The Panathenaic Stadium and Theater of Lykourgos: A Re-Examination of the Facilities on the Pnyx Hill

The Panathenaic Stadium and Theater of Lykourgos: A Re-Examination of the Facilities on the Pnyx Hill Author(s): David Gilman Romano Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 89, No. 3 (Jul., 1985), pp. 441-454 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/504359 Accessed: 01/11/2008 14:04 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=aia. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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The PanathenaicStadiumand Theater of Lykourgos: A Re-examinationof the Facilities on the Pnyx Hill* DAVID GILMAN ROMANO Abstract the Among public building projectsof Lykourgoswas the PanathenaicStadium, the site of the athletic contests of the Panathenaicgames. It has long been assumedthat this stadium was located on the site of the later Roman Panathenaic stadium built by Herodes Atticus near the Ilissos River in the mid-2nd c. A.C. In the 19th c., Ziller excavated the site of the Roman stadium but found no traceof an earlierstadium. In the absenceof any archaeological evidence at the site of the Roman stadium and of any topographicalindication in the written evidence,the location of the original structureremains undetermined. Archaeologicalevidence at another Athenian site, the Pnyx, suggests its use as a stadium, and its history and characterconformwell with the literaryand epigraphical sources for the Lykourgan facility. During the third building period, datedto 330-326 B.C. by the excavators and associatedwith the building programof Lykourgos, the theatrical assembly area was substantially enlarged. To the south and west lie two long rectangularfoundations which were identifiedas the foundationsfor two unfinishedstoas. Directly to the northeastof the longerwest foundationis a flat and artificiallylevelled terrace, 15.80 m. wide and 148 m. long. I suggest that the long terrace served as a racecourse and that the long foundations were built as support for artificial earth embankmentson which spectatorscould sit or stand. The essential requirementsof a stadiumand theater are met by the facilities on the Pnyx; the date is right and the locationwould be ideal for the stagingof the athletic and musical contestsof the Panathenaicgames. Exploration on the Pnyx hill in the 1930s under the joint auspices of the Greek Department of Antiquities and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, under the direction of K. Kourouniotes and H.A. Thompson,1 and later of Thompson and R.L. Scranton,2 revealed a variety of impressive structures * I am grateful to the following for comments and criticism of earlier drafts of this text: J.J. Coulton, L.W. Daly, A.J. Graham, M.H. Jameson, M.H. McAllister, J.R. McCredie, F.W. Mitchel, A.E. Raubitschek,I.B. Romano, R.L. Scranton,H.A. Thompson, R.F. Townsend and D. White. A shorterversionof this article was presented at the Eighty-Fourth General Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Philadelphia, Pa., December 30, 1982: AJA 87 (1983) 255. K. Kourouniotesand H.A. Thompson, "The Pnyx in Athens," Hesperia 1 (1932) 90-217. 2 H.A. Thompson and R.L. Scranton,"Stoasand City Walls on the Pnyx," Hesperia 12 (1943) 269-383. 3 H.A. Thompson, "The Pnyx in Models," Hesperia Suppl. 19

AmericanJournal of Archaeology89 (1985)

441

(ills. 1 and 2). Evidence was found for three periods of construction of the great semicircular assembly area where the Ekklesia of the Athenian people was known to have convened.3 In the first period, around the end of the sixth or the beginning of the fifth century B.C., the hillside which naturally sloped downward from south to north was used as a theater cavea. The surface of the hillside was artificially graded and a retaining wall was constructed to support the artificial fill which provided a level area for the bema. The citizens, a maximum number of 5000 or 6000, stood or sat on the slopes facing the city.4 In the second period, in the late fifth century B.C.,5 an artificial earth embankment was constructed sloping down to the south, in a direction opposite to that of the first. A high semicircular retaining wall supported the earth embankment on the north, and, in this period, the citizens faced the hillside with their backs to the city. The capacity of the assembly area was only slightly greater than that of the first period, approximately 6000. In the third period (the period with which we are concerned), dated 330-326 B.C., the plan of the second period was substantially enlarged to accommodate over 10,000 spectators, although the orientation of the assembly area remained the same. The great semicircular retaining wall was constructed of large stone blocks to support the huge amount of artificial fill used for the auditorium. To the south and west of the area of assembly, and on slightly higher ground, lie two long rectangular foundations which the excavators identified as the foundations for two unfinished (1982) 133-47, summarizesthe use of the assemblyplace in each of its three periods. In this article Thompson also revises some interpretations of the history and design of the establishment on the Pnyx hill. 4 Thompson, (supra n. 3) 135, puts the figureat 5000 to 6000 on the assumption that ca. 0.40 m.2 would have sufficed per person. See also M.H. Hansen, "How Many Athenians Attendedthe Ecclesia?"GRBS 17 (1976) 130-32 and "The Athenian Ecclesia and the Assembly Place on the Pnyx," GRBS 23 (1982) 241-49. 5 A recent study by R.A. Moysey, "The Thirty and the Pnyx," AJA 85 (1981) 31-37, suggests a slightly later date in the late fifth century than the one originally proposedby the excavators.

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DAVIDGILMANROMANO

[AJA89

Ill. 1. Planof the Pnyxhill. (Hesperia12 [1943]pl. 14) stoas.6 The East Foundation measures 65.80 m. in length and the West Foundation, 148.105 m. (ills. 3, 4); the widths are 17.21 and 17.86 m. respectively. Each of the proposed stoas has been restoredwith a continuous off-center interior foundation. No fragment of superstructurewas found in the excavations, and for this and other reasons the excavators concluded that the stoas were never completed.7 Immediatelyto the west of the shorter East Foundation is a large rectangularbedding, 13 x 17.50 m., which the excavators interpreted as the bedding for the foundation of a propylon (ills. 1, 2, 4).8 They dated the foundationsand the rectangularbedding to the same time as the third periodof the assemblyarea, 330-326 B.C. Directly to the east of the longer West Foundation is the flat and artificially levelled West Terrace, cut partially from the bedrock. The terrace is approximately 15.80 m. wide and extends the entire length of the West Foundation, 148 m.; it then bends slightly and broadens in front of the East Foundation. Running along the front (east) of the West Foundationare 6 In

many places only the trench for the foundationsis preserved (discussedinfra pp. 445-46). 7 Thompson and Scranton (supra n. 2) 292. 8 Thompson and Scranton (supra n. 2) 286-89. 9 Thompson and Scranton, (supra n. 2) 292, suggestedthat the initial constructionof the Middle Terrace, which involvedthe lev-

cuttings which the excavatorsinterpretedas beddings for a series of water basins and a water channel. The underpinnings for several monuments lie on the southernedge of the Middle Terrace, betweenthe two long foundations(ill. 4); the East and West Terraces were free of monuments.At each end of the West Terrace, a level surfacewas achievedby cutting down the rock;in most of the central area of the terrace a level surface was obtained by filling the area with earth and retaining it on the northern side with a massive stone wall (ills. 1, 2).9 The East Terrace was partially levelled by cutting away great amounts of rock. Thompson assumed that the function of these exceptionally broad terracesand of the proposedstoas was related to the gathering of citizens in the assembly area, a place where they could walk about and take shelter during inclementweather. It is well known that the PanathenaicStadium,the site of the athletic contestsof the Panathenaicgames, was among the public projectsof Lykourgos,the famous Athenianstatesmanof the fourthcenturyB.C.10 It has long been assumed that this stadium was loelling of the stone outcropping,was undertakenin the late fifth century B.C., well before the foundationswere begun. 10For a good discussion of Lykourgos' achievementsand contributions to Athens, see F.W. Mitchel, "Lykourgan Athens 338-322," in University of Cincinnati Classical Studies 2 (1973) 163-214.

THE PANATHENAIC STADIUM AND THEATER OF LYKOURGOS

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Ill. 2. Plan of the Pnyx showing the third period of the Assembly Place, the two long foundationsand the levelled terrace. (Travlos fig. 590)

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[AJA 89

Ill. 3. Pnyx, state plan of the north end of the West Foundation including the location of the "CompartmentWall," the "White Poros Wall" and the roadway. (Hesperia 12 [1943] pl. 15)

cated on the site of the later Roman PanathenaicStadium built by Herodes Atticus near the Ilissos river in the mid-secondcenturyA.C., becausethe Roman stadium is here and textual informationon the construction of the earlier stadium can be interpretedas ap-

to the large number of oxen, indicatinga vast undertaking, and the use of the word charadrahave suggested the kind of building activity that would have been neededto preparethe naturalvalley betweenthe two hills near the Ilissos.'4

propriate to this place." IG II2 351, dated securely to

In the nineteenth century, Ziller excavatedthe site of the Roman stadium but found no traces of an earlier racecourse.'5 He assumed that the Lykourgan structurewas simple in design,a racecoursefloorwith a stone curb along its borderand only a few seats for dation wall, Kpr77rL,around the Panathenaic Stadium judges and importantguests. This speculationon the and also levelled the ravine, xapdaTpa.The reference appearance of the Lykourgan stadium has been ac329 B.C., recordsthat Eudemos of Plataia gave 1000 yoke of oxen for the constructionof the Panathenaic Stadium and Theater.'2 Pseudo-Plutarch,Lives of the Ten Orators841D,'3 tells that Lykourgosput a foun-

"1See A.E. Raubitschek, Dedicationsfrom the Athenian Akropolis (Cambridge,Mass. 1949) 340-42, no. 318, for an inscription dated to the first half of the 6th c. B.C. which, as restored,mentions the site of the stadium as Agrai, an area near the Ilissos where the Roman stadium is located. Much of the inscriptionis restored(including the word stadion) and I, therefore,do not accept it: [- v

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And he put the foundationwall around the Panathenaic Stadium. This he accomplished,and also the levelling of the ra-

vine, because a certain Deinias who owned this plot of land gave it to the city when Lykourgossuggested to him that he make the gift. The informationin this passage of Pseudo-Plutarchappears to be fairly reliable since some of it is includedin the Decree of Stratokles, IG II2 457, of 307/6 B.C. (lines 6-7). 14 In addition to the sources given above, the following inscriptions referto the PanathenaicStadium:IG II2 1627 (lines 382-84); IG II2 1628 (lines 540-42); IG II2 1629 (lines 1017-20) and IG II2 1631 (lines 243-44). These inscriptionsrefer to the transferof surplus beams from Philon's arsenal to the board in charge of the stadium: Mitchel (supra n. 10) 196-97. '5 E. Ziller, "Ausgrabungenam panathenaischenStadion,"Zeitschriftfiir Bauwesen 20 (1870) 485-92.

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THE PANATHENAICSTADIUMAND THEATEROF LYKOURGOS

ceptedto the presentday, and in itself is probablysubstantially correct. But in the absence of any archaeological evidence at the site of the Roman stadium and of any topographical indication in the written evidence, the location of the simple Lykourganstructure remains a question. Archaeologicalevidence on the Pnyx hill suggests that structureson this site could have served as a stadium. The literary and epigraphical sources for the Lykourgan stadium can also be interpretedas to conform with the apparent history and characterof the Pnyx area. Thus, I would challenge the traditional views on the location of the Panathenaic Stadium of Lykourgosand proposethat the architecturalremains on the Pnyx hill would have been suitable for this complex. THE REMAINS OF THE FOUNDATIONS

Because the argument for locating the stadium on the Pnyx rests largely on the interpretationof the remains of the West and East Foundations, these remains are discussedin some detail.

445

WestFoundation The bedding for the foundationblocks of the West Foundation,excavatedfor a total length of over 24 m. at the north end (ill. 3), was found to be uniformly 1.75 m. wide. In three trenchesalong the east side of the foundation,fartherto the south, two rows of large conglomerate blocks lying side by side on bedrock were found in situ. Immediatelyeast of the east bedding of the West Foundation, for its entire length, is another bedding 1 m. wide which is cut down to approximately the same depth as the other bedding. Thompson reports that clearly the two contiguous beddingswere not cut at the same time but were part of the same program.16Within this beddingand centered at intervalsof 8.06 m. (except 9.59 m. from the north and south ends) are 17 rectangular cavities, 1.70 m. long and 0.26-0.29 m. deeperthan the floorof the easternmostbedding. Within the limits of the West Foundation, at its north end, are intermittent cuttings in the bedrock. The cuttings are approximately 4 m. wide at their greatestextent and are parallel to the long axis of the

Ill. 4. Pnyx, state plan of the eastern area showing East FoundationB, East FoundationA, rectangularbedding,south end of the West Foundation including the location of the "CompartmentWall." Also shown are the levelled West and Middle Terraces, including the monument foundations, the East Terrace and the roadway. (Hesperia 12 [1943] pl. 16) 16Thompson and Scranton (supra n. 2) 272-73.

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DAVID GILMAN ROMANO

West Foundation, although they are found closer to the east side of the foundationthan to the west. These cuttings are, presumably, for the continuous and offcenter interior foundation. East Foundation

Two distinct chronological periods of the East Foundations are attested by extant beddings. The earlier, East FoundationA, consistsof a bedding3.08 m. wide on the north, front side, 3.20 and 3.30 m. wide on the southern returns at the east and west ends respectively(ill. 4). Only a small portionof the 1 m. wide beddingof the rear, south wall of East Foundation A has been found. The later, East Foundation B, has a bedding2 m. wide along its front (north) and sides.17 Local gray limestone blocks remain in situ along the southern (back) wall and were found standing to a height of 2.50 m. in two rows with an average thickness of 1.20 m. The standing wall is laid in irregular ashlar masonry. The exterior (south) face of the wall is hammer-dressedwith some edges beveled, while the interior (north) face appears rough and unfinished.18 Along the long axis of East Foundation B is a continuous bedding for an interior foundation, approximately 1.50 m. wide. The center of the bedding is approximately 7 m. from the north (front) foundation and approximately 10.50 m. from the south (rear) foundation. Small reused blocks of gray limestone were found in the eastern section of the inner foundation,as well as in the east bedding of the East Foundation. 1

The rear wall of East FoundationB, as well as that of the West Foundation, was enlarged to approximately 4 m. in width to receive the foundationsof a later fortificationwall, named by the excavators the "CompartmentWall" (discussedbelow). INTERPRETATION OF THE FOUNDATIONS AS STOAS

There are several problemsin the interpretationof 17 East FoundationA was aligned 12? NW-SE of the orientation of East Foundation B. The excavatorshave explained the realignment of the East Foundationas a changemade during construction, hypothesizingtwo unfinished foundations,one above the other. 18Thompson and Scranton(supra n. 2) 281-82, fig. 9, pl. 16. 19 There is no evidence that East Foundation A had an interior axial foundation. 20 Five hypothetical reconstructionsof stoa designs can be proposed for these foundations:A. Front colonnadewith rear rooms;B. Front colonnade with interior wall; C. Front and central colonnades;D. Front and rear colonnadeswith an interiordividingwall; E. Front, central and rear colonnades.None of these types is likely to have been built on the Pnyx foundations.Although there are a few examples of stoas in which a wall is not centrally located between front colonnadeand rear wall, e.g., the Stoa at Piraeus, the South Stoa at Delos and the Stoa at Kameiros (J.J. Coulton, The

[AJA 89

the two long foundationsas those for stoas. Principal among them is the presence of the off-center and continuous interior foundationsalong the long axes, which would make the interior design of the stoas unusual.20Anotherelementof design in East Foundation B suggests strongly that the building was not a stoa. As noted by Thompson, the exterior, south face of the rear standing wall, preserved to 2.50 m. in height, is composedof irregular ashlar blocks which are carefully dressed. The interior, north face of the same wall is rough and unfinished,thus probablynot meant to be seen. If the wall were the interiorwall of a stoa, it would have been visible in its rough state. But if it were the retaining wall of an embankment,the rough interior surface would have been coveredwith earth and only the finished exterior would have been visible (see discussionbelow). Thompson interpretedthe absenceof architectural superstructureto mean that the stoas were never finished. The same evidencemay be interpretedto indicate that a superstructurewas never intended. Evidence discussed below supports the contention that these foundations retained artificial earth embankments which were part of a stadium. Let us, therefore,reconsiderthe architecturalremains on the Pnyx hill with regardto a stadium. The essential requirementsfor a stadiumare a dromos or running area 600 feet long and an area for spectators.Stadia are sometimesfound on the sides of hills or in a hollow between hills so that the natural slopes can be used by spectators.Often, however, the dromos is constructedon a level or levelled piece of ground,while the spectatorareas are built up as artificial earth embankments and are retained by low foundation walls which border the racecourse. The two long foundationsof the Pnyx hill may have served as support for such embankments,as at Olympia2' and Isthmia.22 The examples at Halieis23 and Delos24

are less well known, although they more closely resemble the foundationson the Pnyx hill. ArchitecturalDevelopmentof the GreekStoa [Oxford 1976] 87, n. 10), these examples all have rooms to the rear behind the colonnade, a feature which the foundationson the Pnyx do not suggest. 21 A. Mallwitz, Olympia und seine Bauten (Munich 1972) 180-86, figs. 144, 149, 150. 22 0. Broneer,Isthmia 2. Topographyand Architecture(Princeton 1973) 46-55, plans 2, 3, 4. Note that the early stadium at Isthmia (of the 6th and 5th cs. B.C.) included artificial embankments for spectators,although a suitable hollow of a hill existed nearby and was in fact used in the Hellenistic period for a stadium with larger spectatorcapacity. 23 D.G. Romano, The Stadia of the Peloponnesos(Diss. University of Pennsylvania 1981) 37-41. 24 P. Bruneau and J. Ducat, Guide de Delos (Paris 1966) 126-29, plan 3, fig. 23; J. Audiat, Exploration archeologiquede Delos 28. Le gymnase (Paris 1970) pl. A.

THE PANATHENAICSTADIUMAND THEATEROF LYKOURGOS

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At Halieis, artificial embankments for spectators are found on both the east and west sides of the dromos (ill. 5). The two eastern embankmentsare situated in an area which slopes naturally down from east to west and are relatively simple, quadrilateralfoundations as enclosuresfor earth. The western embankment is more complex. A foundation wall approximately 60 m. long and two blocksin width (1.20-1.50 m. wide) runs parallel to the long axis of the racecourse. Stone foundations of single width (0.30-0.60 m. wide) border the double-width foundation on all four sides (this foundationof double thicknessis situated off-center, closer to the western than to the eastern foundation). Earth was artificially banked to the east and west of the foundation of double thickness and was retainedby the outer foundations.25 The embankmentfoundations most similar to the foundationson the Pnyx hill are those of the stadium on Delos,26 which is known from epigraphical evidence to have existed at least from the early third century B.C.27Along the west, long side of the dromos,in its southernhalf, is a rectangularfoundationapproximately 93 x 10 m. with a continuousinteriorfoundation parallel to its long axis (ill. 6). The total width of the foundations is approximately 13 m.; the distance between the eastern and central foundations is approximately 4 m., and between the central and western foundations approximately 6 m. The width of each individual foundation is approximately 1 m. From examination of the physical remains, it is clear

that the foundationsat Delos were constructedto support an artificially made embankmentof earth along the west side of the dromosand to the east of the xystos. Several ashlar blocks,probablyfor seats, remain in situ on the lower levels of the earth embankment. The spectatorembankmentsof the stadia at Halieis and Delos, the foundations of which are similar to those on the Pnyx hill, suggest that the latter may also have supportedartificialearth embankments.An estimate of the spectator capacity of the two embankments for the proposedstadium on the Pnyx may be calculated by assuming that each person, seated or standing, occupied 0.50 square meters of space. The result is approximately equal to enough space for 2210 spectatorson the East Embankment(65 x 17 m. = 1105 square metersdividedby 0.50 square meters) and 5032 spectators on the West Embankment (148 x 17 m. = 2516 square meters divided by 0.50 square meters) or a combinedtotal of 7242 spectators. When ample room is conjecturedfor passageways, a total of about 6000 is likely. The capacity of the assembly area of the Pnyx in its third and final period has been estimatedby Thompson, using the same formula, at over 10,000 spectators.28

Romano (supra n. 23) 39-40. Bruneau and Ducat (supra n. 24) 126-29. R. Vallois, L'architecturehellenique et hellenistiquea Delos 1 (Paris 1944) 176.

28Kourouniotesand Thompson (supra n. 1) 158. 29 The West Terrace is exceptionallybroad for a terracelocated in front of a stoa (Thompson and Scranton[supra n. 2] 296), but reasonableas the width of a racecourse.Dromoiof excavatedstadia

25 26 27

THE TERRACE AS DROMOS

The other necessary element of a stadium is the racecourseproper. The total amount of free and unobstructedspace on the West Terrace of the Pnyx is 15.80 m.29 in width and approximately 148 m. in

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DAVID GILMAN ROMANO

[AJA 89

Ill. 6. Delos, plan of stadiumarea;no. 76 is the gymnasium,77 the xystos, 78 the dromos.Between 77 and 78 are the foundations for the southernspectatorembankment.The northernspectatorembankmentis to the north (left). (P. Bruneauand J. Ducat, Guide de Delos [Paris 1966] plan 3) length. Several small foundations for monuments, beginning at the eastern end of the West Foundation and continuing along the south side of the Middle Terrace toward the east, limit the width of the free space on the terrace to 9 m. (ill. 2). In front of the eastern half of the East Foundation, the terrace broadens again to ca. 15 m. The most suitable location for the dromos of the stadium is the free space in front of the West Foundation (approximately 148 m.). It would allow a running area of at least 130 m. plus an overrun space of ca. 9 m. at each end of the dromos, a feature that is common to a number of stadia.30 The approximate

length of the foot used to measure the length of the dromos of the stadium can be estimated by dividing 130 m. by 600 (a stadium by definition is equal to 600 feet). Thus the foot used to measure the dromos length of the stadium on the Pnyx would be approximately 0.213 m. Admittedly, 0.213 m. would be a short foot and one for which there is no known parallel from the relatively few excavated stadia of ancient Greece.31 Nor does the dimension correspond with what has been assumed about the length of the "Attic foot" of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.32 There is evidence from Athens, however, which supports a foot length

vary in width from 10 m. at Didyma to 33 m. at Olympia. In addition, stoa terraces generally have monuments set up on them, whereas the West Terrace is totally free of monuments. 30 At Olympia the overrun distance is approximately 10 m. at each end of the dromos;at Epidauros it is about 15 m. at the east end of the racecourse.At the south end of the dromosof the stadium at Nemea the overrundistance varies between 3 and 8 m. (a nearly semicircularconfiguration),and at Delphi it varies between 4 and 10 m. at both the east and west ends (semicircular).At Halieis the overrundistance at the north end of the dromosis ca. 12 m. 31 The shortest foot measure in an excavatedstadium (with both

starting lines in situ) is in the southern Argolid, at Halieis. There, in the Sanctuaryof Apollo, the length of the dromosof the stadium (measuredbetweenthe startinglines) is 166.50 m. and the resulting foot length is equal to 0.278 m. 32 It has been argued that the foot length used in the construction of the Erechtheionin Athens was ca. 0.326 m. This measure was found to be repeatedin numerousblock dimensionsas recordedin 5th c. B.C. building inscriptions (IG I2 372-374), and the same categoryof measurementmay be inferredfor the 5th c. B.C. Athenian Propylaia, producinga foot of ca. 0.327 m. (W.B. Dinsmoor, "The Basis of Greek Temple Design: Asia Minor, Greece, Italy,"

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THE PANATHENAIC STADIUM AND THEATER OF LYKOURGOS

close to this approximation for the foot of the Pnyx stadium. The length of the foot used to measure the stadium as 600 feet is the same as that used to measure the stylobate length of the temple of the deity in whose honorthe games were held as 200 feet in Olympia and probably at Delphi, and 100 feet at Halieis.33 If the same holds true at Athens, then the foot used to measure the length of the dromos of the stadium as 600 should be the same as the one used to measure the length of the principal temple of Athena. The Old Athena Temple, built on the Akropolis in the late sixth century B.C. (the so-called Peisistratid Temple), measures on its restored stylobate 43.15 m.34 If

the length of the Old Athena Temple is 200 feet, then the foot used to determine the temple length is 0.21575 (43.15/200

= 0.21575 m.).

The same foot can be found in the measurementof the stylobate length of the Peisistratid Temple of Olympian Zeus at Athens: 107.89 m. which, when divided by the same foot length of 0.21575 m., equals 500.069 feet. This suggests that the Temple of Olympian Zeus was designed as a 500-foot temple according to the same unit that was used to determine the length of the Old Athena Temple on the Akropolisas a 200-foot temple. It is probable,therefore,that the foot used to establish the stylobate length of both of these temples commissioned by the Peisistratids, 0.21575 m., was the same foot that was used to measure the length of the PanathenaicStadiumon the Pnyx hill (0.21575 x 600

449

was movedto the Pnyx hill, the length of the dromosof the stadiumwas retainedas traditional. These metrologicalcalculationsmay help to understand anotherfeature of the long terraceand Western Embankment.It has been suggestedby the excavators that the 17 rectangularcavities spaced at regular intervalsin front of the West Foundationwere meant as receptacles for water basins connected by a water channel, but were never completed(see above p. 445 for dimensionsand spacing). Rather than waterbasins,these cavities could indicate the spacingof the staircasesused for spectatoraccess up and down the embankmentof the West Foundation. The cavitieswould have been employedas the bedding for the lowest steps of the staircase, leading from the level of the racecourseto the top of the embankment. A similar spacing of staircases (approximately 7.5 m.) exists on the northernembankmentof the EpidaurosStadium.35 The distance between the outermostcavities of the West Foundation on the Pnyx hill (measured center to center) is 128.96 m., a dimensionquite close to the estimated stadion length of 129.45 m.36 I suggest,

therefore,that the two end staircaseswere set out one stadion apart and that the intermediate staircases were at equal intervalsof 600/16 or 37.5 feet (0, 37.5, 75, 112.5, 150, 187.5, 225, 262.5, 300, 337.5, 375, 412.5, 450, 487.5, 525, 562.5, 600). There is no evidence for a similar series of staircases in the East Foundation, principally since access to the East Foundation,becauseof topographicalfeatures,would = 129.45 m.). This foot length may have been asso- have been only from the east side of the East Terrace. ciated with the measurementof the PanathenaicStaIt must be readily acknowledgedthat no starting dium since the time of the tyrant Peisistratosand the lines are preserved at either end of the postulated reorganizationof the PanathenaicGames in 566 B.C. racecourse.Presumablythe stone blocks of the startFurthermore, the early dromos on or near the Pan- ing line could have been removedduring the Roman athenaic Way was likely to have been measured ac- period, when use of the stadium ended, as did that of cording to this same foot length. When the stadium other monumentson the Pnyx hill.

Atti del SettimoCongressoInternazionaledi ArcheologiaClassica 1 [Rome 1961] 355-68). It has also been argued that a foot measure of 0.3275 m. was used in the constructionof the Philonean Portico in Eleusis in the second half of the 4th c. B.C. (IG II2 1680 and K. Jeppesen, Paradeigmata [Aarhus 1958] 145-49. See now R.F. Townsend, AJA 88 [1984] 262-63). It is not likely, however,that a single foot measure (i.e., Doric, Ionic or Attic) was in widespread use in any one region or period as was once believed. Evidence is growing to support the idea that ancient foot measures could vary greatly from site to site as well as from one building projectto another at a single site (J.J. Coulton, "Towards Understanding Greek Temple Design: General Considerations,"BSA 70 [1975] 85-89). Furthermore,the usual assumption that the length of the ancient foot must fall within certain limits, e.g., 0.27 to 0.33 m., is not necessarily correct. It is known, for example, that other standardsof measure,e.g., the drachma,varied considerablyfrom place to place and by greater amounts than I am suggesting for linear measures. For example, the Aiginetan drachmaequaled 6 g. while the Corinthian drachma equaled 2.8 g., a differenceof over 100%

(C.M. Kraay and M. Hirmer, Greek Coins [New York 1966] 17). There seems to be no reasonto rejectthe possibilitythat the Greeks used a great variety of foot measures (obviously an anthropomorphic standard),as there is in fact a great variety in the dimensionof the human foot. A foot length of 0.21575 m. is not unknown today; in fact it is fairly common,and would require the equivalent of an American size-5 woman's shoe. For a recent discussion of metrology, see E. Fernie, "The Greek Metrological Relief in Oxford," AntJ 61 (1981) 255-63. See also T.D. Boyd and M.H. Jameson, "Urbanand Rural Land Division in Ancient Greece,"Hesperia 50 (1981)327-42. 33Romano (supra n. 23) 250-67; see also "The AncientStadium: Athletes and Arete,"The Ancient World7 (1983) 9-16. 34For stylobate dimensions, see W.B. Dinsmoor, The Architecture of Ancient Greece3(New York 1975, reprint of 1950) 337-40. 35 P. Kavvadias, "'AvaaoKafa\ ev 'Elrltbavpc, To Eradiov," Praktika 1902, 78-92, pl. 1. 36 The percentagedifferencebetween the two distancesis 0.38%.

450

DAVID GILMAN ROMANO

LYKOURGAN STADIUM ON THE PNYX HILL

The passage in Pseudo-Plutarch states that Ly-

[AJA 89

The referenceto the PanathenaicStadiumand Theater is discussedbelow.

around the kourgos put the foundation wall, KpTr17TS,

Chronology The inscriptionprovidesa secure date for the constructionof the PanathenaicStadiumand Theater, by the mentionof the month and the name of the Archon, to early summer 329 B.C.39 Is this date compatible with the archaeologicalremains on the Pnyx hill? The two long foundations and the third phase of the assembly area on the Pnyx hill are dated by the excavators to 330-326 B.C. Dating evidence comes largely from pottery associatedwith several areas of (ill. 2).38 This task, which included the movement of both long structures.40The contemporaneityof the large blocks of stone and great amounts of artificial two long foundations,the terrace walls and the masfill, may well have requiredthe assistanceof the 1000 sive retaining wall of the third period of the area is yoke of oxen mentionedin IG II2 351. The inscription suggestedby severalarchitecturalfeatures.There is a reads: general similarity in the masonryof the back wall of the East Foundation,the stone retaining walls of the AvKoVpyosVAvKOdpovos vacat terraceand the massiveretainingwall of the third pejLreEV ErTEL84?) [BovTa]?r7s riod of the assembly area, and there are additional [EitilJ/]os 7TpOTepOv TE lr''[y]y[f][AaTo T]C&)L?7i7.WOLE7rTLC.)oEL[v El] similarities in the coursing of the blocks, their joints [TV 7]OhELO ErLV V LT[L] [oL]To [XXX]X and tooling.41 [b]paXMAas KaL Ivv [E7r]Lt[4o]W[KEV] On the basis of the ceramic chronology, the conELS Tr7V 7TO0LC-LVTOV O-rao[L]ov structionprojectwas associatedwith Lykourgoswho, KaLTOVOfarpov TOVHava0rl[vai]it was believed, must have initiated the building projKOVX)ALa CEVyrl KaLTrara ect as a whole. A considerationof the public careerof a7ravrara [po YI]ava0r77TEroUp)Ev Lykourgossuggestedthe period 330-326 B.C. as the vaLwv KaOa v7rrE[XTro, ]E,oXO[ai] most likely time for the building project.42It is now T&OLtjuItoL 7Trat[vE'r-a E]Vt711r.[ov] clear from IG II2 351 and the archaeologicalevidence Lykourgos, son of Lykophron, of Boutadai proposed: that the entire complex of the third phase on the Pnyx Whereas, when Eudemos earlier promisedthe people hill was built as one by Lykourgos.Furthermore,the to make a voluntary contribution if need be of 4000 inscriptionrefersspecificallyto the constructionof the drachmai for the war, and now has made a contribuPanathenaic Stadiumand Theater.Admittedly,there tion of 1000 yoke of oxen for the constructionof the have been Panathenaic Stadium and Theater, and has sent them attempts by several scholars to emend the text of the all before the Panathenaia, as he promised, be it reinscription to read the Panathenaic Stasolved that the Demos praises Eudemos ... dium and the Theater,and thus to suggest a physical

PanathenaicStadiumand also levelledthe ravine, xapabpa, because Deinias, who owned the land, gave it to the city when Lykourgos suggested to him that he do so.37 The Kpr/7rtScan be identified with the long West Foundation built to enclose the earth embankment on the side of the dromos,and the Xapabpawith the ravine or gully in front of the West Foundation which was filled in and retained by the great wall (1.75 m. wide) to the southwest of the assembly area

37Pseudo-Plutarch:supra n. 12. Thompson, (supra n. 3) 145 n. 40, mentions the referencein Aischines, Against Timarchos,81-84 (345 B.C.) which concernsa proposal regardinghouses, house lots and cisterns on the Pnyx. He wonders whether the subjectwas the expropriationby the state of privatepropertyin orderto enlargethe assembly area. If the association of the Panathenaic Stadium and Theater with the location on the Pnyx hill is accepted,the passage in Pseudo-Plutarch 841D would imply that Lykourgos was more persuasivein convincinglandownersto give propertyto the city for the expansion of a public facility on the Pnyx. 38The phrase "He put the Kpl77rLaround the Panathenaic Stadium" refers, in my judgment, to the foundation walls built up around the artificial embankmentof the West Foundationbordering the dromos.I have argued, (supra n. 23) 248-49, that the word stadion originally meant the spectator area, literally the "standing place,"as opposed to the racecourseproper. It is known from topographical maps of the Pnyx (ills. 1, 2) that the levelling of the long west terracewas accomplishedby cutting down bedrockat each end as well as by filling in a large sectionof the middleof the terraceand

by constructinga great retainingwall to the east. This lower area of the West Terrace may be reasonablyidentifiedas the xapabpa. 39See M.N. Tod, A Selectionof Greek Historical Inscriptions2 (Oxford 1948) 278-81, no. 198. 40The excavators,writing forty years ago, (supra n. 2) 293-95, concludedthat the two long foundationswere built within the third quarterof the 4th c. B.C. since the majorityof the material (pottery and lamps) associatedwith their constructioncould be dated to the middle and the third quarterof the 4th c. B.C. More recent pottery studies, however, have demonstratedthat the same types of pottery were still in use until the second quarterof the 3rd c. B.C.: see S.I. Rotroff, The AthenianAgora22. Hellenistic Pottery,Athenianand ImportedMoldmadeBowls (Princeton 1982) 107-12. 41Thompson and Scranton(supra n. 2) 297-99. 42 Thompson and Scranton (supra n. 2) 300-301. Thompson, (supra n. 3) 145, more recently suggested the possibility that the third phase was conceived,and the constructionperhaps begun, in the 340s when Euboulos controlledthe Theoric Fund.

1985]

THE PANATHENAIC STADIUM AND THEATER OF LYKOURGOS

separation of the two structures,but this emendation has not been widely accepted.43Therefore, if one accepts that the stadiumon the Pnyx hill is the Panathenaic Stadium, it follows that the assemblyarea can be identifiedas the PanathenaicTheater (ill. 7). Final supportingevidencethat the terracewas used as the dromosof a stadium and the assembly area as the theater comes from other stadium-theater complexes in the Greek world, e.g., in East Greece and Asia Minor at Aizanoi, Rhodes, Sardis, Tralles and possibly Pessinus. The closest parallel may be at Pergamon where the theaterterracewas probablyused as the dromosof a stadium.44 THE PANATHENAIC GAMES

What do we know about the Panathenaic Games and how would a Panathenaic Stadium and Theater on the Pnyx hill accordwith our understandingof the festival itself? The athletic, and probablythe musical, contests of the Panathenaic Games were held in the area of the Agora, at least from the time of the reorganization of the Panathenaic festival in 566 B.C. The portion of the Panathenaic Way which passes through the Agora was called the dromosand it has been argued that the foot races were probablyrun on the road itself.45 A starting line has been identified on

the dromos,adjacentto the Altar of the Twelve Gods and dating to the middle of the fifth century B.C.46 It is generally believed that the Ekklesia of the Athenians, which met originally in the Agora, was movedto the Pnyx hill at some time in the late sixth or early fifth century B.C. In the first phase of the assembly area, the natural slope of the hill was utilized, the spectatorsfacing the Agora and the speakerfacing the 43 The phrase

Tvt cis rTlv 7roLr71LV

-Tablov KaLTOV ?Earpov

TOV

Hava0rivaiKovin lines 16-17 was interpretedby E. Curtius ("Zum Redner Lykurgus,"Philologus 24 [1866] 273-75) and later by W. Dittenberger(SIG3288) as a mistakemade by the stone masonwho had meant to cut roV o-Tabslov TOv HavaOrlvaiKov Kal ToV OeaTrpov.

However, W. Dorpfeld and E. Reisch (Das griechische Theater [Athens 1896] 282), A. Wilhelm (Gottingischegelehrte Anzeigen 160 [1898] 221) and J. Kirchner(IG II2 351) rejectthis interpretaas a reference to the tion, taking TO OeaTrpovrTb avaOrjvaKodv theater-like seats of the stadium. A.W. Pickard-Cambridge,The Theaterof Dionysosin Athens (Oxford 1946) 137, also explains the text as a reference to the racecourse(stadion) and the raised area (theatron).But this interpretationis unlikely, since the word theatron is not commonlyused in the descriptionof a stadium. 44 D.G. Romano, "The Stadium of Eumenes II at Pergamon," AJA 86 (1982) 586-89. 45H.A. Thompson, "The Panathenaic Festival," AA 1961, 224-31; Travlos 2. 46 T.L. Shear, Jr., "The Athenian Agora: Excavations of 1973-1974," Hesperia 44 (1975) 362-65. 47 Aristophanes'Knights, first producedin 424 B.C., is set on the Pnyx hill. In lines 1159-1161, two of the characters, Paphlagon and Allantopolis, are started in a foot race from balbidesby a third character,Demos:

451

hillside. In the late fifth century B.C., the assembly area was reversed,and artificiallysupportedby fill, so that the spectatorsfacedthe hillside while the speaker faced the city. At about this time in the late fifth century it is believed that the Middle Terrace was constructed to the south and west of the assembly area, and a passage in Aristophanes47might suggest some contemporary athletic use of the terrace. It would seem most likely that the athletic and probably the musical contestsof the PanathenaicGames were relocated as part of the logical trend to move to the Pnyx certain civic and religious activities which originally took place in the Agora.48Later, in the third quarter of the fourth century B.C., the assembly area was greatly enlarged and the two long foundations were constructedto provideadditionalroom for spectators. The assemblyarea and the terraceon the Pnyx hill may easily be seen, therefore, as extensions of the Agora;their functionsoutgrew their original location in the center of the city (ill. 8). The assemblyarea on the Pnyx may be consideredan extensionof the orchestra in the Agora, and the terraceon the Pnyx an extension of the Panathenaic Way, the dromos, as it passed through the Agora square.49 The Pnyx hill would have been much more appropriate and convenientfor the locationof the Panathenaic Stadiumduring the Greek period, in comparison with the site near the Ilissos river. The Pnyx hill was approximatelyequidistant from the Kerameikos,the Agora and the Akropolis.It was easily accessiblefrom all three locationsby roads, a situationwhich certainly would have been advantageousin terms of the logistics of the Panathenaicfestival. The Pnyx was easily visible from both the Agora and the Akropolisand AA.

aq)es aTrOb 3ahfA/8wv fee re KaL TOVTOVt, LVa o(' ev 7TroiWiEv e5 ''ov.

AHMOE.

bpav TraVa XPTp

aT7rTOv. HA.Ka'AA. tbov.

AHMOI. AA.

0EOLT'av. V7roOev OVK(C).

Balbides are known to be starting gates or starting posts for foot races in a stadium.Although athletic metaphorsare relativelycommon in ancient literature, it would appear from the text that the two men actually take a start fromstartinggates on the Pnyx. If this is the case, then the embankmentsconstructedin ca. 329 B.C. may have had less formal predecessors.Thompson, (supra n. 2) 292, suggests that the Middle Terrace might originally date to the late 5th c. B.C. Could there have been an earlier levelling of the ravine in the 5th c. and room for a racecourse?They could have provided the reason for the reversalin the orientationof the assembly area. 48H.A. Thompson and R.E. Wycherley, The Athenian Agora 14. The Agoraof Athens (Princeton 1972) 48-52. 49It may be no coincidencethat in shape and design the broad terrace on the Pnyx resembles, to some extent, the Panathenaic Way as it passes the Altar of the Twelve Gods and turns towardthe southeast.

452

[AJA89

DAVID GILMAN ROMANO

-

PANATHENAIC

''

STADIUM AND THEATER OF LYKOURGOS B.C. CA. 329

Ill. 7. Athens, PanathenaicStadium and Theater of Lykourgos,hypotheticalview ca. 329 B.C.

probablyfrom the Kerameikosas well. The site of the vatorsthe "WhitePoros Wall," was constructeda few Roman stadium, on the other hand, was on the oppo- metersto the south of the "CompartmentWall" which site side of the city, distant from Kerameikos,Agora had been taken down or neglectedsince it was built.53 and Akropolis, a kilometer and a half to the east. In The "White Poros Wall" respectedthe long foundaaddition, the site of the Roman stadium was always tions on the Pnyx over which the "Compartment outside the city walls and, of course, across the Ilissos Wall" had trespassed. An inscription,IG II2 677, dated a few years after river.50In the second century A.C. Herodes had to build a bridge specificallyto provideaccess to the sta- 277/6 B.C.,54which mentions repairs made on the dium. There is no indicationthat such a majoraccess- Panathenaic Stadium, may add to our knowledge of the "CompartmentWall" and the circumstancessurway existed in the Greek period.51 rounding its construction. The pertinent passage THE LATER HISTORY OF THE PNYX AND THE reads as follows: PANATHENAIC STADIUM - - - c- KaL avavEworauevov] TOV 8i4[o]The later history of the Pnyx hill may shed further Twv Ha]vaO76 [v ]v] OvdalavKat r[ah &ywYIvTfoara vatolight on the use of the artificialembankmentsand the Panathenaic Stadium. It has been suggested that in Ka' avarTO8r TO Kre oriitov V evaoev ?warVro KaT[CEOKEVao-ev T^aa '7rafw the late fourth century B.C., when Athens was belOarv rjLt 'AOrvai rTit [NL'K?ypah]ahs eXov-aas V6rrTw [rTt the excavao0V7wfJiara a which the i aoL tALh]7repayjEvwov rposroMacedonians, wall, sieged by a' v vS fap/3apovs VIrp T7rSTrv EX\XVwVV 0rT7ptla. tors named the "Compartment Wall," was constructed across the top of the Pnyx hill as part of the and when the people renewed the sacrifice and the contests of the Panathenaia then he both repaired55 diateichisma.52This wall was built over the back the stadium in a worthy way and dedicatedto Athena foundations of East Foundation B and the West Nike the representationsbearingthe remembrancesof Foundation and the smaller rectangular bedding the deeds by the King versus the barbarians for the which was identifiedas that for a propylon. Then, in sake of the securityof the Greeks. the late third century B.C., for a reasonwhich was not known until now, another wall, named by the exca- The inscriptionrefersto King AntigonosGonatasand