND CO. CLEVELAND-ROW, ST. JAMES'S. PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW; AND JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. MDCCCXVII. SOCIETY OF DILETTANTI. AN. SOC. LXXXIV. Ine Lord UUiNJJAa. CHARLES W. WYNNE, Esq. JXlljnArUJ JrAYiNxL JvINILrrll, Esq. SAMUEL ROGERS, Esq. QtV T-TTTISJPV C* T? \TPT 17T/T1/T T"\ T) ±. sir xlJLlMJtY C EINLrLErlELIJ, Bart. ~r\ * i TT T* "hat t~i k "nnTiT Right Hon. R. POLE CAREW. PUTT TP AirTf A T T?T? T? ~ JrrllLlr ME 1 LjALr E, Esq. The Earl of ABERDEEN. Pr^/^TTP "IA7TT "DD A U A HJ" 17 KUlxEK WILBKAHAM, Esq. C*t * "¥ XT A. mT7 XTfc. T T TT TTTTT1T1TT1 -w~v Sir WATKIN W. WYNNE, Bart. T A TV/TT7C TA A \ATV TTVTC! T7 JAMEJ5 UAWKIJNo, Esq. HENRY PHILIP HOPE, Esq. WILLIAM MIlfOKD, Esq. Sir WILLIAM GELL. Won. rKEJDEKICK JNOKIH. The Earl of CHARLEVILLE. i ne jLari 01 xi/vivu vv iujvej. WILLIAM DICKENSON, Esq. Hon. LAURENCE DUNDAS. FREDERICK FOSTER, Esq. Sir THOMAS LAWRENCE. WILLIAM WILKINS, Esq. WILLIAM SOTHEBY, Esq. WILLIAM HAMILTON, Esq. BENJAMIN WEST, Esq. P. R. A. Hon. HENRY BENNETT. JOHN SYMMONS, Esq. The Earl of DUNMORE. Sir JOHN THROCKMORTON, Bart. FOSTER CUNLIFFE, Esq. ARTHUR CHAMPERNOWNE, Esq. PEREGRINE TOWNELEY, Esq. Hon. WILLIAM R. SPENCER. WILLIAM FITZHUGH, Esq. JOHN HAWKINS, Esq. EDWARD DAVENPORT, Esq. JOHN B. S. MORRITT, Esq. Colonel LEAKE. The Duke of SOMERSET. Earl of SURREY. Right Hon. Sir WILLIAM DRUMMOND, K. C. RICHARD HEBER, Esq. Hon. JOHN TREVOR. Right Hon. JOHN H. FRERE. THOMAS HOPE, Esq. The Marquis of STAFFORD. The Lord NORTHWICK. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE. The Marquis of DOUGLAS. The Viscount EBRINGTON. Sir JOHN COX HIPPISLEY, Bart. The Earl of CHARLEMONT. The Viscount MORPETH. FRANCIS HORNER, Esq. The Earl COWPER. THOMAS LEGH, Esq. The Earl MORLEY. RICHARD WESTMACOTT, Esq. MARCH 1,MDCCCXVIL CONTENTS CHAPTER I. CHAPTER V. Eleusis page 1 Temple of Diana-Propyljea page 37 CHAPTER II. CHAPTER VI. The Propyl^a 9 Temple of Nemesis 41 CHAPTER III. CHAPTER VII. The Inner Vestibules 19 Temple of Themis 51 CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER VIII. The Temple of Ceres 27 Temple of Minerva-Sunias 55 CHAPTER IX. Portico at Thoricus 57 CHAPTER I. ELEUSIS. 1 he Plain of Athens is separated from another of considerable extent by a ridge of mount Icarius, stretching in a north-easterly direction from the bay of Eleusis. This was the Thriasian plain, hallowed, according to the writers of antiquity, by the presence of Ceres, who first instructed its inhabitants in agriculture, A low rocky hill about three- hundred yards from the sea, at the south-eastern extremity, was selected by the Eleusinians for the site of their citadel. The declivity of the hill facing the south-east being formed into an artificial terrace, and the rock having been cut away from the front to the rear, a level area was obtained for the sacred inclosure of the mystic temple; which was destined to be the theatre of the most solemn amongst the rites of Greece. The magnificent structure erected by the great statesman of Attica for the solemnization of the mysteries of Ceres, stood a bold and prominent feature in a picture, whose back ground was formed by the walls and towers of the impending Acropolis. In front, the villas and gardens of the Eleusinians, spreading themselves around the foot of the rock, and along the borders of the Bay of Salamis, completed a scene which had no where its equal. As accessories in the composition of this grand design, the vestibule of the sacred enclosure, and the connected temple of Diana-Propylaea, were worthy of admiration. The former, little inferior to the Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis, from which it appears to have been faithfully copied, was in itself a work of the greatest importance, and little less costly than its prototype, the execution of which is said to have involved an expenditure of two thousand and twelve talents. The latter much inferior in magnitude, was advanced fifty feet before the Propylaea, upon a platform extending an hundred and fifty feet from its front, and nearly twice that distance in length along ELEUSIS. U This pavement, formed by bloeks eaeh six feet by four, and a foot in thickness, was terminated at each extremity by a building of the Corinthian order of architecture. r i i • r u -u-^ „n C nrnterred bv a double inclosure, one within the The great sanctity of the chief building was protected oy a uuuu c other. The first was approached by the Propyls already mentioned. The walls of the inner peribolus, which may still be traced at intervals throughout the greater part of their extent, formed four sides of an irregular pentagon. The entrance was through a gateway of singular construction, facing the north, and placed at an angle of the peribolus. Between this portico and the rear of the inclosure, the abruptness of the rock, which in this spot was suffered to remain, rendered any considerable barrier unnecessary. The mystery cast over the Eleusinian rites prevented all mention of the buildings in which they were solemnized. Pausanias pretends that he was deterred by a vision he saw in his sleep from disclosing any particulars concerning the Eleusinium at Athens ; and the same super-human interposition forbid him to notice any object contained within the sacred precinct of the temple at Eleusis.* His description of the buildings without the pale of this sacred spot is comprised in one short passage. " At Eleusis, there is a temple of Triptolemus, and likewise of Diana-Propylaea, and Neptune, surnamed the father. There is a well called Callichorus....An area said to be the thresh- ing floor of Triptolemus, and an altar dedicated to him, are shewn." The multitudes whom the desire of initiation attracted to Eleusis contributed so to enrich a spot thus favoured by Ceres, that it began to vie with Athens in splendour and extent. The Athenians, jealous of its rising greatness, reduced it to the rank of one of their demi, or borough- towns. The present village is built upon the site of the sacred buildings, the greater part of them within the ancient limits of the sacred inclosure. It consists of about seventy cottages, inhabited by a few Albanian families. When we contrast the very dilapidated state of the edifices of Eleusis, with the perfect condition which those of the Athenian Acropolis retained at a period long subsequent to the irruption of the Goths, we are tempted to believe that there must have been some kind of foundation for the story of Zozimus, who relates that, Alaric hastened from the straits of Thermopylae to Athens, in expectation of an easy conquest ; but on reaching the city, Minerva shewed herself from the walls in a threatening attitude, and Achilles, advanced in front, appeared to dispute the approach. Dismayed by this vision, the invader granted a capitulation, by which the city was protected from * Pausan. I. 38. The temple of Triptolemus was perhaps situated where we now find the Greek chapel dedicated to St. Zaccharias. ELEUSIS. 3 insult. Geres does not appear to have interposed between the conqueror and her votaries at Eleusis, and the demolition of their buildings was complete. Eleusis may have been taken under aggravating circumstances ; for the overthrow of these mighty edifices could not have been accom- plished without the most active means, directed by vengeance or some other powerful stimulus, to that end. Pausanias has given a description of such objects, occurring in his route from Athens to Eleusis, as he considered worthy of notice. The account, however, is concise ; and he has deemed some apology necessary for abstaining from a more copious detail of the interesting monuments which met him at every step of his excursion : the tombs, the statues, and temples, were so numerous, that Polemon the guide, as it is stated in the Lexicon of Harpocration, composed an entire work on the "IEPA 0A02 or sacred way, alone. This celebrated road commenced at the 'Isqcu IIdIm, or sacred gates, of Athens. The remains of this approach may be still discerned in a modern church about three hundred yards distant from the present gate. From this a road now leads to the Piraeus, and another branches off to the right, near the remains of a tomb, which, stripped of its marble facing, now exposes the rough masonry of its construction. This way leads to the site of the ancient Academy. A few paces beyond the sacred gates, on the present road to Eleusis, a rugged and rocky spot on the left may be observed, where tombs have been discovered through recent excavations : but the country around being wholly in cultivation, all traces of the sacred way have disappeared ; nor are any met with before crossing the bridge over a small torrent-bed, nearly a mile distant from the gates ; where some large stones, preserving at intervals their original arrangement in straight lines, indicate the ancient road. Beyond this, near the bed of the Cephissus, a few scat- tered fragments around a modern chapel mark the site of an ancient building, A portion of a Doric entablature in front of the chapel bears a sepulchral inscription. Although in the summer months the Cephissus disappears where the sacred way crosses its bed, on the road from Athens to Thebes it flows with a considerable stream ; this is exhausted in watering an extensive tract of gardens, and the forest of olives, which now occupies the site of the groves of the Academy. The water is conveyed by channels to the roots of every tree, round which the ground is formed into a basin to receive and retain it. The source of the river, between the village of Cephisia, and mount Pentelicus, is a pure and unceasing spring, which issues with considerable rapidity from a square cistern or reservoir, and joins another rising in a copious stream beneath a spreading plane tree in the village. The olive grove terminates at the chapel of St. Blasios, about fourteen furlongs from the sacred gate; it extends in breadth, from east to west, more than two thirds of this distance, and is several miles in length, from north to south. The trees are of very considerable size ; their trunks, torn 4 ELEUSIS. by age into several divisions, are not unfrequently twenty feet in circumference. The olive is slow in its growth, and resists decay perhaps longer than any other wood. Centuries must have elapsed before it could attain the bulk these venerable trees exhibit; so that they may be considered, if not the natives of the ancient Academy, yet as their immediate descendants. Proceeding towards Eleusis, several blocks of stone, and in some places the terrace or wall supporting the road, are yet visible. Some scattered heaps appear to have been sepulchres, winch are known to have been erected along its extent : they seem to have been built in the middle of the road. About eleven furlongs beyond the church of St. Blasios, upon a bank on the right hand of the road, the remains of a small peribolus, surrounding a tomb, are seen. The sepulchre was hollowed out of the rock, and the opening covered with a marble lid, after the usual manner of closing a soros or sarcophagus. ' 5 From this spot the road ascends towards a gap in the mountain, anciently called EI2QAQ2 MT2TIKH, or the mystic entrance ; beyond which, nearly midway between Athens and Eleusis, the monastery of Daphne, supposed to have been built upon the site of the temple of Apollo, is situated. Several Ionic columns were found built into one of the walls of the modern chapel. The wall surrounding the monastery is entirely constructed with the ruins of some Grecian buildings. Descending towards the bay of Eleusis for about fifteen hundred yards, the rock bordering the road on the right appears to have been cut through perpendicularly. The face was smoothed, and afterwards niches were hewn in it for the reception of votive tablets : the inscriptions still remain and, although unnoticed by former travellers, may be distinctly seen and read when the rays of the sun fall obliquely upon the face of the rock. They are dedicatory to Venus :t several small doves cut in marble, of rather rude work, have been found on the spot. The ruins near the rock are part of the ancient temple of this goddess The whole extent of the peribolus in front of this building, which the ruins prove to have been a Doric structure, may be traced : the road passes between the rock and the wall of the inclosure. The pass here appears to have been fortified at the junction of two roads, one of which, impassable by carriages, branching off to the right, leads by a less circuitous route to the plain of Eleusis. The modern road leaves the sacred way on the right and joins it again at a point on the shore now called xolki okolXol, or the bad road, the rock over * This tomb had recently been opened by M. FauveL the French consul resident at Athens, by breaking the marble covering ; a coffin was discovered within the cavity, which still retained considerable marks of the blue colour with which it had been painted ; four bronze rings were attached to it. The exterior was decorated with an ornamental border, cut in ivory, and afterwards fixed to the wood. On opening the coffin the skeleton of a female was discovered : the head was bound with a golden wreath of myrtle or olive: by its side was laid a small curious stick or wand, together with a musical instrument, not unlike a guitar. The shoes were tolerably perfect, as well as a small double comb, which was pierced for the reception of some ornament. Several other tombs of similar construction, in the neighbourhood, were opened, and found to contain black earth and charcoal, together with vases of ordinary pottery, and lacrymal vases of alabaster. 1* Thria, one of the demi of Attica, from which the plain beyond received its appellation, was near this spot. At Thria there was a temple of Venus-Phile, erected in compliment to Demetrius, whose mother was named Phile. The words tf>IAH A4>P0AITH occur in two of the inscriptions cut in the surface of the rock. E L E U S I S. 5 which it passes being carried along the edge of the rock, close to the sea, and dangerous where the ancient road has been ruined. The sacred way appears to have been continued along the foot of the hill on the other bank of the Rheti, or salt lakes, which have their sources in the neighbouring mountains. After passing the Rheti, the bed of a torrent, flowing from mount Parnes at the village of Kassia, on the road from Athens to Thebes, crosses the sacred way. The torrent, although now absorbed in the Thriasian plain, runs through a deep and rocky bed nearer to its source. The channel which conveyed its waters to the Eleusinian aqueduct may be traced in the rock along the course it follows. After passing a road which, on the right, leads to Thebes, over mount Cithaeron, the remains of a sepulchre may be discerned : an inscription shews that it was the tomb of Straton, of Cydathenaeum. The sacred way again appears at this spot ; it is carried over an embankment raised above the plain, which was frequently inundated. The Eleusinian Cephissus has its rise in mount Cithasron, near Eleutherse ; it enters the Thriasian plain at a place now called Sarantapotami ; it runs in a deep channel towards the insulated hill of Magoula, a small eminence, on the summit of which are the remains of an ancient tower. There were formerly quarries at this place. The river is here divided into two main branches, one of which discharged itself into the bay of Salamis, through the Rharian plain, to the west of the hill above the town, and the other, fifteen hundred yards to the eastward of the ancient port : the road crosses several small channels diverging from the latter ; these are mostly without water, excepting the branch nearest to Eleusis, where the stream runs in a deep trench, below a bridge, at a small grove of olives, about five hundred yards before reaching the modern village. About three quarters of a mile in advance of this spot there are remains of a building which has been raised upon arches, now filled with earth and rubbish ; thus constructed in order that it might not impede the passage of the waters to the bay when the river overflowed its bank. A little below, where the stream of the Cephissus is divided into two channels, an embankment has been constructed extending along the eastern bank of the western branch, and terminating near the foot of the hill upon which the Acropolis of Eleusis is situated : another follows the direction of the eastern branch along its western bank. The object of these mounds was evidently to protect the Delta of the Cephissus ; or that triangular tract of low land enclosed between the two branches of that river, and widening towards the sea, from inundations by sudden floods, to which that mountain stream was subject. Where the first of these embankments terminates a cavern was discovered, which, if we were inclined to credit the fables of early Grecian history, might be supposed the retreat of the robber Procrustes, or Polypemon, who is said to have been vanquished by Theseus on the banks of the Cephissus. On the eastern side of the hill of Eleusis is a well, which may have been that called by Pausa- nias Callichorus, where dances were performed by the females of Eleusis, in honour of Ceres. ELEUSIS. 6 The road to Megara, on the northern side of the hill, passes the cave above-mentmned, and h ere crosses the bed of the western branch of the Cephissu, A little beyond the nver rs a spring now called Vlica, which is supposed to have been the well originally termed Jnthu,n or flowed mentioned by Pausanias. The neighbouring plain was probably the Rhanan, the first cultivated spot of Attica. On the shore which bounds the plain towards the soutl, there rs a tumulus, which is thought to have been one of those said to have been erected by Theseus over the Athenians who fell at Thebes. The aqueduct, which in more modern times supplied Eleusis with water from the sources in mount Parnes, is of very rude workmanship, and might be considered as a recent products but from the circumstance that none of the fragments of the ancient buildings have been employed in its construction. The northern part of the Athenian plain communicated through the pass of Dema with the ereat plain of Eleusis ; through this, the Lacedemonians, in the Peloponnesian war, made an irruption, and penetrated as far as Acharn., now called Menidi. The wall which defended tins pass may be traced to a very considerable extent. The roads from Athens to Thebes and Oropus passed through two defiles of mount Parnes; these were severally guarded by the fortresses of Phyle and Decelea. The latter was, in the nine- teenth year of the Peloponnesian war, taken possession of by the Lacedemonians, who layed the whole neighbourhood of Athens under contribution, and obliged the Athenians to abandon the procession to Eleusis along the sacred way ; it was therefore transported by sea, and many of the details of the ceremonial omitted. There are several remains of this celebrated fortress. Athens, which was computed to be one hundred and twenty stadia distant, is distinctly seen from it, as well as part of the plain of Eleusis, around the Rheti. The castle of Phyle stands on a commanding eminence ; its walls may be traced throughout their former extent ; its distance from Athens is about one hundred stadia. PLATE I. MAP OF THE PLAINS OF ATHENS AND ELEUSIS. This survey was taken by Sir William Gell. A base of 3137 yards having been measured on the plain near Eleusis, angles were taken to all the principal points, with an excellent instrument. The details were then inserted with great attention to the real forms and comparative elevations of the several spots. The Plate was engraved from the original drawing. E L E U S I S. 7 PLATE II. MAP OF THE ENVIRONS OF ELEUSIS. PLATE III. GENERAL PLAN OF THE BUILDINGS AT ELEUSIS. A The Temple of Ceres. B Wall of the inner peribolus, or sacred inclosure. C The inner vestibules. D Propylaea, or entrance into the first inclosure. E Temple of Diana -Propylaea. FF Altars on the great pavement; that on the right hand has had the word 0 IAAIQ I inscribed upon it. G The great pavement, which extends on the north-west beyond the altar F, as far as T to the south-east: it begins at the step I, and is bounded by the dwarf wall Q. H An elevated basement, belonging probably to a fountain or reservoir. The line of the aqueduct passes close to it. K Cave in the rock ; above it are the remains of a small ancient building. L An insulated piece of rock which probably formed the core of the pedestal supporting the great statue of Ceres, the bust of which was found in the vicinity. There is a circular hole, i.9 in diameter, deeply sunk in the upper face, which may have received the plug by which the statue was fixed to its pedestal. M Portion of the rock cut down perpendicularly ; it appears to have been faced with some more costly material : there are the remains of steps at its foot. N The modern church dedicated to the Panagia, or Virgin: O Church dedicated to St. George. PP Cisterns sunk in the rock ; there were several of these discovered on this hill, above the great temple. R Three steps of white marble, the substructure of some pedestal. v S Terrace in front of the great temple. TV At these spots the remains of two buildings of the Corinthian order were found. The dotted lines shew the positions of the modern houses. 8 E LEU SIS. PLATE IV. VIEW OF ELEUSIS FROM THE ANCIENT MOLE PLATE V. VIEW OF ELEUSIS FROM THE THRIASIAN PLAIN. PLATE VI. VIEW OF THE THRIASIAN PLAIN, AND PART OF THE VILLAGE, FROM THE HILL ABOVE THE TEMPLE. PLATE VII. VIEW OF THE CHURCH OF THE PANAGIA, LOOKING TOWARDS THE ACROPOLIS. The stone with the hole in its top is marked L in the Plan ; and immediately to the left is the site of the great temple. PLATE VIII. THE CHURCH OF HAGIOS ZACCHARIAS, CHIEFLY BUILT WITH ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. The two large round stones were probably the bases of statues. The composite capital represented over them is actually built up in the flank wall of the church. The present altar of the church is an ancient one, with an inscription. The wall which divides the sanctuary from the body, has, as jambs to its door, two very curious marble torches, about eight feet high; now placed in an inverted position. i t4 i A 1 J 1 I Mi R 3 t Sir W&eU.del. &.CooTta,f^ ■ w I I 9 CHAPTER II. THE PROPYLiEA. The prototype of this beautiful building is still to be seen in the Athenian Acropolis. The elaborate and valuable work on the antiquities of this interesting spot, contains the plans and details of the edifice. It is to the Society of Dilettanti that the public owes these faithful documents.* The indefatigable author of the work alluded to, driven from Athens by the prevailing factions, before he could accomplish the end of his labours, was reluctantly obliged to quit the country without obtaining measured drawings of the Propylaea. Before the appearance of the second volume of the work, which was published on his return to England, Dr. Chandler, under whose direction the artists of the mission sent abroad by the Society were placed, after exploring a considerable portion of the coasts of Asia-Minor, returned by way of Athens, and succeeded in completing what had been left unfinished by his precursors. The subject of Grecian Architecture was at that period quite new to European artists, and it happened, in consequence, that several peculiarities of the novel style of building were either overlooked or not sought after. The present publication will amply atone for all such deficiencies. In speaking of the resemblance existing between the Propylaea of Athens and Eleusis, it is to be observed, that the central building of the former is alone brought forward in the comparison : the adjoining edifices, although connected with it by walls and carried up at the same time, are two distinct buildings ; the purposes for which they were designed having no reference whatever to the destination of the almost insulated portal between them. Pausanias informs us, that one of them, on the right hand of the spectator on entering the Acropolis, was the Temple of Apteral- Victory, and the other a chapel containing several of the paintings of Polygnotus. t Stuart's Antiquities of Athens, vol. ii. 1" Pausanias, i. 2'2. 10 ELEUSIS. It is further to be observed, that the Propyls at Athens are not erected upon a basement made level for that purpose ; the rock in this instance being much more abrupt, it was found requisite to constitute different levels in the building; the rise taking place at the transverse wall dividing the exterior from the interior portico, where the five door-ways are situated. Those who entered the Acropolis ascended five steps at this place. The Eleusinian Propylsea had on this account a great advantage in point of symmetry over its rival building : although what was gained in general effect, was counterbalanced by that want of high finish so conspicuous in the execution of the buildings of Athens. The absence of polish, however, is probably not to be attributed to want of skill ; certainly not to a rigid system of economy, for where the plugs and cramps, of which the ancients made such liberal use, are iron in the Athenian building, they are brass in this. It is not in the proportions only, but in the actual dimensions, both general and detailed, that the two buildings accord with a precision most remarkable, where the comparison is attainable from corresponding parts still existing in both ; the difference in actual magnitude is such only as would have arisen from the execution of the same plan in two places where there was a slight difference in the standard measures, supposing the foot of Eleusis to have exceeded that of Athens by 3To th part. This analogy which, it is to be presumed, obtained throughout, is of essential service in the restoration of the design, which may be rendered complete from a joint considera- tion of the two buildings. At Eleusis almost the only dimension that could not be ascertained was the height of the columns, not from the want of the several frusta of which they formerly consisted, but from the difficulty of access to them, occasioned by the incumbent blocks of the entablature, and the lacu- naria of the ceiling. There was less difficulty in restoring every part of the lacunaria from the fallen masses. This restoration, which could not be effected from the ruins of the Athenian Propylaea, is of the greater importance, inasmuch as the admiration Pausanias expresses on viewing the ceiling of its prototype, led us to expect an unusual degree of science and skill in the mode of its construction/' In this expectation we have not been disappointed. Amongst the novelties which the details of the interesting edifices of Eleusis for the first time present, the admirers of Grecian architecture will find the method of covering the buildings with marble slabs, worked into the shape of tiles. This ingenious contrivance was so highly appre- ciated by the Greeks, that the inventor was honoured with a statue, and the invention recorded by To, Ss TrpoTTuXoticc XiQou UwoZ ryv spotty e%et yea) n6 < — - S -w -pf Section in the line K K . l^ranris Bedford del! I u rr -fig Shop. III. PL. 2. US ho Ph to hb • H CO hb ■H FH 7?\ ©5 hb •H c c F.B&dford del* 5 hb ■H Ph <3> .ft-— IlilllilllllllW IHHBi flHBBi lllllll C.-drnutrong jcuZp* F.Bedford del?&: tmtus* ^Jirmstron^ sculpt Chap. III. Tl. 4- Fig. 2. ■■■■ i.e. is Fig. 4. Fig. 3. Of ax. t?4- Fig. 6. Fig. 6 . I ,1 FrancU Bedford del.' w I r I V Cheep. III. PI. 8. 2.26 l.SS 70 1,44 1.8 8-7 riff . 3. .6.16- |. fiff. 4. --1 . 4 . 08- m .08- Fig. j. Fiff. 5. Fiff. 2. Fiff. J. Fid. 6 . iiHlllllllil ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ mi 27 CHAPTER IV. THE TEMPLE OF CERES. e need no stronger evidence of the extreme piety of the Athenians than the numberless temples which embellished the limited territory of this interesting people. It seems impossible to attribute to the operations of a religion founded upon the absurd fables connected with their mythology, the lasting effects produced upon the manners of a people, which, until a period com- paratively late, were visible in their religious and civil establishments. Accordingly we discover that the Eleusinian mysteries, the most sacred of their rites, professed to reveal to the initiated the errors of their theology, and to instil the most sublime precepts of morality and piety. The origin of these rites may be traced to that country whence the Greeks derived their knowledge of agriculture, and their first conceptions of the arts and sciences. In Egypt, from a very early period, the legislature seems to have devised many expedients calculated to restrain the community within the limits of subordination, so necessary to the existence of society : exposed by their theology, to the dangers arising from the absence of moral example, and encouraged to give a loose to the passions, by the corrupt and evil actions attributed by tradition to the beings they were instructed to venerate and fear, some obligation was necessary, sufficiently powerful to tie mankind down to the strict observance of the duties they owed the community. The polytheism which had been invented as a measure of state policy, rendered corrupt by the embellishments and interpolations of the poets and historians, instead of upholding, thus seemed to threaten the subversion of moral obligation ; and the rulers of mankind were early made sensible that the beings to whom all human vices were attributable, were improper objects to be held up to the respect and admiration of a people. The hierarchs, who were at once priests and legislators, were thus led to institute inquiries into the origin and rationality of their mythology, and the result seems to have led to the dispersion of the mist in which religion had become enveloped. The people were now taught that their gods were deified mortals, who having been benefactors of mankind, their posterity, in gratitude, had canonized them ; although they possessed in common with man the vices and propensities inherent in his nature. This was the first step towards 28 E L E U S I S. dispelling that ignorance which concealed from their view the brilliant truths it was subsequently the object of the mysteries to impress upon the initiated. As the principal object of the institution was to instil the love and practice of virtue into the mind of man, it might seem that the purity of religion, not less than the interests of society, required that the knowledge of the sacred truths, by which both were protected, should be generally diffused, that mystery should cease, and publicity be given to the doctrines taught in them. But the sudden profession of a new faith was not to be expected from a whole people, and the most secure method of making proselytes was, to begin by admitting such to a participation of the mysteries whose education rendered them superior to vulgar prejudices. Experience has taught us, that mankind is most eager to obtain that which is really or apparently withheld from them. In some smaller states, however, and amongst a limited population, the difficulty was less : we are informed by Diodorus Siculus,that in Crete the rites of this reformed religion were openly celebrated.* In Greece, the initiated were obliged to contract a solemn engagement to observe secrecy, and the celebration was conducted under the veil of impenetrable mystery. Curiosity was excited, and a desire of initiation followed from the secrecy observed : they were celebrated in the obscurity and solemn stillness of night, for the purpose of rendering the ceremonies more awful and impressive. t The celebration of the greater ceremonies, which took place at Eleusis, was quinquennial: but the preparatory initiation into the lesser mysteries, which was yearly performed at Athens, was indispensable. The aspirants assembled on the banks of the Ilissus, and after ablutions and sacrifice, obtained admission into the Eleusinium, or sacred boundary. A year must necessarily intervene between the initiation at Athens, and a participation in the greater solemnities at Eleusis. The mystag, who had gone through the minor ordeals, were conducted within the sacred area sur- rounding the Eleusinian temple, where every circumstance of deception calculated to impress terror on their minds was resorted toj and medicated drugs were administered, whose operation aug- mented the horrors the mysterious visions were calculated to inspire. Aristides^ describes the scene of the mysteries as the most horrible and, at the same time, the most ravishing representation. From Chandler, who collected and abridged the authorities relating to the celebration of the principal rite, the following passages, descriptive of the ceremonial with which it was accompanied, are selected. " The solemnity began on the fifteenth of the month Boedromion, and ended on the twenty dad. The principal rite was nocturnal, and confined to the temple and its environs. The myste warted wrthout with impatience and apprehension. Lamentations and strange noises were heard. * Lib. v. t Warburton, Div. Leg. of Moses, ii. sec. 4. J Proclus in Plat. Tbeolog. iii. I 8 . j Eleus. ELEUSIS. 29 It thundered. Flashes of light and of fire rendered the deep succeeding darkness more terrible. They were beaten, and perceived not the hand. They beheld frightful apparitions, monsters, and phantoms of a canine form. They were filled with terror, became perplexed and unable to stir. The scene then suddenly changed to brilliant and agreeable. The Propykea or vestibules of the temple, were opened, the curtains withdrawn, the hidden things displayed. They were introduced by the hierophant and daduchus, and the former shewed them the mysteries. The splendor of illumination, the glory of the temple, and of the images, the singing and dancing which accompanied the exhibition, all contributed to sooth the mind after its late agitation, and to render the wondering devotee tranquil and self-satisfied. After this inspection, or, as it was called, Autopsia, they retired, and others advanced. The succeeding days were employed in sacrifice, in pompous processions and spectacles, at which they assisted, wearing myrtle crowns. On the twenty-third, two vases were filled, and placed towards the east and west. Some mystic words were pronounced, the vases were overturned, and the festival ended .... " The story of Ceres and Proserpine, the foundation of the Eleusinian mysteries, was partly local. It was both verbally delivered, and represented in allegorical show. Proserpine was gathering flowers when she was stolen by Pluto. Hence the procession of the holy basket, which was placed on a car, dragged along by oxen, and followed by a train of females, some carrying the mystic chests, shouting Hail Ceres ! At night a procession was made with lighted torches, to commemorate the goddess searching for her daughter. A measure of barley, the grain which it was believed she had given, was the reward of the victors in the gymnic exercises ; and the transaction at the temple had a reference to the legend. A knowledge of these things and places, from which the profane were excluded, was the amount of initiation ; and the mode of it which had been devised by craft was skilfully adapted to the reigning superstitions. The operation was forcible, and the effect in proportion. The priesthood flourished as piety increased. The dispensation was corrupt, but its tendency not malignant. It produced sanctity of manners, and an attention to the social duties; a desire to be distinguished by what was deemed virtue as by silence."* Long before the final extinction of the Eleusinian rites, the mysteries they taught, and the ceremonial with which they were accompanied, lost the garb of secrecy in which they had been anciently infolded. Some slight accounts of the sacred edifice had also been given by writers of the age. But the subsequent devastations of Alaric appeared to have rendered all further development of the mystery, which had thus been partially violated, impracticable, by burying the site of the temple beneath its own ponderous ruins. This state of oblivion was assisted by the operations of the more modern inhabitants of Eleusis, whose wretched habitations overspread the area formerly comprised within the sacred boundary of the temple. Still, however, the site was marked by the massive blocks of the edifice, which the Eleusinians had not the power of * Chandler's Travels in Greece, c. xl. 30 ELEUSIS. converting to the purposes of building, and which were visible above the accumulated soil of several centuries. The travellers engaged by the Society of Dilettanti to explore the continent of Asia -Minor and part of Greece, were the first who attempted the discovery of the plan upon which the sacred edifices of Eleusis had been constructed;" but the difficulties opposed to their progress by time and accident were almost insuperable. Under more favourable circumstances, a recent mission succeeded in obtaining the various details which form the subjects of the accompanying plates. The fragment of one column alone, about four feet in height, visibly retained its original situation : the soil had accumulated so as to rise two feet above the pavement of the portico on which it stood ; from hence it gradually sloped upwards towards the rear, where the accumulation of the ruins and the soil above it was fourteen feet, and had restored the ground to its natural form before it was cut away to make an artificial level for the basement of the temple. Upon this slope thus formed by the ponderous masses of the building many of the modern habitations were erected ; a circumstance which effectually prevented the investigation necessary to the developement of the entire plan. Along the range of steps in front of the portico, excepting for an interval of about twenty feet, a continued row of cottages had been built; but this did not prevent the artists of the mission from making their excavations, which discovered the pavement in a state almost perfect with the positions, clearly defined, of twelve columns which formerly adorned the front of this celebrated building.+ The pavement, and the outward facing of the walls of the cella, were formed of the hard grey lime-stone found in the neighbourhood. The foundation, throughout the whole building, was composed of a porous stone laid in regular courses. A trench was cut from the front towards the rear, for the purpose of ascertaining the depth of the portico, and to discover if there had formerly been a range of columns within it. This excavation exposed the pavement of the portico, formed of stones four feet square, extending inwardly to the distance of thirty- eight feet from the front of the upper step, where it terminated in an unbroken line, and exhibited no traces whatever of interior columns. At this unbroken line of the pavement, we may presume the transverse wall of the cella to have commenced. The massy blocks, out of which the triglyphs were formed, and which lay headed towards the rear of the cella, were formidable obstacles to the pursuit of discoveries in this part of the building. Enough however of the area was cleared to shew a pavement of hard limestone, upon which were placed three cylindrical blocks, of the same material as the foundations of the pavement, and coated with cement. * Antiq of Ionia, vol. ii. J^SZ^^Z"^*"*^ WCTe ™" g " th0ir "™ ascertained by the ^Z£mS££!' Plugs ejecting it with the lower part of the shafts . R ^ bee „ * »ere rarely used u> sumlar stations, although found at every joint in the columns of the same buildings. ELEUSIS. 31 The existence of this pavement, whose level was considerably below that of the portico, combined with other corroborative circumstances, seem to prove that it was not the floor of the cella, but that of a crypt, constructed for some purpose of theatrical deception,* which we know to have been practised upon the candidates for initiation. It will appear, on referring to the section, that the rock has not been cut away down to the level of this pavement, but that it protrudes itself beyond the line of the back wall ; a neglect of finish little consistent with the splendour and importance of the building, if we consider the pavement to be the floor of the cella : neither was the pavement smoothed and polished like that of the portico, made of the same material, but rough from the chisel of the mason. We learn from Plutarch, that there were columns within the cella ; but the cylindrical pieces already mentioned have scarcely any diminution. They are of a material which has only been employed in foundations, and in walls concealed from the view : whilst within the area of the temple fragments of columns were found, which, like those of the portico, were marble. All these circumstances considered lead to the conclusion that the floor of the cella was a work of higher finish, raised, by some expedient, above the level of this pavement. If we are to credit the assertion of Vitruvius, the Eleusinian temple was first constructed by Ictinus, the architect of the Parthenon, without any exterior columns, and afterwards, under Demetrius Phalareus, Philon added the portico.t But his notices upon the buildings of antiquity are frequently incorrect ; nor is it easy to imagine that the adaptation of a portico, where there was a necessity for adhering to the proportions and magnitude of existing parts, could have been effected so as to produce a building commensurate in its parts, unless in prosecution of the original design. Plutarch informs us that the mystic temple of Eleusis, was begun to be built by Corcebus, who proceeded so far as to erect the lower columns and their epistylia. At his death, Metagenes of Xypete added the galleries and the upper columns. Xenocles the Cholargian constructed the roof over the ceiling of the sanctuary .J * The floor of the cella in Grecian temples is almost invariably above that of the porticoes, never below it. In some instances, as at Paestum and Agrigentum, the ascent to the cella is considerable. The Parthenon is the only temple known where the pavement of the cella is level with that of the pronaos and posticum. •Y Vitruv. in praefat. vii. X To bv Kopoifiog olxoSof&Biv, xca rovg bit ISctQovg ktovceg bQvikbv ourog, xoti rotg BTricrvXloig B7Tb(£bu%bv. OiTTOVUVOVTOg OB TCVTOV, NLBTMyBWig 0 aV7TBTl0g TO OtOtQwfJIOi KOil TOVg CiVb) KiOVCCg BTVB 7. tf.^i ^- 3- 47S 1. 3. 12 i. 3. it DhurietfJ- 3- 2 about m mm I- 2 S- 45 4 • 4 ■ 75 t-u-ciiltir mm mm. mm 2. O. 2-66 6 ZJtaffi:.mttp. Jo/hi Deter fawdy, del. II I "•" I • Chap. W.I* I. I Armstrong . sculp. 37 CHAPTER V. TEMPLE OF DIANA-PROPYLiEA. Pa us an i as, whose authority has already been cited, informs us that there was a temple at Eleusis dedicated to Diana -Propylaea. As the cognomina of the divinities of paganism were frequently given on account of the local situation of their shrines and temples,* we may be permitted to conclude, that the temple placed immediately in advance of the Propylsea was the one so denominated by the Grecian traveller. In confirmation, we may refer to its position in the centre of an extensive platform constructed in the front of that edifice, which thus seems to include it amongst the appendages of the great temple. This connection, and why this building should form part of the general design, is explained by the circumstance that the Greeks regarded Diana as the daughter of Ceres, and not of Latona.-f This temple is the more interesting, inasmuch as it is the only variety which has yet been described of that species which the Greeks, according to Vitruvius, denominated voloq tv M^cmciv ; that is, presenting in its fronts two columns interposed between the antae terminating the flank walls of the cella. These were the most simple of the forms which the early temples of Greece were made to assume. The Greek tragedian alludes to one of similar construction in the dialogue between Pylades and Orestes, where the latter is instructed by what means he may obtain access to the sanctuary and carry off the statue of the goddess : he is directed to let himself down into the interior, where the openings between the triglyphs afforded admission. Js^OLQ XOLdewOLL Eurip. Iphig. in Taur. 116. * Thus the Mercury near the Propylaea of the Athenian Acropolis was termed Propylceus. the gate of the Agora, Agorceus. Ib. i. 15. ii. 9. t Pausan. viii. 37. Herod, ii. 156. Pausan. i. 22. And that near 38 E L E U S I S. It was only in temples of this description that admission into the interior could be obtained through the void spaces between the triglyphs.* In the Doric buildings with which we have hitherto been made acquainted, the roof terminates in a stillicidium, or dripping eaves ; but in the present instance the sima, or upper molding of the pediment-cornice, is continued along the flanks, and a channel is hollowed in it for the purpose of collecting the rain which fell upon the roof. On this member of the building lions heads are sculptured in bold relief, through the perforations of which the water effected its escape. Little more than the foundations of this building remained in place : two cottages occupied its site. The ground was removed around it down to the level of the great pavement, by which means the plan was clearly ascertained ; and from the portions of almost every part, which the excavations brought to light, the particulars of the entire building were made out. The shafts of the columns were single blocks. The whole of the building, excepting the tiles of the roof, which were made of baked clay, was constructed with Pentelic marble. PLATE L PLAN OF THE TEMPLE. The temple was raised upon five steps ; there was indeed a sixth, if the elevation of an inch all around may be termed a step. This was probably intended to be worked away with a gentle inclination from the temple when all was completed. None of the buildings of Eleusis were wholly finished. The dotted lines shew the marble pannels of the lacunaria, some of which were found near the front. * Mr. Biomfield suggests a very ingenious correction of this passage, which he imagines is objectionable. For y tl™ he proposes to read yturx, which he translates parapets. There is nothing however in Grecian architecture at all answering to our meaning of the word parapet. Tew*, in the Athenian Inscription, which is almost wholly architectural, alludes to the projecting cornice of the building. That it has this meauing is placed beyond a doubt, for we have there the word yu.™, not only alluding to the cornice in the flanks, but in another passage, yEnrm evi rovg uierovg — the cornice upon the pediments. From this passage of Euripides, it is clear that in his time the Greeks did not close the intervals between the triglyphs ; these, we are inclined to think, in opposition to the assertion of Vitruvius, were termed opae, from the circumstance that they were at first open. The term metopce, may have been given by the Greeks to the tablets which afterwards closed them ; although not for the reason he assigns, " Itaquod inter duas opas est intertignium, id metopa apudeos nominatum." (iv. c. 2.) but because they filled the void space of the opse. A preceding passage of the author shows indeed that the spaces between the triglyphs were anciently termed opc£. .KJ J l.6. 1 Bill ■111 111111111 11111111 11111 11111111 1111 1111 illlili WSm 111111 CkapV.Ji. 7 ■ John- P. /iandu S. farter, sculp* mm Cha.pVP8. JoJm F &andx 41 RHAMNUS. CHAPTER VI. TEMPLE OF NEMESIS. Rhamnus, one of the demi of Attica, was sixty stadia distant from Marathon, going hence along the coast towards Oropus. The habitations were situated along the shore; and a little above the town was the hieron, or sacred inclosure of Nemesis.* At the distance of seven miles from the mouth of the river of Marathon, in a north-easterly direction along the western coast of the channel of Eubcea, a ridge of mount Pentelicus, ending abruptly towards the sea, leaves a simicircular area between its foot and the beach. In the middle of this plain, on an insulated rock, steep towards the north and west, and accessible by a gradual slope on the south-east side, the ancient citadel of Rhamnus was built. The site of the town around the foot of the approach is still distinguished by the remains of the dwellings. The citadel, where it was accessible, was protected by walls of white marble, which still remain to a considerable extent, with their towers and the gate of approach. Within their circuit there are many foundations of buildings, and some wells sunk in the rock ; one of which is still sixty feet in depth. The modern name of the citadel is Ovrio, or Stauro, Castro. The direct road from Marathon passes the village of Souli, situated near the foot of the mountain forming the north-eastern boundary of the plain. Midway between the two villages, a marsh intersects the plain, where, it is conjectured, the routed Persians perished, who attempted to escape by flight on the memorable day of the battle of Marathon. About three miles and a half beyond * Pausan. i. 23. 42 RHAMNUS. the village, a deep glen, descending rapidly towards the sea, affords the only approach to Rhamnus. At the entrance of this ravine stands the sacred inclosure of Nemesis, elevated about three hundred feet above the level of the sea ; within the peribolus of which very considerable remains of two temples were discovered. A terrace, one hundred and fifty feet in width, part of the sacred inclosure, still remains ; it faces the sea. The walls supporting it are of white marble, the blocks in horizontal courses but not jointed in vertical lines. The whole district of Rhamnus has been long abandoned. The Heron of Nemesis contained within its inclosure two temples, the principal one hexastyle peripteral, and the smaller a temple in anlis. Although, for the sake of distinction, we have called the latter the temple of Themis, we have no authority for the appellation. One of the marble chairs within its pronaos, is indeed dedicated to Themis, as the inscription engraved upon it clearly proves ; but the corresponding one bears a similar proof of its dedication to Nemesis. It can scarcely be doubted but that the larger and more costly temple was erected to the divinity to whom the whole inclosure was sacred, and it would be of little importance to ascertain any thing beyond this, but from a conclusion that may perhaps follow illustrative of a circumstance connected with Grecian history. The smaller temple, which is of much earlier construction, was probably the ancient temple of the Goddess; which having shared the fate of other sacred edifices after falling into the hands of the Persians, was left to decay; the Athenians permitting no temple that had been ruined by the barbarians to be repaired ; but suffered them to remain in the half-burned state in which they left them.* This supposition will account for the total disregard of symmetry in the positions of the two buildings : the projectors seem to have looked forward to a period when the expected decay of the ruined temple should leave the beautiful successor unincumbered and insulated. Plutarch relates that Pericles procured a decree of the people inviting the several states of Greece to send deputies to Athens, who should ascertain what vows had remained unaccomplished, and to consider the best means of rebuilding the temples which had been injured during the period of the Persian invasion. Although this attempt failed, the object, as far as it concerned the Athenians, was carried into effect. The temples of Athens and Eleusis were projected and executed. The Parthenon was erected whilst the remains of the Hecatompedont were yet standing. The total rebuilding of all the temples ruined by the Persians must have been a work of considerable time. The Erectheum was not begun until near the termination of the Peloponessian war : and the temples in the towns dependent upon Athens would in all probability be rebuilt * 'YJKhJfivuv Se ro7g avricnacri too fia.pfid,f>c*) rce, KurocycavQevToi U(>u pcy aviCTavui o~tpt(nv 'l$o%sv ......... ncti ol £tt< (puXripw rt\q &.Y[pv\Tpoq %xi kut epie en viptiKoivroi pcevovcrt' Paus. x. 35. | It was this temple which was accidentally burned as we learn from Xenophon, who calls it the old temple of Minerva. — o TTKAMioi vnog Trig 'AQwvxg. i. 6. RHAMNUS. 43 soon after those of the capital had been completed, so that the temple of Nemesis may be regarded as a work of one of the best ages of Greece. This temple affords an example of the practice amongst the Greeks of painting with red the moldings of the cornice. The cymatium all around has been thus ornamented. Where the colour has been applied the parts are prominent, the corrosion of the surface being, by this measure, prevented.* The outline appears to have been first traced with a sharp instrument, while the marble was soft. In the moldings which were less exposed to the action of the atmosphere, the outline remains deeply engraven. The neighbouring mountains produce abundance of marble similar to that employed in the buildings of the Athenian Acropolis. Of this beautiful material, the larger temple was wholly constructed, as were the walls of the peribolus, and the military remains of the citadel. The rock, distant about twenty yards from the temple, still exhibits the marks of the tools employed in quarrying. Pausanias reports that when the Persians invaded Attica, confident of success, they brought with them a block of Parian marble for the purpose of forming a trophy of their anticipated conquest. Of this block Phidias, he says, made the statue of Nemesis for the temple at Rhamnus.-f Within the area of the temple fragments of the statue were found, and amongst them the head ; many sculptured fragments of small figures were likewise dug up, which are conjectured to have belonged to the base or pedestal of the principal statue. The goddess was represented crowned with a diadem, on which stags were sculptured, and a small figure of Victory. The part of the head found amongst the ruins was pierced with holes, for the purpose of affixing to it these ornaments, which were probably of metal. The story of the statue, which Pausanias details from report, six hundred years after the battle of Marathon, was probably one of the many fables attached to Grecian history. It is certain that the marble of the statue is not Parian but Pentelican, like the blocks of the buildings. Other writers relate that the statue was the work of Agoracritus, a pupil of Phidias, and omit altogether the circumstances detailed by Pausanias.J Near the eastern front of the temple a small headless statue of a female was found; the sculpture of an early period ; it was probably one of a groupe belonging to the pediment. The whole area of the peribolus was strewn with fragments of sculpture, portions of statues the size of life. * A solution of dragon's blood, applied with a pencil to white marble, penetrates deeply, and the outline traced remains perfect, as the colour does not spread. This solution is found to harden the marble to such a degree, that if a piece partially stained be exposed to the action of a powerful acid, so that the surface is eaten away to a considerable depth, the tinted part will stand out beyond the rest. f Pausan. i. 23. J Hesych. in v. 'Papvoww. Plin. xxxvi. 5. 44 RHAMNUS. The two buildings within the peribolus were placed without any regard to symmetrical arrangement. The angle of one building is made to approach so near to the flank of the other as to prevent a passage between them. This proximity gives to the ruins the appearance of being parts of one building; and before the visit of the artists of the mission they had always been so considered. PLATE I. PLAN OF THE TEMPLE. The parts distinguished by the darker tint are those remaining in place. The species of the temple was hexastyle peripteral, having twelve columns in the flanks, a departure from the principle which Vitruvius asserts to have guided the Greeks in determining the number of the columns in the flanks from that in the fronts. In the generality of temples of this description, the antas terminating the flank walls of the cella are placed at a lesser distance asunder than the opposite columns in the front. The present is the only instance known in which they are made to range with them. The lower portions of the shafts of seven columns in the south side, and one in the pronaos remained in their original situations ; the rest had been displaced, but the steps are entire all around, and the positions of the prostrate columns are perfectly discernible. There was a joint in the upper step, or pavement, immediately in the line of the axis of each column, and a square shallow sinking for the reception of the shaft. There appears to have been a kind of railing between the columns of the pronaos; the holes sunk in the pavement for the purpose of fixing it remain : there were holes sunk in the shafts of the columns and antae likewise for the same purpose. A. The only part of the pavement remaining in its place : the plug-holes deeply sunk in it were, perhaps, for the reception of the barrier placed for the protection of the statue. PLATE II. ELEVATION OF THE PRINCIPAL FRONT. The aspect of the temple was 15° to the south of east. The shafts of the columns, like those of the temple of Ceres, already described, were fluted only at the top and bottom. They were in five pieces. RHAMNUS. 45 The ch„ on the acroteria, at the points of the pediment, were found in front of the temple In the upper members of the cornice an ornament appears to have been carved, but so slightly as ahuost to have escaped observation : the raised part is painted. The member thus ornalnted was continued along the flanks, and in the cornice of the pediments. PLATE HI. SECTION SHEWING THE PRONAOS OF THE TEMPLE. The columns of the pronaos were fluted in front; behind they were planed; the flutings are eleven, and the planes nine in number. The epistylia were continued from the ante, across the ambulatory, to the opposite columns in the flanks. In the posticum, the epistylia returned at the angles along the flank walls of the cella The metop, were omitted in the frize, but the gutte retained in the epistylia. All the members of the corn.ce were painted or gilt; among the ornaments introduced is the lotus, resemblin. the sen ptured molding in the capitals of the ant,, and along the flank walls of the Erectheum at Athens: and the meander, nearly similar to that carved in the interior frize of the temple of Theseus. Portions of everypart of the superstructure were lying amongstthe ruins, andpermitted a complete restoration of the ceiling and roof. PLATE IV. ORDER OF THE COLUMNS. The sima, or upper molding of the pediment-cornice, is continued along the flanks • the gutter was formed behind it, and the water falling upon the roof discharged through the lions heads, which have a bold projection. PLATE V. SECTION THROUGH THE ORDER. This section is supposed to be made by a plane passing through the flank walls of the cella beyond the return of the ante : the back part therefore of the entablature, extending from the ante to the opposite columns of the flanks across the ambulatory, presents itself. 46 RHAMNUS. The epistylia were in two thicknesses firmly cramped on the top surface, and connected with plugs to the frize. The cornice was in one block in width plugged to the frize. From the size of the plug-holes sunk in the frusta of the shaft it is probable that they were connected by means of wooden pins let into sockets of the same material, similar to those used in the columns of the Propylaea at Athens, PLATE VI. DETAILS OF THE BUILDING. The profile of the capitals is here shewn to a large scale. The opposite figure on the right is the capital of the antae, shewing the enrichments, the upper of which was merely an outline, deeply traced with a point. The echinus was sculptured. Below is the section of one of the flutings, taken at the bottom of the shaft, the size of the original. The ovalo in the pannels of the lacunaria were painted : the green colour is in some places still visible. The star-like figure appears to have been gold upon a ground of blue. PLATE VII. DETAILS OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE. A. Section through the inclined cornice of the pediments. The tiles above it were formed in the blocks which constituted its top-bed. The harmus, or tile covering the joints of the flat tiles, was a simi-hexagonal prism hollowed underneath. B. Section through the cornice above the columns of the front. The additional thickness given to the cornice in this part seems intended to afford the necessary strength for the support of the sculptures in the pediment above. The facing of the tympana exhibited no traces of cramps, so that the sculpture was wholly supported by the cornice. The statues in the pediments of the Parthenon, in like manner, received no other support than what the cornice afforded. C. Representation of the molding, whose section is shewn at G. The relief is so slight, that it was conjectured to have been occasioned by the application of a colour which preserved the surface covered from corrosion. D. A length of the sima or sloping top -bed of the cornice in the flanks : in this the gutter was formed. These blocks were all of the same length, each equal to the width of two tiles. In the middle, a stop or check was left for the purpose of fixing to it the harmus, or narrow tile which covered the meeting-joint of two contiguous flat-tiles in the next superior course. The back of the gutter shews the perforation through which the water escaped. RHAMNUS. 47 E. Plan of the triglyph, at one of the angles of the building, shewing the soffit of the cornice above it. F. Section through the edge of the upper step of the temple with a portion of the lower part of the shaft. PLATE VIII. PLAN OF THE LACUNARIA. A beam of marble, resting upon the painted cornice, extended from over every column of the flanks to the opposite wall of the cella ; there was likewise one in every interval. They supported slabs, of the same material, in which eight square perforations were made ; these were each covered with a thin piece in which a pannel was sunk. The ovalo, or molding of the pannels, was slighdy carved and afterwards painted. The whole was strongly fastened together by means of cramps run in with lead. PLATE IX. THE FLANK OF THE POSTICUM. The epistylia of the posticum were not continued across the ambulatory but returned round the angle. Above the painted cornice the section of the lacunaria is shewn. The marble beams, fourteen inches in width, and more than eight inches in depth, extend from the wall, across the ambulatory, and rest upon the painted cornice running round the interior face of the entablature above the columns of the peristyle. They support marble slabs, four inches in thickness and two feet four in width, extending across in the same direction. These have eight square holes cut through them, and are closed by pieces nine inches square, two inches and a half in thickness, in which the soffit of the pannels is sunk. PLATE X. PLAN OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURE. The upper part of the plan shews the roof covered with marble tiles. Half the lower part shews the manner in which the epistylia, A A, are placed, and the method observed in tying them together, with iron cramps, in shape like the letter H drawn out. In each block of the epistylia, excepting those at the angles, there are two holes made for the reception of metal plates, by which the zophorus or frize was fastened to them. 48 R H A M N U S. The other part of the plan shews the beams of the lacunaria, B B, resting upon the top-bed of the blocks forming the cornice, CC. PLATE XL THE NORTH-WEST ANGLE OF THE TEMPLE. This plate shews the geometrical elevation of the roof as it would appear when all the tiles were fixed. The narrow tiles, extending from the ridge to the gutters, covered the meeting joints of the flat tiles ; every superior tile overlapping that next below it : those at the ridge extended down both sides of the roof and were surmounted with a flowered ornament. The blocks of the sima, excepting those next the angles, were equal in width to two of the flat tiles, and jointed immediately opposite the centre of the alternate narrow tiles. The lions heads of very bold projection, and perforated through to the gutter, were introduced in the sima in the centre of each piece. The blocks forming the cornice were of uniform length, and equal to those of the sima ; they were jointed at the extremity of every alternate mutule. There were three acroteria in each front of the building ; one at the apex, and one at each extremity of the pediment. PLATE XII. DETAILS OF THE ROOF. The entire roof was of white marble. A. Section of the roof made by a plane passing through it transversely. The narrow tile covering the joint of the ridge tiles is seen in flank : immediately below it is the section of the ridge tiles overlapping the upper course of flat tiles on both sides of the roof. The narrow tile covering the junction of two adjoining flat-tiles, on one side is removed, in order to shew the end of the one next below it, where there was a check or stop to prevent its slipping. B. The tiles adjoining the ridge shewn perspectively. C. Geometrical elevation of the same. D. The under surface of one of the narrow tiles. E. The under surface of one of the flat tiles ; the tile is here represented as if tilted up for the purpose of shewing the check by which it was kept close to the rafter, and prevented from slipping. F. The upper surface of the same. R H A M N U S. 49 PLATE XIII. MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS. A. An ornamented molding found within the area of the temple : supposed to have been the capital of the antepagments or door-jambs. B. Section of the same. C. A base molding likewise found within the cella ; it is conjectured to have been the base of the antepagments, and to have been continued around the interior of the cella. D. Section of the same. E. Section of the upper molding belonging to the cornice in front of the building. F. Section of a similar molding belonging to the interior cornice. G. The painted molding of the pannels of the lacunaria : traces of green colour were visible upon it. H. Molding dug up in the pronaos. I. W all supporting the terrace towards the east. It is constructed with white marble. Chapyi-flJ-- i ~S ifi E . by compaJ's John F.6 V indif. S'JorUr.sai//' Chapel. El . SForter. sculp 1 Chap VI. Ft -4 -C- -at. .. 2.4-3 7 ; 7^ J. 2. J 2.1.66 IL ILJI JJL _! U L 111 "-"J 1 ! ! "-" JIL' UI I'lL' 1 -" 'PL Jill Hi" JIIUL-IIIJ^ 1 I|1J£J l~T(T-rt 5 ^> j 36 ■John,.F. Oandu _J '_l u u u TT=T = T 1.1.68 2-2- J J 1. 'i.iy 1.2. 8 ff S.Forh-r. sculp*!, \ Map. VI.-F/,. 5. 2-4/1 John r.tli'/n. m J.Roffe 1 ■ Chap. W.JPl. 7. 3-39 4-66 III M 0 O O O ' 0 O O O 0 O O O 0000 0.0 O O O OO Q OOOOOO John Peter Gtindy delifi . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Q 0 0 * O 0 0 O 0 0 O ■0 0 O 0 0 O 0 0 O I 1 A I Chap. W.JPl. 8, John V.(ni/tilx JJloffc C/iap. VI. 1*1.10. jZtZ (f'9'T \ I [ \ 0 1 - - - r- 1 a - i -H H I 1 i H -H — 1- 1 i i f— \ i -H 1- 1 i H H 1 — \ H l-i 1— — h H i 4-t { I— — h — 1- H H -H \ • — h H H H 4 1 — h-t— H -H {■ H h rH H — h 1- H 4-1 I ■ + 1— H H HH : h4 h H H H h H -H 3 -H : - H H 1 — l H -H ; » 1-4 (- h H H -t L 1 r \ ±4 1 1 .j, i .-. .•-(. 1 1 i i 1 H- 1 1 — ( 1 I 4- I 1 1 f 1 T T T -t- 4- I 4- 1 1 ■i 1 1 ' ' 'r i 1 ! 1 A 1 1 l 1 L 1 1 1 1 E : i : : — i «■ — i i — i i — i i - 1 ii ii i 4- 4- l 1 l I i B B B B 4- : i 4- A- t^j: - ' i - K H - r J 3' 'cr 1 h 1 r— ' L| 1 1 A -L - (- -i — h- 1 1 Jo/in 2'fftmdy JJtoffc \ 1 1 I 1 1 1 Chap .VI. PUS. JohthP.Gandy d*l! 'ISSlP^ J . 73 I I ■-■//■/■■■ 4% r//w f ^s^lllll ■ ill- ■ it ii I ■it ■ i ' 1 \rmst**ntif7 fftlp? I r 51 CHAPTER VII. TEMPLE OF THEMIS. Th e form of this temple is the simplest of those given to the sacred structures of the Greeks. A variety of the species has already been described:* the subject of the present chapter differs from it in having only one portico. The situation of the building, almost in contact with the temple of Nemesis, has been noticed ; a circumstance equally difficult to be explained is the mode of its construction. The walls of the cella are of the same kind of marble as the larger temple, but the columns and other parts of the ornamental architecture are constructed with a soft porous stone. The masonry of the walls is that kind termed by Vitruvius incertum, from the stones being polygons with unequal sides. The joints in the exterior are made to fit with uncommon precision, and the face was polished ; the interior is rough, and the joints less carefully constructed : no cement appears to have been used. Around the walls, below the soil, within the area of the building, a number of iron nails were discovered ; whence it would seem that they were originally cased with wood. A chair of white marble was placed in the portico on each side the entrance ; that on the right was dedicated to Nemesis and the other to Themis. According to the inscriptions on the top of the backs they were severally consecrated by Sostratus, in the priestesships of Callisto and Philostrates. A statue six feet in height, wanting the head and arms, was found near the door-way : the style of sculpture denoted an early period of the art. On digging below the pavement in this place fragments of bones, and of bronze, together with spear-heads, and small lacrymal vases were discovered. By removing some of the blocks with which the interior of the cella was encumbered * Chapter V. 52 RHAMNUS. the terra-cotta tiles of the roof, and the iron nails already mentioned, were brought to light. The walls of the cella remain standing eight feet above the ground. PLATE I. PLAN OF THE TWO TEMPLES. The plans of both temples are here given, for the purpose of shewing their relative positions. The parts of the smaller distinguished by the light tint are those executed in coarse stone. PLATE II. ELEVATION OF THE TEMPLE OF THEMIS. The chairs, which do not appear to have been fixed, are here removed from their situations for the purpose of exhibiting them entire in the elevation. The head of the statue is restored from conjecture. PLATE III. ORDER OF THE ANTvE. The moldings of the projecting cornice below the tiles have perished : the depth of the block in which they were formed could alone be ascertained. PLATE IV. ORDER OF THE COLUMNS A. Annulets of the capital, the full size. B. One of the flutings at the top of the shaft. C. Polygonal masonry of the flank walls. D. The masonry of the transverse wall. E. Plan of the triglyphs. F. Section of the capital of the antse PLATE V. ENTRANCE INTO THE CELLA. The chairs are here made to occupy the positions in which they were discovered. The sepulchral bas-relief was found within the area of the cella. Chap m.PLi . \\\ TEMPLE o£ THESIS . o 1 * _jzzzzz^zt o u o o o o o o o o □ o o o o c 3> TERRACE Wall for support cf Ttrra.ce, S . Porter. SuoLp 1 ■ I If 4 Oiapm.Il.Z- John, T. (randy . S.Forter .sadp ChapXSL.Fl.3- □ lJ !_J J. 4 ■ #■45 Km®/ TZl TZT 1-3.. 4 u u u u u i ■ 5 i x . 5. ■ 1.3.1 Joh n. . F '. 0 andxi . S .Farter sci dp*: 1 1 ,, Chap. WiTl 4. J.Roffe/c. 53 CHAPTER VIII. SUNIUM. Ounium was one of the borough towns belonging to the tribe Attalis. It was situated on a promontory of the same name, forming the southernmost point of Attica. The rocks next the sea are precipitous and rugged. During the Peloponnesian war the Athenians, who expected to derive their means of subsistence from Euboea, fortified Sunium for the protection of the vessels employed in carrying their supplies along the coast. The Lacedemonians at this time, by maintaining a garrison at Decelea, cut off all communication between Athens and the inland towns. The principal ruins of Sunium are the remains of a temple dedicated to Minerva -Sunias ; it is constructed with the white marble produced by the neighbouring hills. The temple is of the Doric order, and had six columns in the front : beyond the tenth column of the south-west flank there are no remains to indicate its original extent : nine columns are still standing on this side, and three on that opposite, as well as the two belonging to the pronaos, with one of their antse. North of the temple, and nearly in a line with its eastern front, the remains of a Propyls were discovered. It was a building of the same order of architecture ; the proportions of its columns and the form of its moldings were nearly similar to those of the temple. With respect to the age of these edifices it is probable that they were coeval, or nearly so, with the temple of Nemesis at Rhamnus ; the conjecture as to the origin of the latter is likewise applicable to the buildings of Sunium. The exquisite finish observed in their execution is a sufficient proof of their having been erected in one of the best ages of architecture. of the Propylaea were in antis, that is, the porticoes were formed by placing two 54 S U N I U M. columns between the ante of the flank walls. The central interval was enlarged, like that of the Propvkea at Eleusis already described, in order to afford a more commodious approach to the peribolus into which it was the entrance. The lower portions of the two columns in the south front, one of the ante at the south-east angle, and a considerable part of the lower courses of the flank walls on the east side, are remaining : nothing but the foundations of the rest of the building were standing. The pavement lies buried diree feet below the soil. No remains of the entablature above the epistylia were found, but in digging around and within the area of the building some fragments of moldings were discovered, which had been purposely broken off and afterwards buried, with the intention of concealing from less inquisitive travellers the details which would assist in restoring the design of the edifice : the freshness of the fractures shewed that this wanton injury had been perpetrated at no distant period. The cornice of the building had probably shared the same fate, and might be discovered by a more extensive excavation. The walls of the peribolus, which embraced the temple within their circuit, were faced externally with white marble : the surface next the area they inclosed was constructed with a coarse stone, of a similar kind to that used in the foundations of the Propyls. They may be traced from near the temple, along the brow of the eminence on which it stands, down to the shore. PLATE L PLAN OF THE PROPYLiEA. A. The line of the stone foundation below the steps in the north front. B. The walls of the peribolus. C C. Marble seats along the interior of the portico ; that on the east side remains entire ; it is 14.9 in length. PLATE IL ELEVATION OF THE SOUTH FRONT. The columns diminish from the bottom to the top in lines perfectly straight. The metopae over the central interval are considerably less in width than the others ; this mode appears to have been adopted for the purpose of reducing the interval, enlarged by the introduction of one metopa and one triglyph more, within certain limits, and thereby to render the dissimilarity between it and the others less remarkable. S U N I U M. 55 PLATE III. THE ORDER AT LARGE. The columns have twenty flutings, each separated by a narrow fillet. Section through the epistylia which were in two pieces in width : the taenia is less in width than the regula. The epistylium has a greater proportional height than is usually met with ; it is f hs of the lower diameter of the columns. Plan of the columns at the base and top of the shaft. Plan of the flutings, half the real size. Contour of the capitals, half the size of the original. Annulets of the capitals, the full size. PLATE IV. DETAILS OF THE BUILDING. The order of the antae. Section through the capital of the antas. Section through the cornice of the pediment. Section through the cymatium of the pediment at large. A similar moulding found amongst the ruins. PLATE V.* VIEW OF THE TEMPLE OF MINERVASUNIAS. This view is taken from the north-east, a little below the temple. The surface of the columns exposed to the action of the sea air is considerably corroded. » * Although the following plates have already been published in the second volume of the Ionian Antiquities, they are here introduced, because otherwise it would have been the only ancient building yet discovered in Attica, with the exception of those at Athens, unnoticed in the present volume. The architectural plates have been re-engraved, in order that they might correspond with the other engravings. Fig. I. II. III. IV. V. Fig I. II. III. IV. V. 56 SUNIUM, PLATE VI. ELEVATION OF THE TEMPLE. The present example is one of two which have come to our knowledge exhibiting a departure from the common practice of dividing the shafts of Doric columns, when fluted, into twenty flutings. The number here is only sixteen : the columns of the hexastyle temple at Paestum, the other instance alluded to, have twenty-four. PLATE VII. SECTION THROUGH THE PRONAOS. The epistylium is continued across the ambulatory, and is supported by the columns in the flanks, which are the second in order from those at the angles of the front. PLATE VIII. THE ORDER AT LARGE. PLATE IX. SECTION THROUGH THE ENTABLATURE OF THE PRONAOS. The frize was ornamented with sculpture, representing the battle of the Centaurs and Lapithae, now much defaced. \ chap, mr.it. i 2ff. 10 . g KBedford dd* J.Jto/fe J'culpt if ii l it < '7 III I Iff \ IS J i \V\\\ \\ \ \\\\\ 11 i \\ \ w Ml I I I 4\ mm chap, vur.n. 3. Fig. 5. 3-9-5 ti.oS 4.6 3-o5 Fin.L. ±.. h .8 4-oS- Fig. 3. 4 . J20 ■ Fin. 2. 111111 — . — — , 2 .JO . 02 3.7.43 LUctH Sculp, j i! I ■ i chap, mzri.ff. i 1 I I I ! ! e . 0.2SA SB . 0 . 0 TP i I I i i ! i i m ■ I Chap. V/I/.FL 7. J.Rottr- .ratlp. i !ifl ► Chap. VHf.TI. 8. t T.Jit>ifr sculp- Chap. VM.n.(). 2.3 ■ 66 '& ■ 3 2 . 6 . 65 7-95 2 ■ 2 3 ■ 4- 2 2.0.2 1 . 20 .35 & J- \s — ) J . I I I OmpNW.Fl.LO. %.J3 i ■ 7 J. . z 2 ■ 3 \. 4- S. ParUr . sculp t 57 CHAPTER IX. THORICUS. Phohicus, one of the demi of Attica, was situated in a plain upon the eastern coast about eight miles to the north of cape Sunium. The plain is embraced on three sides by a range of hills which circle round the bay : towards the east it is open to the harbour, now called Porto-mandri. Thoricus derived its importance from its vicinity to the silver mines of Laurium ; these were situated in a range of mountains extending in a direction nearly north and south from the port of Prasiae, now called Raphti, on the eastern coast ten miles to the north of Thoricus, to the southern shore. The extremities of this range are now called Mauron-ores, and Lauron-ores, both corruptions of A&ixnov opoc : these tracts are strewn over with cinders and scoria. The town was fortified during the twenty- sixth year of the Peloponnesian war, and a garrison was placed there, as well as at Anaphlystus on the southern coast, and at Besa, midway between the two places, for the protection of the mines. A little below a conical hill, on which the ancient citadel is supposed to have been erected, are the remains of a singular building, half buried in the soil brought down by torrents from the surrounding hills, and covered by mastic bushes, which have overspread the spot. A number of labourers having been procured from the village of Keratia, about eight miles to the north-east of Thoricus, the brush-wood was cut down, and the soil cleared away to the depth of five or six feet. The lower parts of a Doric portico, having fourteen columns in the fronts, and seven in each return, were thus exposed. The central interval between the columns of the fronts was enlarged after the usual manner of the Greeks, when the destination of the building demanded a wide approach; whilst in the 58 T H O R I G U S. returns the intervals, excepting those at the angles which in all examples are less than the others, must have been equal. No remains of walls could be discovered within the area ; which circumstance, connected with the unusual width of the central interval in one of the long fronts of the building, seems to prove that it was not a temple, but an open portico. Within the area capitals differing from those found around the exterior of the building were dug up ; they belonged probably to columns which extended along the middle of the space inclosed by the outer peristyle and supported the timbers of the roof. ! PLATE h PLAN OF THE PORTICO. The portions of sixteen columns remain in their original situations ; eleven on the east side, and five on the north-west. The angular columns of the south-west front are both remaining, and the place of the second column A. is designated by the sinking left in the pavement to receive it. It is this circumstance that enables us to ascertain that there were seven columns in the returns or ends of the portico. The edge of the tread of the first step, and a narrow fillet next the foot of the second, are polished ; the intermediate part is roughly worked ; a proof that the building was never finished, PLATE IL ELEVATION OF THE COLUMNS OF THE NORTH-WEST FRONT. The height of the columns was ascertained from the fallen frusta of those shafts of which part were remaining in their original situations. The columns diminish nearly a fourth of their lower diameter, in lines perfectly straight. The shafts are plain, excepting a small portion at the top and bottom, which is fluted ; above the fmtings, at the base of the shaft, is a narrow band, or fillet, worked with an eliptical curve over each of the flutings : this is highly polished. The band below the hypotrachelium, or neck of the column, is likewise polished ; the plain part of the shaft exhibits the marks of a pointed tool over its entire surface. Projecting knobs were left in front of the blocks forming the steps ; these were probably intended to be worked off when the building was finished. T H O R I C U S. 59 PLATE III. DETAILS OF THE BUILDING. Fig. I. The order at large. II. Plan of the shaft at the bottom and top. III. Capital of the exterior columns, half the real size. A. Annulets of the capital, the full size. IV. Capital of the interior columns, half the real size. B. The mode in which the flutings finish against the annulets. C. Annulets of the interior columns, the full size. V. Plan of the steps at the angles of the building. The shaded parts are those left unpolished. PRINTED BY W. BULMER AND CO. Cleveland Row, St. James's. / j Chap. IX Tl. pt '3 gr 4 KJIni/brdtM. Chap. IX.. PL. 3 7 Til n I. 9 I i I