Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

46 Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks
Acropolis, was also enlarged at this date. To the west, the Odeion of
Perikles was built—a vast, roofed building capable of accommodating
an audience of 5,000. Although Athens was damaged by Sulla
in 86 b.c.e. , it enjoyed a considerable architectural revival under
the Emperor Hadrian (c.e. 117–38). Then, in c.e. 169, the theater
of Herodes Atticus was constructed, and the entire southern slope
of the Acropolis became a vast cultural center, rather like the Kennedy
Center in Washington, DC, or the South Bank Arts Complex
in London.
Although fifth-century b.c.e. Athens was an urban entity, its
growth and development did not bring about an exodus from
the countryside. Even at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War,
most of the population still resided outside Athens, as Thukydides
describes (2.16.1). It is difficult to gauge the extent to which those
living in the countryside were incorporated into the life of the city.
Although most Athenian citizens would have needed to travel to
Plan of the Acropolis: (1) Erechtheum, (2) Old Temple of Athena, (3) sanctuary
wall, (4) site of statue of Athena Promachos (“Fighting in the front
rank”), (5) Parthenon, (6) Propylaea or gateway, (7) Temple of Athena
Nike (Victory), (8) Mycenaean wall, (9) sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia,
(10) Chalkotheke or treasury. From Evi Melas, Temples and Sanctuaries
of Ancient Greece. Translated by F. M. Brownjohn (London: Thames and
Hudson, 1973).