96 T R A V E L S i n G R E E C E *
T he temple of Venus in the gardens was without the walls,
though not remote from thé town, as may be inferred from the
ftory of the Canephori. A church in the fkirt of Athens, with
an extenfive court before it, perhaps now occupies the fite. It
is called Panagia Spiliotifla, JSt Mary o f the cavern^ poflibly from
the fub terraneous paflagé, which may’ M l èxift.: On the
outfide in the wall, is fixed an infcriptiort relating to the temple
o f Venus, and recording the donations o f a pious female, who
gloried in the titles of candle-lighter and interpreter of dreams
to the goddefs. It is imperfect at the beginning, but comme-
morates her offering'thé pfedimentover the.chancel, and a Venus,
perhaps a puppet, which the haddnade and dreffed.:,,:
r C H A P. ; XX.
Ahftralh Paufamas — ThePrytanéum - m ûmtàsjddHd
‘The ‘Tripods and a monument remaining — Infcriptions — The
Biony/hm - - - Other tempks ^ - O f Tandion and o f the goddefs
Rome, & c. in the Acropolis — The fountain Empedo - - - Ceja-
'tion i f the, magfraâes: at - jU ha is ÿljépTf-\the 'Panetkenoean
praceffion.
- F A U S A N IA S returns again.intothe city, .and beg in s from
the Prytaneum, beeping the Acropolis on his right hand nearer
than .Wore ; a ftreet, called The Tripods', leading’ from .flue,
Prytanéum toward the theatre of* Bacchus, by which was the
moft antient temple-of that god.' Thefin^lnfuxe ,contained n|wo
temples, with two images. He then obferves, that near the
temple of Bacchus and the theatre, was the ftruéture formed
in imitation o f the tient o f Xerxes, or the odeumi and/rafter
mention of the Mithridatic war, and of the cruelty o f Sylla in
the Ceramicus, treats of the iiatues in thé theatre, and notes on
the fouth wall o f the Acropolis, which was toward it, a golden
Ægis and head o f Medufa offered by king Antiochus ; and a
cavern
T R A V E L S in G R E E C E . 97
.cavern above the theatre, in the rock. He then goes on from
the theatre to the front o f ithe Acropolis, marking on -the way
the tomb of Talos, a nephew and foholar o f Dsedalus, who, regarding
him as a rival, puflied him down a precipice | ;the
temple and fountain o f iE fcul aphis; and after it, the temple of
Themis, before which was a barrow o f Hippolyfps, and a
temple of Venus Pandemus. There was alio the temple o f
Tellus Curotrophus and Ceres Chlpe *. Paufanias theft enters
the Acropolis, and, after treating o f the PropyMa, mentions
that he faw .other articles there,, an;d a templ^pf Diana Brauro-
'jniaj defcribes the Parthenon, beyond which was a brazen
:Ap«ilo ^and, feeing .a ftatue ofjOlympiodorus, digreflfes eoa-
‘cenSng the Mufeum, which?hali was within the old c ity-wall;
and returns to th e E.reCtheum and P-androféum. Going down
from -the Acropolis, not into the city beneath, but helpw the
Prapylea,he -tabes notieeofafbuntain near the cave of Apollo
and Pan, and ^ Areopagus, by which was a temple o f the
F a ffe s f ehumetates the tribunds, which were federal- bef
je s Delphinium, Helisea, and the Palladium.; obferves o f the
veffei ufed in th e Panathenae^n prooeffion, Whidi was ihowm by
the Areopagus, that it was no longer aeuriofity, but was much
.■ inferior to <one at lM o s :;f >defcribes die Academy, a füborb near
Dipylon; and proceeds to the Demi or towns more remote
• from -the city.’
TïitE Prytanéum was a large -edifice, in Which the magi-
ferates called■ Prytanes met to deliberate, and a daily allowance
was provided for thofe perfbns who were entitled to-their diet
.from the public. There was a ftatue of tihe goddefs Peace, and
of Vefta, with the perpetual fire. The building -was thrown
down by an earthguake in the fixth year o f the Peloponnefian
war. At a church called Great fit Mary, in the -town, is an
antient arch, Tomé remains o f excellent tnafenry; -and three
' columns fiapporting an architrave-; which Tiiin, from its mtra-
tion, may with great reafoa, be fuppofed to have been the Pry-
‘ Vide SophocL Oidtp. Em Kq\m, v. 1641.
o tanéum.