T he exterior eity wall joining the long walls, forty-three
ftadia, or five miles, a quarter, and a half.
T he middle or interior wall, between the long walls, ieven-
teen ftadia, or two miles and half a quarter.
By this computation, the circuit of the city-wall alone -was-
fixty ftadia, or feven miles and a half. The part toward
Hymettus and Pentele, the mountains on the eaft and north-eaft,
was of brick.' The plain alfo was then covered with demi.
or towns, and with villas richly furnithed.
C H A P . VIII.
O f modern Athens — The antiquities — ■ The. citadel— Its antient
and prefent jlate r — Remark.
A T H E N S is placed by geographers in .fifty three degrees of
longitude. Its latitude was found by Mr. Vernon, an Englith.
traveller, to be thirty eight degrees .and five minutes. .‘ I t is now
called (A&riwi) Athini, and is notinconfiderable,’ either in extent
or the number, of inhabitants, t It enjoys a fine 'temperature,
and a ferehe iky. The air is clear and wholefome, though .not
io delicately loft as in Ionia. The town ftapds,Jberieath the
Acropolis or citadel, pot encompafiing the rock, as formerly,
but fpreading into, the plain,‘chiefly on the weft and north-Weft.
Corfairs infefting it, the avenues.were fecured, andin i6y6iihe
gates were regularly Abut after, funfet. It is now-open again,
but feveral of the gateways remain, and a guard of Turks
patroles at midnight. Some .mafles of brick-work, ftanding
feparate, .without ‘ the town, belonged perhaps to . the antient
wall, o f which other traces alfo appear. The houfes are moftly
mean, and ftragglingj many with large‘areas, or courts before
them. In the lanes, the high walls on each fide, whichare
commonly white-wafhed, reflect' ftrongly the heat- of the fun.
The
The ftreetshfe very irregular ■, and antiently were neither uniform
nor handfome. They have water conveyed in channels from
mount Hymettus, and in the Bazar-or market-placê is a large
fountain. The Turks hayét-feveral mofques and public baths.
The Greeks have' convents for men-and women j. with many
churches, in which fervicè is rëgiilarlsy perürmed i and befides
thefe, theyEave numerous oratories 'of cHapëlSj ïföme in. ruins
or eOnfiftihg Oft^baVe-walls, f frèqtëfiteÖ «daly?- on the^anniveriaries
o f the faints' to': whom they are dedicated, f A portrait, o f the
owner On*bO.Sr# isplacecfin them on'th&t oeeafion,and removed
when th'e: folemnity-of the day-is~oVer J
_ B e s i d e s the more ftable antiquities, o f which an
account -will' bégivëiï in the fequel,; many-'defached pieces. are
found in the*3town/'by the ^fountains/ in^the ftreëtsp the walls,
the houfes; and. churches. *■ Among thefe • are fragments ‘ of
fculpture'i -a marble chair ortwo , which^probably belonged to
the Gymnafia or theatres j" a fun-dial at the catholicon or. cathedral,
infcribed with the name o f the makers und^at the archie-
pifcopal houfe cldfe byj a very curious veflfel o f marble, ufed as
a 'ciftern rto' receive water, but onCe fervingi’ it< is likely, as a
public, ftandard or tneafure. Many columns oeeur j with; fome
maimed ftatues j and pedeftals,' feveral' with infcriptions,- and
almoft buried in earth. A cuftom has prevailed, as at Chios, of
fixing id the wall, over, the gateways .and' doors of. the houles,
carved ftones, moft of. which exhibit the funereal fupper. In
the co'urts; of the houfes lie many-round ftelae, oir! pillars, once
placed, on the graves of the Athenians f and a great number are
ftill to bfe feéh'applied to the fame ufe in the Turkifh burying
grounds flefore 'the acropolis; Thefe generally have concife
inferiptiohs containing the name of the perfon, and of the towns
and tribe,, to which the deceafcd belonged. Demetrius the Phales-'
rean, who endeavoured to reftrain fepulphfal luxury, i eqaéled,
that noi perfon fhould havé more’than one j and that thé height
ftxould not exceed three'cubits.' Another fpecies, which refem-,
bles our modern head-ftones,. is fometimes adorned with fculp-
Iffff! 2 ture