Εμφανίζονται 100 (επί συνόλου 134) τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ Νομαρχία ΑΤΤΙΚΗ" .
ΜΑΡΚΟΠΟΥΛΟ ΜΕΣΟΓΑΙΑΣ (Δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
ΑΖΗΝΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Azenia, the only demus mentioned by Strabo (l. c.) between Anaphlystus and Sunium. (Harpocr.; Hesych.; Steph.; Bekker, Anecd. i. p. 348.) It was probably situated in the bay of which Sunium forms the eastern cape. Opposite this bay is a small island, now called Gaidharonisi, formerly the Island or Rampart of Patroclus (Patroklou charax or nesos), because a fortress was built upon it by Patroclus, who commanded on one occasion the ships of Ptolemy Philadelphus. (Strab. l. c.; Paus. i. 1. § 1; Steph. s. v. Patroklou nesos.) Ten miles to the south of this island, at the entrance of the Saronic gulf, is Belbina, now St. George, which was reckoned to belong to Peloponnesus, though it was nearer the coast of Attica.
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΙΓΙΛΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΝΑΒΥΣΣΟΣ
Aegilia (Aigilhia) or Aegilus (he Haigtlos, Theocr. i. 147: Eth. Aigilieus), a
demus in Attica belonging to the tribe Antiochis, situated on the western coast
between Lamptra and Sphettus. It was celebrated for its figs. (Aigilhides isChhades,
Athe. ; Theocr.) It is placed by Leake at Tzurela, the site of a ruined village
on the shore, at the foot of Mt. Elymbo. (Strab., Harpocrat., Steph. B. s. v.;
Leake, Demi)
ΑΛΑΙ ΑΡΑΦΗΝΙΔΕΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΡΤΕΜΙΣ
Halae Araphenides (Halai Araphenides), so called to distinguish it from Halae Aexonides [No. 39], lay on the east coast between Brauron and Araphen, and was the proper harbour of Brauron, from whence persons crossed over to Marmarium in Euboea, where were the marble quarries of Carystus. (Strab. ix. p. 399, x. p. 446.) Hence Halae is described by Euripides (Iphig. in Taur. 1451) as geiton deirados Karustias. The statue of the Taurian Artemis was preserved at this place.
ΑΜΦΙΤΡΟΠΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΛΑΥΡΕΩΤΙΚΗ
Amphitrope, north of Besa and in the district of the mines, placed by Stuart at Metropisti. (Bockh, Inscr. No. 162; Steph.; Hesych.)
ΑΝΑΓΥΡΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΒΑΡΗ
Anagyrus (Anagurous, -ountos: Eth. Anagurasios), a demus of Attica,
belonging to the tribe Erechtheis, situated S. of Attica near the promontory Zoster.
Pausanias mentions at this place a temple of the mother of the gods. The ruins
of Anagyrus have been found near Vari. (Strab. p. 398; Paus. i. 31. § 1; Harpocrat.,
Suid., Steph. B.; Leake, Demi of Attica, p. 56.)
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ΑΦΙΔΝΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΦΙΔΝΕΣ
Aphidna, Aphidnai: Eth. Aphidnaios. Οne of the twelve ancient towns
of Attica (Strab. ix. p. 397), is celebrated in the mythical period as the place
where Theseus deposited Helen, entrusting her to the care of his friend Aphidnus.
When the Dioscuri invaded Attica in search of their sister, the inhabitants of
Deceleia informed the Lacedaemonians where Helen was concealed, and showed them
the way to Aphidna. The Dioscuri thereupon took the town, and carried off their
sister. (Herod. ix. 73; Died. iv. 63; Plut. Thes. 32; Paus. i. 17. § 5, 41. §
3.) We learn, from a decree quoted by Demosthenes (de Coron. p. 238), that Aphidna
was, in his time, a fortified town, and at a greater distance than 120 stadia
from Athens. As an Attic demus, it belonged in succession to the tribes Aeantis
(Plut. Quaest. Symp. i. 10; Harpocrat. s. v. Thurgonidai), Leontis (Steph. B.;
Harpocrat. l. c.), Ptolemais (Hesych.), and Hadrianis (Bockh, Corp. Inscr. 275).
Leake, following Finlay, places Aphidna between Deceleia and Rhamnus,
in the upper valley of the river Marathon, and supposes it to have stood on a
strong and conspicuous height named Kotroni, upon which are considerable remains
indicating the site of a fortified demus. Its distance from Athens is about 16
miles, half as much from Marathon, and something less from Deceleia.
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ΑΧΑΡΝΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΧΑΡΝΕΣ
Acharnae, Acharnai: Eth. Acharneus, Acharnanus, Adj. Acharnikos. The principal
demus of Attica, belonging to the tribe Oeneis, was situated 60 stadia N. of Athens,
and consequently not far from the foot of Mt. Parnes. It was from the woods of
this mountain that the Acharnians were enabled to carry on that traffic in charcoal
for which they were noted among the Athenians. (Aristoph. Acharn. 332.) Their
land was fertile ; their population was rough and warlike; and they furnished
at the commencement of the Peloponnesian war 3000 hoplites, or a tenth of the
whole infantry of the republic. They possessed sanctuaries or altars of Apollo
Aguieus, of Heracles, of Athena Hygieia, of Athena Hippia, of Dionysus Melpomenus,
and of Dionysus Cissus, so called, because the Acharnians said that the ivy first
grew in this demus. One of the plays of Aristophanes bears the name of the Acharnians.
Leake supposes that branch of the plain of Athens, which is included between the
foot of the hills of Khassia and a projection of the range of Aegaleos, stretching
eastward from the northern termination of that mountain, to have been the district
of the demus Acharnae. The exact situation of the town has not yet been discovered.
Some Hellenic remains, situated 3/4 of a mile to the westward of Menidhi, have
generally been taken for those of Archarnae; but Menidhi is more probably a corruption
of Paionidai.
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ΒΗΣΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΛΑΥΡΕΩΤΙΚΗ
Besa, situated in the mining district, midway between Anaphlystus and Thoricus (Xen. Vect. 4. 43, 44), and 300 stadia from Athens. (Isaeus, de Pyrrh. Her., Steph.). Xenophon recommended the erection of a fortress at Besa, which would thus connect the two fortresses situated respectively at Anaphlystus and Thoricus. Strabo (ix.) says that the name of this demus was written with one s, which is confirmed by inscriptions.
ΒΡΑΥΡΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
Brauron. One of the twelve ancient cities, but never mentioned as a demus,
though it continued to exist down to the latest times. It was situated on or near
the eastern coast of Attica, between Steiria and Halae Araphenides, near the river
Erasinus. (Strab. viii. p. 371, ix. p. 399.) Its name is apparently preserved
in that of the two villages, called Vraona and Paleo Vraona, situated south of
the Erasinus. Brauron is celebrated on account of the worship of Artemis Brauronia,
in whose honour a festival was celebrated in this place. (Herod. vi. 138.) Here
Orestes and Iphigeneia were supposed to have landed, on their return from Tauris,
bringing with them the statue of the Taurian goddess. (Pans. i. 33. § 1, iii.
16. § 7; Eurip. Iphig. in Taur. 1450, 1462; Nonnus, Dionys. xiii. 186.) This ancient
statue, however, was preserved at Halae Araphenides, which seems to have been
the proper harbour of Brauron, and therefore the place at which the statue first
landed. Pausanias (i. 33. § 1), it is true, speaks of an ancient statue of Artemis
at Brauron; but the statue brought from Tauris is expressly placed by Callimachus
(Hymn. in Dian. 173), and Euripides (Iphig. in Taur. 1452) at Halae; and Strabo
(ix. p. 399) distinguishes the temple of Artemis Tauropolus at Halae Araphenides
from the temple of Artemis Brauronia at Brauron. There was a temple of Artemis
Brauronia on the Acropolis, containing a statue of the goddess by Praxiteles.
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ΓΑΪΔΟΥΡΟΝΗΣΙ (Νησί) ΛΑΥΡΕΩΤΙΚΗ
Patroklou Nesos, a small island off the southern coast of Attica, west of the promontory Sunium, so called from Patroclus, one of the generals of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who was sent by this king to assist the Athenians against the Macedonians, and who built a fortress in the island. It is now called Gaidharonisi.
ΔΕΚΕΛΕΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΧΑΡΝΕΣ
Deceleia (Dekeleia) was situated near the entrance of the eastern pass across Mount Parnes,which leads from the north-eastern part of the Athenian plain to Oropus, and from thence both to Tanagra on the one hand, and to Delium and Chalcis on the other. It was originally one of the twelve cities of Attica. (Strab. ix. p. 397.) It was situated about 120 stadia from Athens, and the same distance from the frontiers of Boeotia: it was visible from Athens, and from its heights also might be seen the ships entering the harbour of Peiraeeus. (Thuc. vii. 19; Xen. Hell. i. 1. 25) It was by the pass of Deceleia that Mardonius retreated from Athens into Boeotia before the battle of Plataeae (Herod. ix. 15); and it was by the same road that the grain was carried from Euboea through Oropus into Attica. (Thuc. vii. 28.) In B.C. 413 Deceleia was occupied and fortified by the Lacedaemonians under Agis, who kept possession of the place till the end of the war; and from the command which they thus obtained of the Athenian plain, they prevented them from cultivating the neighbouring land, and compelled them to bring the corn from Euboea round Cape Sunium. (Thuc. ii. 27, 28.) The pass of Deceleia is now called the pass of Tatoy. Near the village of this name there is a peaked height, which is a conspicuous object from the Acropolis: the exact site of the demus is probably marked by a fountain, near which are many remains of antiquity. (Leake.)
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ΔΕΛΦΙΝΙΟΝ (Αρχαίο λιμάνι) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
The position of Oropus is thus defined by Strabo. The beginning [of Boeotia] is Oropus, and the sacred harbour, which they call Delphinium, opposite to which is old Eretria in Euboea, distant 60 stadia. After Delphinium is Oropus at the distance of 20 stadia, opposite to which is the present Eretria, distant 40 stadia. Then comes Delium. (Strab. ix.) The modern village of Oropo stands at the distance of nearly two miles from the sea, on the right bank of the Vourieni, anciently the Asopus: it contains some fragments of ancient buildings and sepulchral stones. There are also Hellenic remains at the Skala or wharf upon the bay, from which persons usually embark for Euboea: this place is also called es tous hagious atostolous, from a ruined church dedicated to the Holy Apostles. Leake originally placed Oropus at Oropo and Delphinium at Skala; but in the second edition of his Demi he leaves the position of Oropus doubtful. It seems, however, most probable that Oropus originally stood upon the coast, and was removed inland only for a short time. In the Peloponnesian War Thucydides speaks of sailing to and anchoring at Oropus (iii. 91, viii. 95); and Pausanias, as we have already seen, expressly states that Oropus was upon the coast. Hence there can be little doubt that Skala is the site of Oropus, and that Oropo is the inland site which the Oropians occupied only for a time. It is true that the distance of Oropo from the sea is more than double the 7 stadia assigned by Diodorus, but it is possible that he may have originally written 17 stadia. If Oropus stood at Skala, Delphinium must have been more to the eastward nearer the confines of Attica.
Delphinium (Delphinion), the port-town of Oropus.
ΕΚΑΛΗ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΙΚΟ
Hecale (Hekale), probably near Marathon, since this demus is said to have obtained its name from a woman who hospitably received Theseus into her house, when he had set out to attack the Marathonian bull, which was ravaging the Tetrapolis. It contained a sanctuary of Zeus Hecaleius. (Philochor. ap. Plut. Thes. 14; Suid. s. vv. Hekale, Kolias, Epaulia; Steph. s. vv. Hekale, Hiapis, Trinemeis; Schol. ad Aristoph. Acharn. 127.)
ΙΚΑΡΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ
...The wine of Attica was pleasant to the taste, though not of a superior kind.
The most celebrated was grown at Icaria, where Dionysus is said to have been welcomed...
...Icaria (Ikaria), the demus, in which Icarius received Dionysus, who taught
him the art of making wine. (For the legend, see Dict. of Biogr. and Myth., art.
Icarius.) The position of this demus and of Mount Icarius (Plin. iv. 7. s. 11)
has been variously fixed by modern scholars. Leake has identified Icarius with
Mount Argaliki, on the south side of the Marathonian plain, since Icarius is said
by Statius (Theb. xi. 644) to have been slain in the Marathonian forest. But,
as Ross has observed, Marathonian is here used only in the sense of Attican; and
the argument derived from this passage of Statius is entirely overthrown by another
passage of the same poet, in which the abodes of Icarius and of Celeus (i. e.
Icaria and Eleusis) and Melaenae are mentioned together as three adjacent places.
( Icarii Celeique domus viridesque Melaenae, Stat. Theb. xii. 619.) Ross, with
greater probability, places Icaria in the west of Attica, because all the legends
respecting the introduction of the worship of Dionysus into Attica represent it
as coming from Thebes by way of Eleutherae, and because the Parian chronicle represents
men from Icaria as instituting the first chorus at Athens, while the invention
of comedy is assigned to the Megarian Susarion. From the latter circumstance,
Ross conjectures that Icaria was near the frontiers of Megara; and he supposes
that the range of mountains, [p. 329] separating the. Megarian and Eleusinian
plains, and terminating in the promontory of the Kerata or the Horns, to which
no ancient name has been hitherto assigned, was Mount Icarius. (Ross, p. 73.)
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ΚΥΘΗΡΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Cytherus (Kutherrhos, Inscr.; Kutheros, Kutheron, Strab. ix. p. 397; Harpoc.; Suid.; Steph.; Phot.), one of the twelve ancient cities, and afterwards a demus. Its position is quite uncertain. Leake conjectures that its territory as one of the twelve cities may have occupied the southern end of the inland country, on the supposition that the territory of Sphettus occupied the northern half of this district. Ross however conjectures, from a passage of Pausanias (vi. 22. § 7), that Cytherus may have been near Gargettus. Pausanias states that the nymphs of the river Cytherus in Elis were called Ionides from Ion, the son of Gargettus, when he migrated from Athens to Elis.
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ΛΑΜΠΤΡΑΙ ΚΑΘΥΠΕΡΘΕΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΒΑΡΗ
Lamptra (Aamptra, in inscr.; Aampra, in Strab. &c.), the name of two demi, Upper Lamptra (Aamptra kathuperthen), and Lower or Maritime Lamptra (Aamptra hupenerthen or paralios). These places were between Anagyrus, Thorae, and Aegilia. (Strab. l. c.) Upper Lamptra was probably situated at Lamorika, a village between three and four miles from the sea, at the south-eastern extremity of Mt. Hymettus; and Lower Lamptra on the coast. At Lamptra the grave of Cranaus was shown. (Paus. i. 31. § 2; Steph.; Hesych.; Harpocr.; Suid.; Phot.)
ΛΑΜΠΤΡΑΙ ΥΠΕΝΕΡΘΕΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΡΩΠΙΑ
Lamptra (Aamptra, in inscr.; Aampra, in Strab. &c.), the name of two demi, Upper Lamptra (Aamptra kathuperthen), and Lower or Maritime Lamptra (Aamptra hupenerthen or paralios). These places were between Anagyrus, Thorae, and Aegilia. (Strab. l. c.) Upper Lamptra was probably situated at Lamorika, a village between three and four miles from the sea, at the south-eastern extremity of Mt. Hymettus; and Lower Lamptra on the coast. At Lamptra the grave of Cranaus was shown. (Paus. i. 31. § 2; Steph.; Hesych.; Harpocr.; Suid.; Phot.)
ΛΑΥΡΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Laurium, Laureion, Laurion, Adj. Lauriotikos (hence hai glaukes Lauriotikai,
Aristoph. Av. 1106, silver coins, with the Athenian figure of an owl). A range
of hills in the south of Attica, celebrated for their silver mines. These hills
are not high, and are covered for the most part with trees and brushwood. The
name is probably derived from the shafts which were sunk for obtaining the ore,
since Laura in Greek signifies a street or lane, and laureion would therefore
mean a place formed of such lanes,--i. e., a mine of shafts, cut as it were into
streets, like a catacomb. The mining district extended a little way north of Sunium
to Thoricus, on the eastern coast. Its present condition is thus described by
Mr. Dodwell : - One hour from Thorikos brought us to one of the ancient shafts
of the silver mines; and a few hundred yards further we came to several others,
which are of a square form, and cut in the rock. We observed only one round shaft,
which was larger than the others, and of considerable depth, as we conjectured,
from the time that the stones, which were thrown in, took to reach the bottom.
Near this are the foundations of a large round tower, and several remains of ancient
walls, of regular construction. The traces are so extensive, that they seem to
indicate, not only the buildings attached to the mines, but the town of Laurium
itself, which was probably strongly fortified, and inhabited principally by the
people belonging to the mines. Some modern writers doubt whether there was a town
of the name of Laurium; but the grammarians (Suidas and Photius) who call Laurium
a place (topos) in Attica appear to have meant something more than a mountain;
and Dodwell is probably correct in regarding the ruins which he describes as those
of the town of Laurium. Near these ruins Dodwell observed several large heaps
of scoria scattered about, Dr. Wordsworth, in passing along the shore from Sunium
to Thoricus, observes:--The ground which we tread is strewed with rusty heaps
of scoria from the silver ore which once enriched the soil. On our left is a hill,
called Score, so named from these heaps of scoria, with which it is covered. Here
the shafts which have been sunk for working the ore are visible. The ores of this
district have been ascertained to contain lead as well as silver. This confirms
the emendations of a passage in the Aristotelian Oeconomies proposed by Bockh
and Wordsworth, where, instead of Turion in Puthokles Athenaios Athenaiois sunebouleuse
ton molnbdon ton ek ton Turion paralambanein, Bockh suggests gests Laurion, and
Wordsworth argurion, which ought rather to be agureion, as Mr. Lewis observes.
The name of Laurium is preserved in the corrupt form of Legrana or
Alegrana, which is the name of a metokhi of the monastery of Mendeli.
The mines of Laurium, according to Xenophon (de Vectig. iv. 2), were
worked in remote antiquity; and there can be no doubt that the possession of a
large supply of silver was one of the main causes of the early prosperity of Athens.
They are alluded to by Aeschylus (Pers. 235) in the line-- argurou pege tis autois
eoti, thesanros chthonos.
They were the property of the state, which sold or let for a long
term of years, to individuals or companies, particular districts, partly in consideration
of a sum or fine paid down, partly of a reserved rent equal to one twenty-fourth
of the gross produce. Shortly before the Persian wars there was a large sum in
the Athenian treasury, arising out of the Laurian mines, from which a distribution
of ten drachmae a head was going to be made among the Athenian citizens, when
Themistocles persuaded them to apply the money to the increase of their fleet.
(Herod. vii. 144; Plut. Them. 4.) Bockh supposes that the distribution of ten
drachmae a head, which Themistocles persuaded the Athenians to forego, was made
annually, from which he proceeds to calculate the total produce of the mines.
But it has been justly observed by Mr. Grote, that we are not authorised to conclude
from the passage in Herodotus that all the money received from the mines was about
to be distributed ; nor moreover is there any proof that there was a regular annual
distribution. In addition to which the large sum lying in the treasury was probably
derived from the original purchase money paid down, and not from the reserved
annual rent.
Even in the time of Xenophon (Mem. iii. 6. § 12) the mines yielded
much less than at an early period; and in the age of Philip, there were loud complaints
of unsuccessful speculations in mining. In the first century of the Christian
era the mines were exhausted, and the old scoriae were smelted a second time.
(Strab. ix.) In the following century Laurium is mentioned by Pausanias (i. 1),
who adds that it had once been the seat of the Athenian silver mines.
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ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
Marathon, Eth. Marathonios. A small plain in the NE. of Attica, containing four
places, named Marathon, Probalinthus (Probalinthos Eth. Probalisios), Tricorythus
(Trikoruthos, or Trikorunthos, Trikorinthos: Eth. Trikorusios), and Oenoe (Oinoe:
Eth. Oinaios), which originally formed the Tetrapolis, one of the 12 districts
into which Attica was divided before the time of Theseus. Here Xuthus, who married
the daughter of Erechtheus, is said to have reigned; and here the Heracleidae
took refuge when driven out of Peloponnesus, and defeated Eurystheus. (Strab.
viii. p. 383; Steph. B. s. v. Tetmapolis.) The Marathonii claimed to be the first
people in Greece who paid divine honours to Hercules, who possessed a sanctuary
in the plain, of which we shall speak presently. (Paus. i. 15. § 3, i. 35. § 4.)
Marathon is also celebrated in the legends of Theseus, who conquered the ferocious
bull, which used to devastate the plain. (Plut. Thes. 14; Strab. ix. p. 399; Paus.
i. 27. § 10.) Marathon is mentioned in the Homeric poems in a way that implies
that it was then a place of importance. (Od. vii. 80.) Its name was derived from
an eponymous hero Marathon, who is described by Pausanias as a son of Epopeus,
king of Sicyon, who fled into Attica in consequence of the cruelty of his father
(Paus. ii. 1. § 1, ii. 6. § 5, i. 15. § 3, i. 32. § 4). Plutarch calls him an
Arcadian, who accompanied the Dioscuri in their expedition into Attica, and voluntarily
devoted himself to death before the battle. (Thes. 32.)
After Theseus united the 12 independent districts of Attica into one
state, the name of Tetrapolis gradually fell into disuse; and the four places
of which it consisted became Attic demi,--Marathon, Tricorythus, and Oenoe belonging
to the tribe Aeantis, and Probalinthus to the tribe Pandionis; but Marathon was
so superior to the other three, that its name was applied to the whole district
down to the latest times. Hence Lucian speaks of the parts of Marathon about Oenoe
(Marathonos ta peri ten Oinoen, Icaro-Menip. 18).
Few places have obtained such celebrity in the history of the world
as Marathon, on account of the victory which the Athenians here gained over the
Persians in B.C. 490. Hence it is necessary to give a detailed account of the
topography of the plain, in which we shall follow the admirable description of
Colonel Leake, drawing a little additional information from Mr. Finlay and other
writers.
The plain of Marathon is open to a bay of the sea on the east, and
is shut in on the opposite site by the heights of Brilessus (subsequently called
Pentelicus) and Diacria, which send forth roots extending to the sea, and bounding
the plain to the north and south. The principal shelter of the bay is afforded
by a long rocky promontory to the north, anciently called Cynosoura (Kunosoura,
Hesych., Phot., s. v. and now Stomi. The plain is about 6 miles in length and
half that breadth in its broadest part. It is somewhat in the form of a half-moon,
the inner curve of which is bounded by the bay, and the outer by the range of
mountains already described. The plain, described by Aristophanes as the pleasant
mead of Marathon (Leimona ton eroenta Marathonos, Aves, 246), is a level green
expanse. The hills, which shut in the plain, were covered in ancient times with
olives and vines (Nonn. Dionys. xiii. 84, xlviii. 18). The plain is bounded at
at its southern and northern extremities by two marshes, of which the southern
is not large and is almost dry at the conclusion of the great heats; while the
northern, which is much larger, offers several parts which are at all seasons
impassable. Both, however, have a broad, firm, sandy beach between them and the
sea. A river, now called the river of Marathona, flows through the centre of the
plain into the sea.
There are four roads leading out of the plain. 1. One runs along the
coast by the south-western extremity of the plain. (Plan, aa.) Here the plain
of Marathon opens into a narrow maritime plain three miles in length, where the
mountains fall so gradually towards the sea as to present no very defensible impediment
to the communication between the Marathonia and the Mesogaea. The road afterwards
passes through the valley between Pentelicus and Hymettus, through the ancient
demus of Pallene. This is the most level road to Athens, and the only one practicable
for carriages. It was the one by which Peisistratus marched to Athens after landing
at Marathon. (Herod. i. 62.) 2. The second road runs through the pass of Vrana,
so called from a small village of this name, situated in the southern of the two
valleys, which branch off from the interior of the plain. (Plan, bb.) This road
leads through Cephisia into the northern part of the plain of Athens. 3. The third
road follows the vale of Marathona, the northern of the two valleys already named,
in which lies the village of the same name, the largest in the district. (Plan,
cc.) The two valleys are separated from one another by a hill called Kotroni (Plan,
3), very rugged, but of no great height. This third road leads to Aphidna, from
which the plain of Athens may also be reached. 4. The fourth road leaves the plain
on the north-east by a narrow pass (Plan, dd) between the northern marsh and a
round naked rock height called Mt. Koraki or Stavrokoraki. (Plan, 4.) It leads
to Rhamnus; and at the entrance of the pass stands the village of Lower Suli.
(Plan, 12.)
Three places in the Marathonian district particularly retain vestiges
of ancient demi. 1. Vrana, which Leake supposes to be the site of the demus of
Marathon. It lies upon a height fortified by the ravine of a torrent, which descends
into the plain after flowing between Mts. Argaliki and Aforismo, which are parts
of Mt. Brilessus or Pentelicus. (Plan, 1, 2.) A little below Vrana are seen four
artificial tumuli of earth, one considerably larger than the others; and in a
pass at the back of the hill of Kotroni, which leads from the vale of Vrana into
that of Marathona, there are some remains of an ancient gate. Near the gate are
the foundations of a wide wall, 5 feet in thickness, which are traced for nearly
3 miles in circumference, enclosing all the upper part of the valley of Vrana.
These ruins are now known by the name of he mandra tes graias (the old woman's
sheepfold). Near the ruined gate Leake observed the remains of three statues,
probably those which were erected by Herodes Atticus to three favourite servants.
(Philostr. Soph. ii. 1. § 10.) Marathon was the demus of Herodes, who also died
there. The wall mentioned above was probably built by Herodes, to enclose his
property; for it would seem from Pliny that Marathon no longer existed as a town
or village a century before the time of Herodes. ( Rhamnus pagus, locus Marathon,
Plin. iv. 7. s. 11.) The early disappearance of the ancient town of Marathon would
easily cause its name to be.
The exact ground occupied by the Greek and Persian armies at the battle
of Marathon can only be a matter of conjecture. Col. Leake, whose account is both
probable and consistent, though Mr. Finlay differs from him, supposes that the
Athenian camp was in the valley of Vrana near its opening into the plain; that
on the day of battle the Athenian line extended from a little in front of the
Heracleium, at the foot of Mt. Argaliki, to the bend of the river of Marathona,
below the village of Seferi; and that the Persians, who were 8 stadia in front
of them, had their right resting on Mt. Koraki, and their left extending to the
southern marsh, which prevented them from having a front much greater than that
of the Athenians. (See Plan, AA, BB.) When the Persians defeated the Athenian
centre, they pursued the latter up one or both of the two valleys on either side
of Mt. Kotroni, since Herodotus says that the pursuit continued quite into the
interior (es ten mesogaian). Nearly at the same time the Persian left and right
were defeated; but instead of pursuing them, the Athenians returned towards the
field to the aid of their own centre. The Persian right fled towards the narrow
pass leading into the plain of Tricorythus; and here numbers were forced into
the marsh, as Pausanias relates.
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ΜΥΡΡΙΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΜΑΡΚΟΠΟΥΛΟ ΜΕΣΟΓΑΙΑΣ
Myrrhinus (Murrhinous) lay to the east of Prasiae or Porto Raphti, at Meronda, as appears from inscriptions found at this place. Artemis Colaenis was worshipped at Myrrhinus (Paus. i. 31. § 4; Schol. ad Aristoph. Av. 874); and in one of the inscriptions at Meronda mention is made of a temple of Artemis Colaenis. (Bockh, Inscr. No. 100.) (See also Strab. ix. p. 399; Steph.; Phot.)
ΟΙΝΟΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝΑΣ
Marathon, Probalinthus (Probalinthos), Tricorythus (Trikoruthos), and Oenoe (Oinoe), four demi situated in the small plain open to the sea between Mt. Parnes and Mt. Pentelicus, originally formed the Tetrapolis, one of the twelve ancient divisions of Attica. The whole district was generally known under the name of Marathon
ΠΑΙΟΝΙΔΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Paeonidae (Paionidai, Paus. ii. 18. § 9), apparently the same as the Paeonia (Paionie) of Herodotus (v. 62), who describes Leipsydrium as situated above Paeonia. It was perhaps on the site of the modern Menidhi, since we know that the modern Greeks frequently change p into m; thus Pentele is also pronounced Mentele.
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ΠΑΛΛΗΝΗ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΠΑΛΛΗΝΗ
Pallene, a celebrated demus, frequently mentioned by ancient writers and in inscriptions. From the mythical story of the war of the Pallantidae against Theseus, we learn that the demi of Pallene, Gargettus, and Agnus were adjacent. When Pallas was marching from Sphettus in the Mesogaea against Athens, he placed a body of his troops in ambush at Gargettus, under the command of his two sons, who were ordered, as soon as he was engaged with the army of Theseus, to march rapidly upon Athens and take the city by surprise, But the stratagem was revealed to Theseus by Leos of Agnus, the herald of Pallas; whereupon Theseus cut to pieces the troops at Gargettus. In consequence of this a lasting enmity followed between the inhabitants of Pallene and Agnus. (Plut. Thes. 13; Philochor. ap. Schol. ad Eurip. Hippol. 35.) The road from Sphettus to Athens passed through the opening between Mt. Pentelicus and Mt. Hymettus. In this situation, on the SW. side of Pentelicus, we find a small village, named Garito, which is undoubtedly the site of the ancient Gargettus. The proximity of Pallene and Gargettus is indicated by another legend. Pallene was celebrated for its temple of Athena; and we are told that Eurystheus was buried at Gargettus in front of the temple of Athena Pallenis. (Strab. viii. p. 377; Steph., Hesych. s. v. Targettos; paroithe parthenou Pallenidos Eurip. Heracl. 1031.) We know further that Pallene lay on one of the roads from the city to Marathon (Herod. i. 62); and as the most convenient road for warlike operations leads to Marathon around the southern side of Pentelicus, Ross places Pallene half an hour south of Garito, between the monastery Hieraka and the small village Charvati, at the spot where was discovered a celebrated inscription respecting money due to temples, and which was probably placed in the temple of Athena Pallenis. (Bockh, Inscr. n. 76.) In Hieraka there was also found the Boustrophedon inscription of Aristocles, which probably also came from the same temple. (Bockh, n. 23.) Leake supposes Pallene to have stood at the foot of Hymettus, immediately opposite to Garito at the foot of Pentelicus, and supposes its site to be indicated by some Hellenic ruins of considerable extent on a height which is separated only from the northern extremity of Hymettus by the main road into the Mesogaea. This place is about a mile and a half to the south-westward of Garito, near two small churches, in one of which Mr. Finlay found the following fragment: XEOPHANES PALLHeNEUS. This situation, where the roads of the Mesogaea necessarily unite in approaching Athens, is such a point as would be important, and often occupied in military operations; and accordingly, we find that on three occasions in the early history of Athens, Pallene was the scene of action; first, when Eurystheus fought against the Athenians and Heracleidae; again, when Theseus was opposed to the Pallantidae; and a third time when Peisistratus defeated the Alemaeonidae. (Leake, p. 46.) The inscription, however, in such a case, is not decisive evidence, as we have already seen.
Agnus is placed by Ross in the hollow which lies between the extreme northern point of Hymettus and Hieraka. Leake, on the other hand, fixes it at Markopulo, in the southern part of the Mesogaea, because Mr. Finlay found at this place an inscription, .... ulides Agnousios.
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ΠΕΡΡΙΔΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Titacidae (Titakidai), Perrhidae (Perrhidai), and Thyrgonidae (Thyrgonidai), were probably all in the neighbourhood of Aphidna. These three demi, together with Aphidna, are said to have been removed from the Aeantis to another tribe. (Harpocr. s. v. Thurgonidai.) Perrhidae is described as a demus in Aphidna (Hesych. Phavor. demos en Aphidnais); and that Titacidae was in the same locality may be inferred from the story of the capture of Aphidna by the Dioscuri in consequence of the treachery of Titacus. (Herod. ix. 73; Steph. s. v. Titakidai.)
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ΠΛΩΘΕΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΣΤΑΜΑΤΑ
Plotheia appears to have belonged to the district of Epacria, and to have been not far from Halae Araphenides. (Harpocr.; Suid.; Steph.; Phot.; Bockh, Inscr. No. 82.)
ΠΟΤΑΜΟΣ ΔΕΙΡΑΔΙΩΤΟΥ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΕΡΑΤΕΑ
Potamus (Potamos or Potamoi), the name of two demi, as appears from an inscription quoted by Ross (p. 92), though apparently only one place. It lay on the east coast north of Thoricus, and was once a populous place: it was celebrated as containing the sepulchre of Ion. (Strab. ix. pp, 398, 399; Paus. i. 31. § 2, vii. i. § 2; Plin. iv. 7. s. 11; Suid.; Harpocr.) Its harbour was probably the modern Dhaskalio; and the demus itself is placed by Leake at the ruins named Paleokastro or Evreokastro, situated on a height surrounded by torrents two miles to the south-west of Dhaskalio, a little to the south of the village Dardheza. The port Dhaskalio was probably, as Leake observes, the one which received the Peloponnesian fleet in B.C. 411. (Thuc. viii. 95.)
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ΠΟΤΑΜΟΣ ΚΑΘΥΠΕΡΘΕΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΛΑΥΡΕΩΤΙΚΗ
Potamus (Potamos or Potamoi), the name of two demi, as appears from an inscription quoted by Ross (p. 92), though apparently only one place. It lay on the east coast north of Thoricus, and was once a populous place: it was celebrated as containing the sepulchre of Ion. (Strab. ix. pp, 398, 399; Paus. i. 31. § 2, vii. i. § 2; Plin. iv. 7. s. 11; Suid.; Harpocr.) Its harbour was probably the modern Dhaskalio; and the demus itself is placed by Leake at the ruins named Paleokastro or Evreokastro, situated on a height surrounded by torrents two miles to the south-west of Dhaskalio, a little to the south of the village Dardheza. The port Dhaskalio was probably, as Leake observes, the one which received the Peloponnesian fleet in B.C. 411. (Thuc. viii. 95.)
ΠΟΤΑΜΟΣ ΥΠΕΝΕΡΘΕΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΛΑΥΡΕΩΤΙΚΗ
Potamus (Potamos or Potamoi), the name of two demi, as appears from an inscription quoted by Ross (p. 92), though apparently only one place. It lay on the east coast north of Thoricus, and was once a populous place: it was celebrated as containing the sepulchre of Ion. (Strab. ix. pp, 398, 399; Paus. i. 31. § 2, vii. i. § 2; Plin. iv. 7. s. 11; Suid.; Harpocr.) Its harbour was probably the modern Dhaskalio; and the demus itself is placed by Leake at the ruins named Paleokastro or Evreokastro, situated on a height surrounded by torrents two miles to the south-west of Dhaskalio, a little to the south of the village Dardheza. The port Dhaskalio was probably, as Leake observes, the one which received the Peloponnesian fleet in B.C. 411. (Thuc. viii. 95.)
ΠΡΑΣΙΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΠΟΡΤΟ ΡΑΦΤΗ
Prasiae (Prasiai), on the east coast, between Potamus and Steiria, with an excellent harbour, from which the Theoria or sacred procession used to sail. Here was a temple of Apollo, and also the tomb of Erysichthon, who died at this place on his return from Delos. (Strab. ix. p. 399; Paus. i. 31. § 2; Thuc. viii. 95; Liv. xxxi. 45.) The ruins of the demus are seen on the north-east side of the bay. The harbour, now called Porto Rafti, is the best on the eastern coast of Attica, and is both deep and capacious. The entrance of the harbour is more than a mile in breadth; and in the centre of the entrance there is a rocky islet, upon which is a colossal statue of white marble, from which the harbour has derived its modem name, since it is commonly supposed to bear some resemblance to a tailor (rhaphtes) at work. The best description of this statue is given by Ross, who remarks that it evidently belongs to the Roman period, and probably to the first or second century after the Christian era. (Ross, Reisen auf den Griech. Inseln, vol. ii. p. 9; comp. Leake, p. 72; Wordsworth, p. 217.) We also learn from Ross that in the middle of the bay there is a rocky promontory with ruins of the middle ages upon it, which promontory Ross supposes to be the Coroneia of Stephanus
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ΠΡΟΒΑΛΙΝΘΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΝΕΑ ΜΑΚΡΗ
Marathon, Probalinthus (Probalinthos), Tricorythus (Trikoruthos), and Oenoe (Oinoe), four demi situated in the small plain open to the sea between Mt. Parnes and Mt. Pentelicus, originally formed the Tetrapolis, one of the twelve ancient divisions of Attica. The whole district was generally known under the name of Marathon
ΡΑΜΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Rhamnus, Pamnous,- ountos: Eth. Rhamnousios, fem. Ramnousia. A
demus of Attica, belonging to the tribe Aeantis (Steph. B., Harpocr., Suid., s.
v.), which derived its name from a thick prickly shrub, which still grows upon
the site. (Rhamnous, contr. of pamnoeis from pamnos.) The town stood upon the
eastern coast of Attica, at the distance of 60 stadia from Marathon, and upon
the road leading from the latter town to Oropus. (Paus. i. 33. § 2.) It is described
by Scylax as a fortified place; and it appears from a decree in Demosthenes (pro
Cor. p. 238, Reiske) to have been regarded as one of the chief fortresses in Attica.
It was still in existence in the time of Pliny ( Rhamnus pagus, locus Marathon,
iv. 7.s. 11). Rhamnus was the birthplace of the orator Antipho; but it was chiefly
celebrated in antiquity on account of its worship of Nemesis, who was hence called
by the Latin poets Rhamnsusia virgo and Rhamnsssia dea. (Catull. lxvi. 71; Claud.
B. Get. 631; Ov. diet. iii. 406, Trist. v. 8. 9; Stat. Silv. iii. 5. § 5.) The
temple of the goddess was at a short distance from the town. (Paus. l. c.; comp.
Strab. ix. p. 399.) It contained a celebrated statue of Nemesis, which, according
to Pausanias, was the work of Pheidias, and was made by him out of a block of
Parian marble, which the Persians had brought with them for the construction of
a trophy. The statue was of colossal size, 10 cubits in height (Hesych. s. v.;
Zenob. Prov. v. 82), and on its basis were several figures in relief. Other writers
say that the statue was the work of Agoracritus of Paros, a disciple of Pheidias.
(Strab. ix. p. 396; Plin. xxxvi. 5. s. 4. § 17, Sillig.) It was however a common
opinion that Pheidias was the real author of the statue, but that he gave up the
honour of the work to his favourite disciple. (Suid. s. v.; Zenob. l. c.; Tzetz.
Child. vii. 960.) Rhamnus stood in a small plain, 3 miles in length, which, like
that of Marathon, was shut out from the rest of Attica by surrounding mountains.
The town itself was situated upon a rocky peninsula, surrounded by the sea for
two-thirds of its circumference, and connected by a narrow ridge with the mountains,
which closely approach it on the land side. It is now called Ovrio-Kastro. (Obrio-Kastro,
a corruption of Hebraion-Kastron, Jews'-Castle, a name frequently applied in Greece
to the ruins of Hellenic fortresses.) It was about half a mile in circuit, and
its remains are considerable. The principal gate was situated upon the narrow
ridge already mentioned, and is still preserved; and adjoining it is the southern
wall, about 20 feet in height. At the head of a narrow glen, which leads to the
principal gate, stand the ruins of the temple of Nemesis upon a large artificial
platform, supported by a wall of pure white marble. But we find upon this platform,
which formed the temenos or sacred enclosure, the remains of two temples, which
are almost contiguous, and nearly though not quite parallel to each other. The
larger building was a peripteral hexastyle, 71 feet long and 33 broad, with 12
columns on the side, and with a pronaus, cella, and posticum in the usual manner.
The smaller temple was 31 feet long by 21 feet broad, and consisted only of a
cella, with a portico containing two Doric columns in antis. Among the ruins of
the larger temple are some fragments of a colossal statue, corresponding in size
with that of the Rhamnusian Nemesis; but these fragments were made of Attic marble,
and not of Parian stone as stated by Pausanias. It is, however, not improbable,
as Leake has remarked, that the story of the block of stone brought by the Persians
was a vulgar fable, or an invention of the priests of Nemesis by which Pausanias
was deceived. Among the ruins of the smaller temple was found a fragment, wanting
the head and shoulders, of a statue of the human size in the archaic style of
the Aeginetan school. This statue is now in the British Museum. Judging from this
statue, as well as from the diminutive size and ruder architecture of the smaller
temple, the latter appears to have been the more ancient of the two. Hence it
has been inferred that the smaller temple was anterior to the Persian War, and
was destroyed by the Persians just before the battle of Marathon; and that the
larger temple was erected in honour of the goddess, who had taken vengeance upon
the insolence of the barbarians for outraging her worship. In front of the smaller
temple are two chairs (thronoi) of white marble, upon one of which is the inscription
Nemesei Sostratos anetheken, and upon the other Themidi Sostratos anetheken, which
has led some to suppose that the smaller temple was dedicated to Themis. But it
is more probable that both temples were dedicated to Nemesis, and that the smaller
temple was in ruins before the larger was erected. A difficulty, however, arises
about the time of the destruction of the smaller temple, from the fact that the
forms of the letters and the long vowels in the inscriptions upon the chairs clearly
show that those inscriptions belong to an era long subsequent to the battle of
Marathon. Wordsworth considers it ridiculous to suppose that these chairs were
dedicated in this temple after its destruction, and hence conjectures that the
temple was destroyed towards the close of the Peloponnesian War by the Persian
allies of Sparta.
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ΣΗΜΑΧΙΔΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΒΑΡΝΑΒΑΣ
Semachidae (Semachidai), described by Philochorus (ap. Steph. s. v.) as a demus in the district of Epacria, but its exact site is uncertain. (Hesych.; Phot.)
ΣΟΥΝΙΟ (Ακρωτήρι) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Sunium (Sounion: Eth. Sounieus), the name of a promontory and demus
on the southern coast of Attica. The promontory, which forms the most southerly
point in the country, rises almost perpendicularly from the sea to a great height,
and was crowned with a temple of Athena, the tutelary goddess of Attica. (Paus.
i. 1. § 1; Sounion hiron, Hom. Od. iii. 278; Soph. Ajax, 1235; Eurip. Cycl. 292;
Vitruv. iv. 7). Sunium was fortified in the nineteenth year of the Peloponnesian
War (B.C. 413) for the purpose of protecting the passage of the cornships to Athens
(Thuc. viii. 4), and was regarded from that time as one of the principal fortreses
of Attica (Comp. Dem. pro Cor. p. 238; Liv. xxxi. 25; Scylax, p. 21.) Its proximity
to the silver mines of Laurium probably contributed to its prosperity, which passed
into a proverb (Anaxand. ap. Athen. vi. p. 263, c.); but even in the time of Cicero
it had sunk into decay (ad Att. xiii. 10). The circuit of the walls may still
be traced, except where the precipitous nature of the rocks afforded a natural
defence. The walls which are fortified with square towers, are of the most regular
Hellenic masonry, and enclose a space or a little more than half a mile in circumference.
The southern part of Attica, extending northwards from the promontory of Sunium
as far as Thoricus on the east, and Anaphlystus on the west, is called by Herodotus
the Suniac angle (ton gounon ton Souniakon, iv. 99). Though Sunium was especially
sacred to Athena, we learn from Aristophanes (Equit. 557, Aves, 869) that Poseidon
was also worshipped there.
The promontory of Sunium is now called Cape Kolonnes, from the ruins
of the temple of Athena which still crown its summit. Leake observes that the
temple was a Doric hexastyle; but none of the columns of the fronts remain. The
original number of those in the flanks is uncertain; but there are still standing
nine columns of the southern, and three of the northern side, with their architraves,
together with the two columns and one of the antae of the pronaus, also bearing
their architraves. The columns of the peristyle were 3 feet 4 inches in diameter
at the base, and 2 feet 7 inches under the capital, with an intercolumniation
below of 4 feet 11 inches. The height, including the capital, was 19 feet 3 inches.
The exposed situation of the building has caused a great corrosion in the surface
of the marble, which was probably brought from the neighbouring mountains; for
it is less homogeneous, and of a coarser grain, than the marble of Pentele. The
walls of the fortress were faced with the same kind of stone. The entablature
of the peristyle of the temple was adorned with sculpture, some remains of which
have been found among the ruins. North of the temple, and nearly in a line with
its eastern front, are foundations of the Propylaeum or entrance into the sacred
peribolus: it was about 50 feet long and 30 broad, and presented at either end
a front of two Doric columns between antae, supporting a pediment. The columns
were 17 feet high, including the capital, 2 feet 10 inches in diameter at the
base, with an opening between them of 8 feet 8 inches. (The Demi of Attica, p.
63, 2nd ed.) Leake remarks that there are no traces of any third building visible,
and that we must therefore conclude that here, as in the temple of Athena Polias
at Athens, Poseidon was honoured only with an altar. Wordsworth, however, remarks
that a little to the NE. of the peninsula on which the temple stands is a conical
hill, where are extensive vestiges of an ancient building, which may perhaps be
the remains of the temple of Poseidon. (Athens and Attica, p. 207.)
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ΣΤΕΙΡΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Steiria (Steph.; Hesych.; Suid.; Plin. iv. 7. s. 11), on the east coast, between Prasiae and Brauron. (Strab. ix. p. 399.) Wordsworth says that it is an hour's walk from Prasiae to Brauron, and that on the way he passed some ruins, which must be those of Steiria. Stiris in Phocis is said to have been founded by the inhabitants of this demus. (Paus. x. 35. § 8.) The road from Athens to Steiria and the harbour of Prasiae was called the Steiriake hodos. (Plat. Hipparch. p. 229.) Steiria was the demus of Theramenes and Thrasybulus.
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ΣΦΕΝΔΑΛΗ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΜΑΛΑΚΑΣΑ
Sphendale, a demus, at which Mardonius halted on his route from Deceleia to Tanagra. (Herod. ix. 15; Steph.; Hesych.) Hence it appears to have stood not far from the church of Aio Merkurio, which now gives name to the pass leading from Deceleia through the ridges of Parnes into the extremity of the Tanagraean plain. But as there is no station in the pass where space can be found for a demus, it stood probably at Malakasa, in a plain where some copious sources unite to form the torrent, which joins the sea one mile and a half east of the Skala of Apostolus. (Leake.) In the territory of Sphendale there was a hill, named Hyacinthus. (Suid. s. v. Parthenoi, where Sthendaleon should be read instead of Sthendonion.
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ΣΦΗΤΤΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΡΩΠΙΑ
Sphettus (Sphettos), one of the twelve ancient cities, and subsequently a demus. Its position has given rise to much dispute. Leake places it in the northern part of the Mesogaea, and thinks that Spata may be a corruption of Sphettus. That it was situated either in the Mesogaea or the Paralia is certain from the legend, that Pallas, who had obtained these districts, marched upon Athens from Sphettus by the Sphettian Way. (Plat. Thes. 13; Philochor. ap. Schol. ad Eurip. Hipp. 35.) Now we have seen good reasons for believing that Pallas must have marched round the northern extremity of Hymettus [see above, No. 32]; and consequently the Sphettian road must have taken that course. Although the Sphettian road cannot therefore have run along the western coast and entered Athens from the south, as many modern writers maintain, Sphettus was probably situated further south than Leake supposes, inasmuch as Sphettus and Anaphlystus are represented as sons of Troezen, who migrated into Attica; and, seeing that Anaphlystus was opposite Troezen, it is inferred that Sphettus was probably in the same direction. (Paus. ii. 30. § 9; Steph. s. vv. Anaphlustos, Sphettos.)
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΤΙΤΑΚΙΔΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΦΙΔΝΕΣ
Titacidae (Titakidai), Perrhidae (Perrhidai), and Thyrgonidae (Thyrgonidai), were probably all in the neighbourhood of Aphidna. These three demi, together with Aphidna, are said to have been removed from the Aeantis to another tribe. (Harpocr. s. v. Thurgonidai.) Perrhidae is described as a demus in Aphidna (Hesych. Phavor. demos en Aphidnais); and that Titacidae was in the same locality may be inferred from the story of the capture of Aphidna by the Dioscuri in consequence of the treachery of Titacus. (Herod. ix. 73; Steph. s. v. Titakidai.)
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΤΡΙΚΟΡΥΘΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝΑΣ
Marathon, Probalinthus (Probalinthos), Tricorythus (Trikoruthos), and Oenoe (Oinoe), four demi situated in the small plain open to the sea between Mt. Parnes and Mt. Pentelicus, originally formed the Tetrapolis, one of the twelve ancient divisions of Attica. The whole district was generally known under the name of Marathon
ΤΡΙΝΕΜΕΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΝΟΙΞΗ
Trinemeia, at which one of the minor branches of the Cephissus takes its rise, and therefore probably situated at the modern village of Buyati. (Strab. ix.; Steph. B. s. v.)
ΦΙΛΑΪΔΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΜΑΡΚΟΠΟΥΛΟ ΜΕΣΟΓΑΙΑΣ
Philaidae (Philaidai) appears to have been near Brauron, since it is said to have derived its name from Philaeus, the son of the Telamonian Ajax, who dwelt in Brauron. Philaidae was the demus of Peisistratus. (Plut. Sol. 10; Plat. Hipparch. p. 228; Paus. i. 35. § 2; Herod. vi. 35.)
ΦΥΓΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝΑΣ
Phegaea (Phegaia), the name of two demi of uncertain site. (Steph.; Harpocr.; Suid.; Etym. M.; Phot.; Hesych.) It is probable, however, that Stephanus speaks of one of these demi, under the name of PHEGEUS, when he describes Halae Araphenides as lying between Phegeus near Marathon and Brauron. (Steph. s. v. Halai.)
ΧΟΛΙΔΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Cholleidae (Cholleidai, Chollidai, Harpocr.; Suid.; Steph.; Schol. ad Aristoph. Acharn. 404), is supposed to have been near the Nymphaeum, or Grotto of the Nymphs, situated at the southern end of Mt. Hymettus, and about three miles from Vari by the road. From the inscriptions in this cave, we learn that it was dedicated to the nymphs and the other rustic deities by Archedemus of Pherae (not Therae, as is stated by some modern writers), who had been enrolled in the demus of Cholleidae. Hence it is inferred that the grotto was, in all probability, situated in this demus. A full and interesting description of the grotto is given by Wordsworth (p. 192, seq.; comp. Leake, p. 57.).
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΨΑΦΙΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΩΡΩΠΟΣ
Psaphis, originally a town of the Oropia, but subsequently an Attic demus, lay between Oropus and Brauron, and was the last demus in the north-eastern district of Attica. (Strab. ix. p. 399.)
ΩΡΩΠΟΣ (Αρχαίο λιμάνι) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
Oropus (ho Oropos, rarely he Oropos, Eth. Oropios, and according to Steph
B. Oropeus). A town on the borders of Attica and Boeotia, and the capital of a
district, called after it Oropia (he Oropia.) This district is a maritime plain,
through which the Asopus flows into the sea, and extends for 5 miles along the
shore. It is separated from the inland plain of Tanagra by some hills, which are
a continuation of the principal chain of the Diacrian mountains. Oropus was originally
a town of Boeotia; and, from its position in the maritime plain of the Asopus,
it naturally belonged to that country. (Paus. i. 34. § 1.) It was, however, a
frequent subject of dispute between the Athenians and Boeotians; and the former
people obtained possession of it long before the Peloponnesian War. It continued
in their hands till B.C. 412, when the Boeotians recovered possession of it. (Thuc.
viii. 60.) A few years afterwards (B.C. 402) the Boeotians, in consequence of
a sedition of the Oropii, removed the town 7 stadia from the sea. (Diod. xiv.
17.) During the next 60 years the town was alternately in the hands of the Athenians
and Boeotians (comp. Xen. Hell. vii. 4. 1, &c.), till at length Philip after the
battle of Chaeroneia gave it to the Athenians. (Paus. i. 34. § 1.) In B.C. 318
the Oropians recovered their liberty. (Diod. xviii. 56.) In B.C. 312 Cassander
obtained possession of the city; but Polemon, the general of Antigonus, soon afterwards
expelled the Macedonian garrison, and handed over the city to the Boeotians (Diod.
xix. 77.) It has been concluded from a passage of Dicaearchus (p. 11, ed. Hudson)
that Oropus continued to belong to Thebes in the next century; but the expression
oikia Thebon is corrupt, and no safe conclusion can therefore be drawn from the
passage. Leake proposes to read apoikia Thebon, Wordsworth (skia Thebon, but C.
Muller, the latest editor of Dicaearchus, reads sunoikia theton. Dicaearchus calls
the inhabitants Athenian Boeotians, an epithet which he also applies to the inhabitants
of Plataeae. Strabo also describes Oropus as a Boeotian town (ix. p. 404); but
Livy (xlv. 27), Pausanias, and Pliny (iv. 7. s. 11) place it in Attica. How long
the Oropii inhabited the inland city is uncertain. Pausanias expressly says that
Oropus was upon the sea (epi phalasses, i. 34. § 1); and the inhabitants had probably
returned to their old town long before his time.
Although Oropus was so frequently in the hands of the Athenians, its
name is never found among the Athenian demi. Its territory, however, if not the
town itself, appears to have been made an Attic demus under the name of Graea
(he Graia). In Homer Oropus does not occur, but Graea is mentioned among the Boeotian
towns (Il. ii. 498); and this ancient name appears to have been revived by the
Athenians as the official title of Oropus. Aristotle said that Oropus was called
Graea in his time (ap. Steph. B. s. v. Oropos); and accordingly we find in an
inscription, belonging to this period, the Graes (Graeis) mentioned as a demus
of the tribe Pandionis (Ross & Meier, Die Demen von Attika, p. 6, seq.) In the
passage of Thucydides (ii. 23) pariontes de Oropon ten gen Peiraiken kaloumenen,
en nemontai Oropioi Athenaion hupekooi, edeosan, all the existing MSS. have Peiraiken,
but Stephanus, who quotes the passage, reads Graiken, which Poppo and other modern
editors have received into the text. It is, however, right to observe that the
district of Oropus was frequently designated as the border country or country
over the border (tes peran ges, Thuc. iii. 91).
According to Dicaearchus the Oropians were notorious for their grasping
exactions, levied upon all imports into their country, and were for this reason
satirised by Xenon, a comic poet:
Pantes telonai, pantes eisin harpages.
Kakon telos genoito tois Oropiois.
The position of Oropus is thus defined by Strabo. The beginning is
Oropus, and the sacred harbour, which they call Delphinium, opposite to which
is old Eretria in Euboea, distant 60 stadia. After Delphinium is Oropus at the
distance of 20 stadia, opposite to which is the present Eretria, distant 40 stadia.
Then comes Delium. (Strab. ix. p. 403.) The modern village of Oropo stands at
the distance of nearly two miles from the sea, on the right bank of the Vourieni,
anciently the Asopus: it contains some fragments of ancient buildings and sepulchral
stones. There are also Hellenic remains at the Skala or wharf upon the bay, from
which persons usually embark for Euboea: this place is also called es tous hagious
atostolous, from a ruined church dedicated to the Holy Apostles. Leake originally
placed Oropus at Oropo and Delphinium at Skala; but in the second edition of his
Demi he leaves the position of Oropus doubtful. It seems, however, most probable
that Oropus originally stood upon the coast, and was removed inland only for a
short time. In the Peloponnesian War Thucydides speaks of sailing to and anchoring
at Oropus (iii. 91, viii. 95); and Pausanias, as we have already seen, expressly
states that Oropus was upon the coast. Hence there can be little doubt that Skala
is the site of Oropus, and that Oropo is the inland site which the Oropians occupied
only for a time. It is true that the distance of Oropo from the sea is more than
double the 7 stadia assigned by Diodorus, but it is possible that he may have
originally written 17 stadia. If Oropus stood at Skala, Delphinium must have been
more to the eastward nearer the confines of Attica.
In the territory of Oropus was the celebrated temple of the hero Amphiaraus.
According to Pausanias (i. 34. § I) it was 12 stadia distant from Oropus. Strabo
places it in the district of Psophis, which stood between Rhamnus and Oropus,
and which was subsequently an Attic demus (ix. p. 399). Livy calls it the temple
of Amphilochus (xlv. 27), who, we know from Pausanias, was worshipped conjointly
with Amphiaraus. Livy further describes it as a place rendered agreeable by fountains
and rivers; which leads one to look for it at one of two torrents which join the
sea between Skala and Kalamo, which is probably the ancient Psophis. The mouth
of one of these torrents is distant about a mile and a half from Skala ; at half
a mile from the mouth are some remains of antiquity. The other torrent is about
three miles further to the eastward; on which, at a mile above the plain, are
remains of ancient walls. This place, which is near Kalamo, is called Mavro-Dhilissi,
the epithet Mavro (black) distinguishing it from Dhilissi, the site of Delium.
The distance of the Hellenic remains on the first-mentioned torrent agree with
the 12 stadia of Pausanias; but, on the other hand, inscriptions have been found
at Mavro-Dhilissi and Kalamo, in which the name of Amphiaraus occurs. Dicaearchus
describes the road from Athens to Oropus as leading through bay-trees (dia daphnidon)
and the temple of Amphiaraus. Wordsworth very ingeniously conjectures di Aphidnon
instead of dia daphnidon, observing that it is not probable that a topographer
would have described a route of about 30 miles, which is the distance from Athens
to Oropus, by telling his readers that it passed through bay-trees and a temple.
Although this reading has been rejected by Leake, it is admitted into the text
of Dicaearchus by C. Muller.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΓΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΠΑΙΑΝΙΑ
A deme of Attica, west of Paeania, and belonging to the tribe Acamantis.
ΑΛΑΙ ΑΙΞΩΝΙΔΕΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΒΟΥΛΑ
A deme of Attica belonging to the tribe Cecropis. It was situated on the western coast.
ΑΧΑΡΝΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΧΑΡΝΕΣ
The principal deme of Attica belonging to the tribe Oeneis,
60 stadia north of Athens, near the foot of Mt. Parnes. The land was fertile,
and the population rough and warlike, furnishing at the commencement of the
Peloponnesian War 3000 hoplites, or one-tenth of the whole infantry of the republic.
The deme gives the name to one of the plays of Aristophanes (Acharneis), represented
B.C. 425.
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ΒΡΑΥΡΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
A deme of Attica on the eastern bank of the river Erasinus, with a celebrated temple of Artemis, who was in consequence called Brauronia.
ΓΑΡΓΗΤΤΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΓΕΡΑΚΑΣ
A deme of Attica, on the northwest slope of Mount Hymettus; the birthplace of the philosopher Epicurus.
ΕΡΧΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΣΠΑΤΑ
One of the demes of Attica, and belonging to the tribe Aegeis. Its position has not been positively ascertained. This was the native demus of Xenophon and Isocrates.
ΚΕΦΑΛΗ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΕΡΑΤΕΑ
An Attic deme on the right bank of the Erasinus. It belonged to the tribe Acamantis.
ΛΑΥΡΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
(Laurion and Laureion). A mountain in the south of Attica, a little north of the promontory Sunium, celebrated for its silver mines, which in early times were very productive, so that each Athenian citizen received ten drachmae ($1.60) annually; but in the time of Augustus they yielded nothing.
ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
Marathon. A deme of Attica, belonging to the tribe Leontis, was situated
near a bay on the east coast of Attica, twenty-two miles from Athens by one road,
and twenty-six miles by another. It originally belonged to the Attic tetrapolis,
and is said to have derived its name from the hero Marathon. This hero, according
to one account, was the son of Epopeus, king of Sicyon, who having been expelled
from Peloponnesus by the violence of his father, settled in Attica; while, according
to another account, he was an Arcadian who took part in the expedition of the
Tyndaridae against Attica, and devoted himself to death before the battle.
The site of the ancient town of Marathon was probably not at
the modern village of Marathon, but at a place called Vrana, a little to the south
of Marathon. Marathon was situated in a plain, which extends along the sea-shore,
about six miles in length, and from three miles to one mile and a half in breadth.
It is surrounded on the other three sides by rocky hills and rugged mountains.
Two marshes bound the extremity of the plain; the northern is more than a square
mile in extent, but the southern is much smaller, and is almost dry at the conclusion
of the great heats. Through the centre of the plain runs a small brook. In this
plain was fought the celebrated battle between the Persians and Athenians, August
12th, B.C. 490. The Persians, numbering some 100,000 men, were drawn up on the
plain, and the Athenians, 10,000 strong, under Miltiades, on some portion of the
high ground above the plain; but the exact ground occupied by the two armies cannot
be identified, notwithstanding the investigations of modern travellers. The Athenians
lost 192 men, the Persians 6400. The tumulus or mound, raised over the Athenians
who fell in the battle, is still to be seen. It is an isolated knoll in the plain,
about 40 feet in height and 600 feet in circumference. Excavations made by Schliemann
and others yielded nothing until 1890, when, under the direction of the Greek
Archaeological Society, a number of vases of the fifth century B.C. and burned
bones were found, undoubtedly those of the Athenians slain in the battle. The
mound is now called the Soros.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΜΥΡΡΙΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΜΑΡΚΟΠΟΥΛΟ ΜΕΣΟΓΑΙΑΣ
A deme on the eastern coast of Attica, belonging to the tribe Pandionis.
ΟΙΝΟΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝΑΣ
A deme of Attica, near Marathon, belonging to the tribe Aeantis.
ΠΑΛΛΗΝΗ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΠΑΛΛΗΝΗ
A deme of Attica belonging to the tribe Antiochis.
ΠΑΡΝΗΘΑ (Βουνό) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
A mountain in the northeastern part of Attica, was a continuation of Mount Cithaeron, and formed part of the boundary between Boeotia and Attica. It was well wooded, abounded in game, and on its lower slopes produced excellent wine. On the summit were altars and a statue of Zeus.
ΠΕΡΡΙΔΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
A deme of Attica belonging to the tribe Antiochis
ΠΟΤΑΜΟΣ ΔΕΙΡΑΔΙΩΤΟΥ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΕΡΑΤΕΑ
(Potamoi) or Potamus (Potamos). An Attic deme belonging to the tribe Leontis. Here the tomb of Ion was shown.
ΠΡΟΒΑΛΙΝΘΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΝΕΑ ΜΑΚΡΗ
A deme of Attica, south of Marathon, and belonging to the tribe Pandionis.
ΠΡΟΣΠΑΛΤΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΑΛΥΒΙΑ ΘΟΡΙΚΟΥ
A deme of Attica belonging to the tribe Acamantis.
ΡΑΜΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Rhamnous. Now Obrio Kastro; a demus in Attica, belonging to the tribe
Aeantis, which derived its name from the rhamnos, a kind of prickly shrub. Rhamnus
was situated on a small rocky peninsula on the east coast of Attica, sixty stadia
from Marathon. It possessed a celebrated temple of Nemesis, who is hence called
by the Latin poets Rhamnusia dea or virgo. A colossal statue of the goddess
in this temple was the work of Agoracritus, the pupil of Phidias, or possibly
by Phidias himself. Remains of the temple still exist.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΣΦΗΤΤΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΡΩΠΙΑ
A deme of Attica near the silver-mines of Sunium. It belonged to the tribe Acamantis.
ΑΦΙΔΝΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΦΙΔΝΕΣ
Δήμος της Αττικής που κατέλαβαν οι Διόσκουροι.
ΑΡΑΦΗΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΡΑΦΗΝΑ
Located on a small harbour, is the town of Rafina. On its height (Askitarion) there is an Early Helladic village of the third millennium B.C.
ΙΚΑΡΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ
. . .This was the name of a deme in the N. E. of Attica, picturesquely situated in an upland valley bounded on the N. by the mountainchain ('Aphorismo') which shuts in the plain of Marathon, and on the s. by Pentelicus. The site--at a place called 'Dionyso'--is proved by local inscriptions, found by members of the American School in 1888. The story was that, when Dionysus first entered Attica, he was received at Icaria by Icarius, whom he taught to make wine. Icaria was associated with the earliest celebrations of the rural Dionysia (thus the askoliasmos, or dancing on greased wine-skins, was said to have been introduced by Icarius himself), and with the infancy of Attic drama in both kinds,--as it was also the birth-place of Thespis , and, at a later time, of the comic poet Magnes. Inscriptions and other remains show that, in the 5th century B.C., it was the seat of an active Dionysiac worship, with dramatic performances. . .
ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
This part of Attica, the four cities being Oenoe, Marathon, Probalinthos, Tricorythos
ΑΛΑΙ ΑΡΑΦΗΝΙΔΕΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΡΤΕΜΙΣ
Ancient sources (Strab. 9.1.22; Steph. Byz. s.v. Halai Araphenides
kai Halai Aixonides), make it clear that this deme was situated on the E coast,
N of Brauron, S of Marathon, and presumably near the township whose name it shares,
Araphen, modern Raphina. It was famous for a sanctuary dedicated to Artemis Tauropolos.
According to Euripides (IT 1447-61), this cult, with a statue of the goddess taken
from Taurus, was established by Orestes at Athena's command, and included among
its rites a ceremonial act of atonement in which a drop of blood was drawn from
a man's throat with a knife, and a midnight revel (Men. Epit.).
Nineteenth c. topographers realized that this deme had to lie between
Vraona and Raphina in the neighborhood of the salt lake, now at Loutsa, and the
ruined village and hill of Velanideza, ca. 3 km to the W. The name suited the
former; from the latter had come the two archaic grave reliefs of Lyseas and Aristion.
In this century, however, attention has focussed on Loutsa. In 1926 a deme decree
of the inhabitants of Halai was found SW of the salt lake, near the sea, in the
remains of a Roman building. It was to be set up in the Sanctuary of Artemis Tauropolos.
A second deme decree, found a few years later to the S of Loutsa, was to be displayed
there also. Finally, in 1956, the remains of a small temple were uncovered in
the same vicinity, S of the salt lake among the pines that fringe the sea.
The material of the temple is hard, gray poros. All of the bottom
step is preserved, and most of the second, but of the stylobate there are only
a few blocks in place, enough however to allow measurement of the temple area
at this level: 19.30 x 12.20 m. Above this, nothing is in situ, but a peristyle
of Doric columns, a few poros fragments of which have been found, can be restored
on the stylobate. From the evidence on this course, it would seem that the temple
had the unusual design of eight columns on the short sides, twelve on the long.
Within the columns was a cella divided into two unequal rooms, the inner to the
W presumably an adyton, but of all this only foundations survive, the temple having
been thoroughly pillaged. Thus its date cannot be ascertained. Pottery and figurines
of the archaic and Classical periods were recovered around it. The original excavator
identified this seaside temple as that of Artemis Tauropolos. The suggestion is
most persuasive, for the position exactly suits the evidence bearing on the temple's
location.
Artemis was not the only divinity worshiped at Halai. A recently discovered
inscription, found half a km W of her temple, records the holding of games during
the Dionysia celebrated in the deme. One can therefore assume that a sanctuary
once existed dedicated to Dionysos, perhaps among the extensive remains of ancient
buildings where the inscription was discovered. Philochoros' enigmatic (and defective)
fragment concerning Dionysos (FGrHist 328 F 191) may yet be shown to apply to
Halai Araphenides.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΑΝΑΓΥΡΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΒΑΡΗ
Just to the E of Cape Zoster and the S end of Mt. Hymettos is a small
plain, in area little more than 3.2 km deep and 1.6 km wide, its limits clearly
marked by the sea to the S, Hymettos to the W, and lesser hills to N and E. Until
recently the plain's center of habitation was at Vari, a town centrally located
at the place where the coastal road from Athens enters the plain on its W edge
through a natural break in the long chain of Hymettos. Today a second, rapidly
expanding, community has been established at the seashore, with the name of Varkiza.
In Classical antiquity this plain was in all probability the deme
of Anagyrous, placed by Strabo in his list of coastal demes after Halai Aixonides
(with a sanctuary at Zoster) but before Thorai (9.1.21), and described by Pausanias
as having as a notable feature a shrine of the Mother of the Gods (1.31.1). While
the position of this last has not been established, no doubt surrounds the location
of the deme-center: It was at Vari, where a great variety of remains have been
unearthed, many illicitly. Even so, the picture they present is one of a city-state
in miniature.
The hill directly W of Van and S of the road from Athens can be considered
the acropolis of Anagyrous. Its peak is fortified by a low rubble wall; within
this enclosure at the summit are traces of a building and perhaps an altar. The
fort was occupied at least in the 5th c. B.C., and would have made an excellent
signaling station. Lower down the hill, on a ridge overlooking the town, is a
group of more than 20 closely set buildings of various shapes--circular, rectangular,
apsidal--from the archaic period, whence was recovered literally thousands of
offerings of terracotta and metal. Some, if not most, of these structures must
have been places of popular worship. In another part of the hill, at the same
level, is the foundation of a small Classical sanctuary. On the hill's lowest
slopes, to the E there are copious remains of walls and building blocks from the
living quarters of the Classical settlement, while to the N, alongside the road
from Athens, is a large cemetery with well preserved grave-terraces of the 5th
and 4th c. B.C.
A second, and more important, cemetery lies a little to the N of Vari,
where graves and grave-enclosures from Late Geometric to late archaic times have
been either excavated or pillaged. From here comes much of the remarkable collection
of early Attic black-figure pottery displayed in the National Museum at Athens.
These funerary offerings, as well as some sculptured monuments originally from
the same area, make it obvious that in the archaic period Vari must have been
home for at least one rich aristocratic family.
A few isolated structures, probably farmhouses, have been noticed
elsewhere in the plain. One of these, on the same slope of Hymettos as the Cave
of the Nymphs but lower, on a spur above a narrow valley entered from the plain,
has been recently excavated. It was a rural villa, of the pastas type, with its
rooms built around three sides of a courtyard and screened by porticos. It had
a short existence, ca. 330-280 B.C.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 2 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΑΡΑΦΗΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΡΑΦΗΝΑ
Because the small ancient community was topographically associated
with Halai Araphenides, now securely placed in the environs of Loutsa, it is thus
certain that Araphen was on, or near, the E coast of Attika, and therefore reasonable
to assume that the modern port of Raphina has inherited not only the name of the
site, but also its general location. A prehistoric settlement has been excavated
2 km to the S at Asketario, a promontory particularly rich in material from the
Early Bronze Age, which emphasizes the close connection at that time between B
Attica and the Cyclades. The place of the Classical deme, however, can no longer
be studied, since modern development has resulted in the loss of all traces of
the historic remains reported by explorers in the 19th c. These vestiges were
centered for the most part a little more than 1 km from the shore within the valley
of the Megalo Revma on its N side, but a few were also noticed at the mouth of
the river itselt Among these traces of the Classical settlement were the foundations
of a structure sufficiently large that it was reported to be either a temple or
a public building.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Sep 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΑΦΙΔΝΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΦΙΔΝΕΣ
An Attic deme N of Tatoi, on the Athens-Oropos road near the Chapel of Zoodochos Piyi, not far W of the artificial Lake Marathon, on the hill called Kotroni (125 x 40 m). Aphidna was one of the 12 townships of Kekrops. According to legend, Theseus hid Helen there after carrying her off from Sparta; this provoked the Tyndarid War and the Dioskouroi's destruction of Aphidnai. The city was occupied by the Spartans in 412, with the result that Athens suffered a serious wheat supply crisis
This extract is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites, Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΑΧΑΡΝΑΙ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΧΑΡΝΕΣ
In the first year of the Peloponnesian War, Archidamos encamped the
Spartans at Acharnai, the largest of the Attic demes, 60 stades distant from Athens
(Thuc. 2.19.2, 21.2). In 404-403 B.C. the army of the Thirty Tyrants also camped
here in an action designed to guard against Thrasyboulos at Phyle (Diod. 14.32.6).
From these two notices it is therefore clear that the deme was located S of Mt.
Parnes in the general neighborhood of the modern villages of Menidi and Epano
Liosia. That Acharnai was in fact either at, or near, the former can be plausibly
argued from the number of inscriptions concerned with Acharnaians found in the
churches and houses of Menidi.
Proof of this identification, in the form of foundations of buildings,
is entirely lacking today, though in the early 19th c. the remains "of a
considerable town" could be observed 1 km to the W of Menidi beneath the
hill on which is the church dedicated to the Forty Saints. Thus some scholars
have felt free to look elsewhere for the inhabited center of Acharnai. Despite
the claims made for a broad, fortified hill called Yerovouno, 2 km SW of Menidi,
no compelling alternative has been advanced, and the weight of evidence still
makes Menidi the best choice for the location of Acharnai. There is perhaps still
hope that some remains from the Sanctuaries of Apollo Argyieus and Herakles, mentioned
by Pausanias (1.31.6), may yet be discovered. As for Ares and Athena Areia, their
temple may have been the one moved to the marketplace of Athens and there reinstalled
in Augustan times.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 5 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΔΕΚΕΛΕΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΧΑΡΝΕΣ
One of the twelve cities that under Theseus gave up their autonomy
to form a new state with Athens as capital (Philochoros: FGrHist 328 F 94), Dekeleia
remained a deme in Classical times. It was situated 120 stades from Athens (Thuc.
7.19.2), on the road that led to Boiotia around the E end of Mt. Parnes (Hdt.
9.15). In the Peloponnesian War it was captured by Agis in 413 B.C., walled, and
remained a Spartan stronghold until the defeat of Athens in 404 B.C.
The city has long been associated with the ancient remains at Tatoi,
on the SE slopes of Parnes, within the grounds of the once royal estate. From
here, particularly in the area of the farm buildings, have come walls, pottery,
sculpture, and inscriptions, one of which (IG II2 1237) is concerned with the
phratry of the Demotionidai established at Dekeleia.
Immediately S of the farm buildings is the wooded hill called Palaiokastro,
its flat top now used as a cemetery for the Greek royal family. It was once a
fortified enclosure, with a circuit totaling more than 800 m of rubble wall. Much
of the foundation course remains in situ but is not generally accessible. Because
of its location and size, this fortified height has been rightly identified as
the site of Agis's camp.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΖΩΣΤΗΡ (Ακρωτήρι) ΒΟΥΛΙΑΓΜΕΝΗ
From Strabo's description of the demes, capes, and islands between Peiraeus and
Sounion (9.1.21), Zoster can be securely identified as the promontory that juts
into the sea at modern Vouliagmeni, in essence the S point of Hymettos. Of the
three tongues that constitute the headland, only the central one, Mikro Kavouri,
corresponds to Stephanos' precise description of Zoster as a peninsula (s.v. Zoster).
Thus it appears that, although the name Zoster was applied generally to the whole
cape, as for example by Herodotos (8.107), it was also used in a narrow sense
to refer only to the projection that forms the E side of the deep bay in front
of Vouliagmeni. A reason for this focus is not hard to find. According to Pausanias
(1.31.1) it was at Zoster that Leto "loosened her girdle with a view to her
delivery," and that there was an Altar of Athena, Apollo, Artemis, and Leto.
Archaeological discoveries have confirmed the special character of
the central promontory. At the neck of the peninsula, in the so-called Laimos
where the spit of land is so low that it is easily flooded, remains have been
recovered of a small sanctuary, dedicated, as is known from several inscriptions,
to Apollo of Zoster. The temple was originally built about 500 B.C. and consisted
of a sekos only, later partitioned to make two rooms of unequal size, to which
was added, no earlier than the second half of the 4th c., a peristyle of unfluted
columns, 4 x 6, each set on its own base with no connecting stylobate. Within
the front part of the cella were found three marble bases, a table, a throne,
and a fragment of a votive fluted column preserving the beginning and end of an
inscribed distych in honor of golden-haired Apollo. To the E of the temple on
its axis are the foundations of a large rectangular altar. As the inscriptions
show, the sanctuary was administered by the demesmen of Halai (Aixonides).
One hundred and fifty m to the N of the sanctuary, directly above
the shore road, are the remains of a large rectangular building that at the time
of its construction, about 500 B.C., contained a tower, gateroom, enclosed courtyard,
colonnade, and, behind, three rooms. By the end of the 4th c., however, this spacious
design had gradually given way to one that involved the creation of several additional
small rooms, particularly at the expense of the colonnade. Because this building
does not seem to be part of a community, and because it is so close in place and
time to the sanctuary, it has been interpreted as the house for the priest and,
after the remodeling, as a sort of katagogion for those visiting the sanctuary.
Some of the finds made within the house can also be used to suggest such an identification.
Immediately S of the Sanctuary of Apollo on the first of the peninsula's
several hills is the Astir resort with its hotel and bungalows. Prior to its completion,
emergency excavations had revealed the presence on this wooded hill of houses
of the Early Helladic period and a fort with rubble walls strengthened by towers.
It is unlikely that the latter is prehistoric. More plausibly it should be associated
with coins of Ptolemy II also from Cape Zoster, and be included among the several
fortifications in Attika known to belong to the times of the Chremonidean War.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited August 2004 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 4 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΙΚΑΡΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΔΙΟΝΥΣΟΣ
Ikaria. On the N side of Mt. Pendeli, in a valley between it and the peak
Stamatovouni farther N, lies the village of Dionyso, just E of which are the remains
of the public center of the deme of Ikaria (or Ikarion), the reputed home of both
drama and Thespis (Ath. 2.40 and Suidas, s.v. Thespis), the identification made
certain by the discovery of several deme decrees.
The excavated area is small, and most of the remains are tenuous.
But one can make out an open area, the agora, with public buildings--one a pythion--and
monuments grouped about. To the S of the agora is a small theater, its rectangular
orchestra limited on one side by five stone prohedriai and bases for stelai, and
on the other by a terrace. These austere arrangements may belong to the 4th c.
B.C., or possibly earlier because an inscription of the 5th c. B.C. (IG 12 186-87)
attests the existence at that time in Ikaria of organized festivals. Further associations
with Dionysos can be seen, not only in the name of the village, but in two archaic
marble sculptures--a mask and a seated figure of the god, both from the excavated
area.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΚΕΦΑΛΗ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΕΡΑΤΕΑ
A deme belonging to the tribe Akamantis. Inscriptions found in Keratea,
about 19.32 km N of Sounion, place the township in that area, most probably to
the NW of the modern village, where Frazer reported ancient walls. A boundary
stone and a dedication respectively indicate Sanctuaries of Hera and Asklepios.
The Altar of Aphrodite mentioned by Isaios (2.31) presumably lay in the precinct
marked by a boundary stone found between Keratea and the E coast of Attica at
Kaki Thalassa. No trace has been reported of the Sanctuary of the Dioskouroi,
although Pausanias (1.31.1) thought it the most important at Kephale.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΛΑΙΜΟΣ (Συνοικία) ΒΟΥΛΙΑΓΜΕΝΗ
From Strabo's description of the demes, capes, and islands between
Peiraeus and Sounion (9.1.21), Zoster can be securely identified as the promontory
that juts into the sea at modern Vouliagmeni, in essence the S point of Hymettos.
Of the three tongues that constitute the headland, only the central one, Mikro
Kavouri, corresponds to Stephanos' precise description of Zoster as a peninsula
(s.v. Zoster). Thus it appears that, although the name Zoster was applied generally
to the whole cape, as for example by Herodotos (8.107), it was also used in a
narrow sense to refer only to the projection that forms the E side of the deep
bay in front of Vouliagmeni. A reason for this focus is not hard to find. According
to Pausanias (1.31.1) it was at Zoster that Leto "loosened her girdle with
a view to her delivery," and that there was an Altar of Athena, Apollo, Artemis,
and Leto.
Archaeological discoveries have confirmed the special character of
the central promontory. At the neck of the peninsula, in the so-called Laimos
where the spit of land is so low that it is easily flooded, remains have been
recovered of a small sanctuary, dedicated, as is known from several inscriptions,
to Apollo of Zoster. The temple was originally built about 500 B.C. and consisted
of a sekos only, later partitioned to make two rooms of unequal size, to which
was added, no earlier than the second half of the 4th c., a peristyle of unfluted
columns, 4 x 6, each set on its own base with no connecting stylobate. Within
the front part of the cella were found three marble bases, a table, a throne,
and a fragment of a votive fluted column preserving the beginning and end of an
inscribed distych in honor of golden-haired Apollo. To the E of the temple on
its axis are the foundations of a large rectangular altar. As the inscriptions
show, the sanctuary was administered by the demesmen of Halai (Aixonides).
One hundred and fifty m to the N of the sanctuary, directly above
the shore road, are the remains of a large rectangular building that at the time
of its construction, about 500 B.C., contained a tower, gateroom, enclosed courtyard,
colonnade, and, behind, three rooms. By the end of the 4th c., however, this spacious
design had gradually given way to one that involved the creation of several additional
small rooms, particularly at the expense of the colonnade. Because this building
does not seem to be part of a community, and because it is so close in place and
time to the sanctuary, it has been interpreted as the house for the priest and,
after the remodeling, as a sort of katagogion for those visiting the sanctuary.
Some of the finds made within the house can also be used to suggest such an identification.
Immediately S of the Sanctuary of Apollo on the first of the peninsula's
several hills is the Astir resort with its hotel and bungalows. Prior to its completion,
emergency excavations had revealed the presence on this wooded hill of houses
of the Early Helladic period and a fort with rubble walls strengthened by towers.
It is unlikely that the latter is prehistoric. More plausibly it should be associated
with coins of Ptolemy II also from Cape Zoster, and be included among the several
fortifications in Attika known to belong to the times of the Chremonidean War.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 4 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΛΑΥΡΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Laurion. In antiquity, even as now, Laurion was understood as Attica's SE corner,
the place of the silver mines, a clearly identified system of low hills stretching
N from Cape Sounion for a distance of ca. 17 km. For most of this length, Laurion
has a single backbone marked by a succession of peaks, the highest of which, Vigla
Rimbari, located near the chain's midpoint, has a height of 372 m; but to the
S, where it reaches a maximum width of 10 km, the system is divided by the Legraina
valley. Along the E coast, other cultivatable valleys penetrate the hills, especially
at Thorikos, where the low, flat land is large enough to constitute a small plain
and, for millennia, to have helped support a settled community. Otherwise, most
of Laurion's 200 sq. km is rugged and waterless, and would have given little to
Athenian economy had it not been for the early discovery, particularly in the
hills on its E side, of rich deposits of ore--mixed sulphides of lead, zinc, and
iron--from the first of which silver could be profitably extracted.
Exploitation of this mineral wealth may have begun as early as the
Middle Helladic period, but the evidence admits of no assessment of the extent,
or continuity, of the industry in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. By the archaic
period, however, from the time of Peisistratos' tyranny (Hdt. 1.64) and with the
issuance of Athens' silver coinage, the mines of Laurion had assumed political
as well as economic significance. And in the 5th c. B.C. this importance increased
with deeper mining and the discovery of the ore bodies of the "third contact"
(Arist. Ath.Pol. 22.7). But progress was halted by the placing of the Spartan
fort at Dekeleia in 413 B.C. (Thuc. 6.91 & 7.27), and recovery may have been slow,
for Xenophon (Vect. 4) makes clear that even in the middle of the 4th c. the industry
still needed encouragement. Despite this setback, the Classical period marks the
heyday of the Laurion mines. Thereafter the story is one of decline, accompanied
by a slave revolt (Ath. 6.272), and by Strabo's time men had ceased to go underground
but were now reworking the slag-heaps (9.1.23). Even this activity is missing
from Pausanias' description of the place as one where "the Athenians once
had silver mines" (1.1.1).
Of this ancient and extensive industry, particularly from the Classical
period, the remains that survive throughout Laurion are almost beyond count, many
still to be properly cleared and studied. A fair sample of them may be seen alongside
any of the roads that serve the mining area: the mines themselves, some nothing
more than a rudely hacked horizontal passage, others a complex system of deep
galleries linked to the surface by well-cut shafts as much as 100 m deep; milling
and washing establishments, the latter with nearby cisterns for the storage of
water; furnaces (the excavation of a heavy-walled building containing a bank of
them was begun in 1971 near Megala Peuka); slag and other waste; living quarters
and cemeteries; roads and culverts. But to some Laurion did not mean only mining:
there are also, in some less accessible places, instructive examples of farmhouses
and marble quarries, in one of which one can see where column drums were removed.
Finally, at the top of Vigla Rimbari there is a rubble enclosure wall, perhaps
a direct answer to Xenophon's suggestion (Vect. 4.43-44) that the area needed
a third stronghold, in addition to those at Anaphlystos and Thorikos, to protect
in war one of the city-state's most valuable assets.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 21 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΜΑΡΑΘΩΝ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
A coastal plain inhabited from very earliest times down to the end
of antiquity. Home of the Marathonian Tetrapolis (Philochorus FGH 328 F 94, 109),
it is best known as the site of the famous battle of 490 B.C. (Hdt. 6.102-16),
though Peisistratos also landed there ca. 545 (Hdt. 1.62). Pausanias described
the area in the 2d c. A.D.
The remains date from the following periods: Neolithic (cave of Pan,
Nea Makri), Early Helladic (Tsepi), Middle Helladic (Vrana), Late Helladic (tholos
tomb), archaic and Classical down to Roman (Plasi) at the presumed site of the
ancient deme. Many of the landmarks of the great battle have been securely located,
the most conspicuous of which is the soros, the tomb of the Athenians; also, the
Herakleion, the trophy, the tomb of the Plataians in Vrana (?), the charadra,
the great marsh, the Makaria spring. The estate of Herodes Atticus, or better
of Regilla, has also been found.
W. F. Wyatt Jr., ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 26 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΠΛΩΘΕΙΑ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΣΤΑΜΑΤΑ
To the N of the main mass of Mt. Pendeli, and due W of Mt. Aphorismos,
approximately midway between Kephissia and the modern Marathon, is. the once small
village of Stamata, its rural character now threatened by fast-developing housing
schemes. While the village itself does not seem to be built on an ancient site,
antiquities have been discovered nearby. Less than a km to the S, at Palaio-Stamata,
in the ruined walls of a Byzantine church were found many remains, including several
pieces of sculpture and three inscribed blocks, each one the dedication of a demesman
of Plotheia (IG II2 4607, 4885, 4916). A similar distance to the N of Stamata,
at Amygdalesa, architectural pieces were also found in another Byzantine church.
There is thus ample justification for claiming the existence of an ancient settlement
in the vicinity of Stamata, to be identified in all probability as that of Plotheia.
If the finding-place of IG II2 1172, a decree of the demesmen of Plotheia concerning
the finances of the community and certain sacred expenses, had been recorded,
one might have been able to locate the deme's center with greater precision.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΡΑΜΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
Rhamnous. One of the most remote of the Athenian demes, Rhamnous was situated
more than 50 km from the city, at the N limit of Attica's E coast, on the sea
overlooking the strait separating the mainland from Euboia. Because of this
strategic location Rhamnous became something of a garrison town in the 5th c.
B.C., with a detachment of ephebes on permanent duty in Hellenistic times. The
chief sanctuary, that of Nemesis, is rightly described by Pausanias (1.33.2)
as "a small distance back from the coast". The path linking the sanctuary
with the town/fort was lined on both sides with graves. So varied a set of remains,
together with the many inscriptions, makes it possible to visualize the lineaments
of a miniature city-state with unusual clarity.
The Sanctuary of Nemesis contained two temples set on a flat terrace,
in part supported by walls. The earlier, and smaller, is to the S, its plan
a cella with Doric porch distyle in antis, built in the 480s B.C. Two thrones,
originally placed in the porch, show that Themis was here worshiped together
with Nemesis. A statue of the former and several other dedications were unearthed
in the cella. They are now in the National Museum in Athens.
Fifty years later a larger temple, dedicated to Nemesis alone,
was built to the N of the earlier. It was of local marble with a peristyle of
Doric columns, 6 x 12, surrounding a cella with normal pronaos and opisthodomos.
Although only a few blocks remain in place above the platform, enough parts
of the colonnade and superstructure lie around to permit a detailed reconstruction.
The temple was unfinished at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, and completion
was delayed until ca. 420 B.C. Even then, some final finishes, such as the fluting,
were permanently abandoned. But at least the temple was fit to receive Agorakritos'
famous cult statue, which, according to Pliny (HN 36.17), M. Varro preferred
above all other statues. From Pausanias' description (1.33.3-8) and from the
many fragments preserved both of the large figure of Nemesis and of the small
figures on the base, some idea of the group's appearance can be gained.
The fortress has not been fully explored. The most prominent remains
are those of the heavy outer fortification, best preserved to the S, with a
gate flanked by two towers. The summit of the hill is enclosed by a second,
lighter circuit, also best preserved to the S, with an entrance at the SE corner
guarded by a single tower. The higher circuit is dated to the 5th c. B.C., perhaps
as late as 412 (cf. Thuc. 7.28.1), the lower to the 4th or early 3d.
Between these two circuits, some excavation has taken place, sufficient
to reveal a variety of structures and monuments, but not to explain their purposes
or position within the town's plan. The one exception is a theater located directly
S and W of the opening in the inner fortification. Here a rectangular open area
was divided into auditorium and orchestra by a base for stelai and a foundation
for prohedriai, three of which still exist and are dated ca. 350 B.C. These
simple arrangements will have served for assemblies of the demesmen and ephebes
as well as for the attested performances of comedies.
On the hillside overlooking the fortress' main gate, on an artificial
terrace, a small sanctuary was established to Aristomachos, a local hero physician
said to have been buried at Marathon. But in Hellenistic times, perhaps through
the broadening influence of the ephebes, his place was taken by the neighboring
healing god from Oropos, Amphiaraos.
C. W. J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Sep 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 9 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΣΟΥΝΙΟ (Ακρωτήρι) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ
A rocky peninsula jutting into the sea at the S end of the region
lies 69 km SE of Athens. It is famous for its classical marble temple which was
built on the highest point of the cape and dedicated to the god Poseidon. It became
the site of religious activities at least as early as 700 B.C. and in later times
it was frequently used as a place of sanctuary by slaves who had run away from
the nearby silver mines at Laurion. The earliest literary reference to the site
occurs in the Odyssey (3.278) where it is said that Phrontis, Menelaus' pilot,
was struck down by Apollo as he was passing the sacred cape; in the winter of
413-412 B.C. during the Peloponnesian War, it was fortified to protect the ships
carrying corn to Athens (Thuc. 8.4); and later it was held by the slaves from
the mines at Laurion during a civic unheaval (Posidonios, cited by Athenaeus,
6272ff).
The marble Temple of Poseidon, built soon after the middle of the
5th c. B.C., is the main archaeological attraction of Sounion. Originally a colonnade
encircled the pronaos, the cella, where the cult statue of Poseidon was placed,
and the opisthodomos. Of the original colonnade, which had 6 columns across the
facades and 13 along the sides, 2 columns still stand on the N and 9 along the
S flank. These unusually thin columns are articulated by 16 flutes, rather than
20 the more common number. The lower two steps on which these columns stand are
unusual in their variegated surface and the cavetto molding which undercuts the
vertical raisers. One column still stands between the two antae of the pronaos;
these are aligned with the third column of the colonnade, an unusual characteristic
of this architect. Originally a sculptured frieze lined the four sides of the
area in front of the pronaos. The frieze depicted the Battle of the Centaurs,
the Battle of the Gods and Giants, and the deeds of Theseus. Several of the frieze
blocks can be seen on the site resting against the fortification wall on the left
as one approaches the temple. The pediments once held sculpture (no longer preserved)
and the whole was crowned by floral akroteria. One of the akroteria, found almost
complete, can be seen in the National Museum in Athens. The temple is built of
coarse-grained marble from the nearby quarry of Agrileza. It was designed by the
same architect who built the Temples of Hephaistos and Ares in Athens and the
Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous, as indicated by the design (for example the relationship
of the porches to the lateral colonnade), proportions (the unusually thin columns
combined with a heavy superstructure), dimensions, and style (the Ionic moldings
and frieze). The Classical temple was constructed on top of the remains of an
earlier unfinished temple made of poros limestone, begun in the early years of
the 5th c. B.C. and destroyed by the Persians in 480. The foundations, steps,
and scattered fragments of the columns and entablature of the earlier structure
can be seen beneath the later one. Immediately to the S there is a small structure
with partially preserved rubble walls which may have served as a temporary shrine
after the destruction of the earlier temple and before the construction of the
new one. The poros column drums that can be seen in its walls came from the earlier
temple.
Stoas (about which little is known) once lined the N and W sides
of the sacred area. Next to the stoa on the N lay the entrance into the precinct.
This gateway consisted of two Doric porches of unequal length separated by a gate
wall pierced by three doorways. A ramp led through the central door, similar to
the Propylaea in Athens, so that animals for sacrifice could be led into the sanctuary.
Marble benches lined the two porches. Fragments of 17 early archaic kouroi were
found in a deep pit E of the Temple of Poseidon. The statues were probably damaged
by the Persians at the time they destroyed the earlier temple. Since they were
sacred dedications, they could not be entirely discarded, and thus they were deposited
in the pit to make way for newer, undamaged dedications. The best preserved of
the statues are on exhibit in the National Museum of Athens.
A fortification wall encircling the summit of the peninsula protected
the inhabitants of the site. A few of the houses within the fortification have
been excavated. They face onto a street roughly parallel to the N fortification
wall and ca. 60 m distant from it. The houses were inhabited from the 5th c. B.C.
to Roman times. The fortification wall can best be seen to the NE of the gateway.
It is roughly 4 m thick, constructed of rubble masonry and faced with marble blocks.
Square towers punctuated the wall at intervals of roughly 20 m. The fortifications
were constructed toward the end of the 5th c. B.C.; during the Hellenistic period
they were repaired and expanded. At this same time a ship-shed was constructed
in a natural cove adjacent to the wall along the E side of the cape. A deep rectangular
cutting ca. 21 m x 12 m can be seen extending inland from the sea. On the sloping
floor of the cutting, two slipways were constructed to hold the ships; marble
masonry originally surrounded the cutting and supported the roof.
On the low hill N of the main sanctuary there is a smaller temenos
dedicated to Athena. Foundations of two small Classical temples and an enclosing
precinct wall can be seen here. The larger of the two temples was built soon after
the middle of the 5th c. B.C. and dedicated to the goddess Athena. Contrary to
the normal plan of Greek temples, the colonnade of this temple was placed only
across the front and along one side leaving the rear and N side without columns.
Originally there appear to have been 10 columns across the front or E side and
12 columns along the S side. A small pronaos led to the main room of the temple.
The remains of the base for the cult statue and foundations for 4 columns lie
within this room. The two marble slabs at the E end mark the position of the threshold.
Fragments of Ionic unfluted columns and various moldings of local gray-blue marble
from Agriliza were found on the site. Identical fragments have been found in the
Agora in Athens; it would appear that during the reign of the Emperor Augustus
in the 1st c. A.D. part of this temple was transported to Athens and reerected
in or near the Agora. One of the better-preserved capitals is on display in the
Agora Museum and two of the capitals are in the National Museum.
To the N of the Athena Temple are the foundations of a smaller, later
5th c. B.C. temple. Foundations for the two columns which originally stood along
the front, the marble threshold, the side and back walls made of local brown stone,
and the blue Eleusinian base for the cult statue can be seen.
In the area around Sounion remains of at least five farming establishments
have been found. Their most prominent feature is a towerlike structure, which
probably served to protect both the inhabitants of the farm and the farm goods
during piratical raids.
I. M. Shear, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Sep 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 54 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΣΦΗΤΤΟΣ (Αρχαίος δήμος) ΚΡΩΠΙΑ
Sphettos. To the E of Mt. Hymettos lies the rich plain of the Mesogaia, today
farmed from four large rural centers, Spata, Liopesi, Markopoulo, and Koropi.
The situation in antiquity was little different, and it was early recognized from
the numbers of inscriptions, pieces of sculpture, and architectural blocks built
into the houses and churches at Koropi and its vicinity that an ancient deme had
once existed near the location of its modern successor. The identification of
this deme as Sphettos, one of the original twelve townships that formed the union
of Attica under Theseus (Philochoros 328 F 94), was, until recently, more a matter
of conjecture than of fact, being largely based on the account in Philochoros
(328 F 108) and Plutarch (Thes. 13) of the attack of the Pallantidai on Theseus,
a march that originated at Sphettos. In 1965, however, virtually all doubt was
removed by the discovery at the chapel on the Kastro tou Christou, a prominent
hill crowned with a monastery a little more than 3 km W of Koropi, of an inscribed
base for a statue of Demetrios of Phaleron dedicated by the demesmen of Sphettos
(cf. Diog. Laert. 5.75-77). Not only did this inscription make the identification
certain, but it also demonstrated that the center of the deme of Sphettos was
in all probability nearby. Also close to the chapel are a number of cuttings,
suitable for votive reliefs, and traces of terracing which may possibly be construed
as the remains of a small rural sanctuary. In the plain immediately to the NE
of the hill are several chapels and the ruins of a village, from which much ancient
material has been recovered. To the W, overlooking the Mesogaia on the nearest
heights of Hymettos at the Chapel of Prophet Elias, are two small Classical temples
(q.v. Hymettos). From their dramatic position in full view of all who lived in
the predecessor of Koropi, one assumes that this sanctuary belonged to Sphettos.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
ΩΡΩΠΟΣ (Αρχαίο λιμάνι) ΑΤΤΙΚΗ, ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ
Oropos. Pausanias describes Oropia as the territory between Attica and Tanagra
(1.34.1); thus it was situated on the mainland side of the Euripos between Rhamnous
and Delion, with Eretria opposite. Such a position easily explains its checkered
history. Geographically more naturally related to Boiotia than Attica, Oropos
was nevertheless of economic importance to Athens because of the short crossover
from Euboia to Oropos and the direct road thence to the city through Dekeleia,
one of Athens' main lines of supply (Thuc. 7.28.1). It is therefore not surprising
that control of Oropos passed frequently back and forth between Athens and Thebes,
with a few interludes of autonomy.
The town of Oropos was on the site of the present Skala Oropou, where
a few ancient harbor installations and many architectural blocks have been noticed,
in addition to a number of dedications to the salty nymph. In the next harbor
to the E of Skala, 20 stades away, there are also remains from an ancient mole
at Kamaraki, identified as Delphinion, Oropos' Sacred Harbor mentioned by Strabo
(9.2.6). Three km N of this coast in the hills lay the territory's most famous
possession, the Sanctuary and Oracle of Amphiaraos. Here, in a deeply wooded glen
beside a ravine, the cult of Amphiaraos was established in the last years of the
5th c. B.C. It grew in popularity, and for the next three centuries the site was
developed, not merely as a place of divination, but also as one of healing. The
sanctuary continued to exist until the 4th c. A.D. when it was abandoned, probably
because of the dominance of Christianity.
The excavations of the sanctuary have revealed development on both
sides of the ravine: on the N, the temple, altar, spring, and other buildings
associated with the observances of the cult; on the S, the dwellings and establishments,
not only of the priests and their associates, but also of those who provided for
the wants of the pilgrims and the sick.
Today one enters the sanctuary from the W on the N side of the torrent
bed. The first building one sees is on the right, the Temple of Amphiaraos, with
its porch of six Doric columns enframed by a pair of half columns. In front are
the earliest remains yet found: the large altar, built around two earlier ones,
with some traces of curved seating to the N, from which to view the sacred proceedings,
and to the S the much rebuilt holy spring where they say Amphiaraos arose as a
god (Pausanias 1.34.4). North and E of the temple is a line of bases to support
the dedications made in Hellenistic times. Originally, this artificial terrace
had been prepared for a small temple and stoa, the latter believed to have served
as a place of incubation. This function was probably transferred to the long stoa
E of the bases, a building securely dated ca. 350 B.C. Yet farther E are the foundations
of a bathing establishment. The site's most interesting structure lies behind
and above the W half of the long stoa: a small Hellenistic theater with auditorium,
circular orchestra with five marble thrones, and scene-building complete with
stone proscenium.
On the opposite side of the ravine, the remains, though extensive,
are tenuous, and in most cases one cannot determine the purpose of the individual
buildings. One exception lies directly opposite the altar, the unmistakable ruins
of a klepsydra or water clock.
There is a small museum with courtyard in which have been placed a
number of the sculptural, epigraphic, and architectural finds.
C.W.J. Eliot, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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