weçe emplqyçd m A IIm é §É the night^timf,. TLçy placed
on their heads fpmethjpjg, they knew not, what, which they
received from the prieftefs, who was reputed equally ignorant -,
and defended with it into a fuhterranepu? paflage jn^ the
jcity, opt far from thf- tempfe o f Fergus in the jraçdeps | yyherç
they exchanged',one myfterious load for,.another, and returned
to the acropolis. They were then difmilfed and ^twp
virgins admitted jn their rporp. Paufanias wondered much at
this cuftom» Poe of thefe yipgiits^ after her w«l
honoured by the cppncil and people with a liatue, as appears
from an Iflfctiption extant in the town, 'Thél}aufes, it jpay.'hf
prefijpÏed, were judicipufly arranged ip ftrpe% fprpaing ayenues
to the temples g \yhçre pgw ap^ naean cpttagps, nQffpw lançs,
walls, and ruhhifh- The rock in many places .if fugged^ and
bare, or cut iiifa deps, perhaps tx> receive marble payement,
ór the foundation o f a building.
JBesidxs the ftàtue, qf lylii^erya Pqjias, iwjûfih Y?M o f olive,
and that ip the pafthenpn, the acropolis pofTeffed a third, which
was o f brafs, and fp tall that the point o f the lpp^r apd the
creft of the helmet were vifible from Snniu.m- It' was an
pffering made with a tenth o f the, fppi^ tajje/i af Maratlipnt
and dedicated to thegoddefs. The attid, yvais Phidia^ It
mained to the time of Arcadin? and jSç^Pfipa; and hdipprya, jt
was laid, appeared to AÊrié», as .repcefeijtte'd^ in ;th|s, image»
There were likewife fpme imagés, of hçr, vyjiiçi^ Reaped thf
dames, when 3Cepççs fet fire $ thç açrppplis. TJjefe, in thf
jfeçpnd century, were entire, but uqufealîy black, apd, mould*
cring with age. Many ifiyalnabie. epriphtie?: yyem. then pm-,
ferved in the temples i
A t the commencement of the Peloponnefian war, Pfricjes,
to animate the Athenians, harangued on the fiourifiiing date of
the republic,. and pn the richer of the. acropolis, m money, in
gold and filyer, in private and public offering^,, facfed utep.fijs,
the fpoils of the Mede.s, and the like i bcftdej? die forty talent?*
which,
which, i f wanted, might be borrowed from Minerva. The
treafury was in the Opifthodomos or back paft of the parthenon
where the Athenians afterwards lodged Demetrius Poliorcetes.
Thé prêtions effeds of Minerva and o f the other deities were
-amafled, and regidered on marble. The tutelary gods were
Jüpitér Saviour, and Plutus, who had wings and eyes. The
keys o f this place, and of the gates of the acropolis, were
intruded with the Prytanes ; one o f whom, chofen by lot, had
them in his cuftody, but for a night only and a day, when he
was Called the Epidates or prefident ; and then réfigned them to
a füc&effbé'. The precaution f>f jealoufy regulated and > limited
the command in this manner, led a tyranny fhould be edabliflied
on the pofifeffion o f the public treafure and o f the acropolis.
T he marbles; which recorded thefe riches of the Athenians«
have not all perilhed. We difeovered feme, which I carefully
copied, among the rubbifh at the farther end of the parthenon j
and purchafed one of a Turkilh woman living in the acropolis.
Another had,been conveyed down' tp the French convent, and,
after we le ff it, was placed as a dep in. the daircafe o f a
kitchen ere£led-by the friar. All thefe inferiptions, which ,are
very antient, commemorate jewék, Victories, and, crowns of
gold, rings, and a variety of curiofities confecrated by eminent
perforts j giving feme, though an inadequate, idea o f the nature
and quality of the treafure. Another- marble; which has been
engraved at the expënfc -of the foeiety. o f B i l e t -t a n t i , was
difeovered at a hoüfe not far from the temple of Minerva Polias,
placed, with the infcribed face expofed, in thé dairs. The
•owner, who was branded for feme unfair dealing with the
appellative J Ju t or tbe Jew, prefixed to his nafiae, feeing me
bedow fo much labour in taking a copy, became fearful of
parting with the original under its value. When the bargain
* The Opifthodomos is deferibed by the foholiaft on Ariftophanes as a-double
w*jb w‘*h a door, behind thp temple of Minerva Kolias; but this ffeems to be a
mi (lake, unlefs he intended tb tn art fhfe fituation of the pofticum. of tbe parthenon,
as behind the portico of Minerva Polias,’