. A smaller history of Greece, from the earliest times to the Roman conquest. ric order, 104 feet in lengthby 45 feet broad, and surrounded with columns. But it was the Acropolis which was the chief centre of the archi-tectural splendour of Athens. After the Persian wars the Acro-polis had ceased to be inhabited, and was appropriated to theworship of Athena and to the other guardian deities of the city. Itwas covered with the temples of gods and heroes ; and thus itsplatform presented not only a sanctuary, but a museum, containingthe finest productions of the architect and the sculptor, in whi
. A smaller history of Greece, from the earliest times to the Roman conquest. ric order, 104 feet in lengthby 45 feet broad, and surrounded with columns. But it was the Acropolis which was the chief centre of the archi-tectural splendour of Athens. After the Persian wars the Acro-polis had ceased to be inhabited, and was appropriated to theworship of Athena and to the other guardian deities of the city. Itwas covered with the temples of gods and heroes ; and thus itsplatform presented not only a sanctuary, but a museum, containingthe finest productions of the architect and the sculptor, in whichthe whiteness of the marble was relieved by brilliant colours, andrendered still more dazzling by the transparent clearness of the 90 HISTORY OF GREECE. Chap. X Athenian atmosphere. It was surrounded with walls, and thesurface seems to have been divided into terraces communicatingwith one another by steps. The only approach to it was from theAgora on its western side. At the top of a magnificent flight ofmarble steps, 70 feet broad, stood the Propylsea, constructed under. Plan of the Acropolis. 1. Parthenon. 3. Propviaea. 2. Ereehtheum. 4. Temple of Nike Apteros. 5. Statue of Athena Fromachus. the auspices of Pericles, and which served as a suitable entranceto the exquisite works within. The Propylsea were themselves oneof the masterpieces of Athenian art. They were entirely of Pen-telic marble, and covered the whole of the western end of theAcropolis, having a breadth of 168 feet, The central portion ofthem consisted of two porticoes, of which the western one faced thecity, and the eastern one the interior of the Acropolis, each con-sisting of a front of six fluted Doric columns. This central part ofthe building was 58 feet in breadth, but the remaining breadth ofthe rock at this point was covered by two wings, which projected26 feet in front of the western portico. Each of these wings wasin the form of a Doric temple. The northern one, or that on theleft of a person ascendi
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