The business and social center of an ancient city was the agora or market place. The Athenian Agora lay in the hollow north of the Areopagus and Acropolis. The square was shaded by rows of plane trees and lined with covered colonnades. In the great days of the city, when the Agora was filled with countless altars and shrines, it presented a most varied and attractive scene. PUBLIC BUILDINGS Not all the splendid structures in Athens were confined to the Agora and the Acropolis. On a slight eminence not far from the Agora, rose the so- called "Theseum," [46] a marble temple in the Doric order. Another famous temple, the colossal edifice known as the Olympieum, lay at some distance from the Acropolis on the southeast. Fifteen of the lofty columns with their Corinthian capitals are still standing. The theater of Dionysus [47] is in a fair state of preservation. Beyond this are the remains of the Odeum, or "Hall of Song," used for musical contests and declamations. The original building was raised by Pericles, in imitation, it is said, of the tent of Xerxes. The present ruins are those of the structure erected in the second century A.D. by a public-spirited benefactor of Athens. THE ACROPOLIS The adornment of the Acropolis formed perhaps the most memorable achievement of Pericles. [48] This rocky mount was approached on the western side by a flight of sixty marble steps. To the right of the stairway rose a small but very beautiful Ionic temple dedicated to Athena. Having mounted the steps, the visitor passed through the superb entrance gate, or Propylaea, which was constructed to resemble the front of a temple with columns and pediment. Just beyond the Propylaea stood a great bronze statue of the Guardian Athena, a masterpiece of the sculptor Phidias. [Illustration: THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS (RESTORATION)] [Illustration: ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS FROM THE SOUTHWEST] THE ERECHTHEUM The Erechtheum, a temple which occupies part of the Acropolis, is in the Ionic style. It may be regarded as the best existing example of this light and graceful order. Perhaps the most interesting feature is the porch of the Caryatides, with a marble roof supported by six pillars carved in the semblance of maidens. [49] This curious but striking device has been often copied by modern architects. ARCHITECTURE OF THE PARTHENON