Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from Microsoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/delphicoracleitsOOdempuoft A DAY IN OLD ATHENS A PICTURE OF ATHENIAN LIFE BY WILLIAM STEARNS DAVIS PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ALLYN and BACON Boston Neuj ffork Cfjtcaga or COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY WILLIAM STEARNS DAVIS. TDR NorfaooB $ress J. S. dishing Co. —Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE. This little book tries to describe what an intelligent person would see and hear in ancient Athens, if by some legerdemain he were translated to the fourth century b.c. and conducted about the city under competent guidance. Eare happenings have been omitted and sometimes, to avoid long explanations, probable matters have been stated as if they were ascertained facts; but these instances are few, and it is hoped no reader will be led into serious error. The year 360 b.c. has been selected for the hypothetical time of this visit, not because of any special virtue in that date, but because Athens was then architecturally almost perfect, her civic and her social life seemed at their best, the democratic constitution held its vigor, and there were few outward signs of the general decadence which was to set in after the triumph of Macedon. I have endeavored to state no facts and to make no allu- sions, that will not be fairly obvious to a reader who has merely an elementary knowledge of Greek annals, such information, for instance, as may be gained through a good secondary school history of ancient times. This naturally has led to comments and descriptions which more advanced students may find superfluous. The writer has been under a heavy debt to the numerous and excellent works on Greek "Private Antiquities" and "Public Life" written in English, French, or German, as well as to the various great Classical Encyclopaedias and Dictionaries, and to many treatises and monographs upon the topography of Athens and upon the numerous phases IV Preface of Attic culture. It is proper to say, however, that the material from such secondary sources has been merely sup- plementary to a careful examination of the ancient Greek "writers, with the objects of this book kept especially in view. A sojourn in modern Athens, also, has given me an impression of the influence of the Attic landscape upon the conditions of old Athenian life, an impression that I have tried to convey in this small volume. I am deeply grateful to my sister, Mrs. Fannie Davis Gifford, for helpful criticism of this book while in manu- script ; to my wife, for preparing the drawings from Greek vase-paintings which appear as illustrations; and to my friend and colleague, Professor Charles A. Savage, for a kind and careful reading of the proofs. Thanks also are due to Henry Holt and Company for permission to quote material from their edition of Von Falke's " Greece and Rome." W. S. D. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. May, 1914. CONTENTS. Pi'rE Maps, Plans, and Illustrations xii Chapter I. The Physical Setting of Athens SECTION 1. The Importance of Athens in Greek History . 2. Why the Social Life of Athens is so Significant 3. The Small Size and Sterility of Attica 4. The Physical Beauty of Attica 5. The Mountains of Attica 6. The Sunlight in Attica . 7. The Topography of the City of Athens 8. 360 B.C. — The Year of the Visit to Athens Chapter II. The First Sights in Athens. 9. The Morning Crowds bound for Athens . 9 J .... 10. The Gate and the Street Scenes 10 11. The Streets and House Fronts of Athens .... 12 12. The Simplicity of Athenian Life 14 Chapter III. The Agora and its Denizens. 13. The Buildings around the Agora 16 14. The Life in the Agora . 18 15. The Booths and Shops in the Agora 18 16. The Flower and the Fish Venders 20 17. The Morning Visitors to the Agora 21 18. The Leisured Class in Athens ...... 22 19. Familiar Types around the Agora 23 20. The Barber Shops 24 Chapter IV. The Athenian House and its Furnishings. 21. Following an Athenian Gentleman Homeward 26 22. The Type and Uses of a Greek House 27 v VI Contents 6ECTION ._ PAGE 23. The Plan of a Greek House 28 24. Modifications in the Typical Plan 31 25. Rents and House Values 32 26. The Simple yet Elegant Furnishings of an Athenian House . 32 Chapter V. The Women of Athens 27. How Athenian Marriages are Arranged . 35 28. Lack of Sentiment in Marriages 36 29. Athenian Marriage Rites 37 30. The Mental Horizon of Athenian Women 38 31. The Honor paid Womanhood in Athens 39 32. The Sphere of Action of Athenian Women 40 Chapter VI. Athenian Costume. 33. The General Nature of Greek Dress 43 34. The Masculine Chiton, Himation, and Chlamys 44 35. The Dress of the Women .... 46 36. Footwear and Head Coverings 47 37. The Beauty of the Greek Dress 48 38. Greek Toilet Frivolities 49 Chapter VII. The Slaves. 39. Slavery an Integral Part of Greek Life 51 40. The Slave Trade in Greece 52 41. The Treatment of Slaves in Athens 54 42. Cruel and Kind Masters 55 43. The " City Slaves ".of Athens 56 Chapter VIII. The Children. 44. The Desirability of Children in Athens . 57 45. The Exposure of Infants 57 46. The Celebration of a Birth 59 47. Life and Games of Young Children 59 48. Playing in the Streets .... 60 49. The First Stories and Lessons 61 50. The Training of Athenian Girls 62 , Contents vn Chapter IX. The Schoolboys of Athens. SECTION PAOE 61. The Athenians Generally Literate .... 63 62. Character Building the Aim of Athenian Education 63 63. The Schoolboy's Pedagogue . 64 54. An Athenian School .... 65 55. The School Curriculum .... 66 56. The Study of the Poets .... 68 57. The Greeks do not study Foreign Languages 70 58. The Study of "Music" 70 69. The Moral Character of Greek Music 72 60. The Teaching of Gymnastics . 73 61. The Habits and Ambitions of Schoolboys 74 62. The "Ephebi" 75 Chapter X. The Physicians of Athens. 63. The Beginnings of Greek Medical Science 77 64. Healing Shrines and their Methods 78 65. An Athenian Physician's Office 79 66. The Physician's Oath 80 67. The Skill of Greek Physicians 81 68. Quacks and Charlatans . 82 Chapter XI. The Funerals. 69. An Athenian's Will 84 70. The Preliminaries of a Funeral 84 71. Lamenting the Dead 85 72. The Funeral Procession . 86 73. The Funeral Pyre . 87 74. Honors to the Memory of the Dead 88 75. The Beautiful Funeral Monuments. 89 Chapter XII. Trade, Manufactures, and Banking. 76. The Commercial Importance of Athens 91 77. The Manufacturing Activities of Athens 91 78. The Commerce of Athens 93 79. The Adventurous Merchant Skippers 95 80. Athenian Money-changers and Bankers 95 81. Large A Banking Establishment . 96 viii Contents 82. Drawbacks to the Banking Business 97 83. The Pottery of Athens 98 84. Athenian Pottery an Expression of the Greek Sense of Beauty 99 Chapter XIII. The Armed Forces of Athens. 85. Military Life at Athens 101 86. The Organization of the Athenian Army .... 102 87. The Hoplites and the Light Troops 103 88. The Cavalry and the Peltasts 104 89. The Panoply of the Hoplites 105 90. The Weapons of a Hoplite 107 91. Infantry Maneuvers 108 92. The Preliminaries of a Greek Battle 109 93. Joining the Battle 110 94. The Climax and End of the Battle 112 95. The Burial Truce and the Trophy after the Battle . 114 96. The Siege of Fortified Towns 114 97. The Introduction of New Tactics . • . 115 Chapter XIV. The Peiraeus and the Shipping. " " 98. The Long Walls down to the Harbor Town . .117 99. Munychia and the Havens of Athens 118 100. The Glorious View from the Hill of Munychia . 119 101. The Town of Peiraeus 120 102. The Merchant Shipping 122 103. The Three War Harbors and the Ship Houses . .124 104. The Great Naval Arsenal 125 105. An Athenian Trierarch 125 106. The Evolution of the Trireme 126 107. The Hull of a Trireme 127 108. The Rowers' Benches of a Trireme 129 109. The Cabins, Rigging, and Ram of a Trireme . .129 110. The Officers and Crew of a Trireme 131 111. A Trireme at Sea 132 112. The Tactics of a Naval Battle 133 113. The Naval Strength of Athens 134 Contents ix Chapter XV. An Athenian Court Trial. SEOTION PAGE 114. The Frequency of Litigation in Athens .... 135 115. Prosecutions in Athens 136 116. The Preliminaries to a Trial 137 117. The Athenian Jury Courts 138 118. The Juryman's Oath 139 119. Opening the Trial. The Plaintiff's Speech . .140 120. The Defendant's Speech. Demonstrations by the Jury . 141 121. The First Verdict 142 122. The Second and Final Verdict 143 123. The Merits and Defects of the Athenian Courts . 144 124. The Usual Punishments in Athens 144 125. The Heavy Penalty of Exile 145 126. The Death Penalty at Athens 145 Chapter XVI. The Ecclesia of Athens. J^ 127. The Rule of Democracy in Athens 147 128. Aristocracy and Wealth. Their Status and Burdens . 147 129. Athenian Society truly Democratic up to a Certain Point . 148 130. The Voting Population of Athens 149 131. Meeting Times of the Ecclesia 150 132. The Pnyx (Assembly Place) at Athens . .151 133. The Preliminaries of the Meeting 152 134. Debating a Proposition 154 135. Voting at the Pnyx 165 136.