The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . r he walked round the fortificatious, or through the broad streetsof the Piraeus, or along the Long Walls, or in the shades of the Acad-emy, or amidst the tombs of the Ceramicus ; whether he chaffered in themarket place, or attended assemblies in the Pnyx, or loitered in one ofthe numerous porticoes, or watched the exercises in the Gymnasia, or lis-tened to music in the Odeum or plays in the theaters, or joined the throngof worshipers ascending to the great gateway of the Acropolis. And thismagnificence was not the result of centuries of t
The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . r he walked round the fortificatious, or through the broad streetsof the Piraeus, or along the Long Walls, or in the shades of the Acad-emy, or amidst the tombs of the Ceramicus ; whether he chaffered in themarket place, or attended assemblies in the Pnyx, or loitered in one ofthe numerous porticoes, or watched the exercises in the Gymnasia, or lis-tened to music in the Odeum or plays in the theaters, or joined the throngof worshipers ascending to the great gateway of the Acropolis. And thismagnificence was not the result of centuries of toil; it was the work offfty years. . Athens became a vast workshop, in which artisans ofevery kind found employment, all, in their various degrees, contributingto the execution of the plans of the master minds, Phidias, Ictinus, Calli-crates, Mnesicles, and others. — Abbott, Pericles, 303-308. The center of this architectural splendor was the ancientcitadel of the Acropolis. That massive rock now became the §218] ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE 209. 210 INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC ATHENS [§219 holy hill. No longer needed as a fortification, it was crownedwith white marble, and devoted to religion and art. It wasinaccessible except on the west. Here was built a statelystairway of sixty marble steps, leading to a series of noblecolonnades and porticoes {the Propylaea) of surpassing these the visitor emerged upon the leveled top of theAcropolis, to find himself surrounded by temples and statues,any one of which alone might make the fame of the proudest
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