Roman Athens

The Romans, from time to time, sponsored major building projects in Athens. If you’ve visited my page on the Acropolis, you’ve already had the opportunity to view my swell video about the temple (or altar) to Roman and Augustus. Below, a picture of the Gate of Athena Archegetis, the entrance to the Roman Agora, the new marketplace build just east of the old agora, which it seems to have replaced as the major marketplace of Athens. An inscription tells us that the gate way was built with money from Caesar and Augustus during 11-9 BCE.

I was too busy to pay to enter the Roman Agora to see the latrine block within, but if you’re in the mood you can catch a photo of it here. If you want to see a 3D reconstruction of the latrines, together with a snazzy soundtrack, check this out.

Below, my attempt at a quick introduction to the Arch of Hadrian.

And here a quick shot of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, finished under Hadrian after having been started under the Peisistratid tyrannys in the later 6th century BCE.

Speaking of Hadrian, here are some shots of his library, once a massive structure, largely open-air, and only very partially given over to the storage of books. My shots are of the surviving part of the western wall of the building, which featured projecting Corinthian columns. For more on the library, particularly its later use as the location for a church, see this site.

Another important building from this era is the Panathenaic Stadium, which had already been the location for a racing track and then stadium during the classical period, and was rebuilt thanks to the patronage of Herodes Atticus, the tremendously wealthy and influential local man (from Marathon) who sponsored buildings in numerous places in Greece. In the video, I go on about the stadium and its later role during the modern Olympics, and also say a bit about ancient athletics.