Pnyx
The Pnyx ( ancient Greek Πνύξ Pnýx , modern Greek Πνύκα Pnýka ) is a hill in Athens , directly west of the Acropolis and since the reforms of Kleisthenes around 508 BC. BC to 330 BC Chr. The site of the People's Assembly ( Ekklesia ) . The name Pnyx therefore also describes the assembly building on the Pnyx hill. Before these meetings were held in the Agora , later in the Dionysus Theater.
Development of the Pnyx hill
Three phases can be distinguished in the development of the Pnyx hill. The Pnyx I, built in the 5th century, used (like most Greek theaters) the natural slope. At the lower, northern end it had a low retaining wall on which the speaker's platform, the Bema ( βῆμα ), was located. In this phase the Pnyx held about 6000 people. Since one has to assume about 30,000 voters, one expected a participation of a maximum of 20%. It must be taken into account that many citizens who lived in the country had to stay overnight in the city to attend the popular assembly, and daily allowances were not received until 395 BC. Were introduced.
In construction phase II (according to Plutarch around 404 BC) the Pnyx was rotated by about 180 °, so from then on it was inclined against the natural course of the slope, which required a mighty wall in the north and considerable earthworks. Access was through two 3.9 m wide stairs. Most of the visible parts of the Pnyx belong to phase III (around 340 BC), a massive expansion of the previous building which, according to modern estimates, offered space between 13,800 and 24,100 citizens. The third construction phase also includes two large porticoed halls, which were supposed to provide shelter for the citizens in bad weather, but these were never completed. Part of the city wall of ancient Athens also ran over the Pnyx Hill.
The first excavations took place in 1910 by the Greek Archaeological Society. At that time the area was also identified as that of the ancient Pnyx. Between 1930 and 1937 there were other major excavations on the site.
literature
- John Travlos: Image dictionary on the topography of ancient Athens . Wasmuth, Tübingen 1971.
- Robert A. Moysey: The Thirty and the Pnyx . In: American Journal of Archeology 85, 1981, ISSN 0002-9114 , pp. 31-37.
- Homer A. Thompson : The Pnyx in Models . In: Hesperia Suppl. 19, 1982, ISSN 1064-1173 , pp. 133-147.
- Susan I. Rotroff, John McK. Camp: The Date of the Third Period of the Pnyx . In: Hesperia 65, 1996, ISSN 0018-098X , pp. 263-294.
- Björn Forsén, Greg Stanton (Eds.): The Pnyx in the History of Athens. Proceedings of an International Colloquium organized by the Finnish Institute at Athens, 7 - 9 October, 1994. Suomen Ateenan-Instituutin Säätiö, Helsinki 1996, ISBN 951-95295-3-5 , ( Papers and monographs of the Finnish Institute at Athens 2) .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ministry of Culture and Sports | Pnyx. Retrieved February 10, 2017 .
Coordinates: 37 ° 58 ′ 18 ″ N , 23 ° 43 ′ 10 ″ E