The Stadium of Herodes Atticus is a little way out of Athens, among (if I may so express myself) the roots of Hymettus. The eminences which immediately bound it seem to have approached each other, but their absolute union at the circular end is artificial. The short valley thus obtained was lengthened by two great piers of rubble-work; the stone facing which once completed them is gone, and exposes the rubble, evidently laid in successive courses with a coat of stucco or mortar between each. On the right hand are vast foundations of the same nature, forming, as is supposed, the substruction of the temple of Victory, and of the immense flight of steps continued to it from the Stadium: on the left are traces of other edifices, which are said to have constituted parts of the temple of Fortune. The channel of an occasional torrent passes under the mound at the upper end. The whole effect must have been very splendid in its original state, but it is now almost reduced again to its natural condition. All its marbles and squared stones have been taken away, and the fragments of rubble which remain are hardly distinguishable from the native rock, which bursts frequently from the soil all around. The course was perhaps further lengthened by a magnificent bridge, certainly not wanted for crossing the Ilissus, and as the width of the way at the top must have been more than 60 feet, it could hardly have been intended for a mere passage, even if the Ilissus were really a river. Stuart figures the three arches as remaining, but they have all now disappeared, and some peasants were at work when I was there in detaching the squared masonry of the piers, so that a few shapeless masses of rubble will probably, in a few years, be all that remains.