Primitive Athens as described by Thucydides

by Jane Ellen Harrison

We know then just what sort of architectural fragments, we might expect to find; we can imagine a fragment that would be conclusive. A ‘Doric’ portico might belong to more than one kind of building, a lion’s head spout could belong only to a Fountain-House. No lion’s head has been found, but instead, what is as good for our purpose, a stone hollowed out for the reception of a lions head. This stone is shown in [Fig. 42]. Not only is the space for the lion’s head evident, but behind is clearly visible the hole for the pipe. The block is of blue calcareous stone such as is found both on the Acropolis and the Pnyx. Of exactly the same limestone is a small remnant of a polygonal wall from the South boundary of the precinct of the Fountain-House.

The plan in [Fig. 38] makes the general disposition of the place of the Enneakrounos clear, the large reservoir behind (Haupt-Bassin), immediately in front of it the draw-well (Schoepf-brunnen), and to the right of the reservoir, and of course equally fed by it, Nine-Spouts (Lauf-brunnen). In front a great open space. What is matter for conjecture is the exact site and size of Nine-Spouts. A clear view of the relation of Nine-Spouts to Fair-Fount is given in the sectional restoration[277] in [Fig. 43]. There we see the vaulted rock chamber Y, the actual well, Kallirrhoë, to which it led, and in front of it, the modern road intervening, Nine-Spouts or Enneakrounos itself. In front of that again the open space, possibly once enclosed, was the heart and centre of the agora.

Fig. 43.

Before we pass to the question of the agora it may be worth while to notice that the well-house, Enneakrounos, Nine-Spouts, was known as late as the seventeenth century to have been on the West slope of the Acropolis. In the curious old plan, then drawn by Guillet and Coronelli[278], a portion of which is reproduced in [Fig. 44], we have on the West slope not only a well against which in the key to the plan is marked ‘Enneakrounos,’ but also close to it the ruins of a small theatre, which may well stand for the Odeion as seen by Pausanias. In another plan of the seventeenth century, usually known as the plan of the Capucins, both theatre and Enneakrounos are missing, and in their place stands the so-called ‘Theseion.’ On close examination it may be seen that on the Capucin plan, the theatre, the Enneakrounos, and some other buildings have been obliterated and other monuments drawn in over them. It may be taken therefore as certain[279] that, in the seventeenth century, remains of an ‘Enneakrounos,’ and of a theatre-like building near it, existed.

Fig. 44.

We have had to reconstruct the Nine-Spouts as best we might from the analogy of well-houses on vase-paintings, from the remains of the well-house at Megara, and from a few scattered, though significant stones. We have also inferred its importance from the vast system of water-works of which it was the manifest goal. But there is another witness to its past greatness. It is the place where all ways meet. The irregular square in front of the well-house Nine-Spouts and in part occupied by it was manifestly a great centre of the city life. The complex of ancient roads is best seen in [Fig. 46]. The great Panathenaic way passes along its Eastern side, but that is not all. The branch roads from the Areopagos converge thither. Most important of all for us, straight down from the Acropolis gate, skirting the Amyneion, there descends a narrow footway. By this we may be sure the King’s daughters descended to fetch water from Kallirrhoë.

A word must be said as to the nature and surroundings of the main ancient road, which topographically is of capital importance. Somewhere along its course must have lain the ancient Agora. Our first impression is, unexpectedly, of narrowness, just as it is when we stand on the other Sacred Way, at Delphi. On the Panathenaic way five persons can only just stand abreast; the chariots must have gone in single file. It is in fact a narrow Oriental street. It is bounded on either side by walls of good polygonal masonry and is hemmed in, as is seen on the map, by houses and precincts. Beneath the road is an elaborate system of drainage pipes with shafts by which they could be entered for cleaning purposes. There are of course many cross-roads, two to the left leading to the Areopagos, one to the Pnyx, another to Koile. The footway leading straight to the Acropolis has already been noted.

One of the best preserved portions of the road is that which runs along by the Western side of the precinct of Dionysos-in-the-Marshes. Here the polygonal walls on both sides are well preserved. Almost opposite the wine-press we come on buildings which, from inscriptions, can be dated as of the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. These consist of an open exedra, quadrangular in shape and of polygonal masonry. Inside this precinct is a small shrine with no columns, in front of it an altar of poros stone. Both material and technique point to the sixth century B.C. To whom the shrine is dedicated is not known. Thucydides could perhaps have told us. In the course of the century next following the shrine must have fallen into disuse. As the level of the road rose it would, once disused, speedily get covered up. That this was actually the case is clearly shown by the fact that a building of the fourth century B.C. was superimposed. It extended right back to the Pnyx rock. Two boundary stones of this later building are still[280] in situ in the wall bordering on the main road; on each is inscribed ‘Boundary of the Lesche’ (ὅρος λέσχης). Immediately next to the South comes a building of polygonal limestone masonry. Two inscriptions show that this building was mortgaged, so it must have been a private house. Beyond this there is nothing of special interest till we come to the great open place in which stood the fountain Nine-Spouts.