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PRIENE  THE original city probably lies under the mud of the Maeander to the east, its inhabitants moving in the mid-fourth century BC to a new city laid out on a gridiron pattern on a terraced slope with access to the sea. This in turn has been left high and dry by the silting action of the Maeander, and the sea is now some 10 km away. Relatively little new construction was done in the Roman period, and many of the buildings of the Byzantine period, when Priene was the seat of a bishop, have been excavated away to reveal the Greek material below (most archaeology is destructive); hence the site gives a good idea of what a medium-sized Greek city in the Hellenistic period looked like. The setting is extremely attractive, with a precipitous acropolis behind and splendid views east across the Maeander plain to Miletos and Mount Latmos.


Entering through the north-east gate in the city-walls, we head first for the theatre, built like the walls in the fourth century BC, though with later alterations; noteworthy features are the marble seats of honour in the front row, the ‘Royal Box’ in the fi fth row, and the remains of a water-clock, probably used to set time-limits on speeches when the theatre was used for assemblies. To the south of the theatre we pass by a basilical church built in three phases from the 6th century on, before arriving at the city’s most imposing building, the Ionic temple of Athena. Built by the architect Pytheos, who had worked on the Mausoleum, it was paid for and dedicated to Athena by Alexander the Great: the inscription recording this is now in the British Museum, while that recording a second dedication by Augustus is still on site.


South-east of the Athena temple and its altar is the agora which was originally bounded with porticoes on three sides; the owner of a temple on its eastern side, which was originally assumed to belong to Zeus Agoraios (Zeus of the market-place), has recently been identifi ed as the healing-god Asklepios. North of the latter is the well-preserved bouleuterion (council-chamber) in the shape of a rectangular horseshoe, and next to it the prytaneion, the building where the executive officers of the council (the prytaneis) conducted their business, including entertainment of ambassadors and other state guests.


Priene is a compact site, but time constraints and/or ruin-fatigue rarely allow us to see all the noteworthy buildings. Optional extras include a sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone situated up a steep slope outside (as usual) the main body of the city, and comprising a small temple of unusual shape with a large pit for pouring offerings to the deities of the underworld; some private houses north of the temple of Athena; a stadium close to the city-wall on the south, with starting-blocks still preserved at the west end; the adjoining lower gymnasium where the palaistra (training area) and washbasins attest the athletic functions of the institution, and the classroom scrawled with students’ names its educational role; a sanctuary of the Egyptian gods; and, to the west, a temple of Kybele, and the so-called House of Alexander the Great, which is more likely to be a sanctuary for a chthonic deity.

WESTMINSTER CLASSIC TOURS