. A smaller history of Greece, from the earliest times to the Roman conquest. en the Saronic gulf, with the harbours ofAthens. Athens is said to have derived its name from the prominencegiven to the worship of Athena by its king Erechtheus. The inha-bitants were previously called Cranai and CecropidsB, from Cecrops,who, according to tradition, was the original founder of the at first occupied only the hill or rock which afterwards becamethe Acropolis : but gradually the buildings began to spread overthe ground at the southern foot of this hill. It was not till thetime of Pisistratus
. A smaller history of Greece, from the earliest times to the Roman conquest. en the Saronic gulf, with the harbours ofAthens. Athens is said to have derived its name from the prominencegiven to the worship of Athena by its king Erechtheus. The inha-bitants were previously called Cranai and CecropidsB, from Cecrops,who, according to tradition, was the original founder of the at first occupied only the hill or rock which afterwards becamethe Acropolis : but gradually the buildings began to spread overthe ground at the southern foot of this hill. It was not till thetime of Pisistratus and his sons ( 560-514) that the city beganto assume any degree of splendour. The most remarkable buildingof these despots was the gigantic temple of the Olympian Zeus, Chap. X. CITY OF ATHENS. 87 which, however, was not finished till many centuries later. 500 the theatre of Dionysus was commenced on the south-eastern slope of the Acropolis, but was not completed till 340 ;though it must have been used for the representation of plays longbefore that Ruins of the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. Xerxes reduced the ancient city almost to a heap of the departure of the Persians, its reconstruction on a muchlarger scale was commenced under the superintendence of The-mistocles, whose first care was to provide for its safety by the erec-tion of walls. The Acropolis now formed the centre of the city,round which the new walls described an irregular circle of about60 stadia or 1\ miles in circumference. The space thus enclosedformed the A sty, or city, properly so called. But the views ofThemistocles were not confined to the mere defence of Athens: hecontemplated making her a great naval power, and for this pur-pose adequate docks and arsenals were required. Previously the ss HISTORY OF GREECE. Chap. X. Athenians had used as their only harbour the open roadstead ofPhalerum on the eastern side of the Phaleric bay. where the sea-shore is nearest to Athens.
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