Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Transcription of Manuscript W
Transcription of Manuscrit V (Test Version)
Ταῦτα εἰσὶν τὰ διδασκαλεῖα καὶ τὰ θέατρα τῶν Ἀθηνῶν V 228r
(1) Πρῶτον ἡ ἀκαδδήμια εἰς χωρίον τῶν βασιλικῶν· δεύτερον ἡ Ἐλαιατικὴ εἰς τοὺς ἀμπελοκήπους· τρίτον τοῦ Πλάτωνος διδασκαλεῖον εἰς τὸ παραδίση· τέταρτον τὸ τοῦ Πολυζήλου ἐν ὄρη τὸ Εἰμιτίῳ· πέμπτον τὸ τοῦ Διοδώρου πλησίον τούτου· (2) ἐντὸς τῆς πολέως ἐστὶν τὸ διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σωκράτους, (V 228v) ἐν ᾧ ἐστὶν κύκλῳ οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι ἱστορισμένοι· δυσικὰ δὲ τούτου ἵσταντο τὰ παλάτια τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους· καὶ πλησίον τούτων οἱ λαμπροὶ οἴκοι τοῦ πολεμάρχου· ἵσταται δὲ καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Διὸς· ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων ἐστὶ βωμὸς εἰς ὅν ταφεὶς ἠξιοῦντο οἱ παγκρατιστοὶ καὶ οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι, ἐν ᾧ φοιτῶντες οἱ ῥήτορες τοὺς (V 229r) ἐπιταφίους ἐπιοῦντο λόγους· (3) βορρινὰ δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν ἡ πρώτη ἀγορὰ τῆς πόλεως· εἰς οὖν ὁ ἀπόστολος Φίλιππος τὸν γραμματίαν ἐβύθισεν, ἔνθα ὑπῆρχον καὶ οἱ λάμπροὶ οἶκοι φυλῆς τῆς Πανδιόνιδος· κατὰ δὲ τὸ νώτιον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ κινικῶν φιλοσόφων· καὶ πλησίον τούτου τῶν τραγικῶν· ἐκτὸς δὲ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ὀλῖγον πρὸς δύσιν (V 229v) κατῴκουν οἱ θαλαμπῖοι· καὶ πλησίον τούτων ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σοφοκλέους· καὶ πρὸς νώτον τούτου ἵστατο ὁ Ἄρειος πάγος, ἔνθα ὁ τοῦ Ποσινδῶνος υἵος Λυρόθιος ὑπὸ Ἄρεως ἐθανατώθην· ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν τὰ παλάτια Κλεονίδους καὶ Μελτιάδος· Καὶ πλησίον τούτου ἀκμὴ ἵστατο διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους· ὕπερθεν δὲ τούτου (V 230r) ἵσταντο δύο κίονες· καὶ εἰς μὲν τὸ ἀνατολικὸν ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῆς Ἀθήνας ἄγαλμα, εἰς δὲ τὸ δυσικὸν τοῦ Ποσινδῶνος· μέσον δὲ τούτων λέγουσιν εἶναι ποτὲ γοργόνης κεφαλὴν ἔνδοθεν κουβουκλίου σιδηρροῦ· ἔστι καὶ ὠρολόγιον τῆς ἡμέρας μαρμάρινον· (5) ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ὑπῆρχεν (V 230v) διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους· καὶ ἀνατολικὰ ἀκμὴν ἵστατο ὁ λύχνος τοῦ Δημοσθένους· πλησίον τούτου ἦν τότε καὶ τοῦ Θουκίδους οἴκημα καὶ Σώλονος· ἀγορά τε δευτέρα καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Ἀλκμαίονος καὶ βαλανείον μέγιστον· καὶ πρὸς νῶτον τούτων ἡ μεγάλη ἀγορὰ τῆς πολέως καὶ τεμένη πλεῖστα καὶ ἀξιάγαστα· ἕως τῆς πύλης (V 231r) τῆς λεγομένης νοτίδος ἧς πρὸς τῆς φλιὰς ἱστόρηνται ἐννεακαίδεκα ἄνδρες τὸν ἕνα διώκοντες· Ἑκεῖ ὑπῆρχε καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν λουτρὸν ἐν’ ᾧ τὸν μέγαν Βασίλειον διὰ πατάγου φοβῆσαι ἠθέλησαν· καὶ ὁ τοῦ Μνηστάρχου οἶκος· (6) ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἵσταται καμάρα μεγίστη καὶ ὡραῖα· ἐστὶν γεγραμμένα (V 231v) τὰ ὀνόματα Ἀδριάνου καὶ Θησέως· εὐρίσκεται δὲ ἔνδον ταύτης αὐλῆ μεγίστη καὶ οἶκος βασιλικὸς, πλείστοις δὲ κίωσιν ὑποκάτωθεν στηρίζομενος· ὅστις ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη τῶν τὴν ἄκραν οἰκοδομησάντων· πρὸς δὲ νότον τούτου ἐστὶν οἶκος μικρὸς πλὴν ὡραῖος εἰς ὅν κατερχόμενος ὁ δοῦξ (V 232r) κατὰ καιρὸν εἰς εὐωχίαν ἐκινεῖτο· ἐκεῖ ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ἐννεάκρουνος πηγὴ ἡ Καλλιῤῥόη εἰς ἥν λουόμενος ἀνήρχετο εἰς τέμενος τὸ τῆς Ἧρας γενόμενος καὶ προσηύχετο· νῦν δὲ μετεποιήθη είς ναὸν τῆς ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου ὑπὸ τῶν εὐσεβῶν· ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἐστὶν τὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν θέατρον (V 232v) κύκλῳ περιεχόμενον ὡσεὶ μηλίου διάστημα δύο εἰσόδους κεκτημένον· ἡ βορεινὴ εἴσοδος πλουτεῖ ἕτερον δέντι τιμαχαίτατον ἡ νοτινὴ ἐπικέκτηται· ἑκατὸν δὲ ζώναις κυκλωερῶς ἐκοσμεῖτο τὸ θέατρον ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένας λεύκου ἐν αἷς ὁ λαὸς καθεζόμενος (V 233r) ἐθεώρει τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων τὴν πάλην· ἐκ τούτου οὖν εἰσερχόμενοι τὴν ἀνατολικὴν πύλην εὐρίσκομεν ἄλλην ἀγορὰν καὶ ἀγωγοὺς ὑδάτων δύο οὕσπερ Ἰουλιος Καίσαρ Ἀθηναίος χαριζόμενος κατεσκεύασεν· καὶ ὕδωρ μήκοθεν τούτοις ἐκόμισεν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερος ἀγωγὸς κατὰ τὴν βόριον (V 233v) πύλην φερόμενος, ὅν ὁ Θυσεὺς ἐλεπτούργησεν καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν τῆς πολέως τῶν Ἀθηνῶν τυραννίδαν ὡς φησιν Ἅβαρις καὶ Ἠρώδοτος, ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη· Κέκρωψ δὲ ὁ διφυὴς μέγαλως ἐφαίδρυνεν ἐν ποικίλῃ δόξῃ ταύτην ὡραίσας· τὰ μὲν τείχη πρὸς ὕψος ἐγεῖρας, τὸ δὲ ἔδαφος διαφόροις (V 234r) μαρμάροις καταστρώσας· καὶ τὰ τεμένη ἔνδοθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν καταχρυσώσας, διὰ τοῦτο χρύσας Ἀθήνας ταύτην ἐπονόμασαν· εἰς γοῦν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἡμῶν εἰσερχομένων εὐρίσκομεν ἕνα μικρὸν διδασκαλεῖον ὅπερ ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῶν Μουσικῶν ὅπερ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος συνεστήσατο· κατέναντι δὲ τοῦτου ἔστιν παλάτιον μέγιστον (V 234v) καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν τούτου κίονας φέρειν πλείονας· λευκῶν δὲ μαρμάρων πλουτεῖ σὺν τῇ ὀροφῇ καὶ τὰ τείχη· πρὸς δὲ τὸ βόρειον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν πᾶσα ἡ καγκελαρία ἐκ μαρμάρου καὶ κιόνων πεποιημένην λευκῶν· νοτινὰ δὲ ταύτης ὑπῆρχεν ἡ στοᾶ ἐν ποικίλῃ ὡραιοτήτι περιχρυσομένη γύρωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν λίθοις (V 235r) τιμίοις κεκοσμένη· διὰ ταύτην καὶ στοικοὶ φιλοσόφοι ἐλέγοντο οἱ ἐν ταύτῃ μαθητευθέντες· ἄντικρυς δὲ ταύτης τὸ τῶν ἐπικουρίων ἤκμαζε διδασκαλεῖον· περὶ δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς θεομήτορος ὅν ᾠκοδομησαν Ἀπολλὼς καὶ Εὐλόγιος ἐπ’ ὀνόματι ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ ἔχει οὕτως· ἔστιν ὁ ναὸς δρομικώτατος καὶ εὐρυχωρος εἰς μήκος πολὺ ἐπεκτεινόμενος καὶ τὰ (V 235v) τείχη τούτου ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένα λευκοῦ· τετράγωνος δὴ τούτου ἡ θέσις καθέστηκεν πηλοῦ καὶ ἀσβέστου χωρὶς, διὰ σιδηροῦ δὲ καὶ μολύβδου πᾶς τοῖχος εἰς ὕψος ἀνάγεται· ἐκτὸς δὲ τοῦ τoίχου πλουτεῖ κίωνας παμμεγέθεις κυκλικῶς τὸν ναὸν περιέχοντας· μεταξὺ δὲ τῶν δύο κιόνων περιέχει παγίωσιν· (V 236r) πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὡραίαν πύλην καὶ τὸ ἅγιον βῆμα, ἅπερ εἰσὶ κατὰ λίβαν καὶ θρασκιὰν διπλὴν τῶν κιόνων ἐπικέκτηνται στάσιν· μέχρι δὲ πολλοῦ προϊοῦσα εἰς ὕψος· κεφαλαὶ δὲ τῶν κιόνων κεκολυμέναι διὰ γλυφῆς σιδήρου εἰς σχῆμα φοίνικος μεταποιημέναι καὶ τούτου ὕπερθεν δοκοῖ ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένοι λευκοῦ τοῖς κίωσιν καὶ (V 236v) τῷ τοίχῳ προσκολλώμενοι πλάκας κεκολαυμένας ὑπεράνωθεν ἔχοντες καὶ εἰς ὀροφῆς ὁμοιῶμα τι· ἡ τούτων ἐπιφάνεται κίρτωσις· στηρίζεται δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν κιόνων καὶ τοίχος ὡραιότατος.
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
The Theaters and Schools of Athens: A Digital Edition (Test Version)
After it flourished as a center of learning and culture in antiquity, the city of Athens gradually became a cultural backwater in the Byzantine era. Sites such as the Parthenon continued to draw visitors to the city ranging from emperors to regular pilgrims from throughout the Byzantine world, come to see the now Church of the Mother of God.1 However, our knowledge of the monuments of the city is quite spotty aside from a few monuments such as the so-called Lantern of Demosthenes (now correctly identified as the Lysicrates choragic monument).2 One curious text that testifies to how people thought about their city and the local myths of Athens during the medieval period is an anonymous text called On the theaters and schools of Athens. The text is essentially a tour guide to ancient Athens, taking the reader through the city and sometimes briefly discussing the monuments described. The text has long been believed to date from around 1460,3 when the Florentine dukedom of Athens was absorbed by the Ottoman sultan Mehmet II. As it speaks of a dux coming down to the lower city for banquets and then ascending to pray at the temple of Hera, which "has been converted into the temple of the most holy Mother of God by the pious" (7). This assumption is understandable, but problematic because we know so little about the lore of local Athenians. For example, the text implies that the dux in question prayed at the pagan temple of Hera, not the later church. From Nikephoros Gregoras, we learn that some locals invented complex genealogies explaining why the position of dux existed. Some alleged that Constantine the Great had nominated a grand dux who later became simply the dux of the city. Could locals have remembered a pagan phase in the ducate before it became fully Christian? Further, the text also mentions the city's first forum where Philip supposedly cast a pharisee come to debate him into the abyss (3). During the Middle Byzantine period, we know that there was a church of Saint Philip here. The fact that the guide to Athens does not mention the church is curious, as it does mention other churches connected with distant memories of the city.4 This webpage presents a digital edition of this tour guide. It is only a test edition designed to see what technological capabilities can be employed to create a digital edition of this text. As such, I do not attempt to include all the variants in the manuscript. Only a select few are noted below. The manuscripts consulted for this edition are the following: W Wien, Österreischische Nationalbibliothek, cod. gr. 252 f. 29v-32v (16-17th c.) V The Vatican Library vat. gr. 1896, ff. 228r-236v (16th c.) In reconstructing the text of the original tour guide, I have generally followed the text of V. V as any reader of the transcription will note is filled with errors and issues of orthography, but it overall offers a much superior copy of the text and fills in gaps in the previously studied manuscript W, as Mercati noted.5 W appears to be an improved copy of the original text. The reader of this text occasionally improved the grammar of the original in a number of instances, changing directions from the colloquial neuter plural to a preposition followed by the name of the direction (e.g., section 4 V Ἀνατολικὰ; W Κατὰ ἀνατολὰς). In addition, the person who modified their exemplar was cautious about contemporary identifications of the places in the text, often adding λεγόμενον to the text. For example, the school of Aristophanes in section 5 is the 'so called' school (W διδασκαλεῖον λεγόμενον τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους; V διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους). As the text of the respective texts of these 2 versions may offer key insight into the Athenian dialect being used by the educated class during the Middle Ages, something for which we have little evidence, I offer transcriptions of V and W here, so that it is easier to perform future research on the dialect. Translation
(1) Πρῶτον2 ἡ ἀκαδημία3 εἰς χωρίον τῶν βασιλικῶν· δεύτερον ἡ Ἐλαιατικὴ εἰς τοὺς ἀμπελοκήπους· τρίτον τοῦ Πλάτωνος διδασκαλεῖον εἰς τὸ παραδείσιον4· τέταρτον τὸ τοῦ Πολυζήλου ἐν ὄρει τῷ Ὑμηττίῳ·5 πέμπτον τὸ τοῦ Διοδώρου πλησίον τούτου (2) Ἐντὸς δὲ6 τῆς πολέως ἐστὶν τὸ διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σωκράτους, (V 228v) ἐν ᾧ εἰσὶ7 κύκλῳ οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ οἱ ἄνεμοι ἱστορισμένοι· κατὰ δύσιν8 δὲ τούτου ἵσταντο τὰ παλάτια τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους· (W 30r) καὶ πλησίον τούτων οἱ λαμπροὶ οἶκοι9 τοῦ πολεμάρχου· ἵσταται δὲ καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα τοῦ Διὸς·10 ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων ἐστὶ βωμὸς εἰς ὅν ταφῆς ἠξιοῦντο οἱ παγκρατιστοὶ καὶ οἱ Ὀλύμπιοι, ἐν ᾧ φοιτῶντες οἱ ῥήτορες τοὺς (V 229r) ἐπιταφίους ἐποιοῦντο λόγους. (3) Κατὰ ἄρκτον δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν ἡ πρώτη ἀγορὰ τῆς πόλεως· εἰς ἥν ὁ ἀπόστολος Φίλιππος τὸν γραμματέα ἐβύθισεν, ἔνθα ὑπῆρχον καὶ οἱ λάμπροὶ οἶκοι φυλῆς τῆς Πανδιόνιδος· κατὰ δὲ τὸ νότιον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ κυνικῶν φιλοσόφων, καὶ πλησίον τούτου τῶν τραγικῶν· ἐκτὸς δὲ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ὀλίγον πρὸς δύσιν (V 229v) κατῴκουν οἱ θαλαμίοι. Καὶ πλησίον τούτων ὑπῆρχεν διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Σοφοκλέους· καὶ πρὸς νώτον τούτου ἵστατο ὁ Ἄρειος πάγος, ἔνθα ὁ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος υἵος Λυρόθιος ὑπὸ Ἄρεως ἐθανατώθη. (4) Ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ὑπῆρχεν τὰ παλάτια Κλεονίδους καὶ Μελιτιάδος· Καὶ πλησίον τούτου ἀκμὴν ἵστατο διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους· ὕπερθεν δὲ (W 30v) τούτου (V 230r) ἵσταντο δύο κίονες· καὶ εἰς μὲν τὸ ἀνατολικὸν ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῆς Ἀθήνας ἄγαλμα, εἰς δὲ τὸ δυσικὸν τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος· μέσον δὲ τούτων λέγουσιν εἶναι ποτὲ γοργόνης κεφαλὴν ἔνδοθεν κουβουκλίου σιδηροῦ· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὡρολόγιον τῆς ἡμέρας μαρμαριτικόν. (5) Ἄντικρυς δὲ τούτων πρὸς μεσημβρίαν ὑπῆρχεν (V 230v) διδασκαλεῖον τοῦ Ἀριστοφάνους· καὶ ἀνατολικὰ ἀκμὴν ἵστατο ὁ λύχνος τοῦ Δημοσθένους· πλησίον τούτου ἦν τότε καὶ τοῦ Θουκυδίδους οἴκημα καὶ Σόλωνος· ἀγορά τε δευτέρα καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ Ἀλκμαίονος καὶ βαλανείον μέγιστον· καὶ πρὸς νῶτον τούτων ἡ μεγάλη ἀγορὰ τῆς πολέως καὶ τεμένη πλεῖστα καὶ ἀξιάγαστα· ἕως τῆς πύλης (V 231r) τῆς λεγομένης νοτίδος ἧς πρὸς τῆς φλιὰς ἱστόρηνται ἐννεακαίδεκα ἄνδρες τὸν ἕνα διώκοντες· Ἑκεῖ ὑπῆρχε καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν λουτρὸν ἐν’ ᾧ τὸν μέγαν Βασίλειον διὰ πατάγου φοβῆσαι ἠθέλησαν· καὶ ὁ τοῦ Μνηστάρχου οἶκος. (6) Ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἵσταται καμάρα μεγίστη καὶ ὡραῖα· ἐστὶν γεγραμμένα (V 231v) τὰ ὀνόματα Ἀδριάνου καὶ Θησέως· εὐρίσκεται δὲ ἔνδον ταύτης αὐλῆ μεγίστη (W 31r) καὶ οἶκος βασιλικὸς, πλείστοις δὲ κίωσιν ὑποκάτωθεν στηρίζομενος· ὅστις ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη τῶν τὴν ἄκραν οἰκοδομησάντων. (7) Πρὸς δὲ νότον τούτου ἐστὶν οἶκος μικρὸς πλὴν ὡραῖος εἰς ὅν κατερχόμενος ὁ δοῦξ (V 232r) κατὰ καιρὸν εἰς εὐωχίαν ἐκινεῖτο· ἐκεῖ ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ἐννεάκρουνος πηγὴ ἡ Καλλιῤῥόη εἰς ἥν λουόμενος ἀνήρχετο εἰς τέμενος τὸ τῆς Ἧρας γενόμενος καὶ προσηύχετο· νῦν δὲ μετεποιήθη είς ναὸν τῆς ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου ὑπὸ τῶν εὐσεβῶν. (8) Ἀνατολικὰ δὲ τούτου ἐστὶν τὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν θέατρον (V 232v) κύκλῳ περιεχόμενον ὡσεὶ μηλίου διάστημα δύο εἰσόδους κεκτημένον· ἡ βορεινὴ εἴσοδος πλουτεῖ ἕτερον δέντι τιμαχαίτατον ἡ νοτινὴ ἐπικέκτηται· ἑκατὸν δὲ ζώναις κυκλωερῶς ἐκοσμεῖτο τὸ θέατρον ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένας λεύκου ἐν αἷς ὁ λαὸς καθεζόμενος (V 233r) ἐθεώρει τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων τὴν πάλην. (9) Ἐκ τούτου οὖν εἰσερχόμενοι τὴν ἀνατολικὴν πύλην εὐρίσκομεν ἄλλην ἀγορὰν καὶ ἀγωγοὺς ὑδάτων δύο οὕσπερ Ἰουλιος Καίσαρ Ἀθηναίος (W 31v) χαριζόμενος κατεσκεύασεν· καὶ ὕδωρ μήκοθεν τούτοις ἐκόμισεν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερος ἀγωγὸς κατὰ τὴν βόριον (V 233v) πύλην φερόμενος, ὅν ὁ Θυσεὺς ἐλεπτούργησεν καὶ ταῦτα μετὰ τὴν τῆς πολέως τῶν Ἀθηνῶν τυραννίδαν ὡς φησιν Ἅβαρις καὶ Ἠρώδοτος, ὑπὸ δύο καὶ δέκα βασιλέων ἐλεπτουργήθη· Κέκρωψ δὲ ὁ διφυὴς μέγαλως ἐφαίδρυνεν ἐν ποικίλῃ δόξῃ ταύτην ὡραίσας· τὰ μὲν τείχη πρὸς ὕψος ἐγεῖρας, τὸ δὲ ἔδαφος διαφόροις (V 234r) μαρμάροις καταστρώσας· καὶ τὰ τεμένη ἔνδοθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν καταχρυσώσας, διὰ τοῦτο χρύσας Ἀθήνας ταύτην ἐπονόμασαν. (10) Εἰς γοῦν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἡμῶν εἰσερχομένων εὐρίσκομεν ἕνα μικρὸν διδασκαλεῖον ὅπερ ὑπῆρχεν τὸ τῶν Μουσικῶν ὅπερ Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος συνεστήσατο· κατέναντι δὲ τοῦτου ἔστιν παλάτιον μέγιστον (V 234v) καὶ ὑποκάτωθεν τούτου κίονας φέρειν πλείονας· λευκῶν δὲ μαρμάρων πλουτεῖ σὺν τῇ ὀροφῇ καὶ τὰ τείχη· πρὸς δὲ τὸ βόρειον μέρος ὑπῆρχεν πᾶσα ἡ καγκελαρία ἐκ μαρμάρου (W 32r) καὶ κιόνων πεποιημένην λευκῶν· νοτινὰ δὲ ταύτης ὑπῆρχεν ἡ στοᾶ ἐν ποικίλῃ ὡραιοτήτι περιχρυσομένη γύρωθεν καὶ ἔξωθεν λίθοις (V 235r) τιμίοις κεκοσμένη· διὰ ταύτην καὶ στοικοὶ φιλοσόφοι ἐλέγοντο οἱ ἐν ταύτῃ μαθητευθέντες· ἄντικρυς δὲ ταύτης τὸ τῶν ἐπικουρίων ἤκμαζε διδασκαλεῖον. (11) Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τῆς θεομήτορος ὅν ᾠκοδομησαν Ἀπολλὼς καὶ Εὐλόγιος ἐπ’ ὀνόματι ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ ἔχει οὕτως· ἔστιν ὁ ναὸς δρομικώτατος καὶ εὐρυχωρος εἰς μήκος πολὺ ἐπεκτεινόμενος καὶ τὰ (V 235v) τείχη τούτου ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένα λευκοῦ· τετράγωνος δὴ τούτου ἡ θέσις καθέστηκεν πηλοῦ καὶ ἀσβέστου χωρὶς, διὰ σιδηροῦ δὲ καὶ μολύβδου πᾶς τοῖχος εἰς ὕψος ἀνάγεται· ἐκτὸς δὲ τοῦ τoίχου πλουτεῖ κίωνας παμμεγέθεις κυκλικῶς τὸν ναὸν περιέχοντας· μεταξὺ δὲ τῶν δύο κιόνων περιέχει παγίωσιν· (V 236r) πρὸς δὲ τὴν ὡραίαν πύλην καὶ τὸ ἅγιον βῆμα, ἅπερ εἰσὶ κατὰ λίβαν καὶ θρασκιὰν διπλὴν τῶν κιόνων ἐπικέκτηνται στάσιν· μέχρι δὲ πολλοῦ προϊοῦσα (W 32v) εἰς ὕψος· κεφαλαὶ δὲ τῶν κιόνων κεκολυμέναι διὰ γλυφῆς σιδήρου εἰς σχῆμα φοίνικος μεταποιημέναι καὶ τούτου ὕπερθεν δοκοῖ ἐκ μαρμάρου πεποιημένοι λευκοῦ τοῖς κίωσιν καὶ (V 236v) τῷ τοίχῳ προσκολλώμενοι πλάκας κεκολαυμένας ὑπεράνωθεν ἔχοντες καὶ εἰς ὀροφῆς ὁμοιῶμα τι· ἡ τούτων ἐπιφάνεται κίρτωσις· στηρίζεται δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν κιόνων καὶ τοίχος ὡραιότατος.I have consulted the manuscript images via digital scans. For readers of this edition to easily access the edition, I have linked references to a facsimile of the manuscript in L. Laborde, Athènes aux XVe, XVIe et XVIIe siècles (Paris, 1854), pp. 16-17.
(1) First in the academy in the village of the imperial buildings. Second is the Elaeatic school in the vineyards. Third is the school of Plato in the park area. Fourth is the school of Polyzelus on Mount Hymettus. Fifth is the school of Diodorus next to it.
(2) Within the city is the school of Socrates on which men and the winds are depicted in a circle.1 To the west of it stood the mansions of Themistocles. Next to them are the resplendent homes of the Polemarch. There also stands the statue of Zeus.2 Close to them is the altar where boxers and Olympian victors were deemed worthy of burial. Orators used to come here and read their funeral orations.3 To the north of this, there once was the first agora of the city, where the apostle Philip plunged the scribe into the abyss.4
(3) There also were the resplendent homes of the Pandionis tribe. In the southern part of them, there was the school of Cynic philosophers and next to it that of the tragedians. A little to the west outside the acropolis, there lived the rowers.5 Nearby them was the school of Sophocles. To the south of it stood the Areopagus, where Lyrothios the son of Poseidon was killed by Ares.
(4) To the east of this, stood the mansions of Kleonides and Melitias. Near this also stood the school of Aristotle. Above this stood two columns. On the eastern one, there was a statue of Athena, while on the western one stood one of Poseidon. They say that between once was the head of a gorgon inside an iron enclosure. There was also a marble solar clock.
(5) Near them to the east stood the school of Aristophanes. And further to the east stood the lamp of Demosthenes.6 Near to this was also the house of Thucydides and Solon as well as the second agora, the house of Alcmaeon, and a very large bathhouse. To the south of them is the main agora in the city and many, wondrous temples. Until the so-called Notis gate, by whose lintel are depicted nineteen men pursuing one. There also was the royal bath where they wanted to scare Saint Basil with clamor as well as the house of Mnestarchus.
(6) To the east of this stands a very large and beautiful vaulted building where the names of Hadrian and Theseus are written.7 Within it, there is a very large courtyard and a royal house, supported from below by many columns. It was adorned by twelve kings who also built the acropolis.
(7) To the south of this is a small but beautiful house to which the dux would come down sometimes and hold feasts. There also is the Henneacrunus spring, the Callirhoe, in which he would bathe and then go up to the so-called temple of Hera and pray. Now the temple has been converted into the temple of the most holy Mother of God by the pious.
(8) To the east of it is also the theater of Athens8 which encloses a space of nearly a mile and had two entrances. The northern entrance…the southern entrance possesses…in addition. The theater is adorned with one hundred rows of seats made out of white marble in which the people used to sit and watch the struggle of the competitors.9
(9) Going out from it and entering the eastern gate, we find another agora and two aqueducts, which Julius Caesar constructed as a gift for the Athenians. He brought water from faraway to them. There is also another aqueduct which goes by the northern gate which Theseus constructed. This is and all this was constructed by the twelve kings after the tyranny of Athens, as Abaris and Herodotus say. Cecrops the dual-natured10 was highly reputed and adorned Athens, building high walls, decking the base level with different marbles, and covering the temples within and without the city with gold. For this reason, they thereafter called it golden Athens.
(10) When we enter the acropolis, we find a small school, which was the school of the Muses, which Pythagoras the Samian established. Opposite of it is a large mansion and below it are many columns. Its walls as well as its roof are replete with white marbles. Toward the northern part of the building was the entire chancellery made out of white marble and columns. To the north of this was a stoa of varied beauty covered with gold all around with precious stones on the outside. Because of this, the people who took lessons here were called the stoic philosophers. Near to it also flourished the school of the Epicureans.
(11) Concerning the temple of the Mother of God, which Apollo and Eulogius built in the name of the unknown god, the following is the case. The temple and its marble walls stretch out for a great distance. Its structure is a rectangle and it rises up to a great height without any clay or lime, but with iron and lead. Outside the walls stand very large columns surrounding the temple. Between the columns, it has supports. Toward the beautiful gate and the chancel, which face the southwest and northwest, it also possess a double row of columns. It advances to a great height. The capitals of the columns are held in place with an iron sculpture in the form of a phoenix.11 Above this are the main beams made of white marble which hold together the columns and wall and have plates engraved on top of them giving off the appearance of a roof, as they appear convex. A most beautiful wall is also supported by the columns.
Notes to the Introduction
1 On Athens during this period, see Charalambos Bouras, Byzantine Athens, 10th - 12th Centuries (New York City: Routledge, 2018); Anthony Kaldellis, The Christian Parthenon: Classicism and Pilgrimage in Byzantine Athens (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
2 On the Lantern of Demosthenes, see Kaldellis, The Christian Parthenon, 181–84; J. R. Mccredie, “The ‘Lantern of Demosthenes’ and Lysikrates, Son of Lysitheides, of Kikynna,” in Studies Presented to Sterling Dow on His Eightieth Birthday, ed. Alan L. Boegehold and Kent J. Rigsby (Durham, N.C: Duke University, 1984), 181–83; Lya Matton and Raymond Matton, Athènes et ses monuments du XVIIe siècle à nos jours (Athens: Institut français d’Athènes, 1963), 141–44.
3 For a convenient summary of previous arguments: Silvio Mercati, “Noterella sulla tradizione manoscritta dei ‘Mirabilia urbis Athenarum,’” in Mélanges Eugène Tisserant, vol. 3 (Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1963), 77–78.
4 For Gregoras' account of the dux of Athens: Ludwig Schopen, Nicephori Gregorae Byzantina Historia, vol. 1 (Bonn: Weber, 1829), 239. On the date of the church of Saint Philip: Bouras, Byzantine Athens, 277-9.
5 Mercati, "Noterella", 82-3.
1W τὰ θέατρα καὶ διδασκαλεῖα τῶν Ἀθηνῶν
2W Πρῶτη
3V ἀκαδδήμια
4V παραδίση
5V ὄρη τὸ Εἰμιτίῳ; W ἐν ὄρει τῷ Ἠμιτίῳ
6V omits δὲ
7V ἐστὶν
8V δυσικὰ
9W οἶκοι
10W ἵσταντο δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα τοῦ Διὸς ἔγγυς τούτων
1 The so-called Tower of the Winds, the Horologion of Andronicus of Cyrrhus, in modern day Athens.
2 For this sentence, W has, “statues of Zeus stood next to them.”
3 W “Orators used to come here and read their funeral orations.”
4 According to the apocryphal Acts of Philip, Philip debated before an assembled group of philosophers with a Jewish archpriest come from Jerusalem. When the archpriest refused to concede, Philip caused the earth to open up and swallow the archpriest whole. See Acts of Philip 19. In the first century A.D., scribes were often figures vested with authority in the study of the Torah and held high public status so they could function as a knowledgeable figure such as an archpriest. After the ninth century, a church dedicated to Saint Philip was constructed in the agora
5 The θάλαμιος or θαλαμίτης was a rower seated on the lowest benches near the oar port.
6 The lamp or lantern of Demosthenes was the Byzantine name for choragic monument of Lysicrates, as its shape resembles a lantern. For an account of its possible origin in the minds of locals: Kaldellis, The Christian Parthenon, 181–84.
7This monument is the arch of Hadrian. According to the inscription on the monument, Theseus built the old city, while Hadrian built the new.
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10 Cecrops was the mythical founding king of Athens, who was believed to have been dual natured, that is half man and half snake. In addition to this text, we know from Michael Choniates that medieval Athenians claimed descent from him. In his epitaph for the archimandrite of the monasteries in Athens, Neophytos, Michael Choniates praised Neophytos for serving as an antidote to the arrogance of local elites, substituting “unadulterated integrity for their serpent-like wickedness, which they proudly boast about when they ought to conceal it, believing, as I know, that their race descends from ancient Athenian nobility, some autochthonous dragons and dual nature sons of Cecrops, a mix of man and serpent.” See Spyridon Lambros, Μιχαήλ Ακομινάτου του Χωνιάτου : τα σωζόμενα, vol. 1 (Athens: Parnassos, 1879), 268.
11 W adds “These were made later.”
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