Persians at the battle of Platæa. Round three sides of the temple there was a parapet, breast-high, made of upright marble slabs, some of which have been recovered from the _débris_. They are adorned with female figures representing Winged Victories, which display wonderful freedom and ease in execution, especially as regards the drapery. There is a beautiful view from the _Niké_, looking west and south, which has been finely described by Byron in “The Corsair”:-- Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run, Along Morea’s hills the setting sun: Not, as in Northern climes, obscurely bright, But one unclouded blaze of living light! O’er the hush’d deep the yellow beam he throws Gilds the green wave, that trembles as it glows. On old Ægina’s rock and Idra’s isle, The god of gladness sheds his parting smile; O’er his own regions lingering, loves to shine, Though there his altars are no more divine. Descending fast the mountain shadows kiss Thy glorious gulf, unconquer’d Salamis! Their azure arches through the long expanse More deeply purpled meet his mellowing glance, And tenderest tints, along their summits driven, Mark his gay course, and own the hues of heaven; Till, darkly shaded from the land and deep, Behind his Delphian cliff he sinks to sleep. In keeping with the splendour of the temples on the summit of the Acropolis was the Propylæa, or great entrance, already mentioned. The magnificent marble staircase, 72 feet wide, which now leads up to it, was of later construction, under the Romans. But the porticoes of Pentelic marble at the top, with their rows of Doric and Ionic columns, supporting a marble roof, adorned with golden stars, and the adjoining chambers, one of which was used as a picture-gallery (_pinacotheca_), were built in the time of Pericles at a cost of more than £400,000, and were justly regarded as one of the chief glories of Athens, as their ruins still are of the modern city.