There seems little reason to doubt that the earliest settlement on Athenian soil was upon the cliff afterwards famous as the Acropolis. Such is the express statement of Thucydides (ii. 15), who observes that the Acropolis was commonly termed at Athens η πόλις, much as the oldest part of London is styled “The City.” The earliest inhabitants appear to have been Pelasgians; and though it was the boast of the Athenians that they alone of all Greek states were indigenous (avτ0χθoves), yet their town would from the first have received accessions from various parts of the continent, the peaceful poverty of Attica affording a welcome refuge in those early and unsettled times (Thucyd., i. 2). The most accessible portion of the Acropolis is the western side, where it is joined by a neck of hill to the Areopagus. On this side there existed down to later times the remains of fortifications built by the earliest inhabitants, λvith nine doorways, one within the other, called to Πελασγικόν, or to Έννεάπυλον. This fort protected the only entrance to the citadel, which was surrounded by a wall, and artificially levelled for the reception of buildings. Within this fortified enclosure stood the shrine of Athena Polias (Homer, Iliad, ii. 449: Odyssey, vii. 81), afterwards known as the Erechtheium,—and an altar of Zeus Polieus, where the strange sacrifices of the Dipolia were celebrated. A Prytaneium, containing the hearth-fire of the state, and serving as the residence of the king, would be another indispensable feature in the primitive town. But while the king and some of the most sacred families probably had dwellings within the fortress itself, Thucydides (ii. 15) points out that a great part of the early population dwelt outside its walls, under the south side of the cliff, probably without fortification, but retiring to the citadel in times of peril. In this quarter, towards the Ilissus, stood the oldest Athenian sanctuary of Dionysus, in a region called Λi∕ιvαι, from having been literally a marsh in early times. Not far off, and nearer the stream, stood the temple of Zeus Olympius, said to be founded by Deucalion (Pausan., i. 18), of which more will be said presently, the precinct of Gaea Olympia, and other ’ sacred places. Here also was the fountain of Callirrhoe, afterwards ornamented by the Pisistratids, and called Enneacrunus, the water of which was sought for sacred purposes long after the city had outgrown these early limits (Thucyd., ii. 15). The region we have been describing formed the nucleus of the later city, and therefore, at the subdivision of all Attica into demes, this quarter was distinguished by the name Kυδα0^vαιov.

To the west of the Acropolis there extends from N. to S. a range of hills, the three most prominent heights of which are commonly known respectively as the Hill of the Nymphs, the Pnyx, and the Museium,—the Nymphs’ Hill being separated from the Acropolis by the Areopagus, which intervenes between. Everywhere upon the slopes of the hills just mentioned traces have lately been discovered of ancient dwellings hewn out of the solid rock. But while all these rock-dwellings are extremely ancient, yet some appear less primitive than others; it is remarked that those which exist on the Areopagus and on the hillsides nearest to the Acropolis are of a smaller and ruder type, those more distant from the citadel being somewhat more convenient in plan and extent. Legend declares the Athenians to have originally dwelt in rock-hewn caves (Dyer’s Athens, ch. i,), and it would seem that primitive Athens gradually extended itself from the Acropolis in this W. and S.W. direction. This quarter was afterwards known as the intramural deme of Melite, a name derived, perhaps, from the balm which then grew there (the eiωδη<s μ,eλiτeιa of Theocr., iv. 25). The historian E. Curtius {Attische Studien, pt. i.) has, indeed, gone so far as to regard these rock-dwellings as earlier than the occupation of the Acropolis itself. But the contrary opinion of Thucydides is worth something, and the natural strength of the Acropolis would make it the most obvious spot for primitive occupation. Accordingly, we shall not be giving too free a licence to our imagination if we conceive of primitive Athens as a twofold settlement, partly on the Acropolis and the low ground at its southern foot, and partly upon the eastern slopes of the hills on the west. It may even have been the consolidation of these two villages into one township that gave rise to the legend ascribing to Theseus the συνοικισ/χό? or consolidation of Attica. It would be natural for legend to assign to one definite time, and connect with one great mythical name, that process of unification which probably was as gradual as it was spontaneous. As the population of the early town continued to increase, two more districts seem to have been incorporated—Collytus, extending from the east of Melite, between the Acropolis and Areopagus, and Cerameicus, or the “Potters’ quarter” (“Tuileries”), which extended from the same two hills towards the north and north-west. The regions we have now described appear to have made up the Athens of Solonian times. The earliest historical event which illustrates Athenian topography is the rising of Cylon (Herod., v. 71; Thucyd., i. 126; Pausan., i. 28). The narratives of that event imply that the Acropolis was already fortified by the Enneapylum, that the Areopagus was already the seat of the court which bore its name (see Areopagus), and that near the entrance of the citadel stood an altar of the Semnae, or Furies, at which Cylon and his partisans were slain. This altar has been immortalised by Aeschylus in the splendid conclusion of the Eumenides. Another sacred spot in early Athens must have been the Leocoriτιm, w here Hipparchus was assassinated (Thucyd., i. 20; vi. 57). This was a shrine erected in honour of the daughters of Leo, who were sacrificed by their father to Athena, in order to avert a pestilence. The nature of the legend testifies to the antiquity of the site. The words of Thucydides respecting Cylon imply that the early city was already surrounded by a ring-wall, and this probably remained intact until the invasion of the Persians, although the buildings within the walls underwent great alteration and improvements under the government of Pisistratus and his sons.

i ’ The reign of the Pisistratids was recognised by the ancients as marking an important era in Athenian topography. We have already mentioned the fountain of Enneacrunus as being built by them. It was Pisistratus . who laid the foundations of the great temple of Zeus Olympius upon the ancient site above mentioned. His magnificent design had an eventful history: left unfinished by its author, the Athenians, perhaps from dislike to the “tyrant,” made no effort to complete it. At length, after receiving additions from various foreign princes, it was completed by Hadrian (c. 130 a.d.), and formed the grandest edifice in the region of the city which, in acknow-ledgment of the imperial munificence, was called Hadrianopolis. The Olympium was one of the· largest temples in the world; but of its 124 Corinthian columns only 15 are now standing. The Pythium, or sanctuary of the Pythian

Apollo near the Olympium, was also ascribed to Pisistratus, whose grandson and namesake dedicated an altar within it (Thucyd., vi. 54). To Pisistratus was ascribed the founding of the Lyceium, or temple of Apollo Lyceius, which stood on the right bank of the Ilissus, a short distance from the city. The names both of Pericles and Lycurgus the orator are also associated with this building; yet it is not known who added the gymnasium close by, which afterwards became famous as the favourite haunt of Aristotle, and the birthplace of the Peripatetic philosophy. The yet more famous seat of the rival philosophy seems also to have owed something to the Pisistratids, for Hipparchus was said to have enclosed the Academy with a wall. This was a gymnasium surrounded by pleasant gardens lying to the N. of the city, about a mile from the Dipylum gate. It owes all its fame, of course, to its connection with Plato, who lived, taught, and was buried there. This site, so full of glorious memories, cannot now be identified with certainty. Its trees, like those of the Lyceium, were despoiled by Sulla to make implements of war. The name of Pisistratus is connected with another important site. Professor E. Curtius {Attische Studien, pt. 2), supposes that the most ancient Athenian market lay on the S. of the Acropolis, and that the Pisistratids superseded it by a new market at the northern foot of the Areopagus. Be this as it may, we are sure that, as early as their times, this site formed the centre of Athenian commercial and civic life. The narrow valley between the Pnyx Hill and the Areopagus, where older topographers placed the Agora, is not a spacious enough site for the purpose. The obvious locality for an Agora would be the rectangular space enclosed by the Areopagus on the S., by the Acropolis on the E., and on the W. by the eminence occupied by the Theseium. To the N. and N.E. no barrier existed; accordingly, the entrance was from the Dipylum gate on the N.W., and on the N.E. the market received extension in Roman times. The Agora thus stood in the region known as Cerameicus. But as the Cerameicus extended for some miles in a N.W. direction, it became divided by the city wall into the outer and the inner Cerameicus. The outer Cerameicus was an agreeable suburb, lying on the road to the Academy and Colonus, the home of Sophocles; and it was here that citizens who died in their country’s wars received a public burial. Through gate Dipylum one passed into the inner Cerameicus, the most important quarter of which was naturally the Agora itself; and so it was common to speak of the Agora as “The Cerameicus.” How much this market-place may have owed to the designs of the Pisistratids we cannot now determine. The statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton formed a conspicuous ornament of the south portion, and Thucydides (vi. 54) informs us that the grandson and namesake of Pisistratus adorned the Agora by building the altar of the twelve gods. If the Agora belongs to the age of Pisistratus, some of the civic buildings within it would also be coeval with him. Such were the Stoa Basileius, or Portico, where the archon basileius presided; the Bouleuterium, where the senate of 500 held its sittings; the Tholus close by it, where the Prytanes of the senate sacrificed—a circular building with a dome of stone, from whence it gained its name; and the Prytan· eium, said to be founded by Theseus (Thucyd., ii. 15), which contained the hearth-fire of the state, and where the Prytanes and public benefactors had the privilege of dining at the public expense. The statues of the ten heroes (eponymi), who gave their names to the Athenian tribes, decorated the Agora probably from the first; against these statues were affixed public notices and proclamations. Other buildings in the Agora of later and ascertained dates will be enumerated in their proper place.

The revolution which expelled the Pisistratids (510 b.c. ), and gave Athens a free government, left its mark upon the topography of the city. The old Pelasgic fortress (to ’ En∕∈ατrυλov), in which “the tyrants” had for a time held out, was now broken down, and the site occupied by its ruins was devoted by the Delphic oracle to eternal desolation. Only in the Peloponnesian war, when the country population was crowded within the city walls, do we read of this spot being occupied by dwellings (Thucyd., ii. 17). Another work which may probably be assigned to the age of Clisthenes is the first arrangement of the Pnyx, or place of public assembly. The hill that is commonly known as the Pnyx Hill contains one of the most remarkable ruins in Athens; the silence, however, of Pausanius respecting what was probably in his day already a mere ruin has occasioned some doubt concerning its proper identification. The spot in question consists of two terraces sloping down the hill towards the Areopagus, from S.W. to N.E. The upper terrace, indeed, does not slope, but is levelled out of the solid rock near the summit of the hill, being about 65 yards in length (E. to W.), and about 43 in breadth at its broadest part (Ν’, to S.) It is bounded at the back (S.) by a rock-wall, and at the W. end there stands a cubical block, allowed to rise out of the solid rock when this upper terrace was levelled. There is good reason for considering this as the altar for the sacrifices (τα 7τ∈piστια) with which every assembly of the ecclesia was opened (Bursian, Philologus, 1854, p. 369, foil.; Dyer, Athens, p. 462). The lower and considerably larger terrace is separated from the upper terrace by another wall cut out of the solid rock. This wall, which is nearly 126 yards long, is not quite straight, but encroaches slightly upon the upper terrace, and forms at the centre a very obtuse angle. At this point there rises, projecting from the wall, a large cubical mass, cut out of the solid rock, resembling somewhat, though on a larger scale, the altar described above. It is itself 11 feet square and 5 feet high, and stands on a platform consisting of three very massive steps. This remarkable monument has been recognised by tradition as the σκάλα του ∆ημoσθeveo<s, and almost every traveller since Chandler’s time has regarded it as no other than the famous bema of the ancient Athenian assembly. The rock-wall from which it projects forms the chord of a vast semicircular space, the enclosure of its arc being a wall of “Cyclopean” masonry. The radius of the semicircle measures between 76 and 77 yards from this outer wall to the bema. Here, then, was the auditorium of the Pnyx. But several difficulties beset the identification. Towards the bottom of the lower bema Prof. E. Curtius (Attische Studien, pt. i.) has discovered another similar though smaller bema. Again, Plutarch asserts that the bema which had originally faced towards the sea was by the Thirty Tyrants turned round the other way, in their hatred of the maritime democracy. Moreover, if the block of marble above mentioned be rightly identified as the bema, then it would have the auditorium sloping downwards from it, an arrangement ill suited for addressing a tumultuous popular assembly. Dr Curtius accordingly pronounces the entire identification to be a mistake, and would regard this spot as a primitive precinct and rock-altar of the Most High Zeus. It would not be difficult, if space allowed, to disprove Dr Curtius’s theory. Far more reasonable is the view of Dr Dyer (Athens, App. iil) He thinks that the lower and smaller bema discovered by Dr Curtius was the bema of Clisthenes, which did (however much Plutarch’s statement is discredited by his own absurd explanation) face in the direction of the sea. The orator would thus speak from the arc of the semicircle, having the audience above him. The Thirty may well have defaced the Pnyx, and it would have been natural for Thrasybulus after the anarchy to restore it on a large scale, hewing out what is still known as the bema. giving the semicircular wall a wider sweep, and raising the tiers of seats at least to a level with the new bema, if not above it. For there is no reason to suppose that the surface of the lower terrace has undergone no change in the lapse of centuries, or that the “Cyclopean” wall surrounding it never exceeded its present height.

A building of greater architectural importance and of equal interest belongs to this same period. Dramatic performances at Athens originally took place in wooden theatres extemporised for the occasion; but the fall of one of these led, in the year 500 b.c., to the erection of the marble theatre on a site already consecrated to Dionysus as the Lenaeum, upon the S.E. slope of the Acropolis. (Suidas, s. υ. ΠpατAας.) We may be sure that the first stone theatre was comparatively simple in construction, consisting of a κoιλov or auditorium, with tiers of rock-hewn seats, and an ορχήστρα, or space for the chorus, while the stage itself and its furniture were of wood. The excavation of the Dionysiae theatre in 1862 has made every one familiar with the row of marble thrones for the various priests and officers of state, the elaborate masonry of the stage, the orchestra floor, and other features. But these and other interesting decorations of the theatre belong to a later age. It was under the administration of Lycurgus the orator (337 b.c. ) that the building was first really completed; and many of the sculptures which have been lately brought to light belong to a restoration of the theatre in the 2d, or perhaps even in the 3d, century a.d.

Enough has now been said of the condition of Athens before the Persian War. It was surrounded by a ring-wall of narrow circuit, some doubtful traces of which are supposed to remain. At its centre stood the Acropolis, already crowded with temples and sanctuaries, some upon the summit, some built at its foot, and others—like the famous grotto of Pan, on the N.W. slope—mere caves in its rocky sides.

The Persian invasion, which forced the Athenians to take refuge in their “wooden walls,” and to leave their city at the mercy of the barbarian, marked an important epoch in the annals of Athenian building. Upon the retreat of Mardonius, the Athenians returned to Attica to find their city virtually in ruins.’ Its fortifications and public buildings had been destroyed or burnt, and the private dwellings had been wantonly defaced or ruined by neglect. Amid the enthusiasm of hope which follow ed upon the great deliverance of Greece, a natural impulse led the Athenians to rear their city more glorious from its ruins. Themis tocles fanned their patriotism with the foresight of a statesman, and Athens rose again with marvellous rapidity. This haste, however, though creditable to their patriotism, and, indeed, necessary in order to forestall the jealous opposition of Sparta, was not without its evils. The houses were rebuilt on their old sites, and the lines of the old streets, narrow and irregular as they had been, were too readily followed. A similar haste marked the rebuilding of the city walls, a work in which men and women, old and young, took zealous part, not scrupling to dismantle any building or monument, private or public, which could supply materials for the building. But in rebuilding the walls Themistocles gave them a wider circuit, especially towards the N. and N.E. (Thucyd., i. 90, 93). At the same time he determined to construct new harbours, and to fortify the Piraeeus, regarding the navy of Athens as her principal source of strength. It is doubtful whether the “Long Walls” formed a distinct portion of his designs; but he may certainly be regarded as the founder of the greatness of Athens, the works and embellishments carried cut by Pericles being only a fulfilment of the far-sighted aims of Themistocles. Thucydides (ii. 13) makes the circuit of the city wall to be 43 stades (about 5⅛ miles), exclusive of the unguarded space between walls ', this is found to correspond accurately enough with the existing remains. In tracing the circuit of the ancient walls, we may take our start from the N.W. side of the city, at the one gate whose site is absolutely certain, the...