C H A P. LXXI,
Q f Pafne-r—TTie city —-Feaft o f D iam —~<fh e prefent town-—
th e fouthfde o f the g u lf o f rforintA-^Neglefi o f travellers.
P A T R,A£ afftfted the AStoliaps, when invaded by the Gauls
under Brennus; but * afterwards was unfortunate, reduced to
extreme poverty, and almoft abandoned. Auguftus Csefar fe-
united the feathered citizens, and made it a Roman colony,
fettling a (Of the t^pps, which obtained the vi<ftory of
Adtium, with other inhabitants from the adjacent places. Patne
reflouriihed, and enjoyed dominion over Naupadtus,. GEanthea*
and feveral cities of Achaia.
I n the time o f Paufanias, Patrae was adorned with tern-
pies and porticoes, -a. Theatre, and an Odeum which was
fuperior to any in Greece but that of Atticus Her odds: at
Athens. In the lower part of the city "was a temple; of Bacchus
iEfymnetes, In which was an image preferved in a cheftyand.
conveyed, it was faid, from Troy b y . Eurypylus ; whp/ on
opening it, became difordered in his. lenies. By the port were
temples ; and by the fea, one of Ceres, with a pleafanfc grove,
and a prophetic fountain of unerring veracity in determining the
event o f any illnefs. After fupplicating the goddefs, with
incenfe, the heir per fbn appeared, - dead or living,, in a mirror
fulpended fo as to touch the furface o f the water.
In the citadel of Patrae was a temple of Diana Laphria, with
her ftatue in the habit of a huntrels, of ivory and gold, given
by Auguftus Caefar, when he laid wafte Calydon and the cities
o f i&tolia to people Nicopolis. The Patrenfians honoured her
with a yearly feftival, which is described by Paufanias, who was
a' fpedtator. They formed a circle round the altar with pieces
of
o f green wood, each flxteen cubits long; and, within heaped
dry fewel. The fôlémnity began with a mbit aiaghiÊçènt pro-
eeffion; ;which was clofed -by?4he Virgfri-Prîbfteâfs in a chariot
drawn bÿ flags; I On ^the follbwirig^dayi' the city-'Mnd private
perfôns offered at the altar -;-fruits,^-and-birds, and' all kinds of
piétinas, wild boars;;; flags, deer, young wolves, and-beafts full
;grown£;* after ; which?' the;fire was-kindled. He relatesy that a
bear and another animal forced a way through the fence, but
Were r&conftudiedndithe pilé. It was not remembered that ânÿ
wounds had -ever, befen received at’ this ceremony, though the
fpedtacle and-*facrifice were as? dangerous,a'sdavage. The number
of women at Patrae was ""double that of* the 'men. They were
employed chiefly in a manufadture o f flax, which grew in Elis,
weaving .garments and attire for the, head.
Pa t ræ has-been often attacked by enemies; taken, and
pillaged. It is a, confiderable town, at a diftance from the fea;
flfuated bh the^fide of a hill,1 which has ; its fummit crowned
with a.ruinous càftle. This made a brave defence in 1447
againft Sultan Morat, and held out until the peace was edh*
eluded, which firft rendered the Morea tributary to the Turks.
A dry flat before it was once the port, which has been choked
with mud. It has how, as in the time oT Strabo, only an indifferent’rôiîd
for veflels. The houfe o f Nicholas Paul Efquire,
the Englifh conful, flood on part p f the wall either o f the
Theatre; or the Odéum. By a Fountain’ was a fragment of a
Latin iufeription. We faw alfo a large marble buft, much
defaced ; and the Fpèneh,. conful fhpwed us a colledion o f
medab.v We found nothing remarkable in the citadel.. It is a
place of fome trade, and is inhabited by Jews, as well 'as by
Turks and’Grèeks;‘ ' The latter have feveral churçlies; One isr;
dedicated to St. Andrew the Apoftle, who fuffered martyrdom
there, and is of great fandtity. It had been récently repaired.
The fi-te, by the féa, is fuppofed that of the temple of Ceres.
By it ’is a fountain. The air is bad, and the country round
about overrun with the low ihrub -called Glycyrrhiza or Licorice-.
. Sic y on.,