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ROMAN ATHENS
86 B.C.-267
A.D.
THE CITY
After the destruction of
the city from Sylla, Athens finally came
fully in the hands of Romans.
Α period of reconstruction immediately began.
Many Roman generals, emperors and
poets visited or studied in Athens (Julius Caesar, Pompeius, Brutus and Cassius,
Marcus Antonius, Augustus, Oratius, Ovidius,
Cicero...) and benefited the city. Thanks to these benefactions,
Athens recovered her old glory and was now an
important philosophical and cultural centre
in Eastern Mediterranean.
Julius Caesar and his
successor Augustus, gave money for the construction of
the Roman Agora of Athens. August also
built the temple of Rome and Augustus
on the Acropolis in the entry of which,
Caligula made later, a monumental
staircase, while Nero
created a new scene in the theatre of Dionysus.
In the Agora, the son-in-law of Augustus,
Agrippa, built a enormous
odeum, in front of which the
temple of Mars was set up after
being transported by some other point of Attica.
The biggest
however benefactor of Athens
was emperor Hadrian who extended the city at 2.200
acres to the west (in the area of today Syntagma square) and
built many buildings in the city. The most
important
of his projects was the
completion of the temple of Jupiter
Olympios (Olympieion). The emperor
himself inaugurate the temple in 131
B.C. and to to honour him,
the Athenians erected nearby the arch
that is now known as the ''Gate of Hadrian''.
He also constructed a big library, part of which is
still in good condition in Monastiraki, and
finally, the Pantheon and the Panellenion,
sanctuaries that have not been located with certainty.
Hadrian apart from the monuments he took great care for the water supply
of the city and thus constructed an aqueduct that was still in use until the
19th century.
Around 115
B.C. the prince of the
Kingdom of Kommagene, Gaius
Antiochus Philopappos, that
lived in Athens, builds his
burial monument on the hill
of the Muses -the monument of
Philopappos.
In the same
period with Hadrian and little later,
the rich Athenian, Herodes Atticus, also
benefited the city.
His most important monument
was the odeum, known as the ''Herodeion'' (161 B.C.),
that is still being used today.
Herodes also payed for the renovation of
the Panathenaic
Stadium with pentelic
marble.
For
the monuments of Roman Athens click below:
THE
ACROPOLIS -
SOUTH SLOPE OF ACROPOLIS
THE AGORA
ROMAN AGORA - LIBRARY OF
HADRIAN
OLYMPIEION - GATE OF HADRIAN
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