tyrant’s house in a beautiful chariot drawn by four white horses. The same day Dionysius also married one of his own subjects, and, strange to say, the two ladies were treated with equal respect, and sat with dignity at the same table. At Athens the drama was one of the most powerful educative influences in the community. The remains of what was no doubt in its time the chief Dionysiac theatre may be seen in the neighbourhood of the Acropolis--part of the southern face of the rock having been scarped to form the back of the theatre. Plato speaks of it as accommodating 30,000 people, but this is probably an exaggeration, 20,000 being nearer the mark. The front seats running round part of the orchestra are in the form of marble thrones, adorned with reliefs on their fronts and sides, and bearing the names of priests and other dignitaries for whom they were intended. These seats probably formed part of the original stone theatre, but the latest inscriptions date from the time of Hadrian. The Emperor’s throne seems to have stood on an elevation (still to be seen) in a central position behind the front row of seats, and images of him were set up in various parts of the theatre--a departure from the example of Lycurgus, who set up statues of the great dramatists, the bases of some of which are still in [Illustration: THE LOWER PART OF THE AUDITORIUM OF THE THEATRE OF DIONYSOS AT ATHENS Beginning at the left hand below, we notice first the breast-wall dividing the orchestra from the auditorium, and below it again the partially covered channel for rain-water. In the foremost row of marble seats or thrones, the third seat to the right is that of the Priest of Dionysos, distinguished by the exquisite relief, on the arm of the throne, of Eros engaged in cock-fighting. Higher up in the auditorium are pedestals for honorary statues.]