The Areopagus and the Pnyx

The remains of ancient Athens, like Rome, may be studied from its hills; and like Rome, also, the modern city has left its ancient site.

The rocky summits are still of great interest, especially the Areopagus. This rocky height is said to owe its name to the fact that here the gods assembled, at the call of Neptune, to try Ares (Mars) for the murder of Halirrhotios.

But, apart from legend and tradition, history has made this site venerable. The ancient court of the Areopagus assembled here. This court was composed of the most worthy and the most religious of the citizens of Athens, and of such Archons (or rulers) as had discharged their duty faithfully. The number of judges composing this august assembly is not positively known, but is estimated at from nine to fifty. A flight of fifteen steps, cut in the solid rock, led up to the summit, where stone seats were hewn for the judges, the criminals and their defenders. This court held supreme jurisdiction over matters religious and civil. It rewarded the virtuous, and severely punished those who blasphemed the gods or slighted the festivals. All criminal cases were tried here. The court sat in the open air, because, according to their law, a murderer and his accuser could not sit under the same roof. The sittings were held on the 27th, 28th and 29th of every month, and always at night, that the judges might not be influenced by the sight of those whom it was their duty to punish. This custom continued until the time of Perikles, who, having been denied admission among them, resolved to lessen their authority and destroy their power. From this time the morals of Athens became more and more corrupt, until even the Areopagites themselves were no longer conspicuous for virtue and justice.

But even in the political decay of Athens this spot and this court were regarded with superstitious reverence. It was a place of silent awe, in the midst of a gay and frivolous city. When men withdrew from the Agora, or market-place, to the Areopagus, they came, as it were, into the presence of a higher power. And thus, in Acts XVII., we read that after St. Paul had been daily disputing in the Synagogue and in the "market," they took him and brought him unto the Areopagus; and here, in full view of the Acropolis, overlooking a city crowded with statues and temples, Paul stood in the midst of "Mars' Hill" and preached, to the "Men of Athens," Jesus Christ and the Resurrection. Christianity here met Paganism in its highest form, and "Dionysius, the Areopagite," was Paul's first convert in Athens.

The northeastern side of this hill is precipitous, and at the base are high blocks of rock, in the fissures of which, half concealed, is a pool of black water. Here was the shrine of the Eumenides, or Furies, the Avengers of Blood, and here was laid the scene of AEschylus' tragedy, the "Eumenides."

Another of these rocky summits of ancient Athens is the Hill of the Pnyx, about a quarter of a mile to the southwest of the Acropolis. This was the political campground of Athens. Upon the northeast slope there is a large, artificial platform or terrace, which still measures 395 by 212 feet. The upper part is hewn out of the solid rock, while the lower part is supported by massive Pelasgic masonry. At the back of this immense platform is a perpendicular wall, thirteen feet high, in the center of which is a huge cube of rock, hewn out of a solid mass, resting upon a broad solid stone platform of three steps. From here the Athenians harangued their political assemblies.

We have only to read history to realize the stormy scenes which have taken place here. From the Bema, or stone platform just described, Demosthenes, the most celebrated orator of Greece, delivered his immortal orations, known as "the Philippics," being fiery denunciations of Philip, King of Macedon.

The Pnyx included an area of more than twelve thousand square yards, and could with ease contain the entire free civic population of Athens.