the architedt who had faved the vaft circle of the theatre ; all-
conquering time having yielded to the fuccour he had contrived.
It is of a low age, as may be inferred from the form of the
characters. The early advocates for chriftianity inveighed againft
the fafhionable diversions, hut the public relifh for the ftage, for
the athletic exercifes, races and fpedtacles was inveterate; and
the theatre, the ftadium, and the like places of relbrt continued
to be frequented long after them, even at Ephefus.
G o i n g on from the theatre, which had a ftoa or portico
annexed to it, as may be.colledted from the pedeftals and Safes of
columns ranging along on this fide, concealed partly in the
ground, you come to a narrow valley, which divides mount
Prion from Coriflus. Near the entrance, in a fmall water-courfe,
was a marble with an infcription, which I copied j and we could
difcern a few letters on another ftone overwhelmed with rub-
bifh. Clofe by were ruins of a church, and a ftone carved with
the Greek crofs. Within the valley, you find broken columns
and pieces of marble, with veftig.es of an Odeum or mufic-
theatre in the Hope of Prion. This, which was not a large
ftrudture, is ftripped of the feats and naked. Near it are fome
piers with fmall arches, each of a fingle ftone, almoft buried in
foil. It is a precept of Vitruvius that the Odeum be on the left
hand coming from the theatre.
B e yond the Odeum the valley opens gradually into the
plain of Aiafaluck ; and, keeping round by Prion, you come to
the remains of a large edifice refembling that with an arcade at
Troas. The top o f one of the niches is painted with waves and
filhes, and among the fragments lying in the front are two
trunks of ftatues, of great fize, without heads and almoft buried;
the drapery, which is in both the fame, remarkable; This
huge building was the Gymnaiium, which is mentioned as
behind the city. We pitched our tent among its ruins, when
we arrived from Claros, and were employed on it three days in
taking a plan and view. We-had then a letter of recommendation
from
from a Turkifh officer at Smyrna to the Aga of Aiafaluck, but
did not go thither. He fent to require bac-fhifh, and was eafily
gratified. We found the area of the ftadium green with
corn, and the fite in general overrun with fennel in feed, the
ftalks ftrong and tall. Some traces, which, in the autumn before
had been plain, Were not difcernible.
W E return now to the entrance of the city from Aiafaluck.
That ftreet was nearly of the length of the ftadium, which
ranged along one fide. The oppofite fide was compofed of edifices
equally ample and noble ; with a colonnade, as we conjectured
from the many pedeftals and bafes of columns fcattered there.
Thefe fabrics were all raifed high above the level of the plain,
and have their vaulted fubftruétions yet entire.
T h i s ftreet was crofted by one leading from the plain toward
the valley before mentioned, which had on the left the
front o f the ftadium and the theatre with the ftoa or portico
adjoining. On the right are ample fubftrudtions ; and, oppofite
to the ftadium, lies a bafin of white marble ftreaked with red,
about fifteen feet in diameter, once belonging to a fountain ; *
with fome fhafts of fmall pillars near it almoft buried in earth.
The ruins on this fide are pieces of maflive wall, which have
been incrufted, as appears from holes bored for affixing the
marble ; and ordinary arches, of brick, among which are fragments
of columns of red granate. Thefe remains reach as far as
the portico, and' have behind them a morafs, once the city-port.
By the higheft of them is the entrance of a fouterrain, which
extends underneath; thefe buildings having been ereCted on a
low and marfhy fpot. Oppofite to the portico is a vacant quadrangular
fpace with many bales, of columns and marble fragments
fcattered along the edges. Here, it is probable, was the
agora or market-place, which in maritime towns was generally
near the port ; in .inland, near the centre.; and commonly built
1 Perhaps to Calippia, which was in the city. Pliny,
0 -2 with