In speaking of the god of medicine at Rome, mention was made of Epidaurus, the original great seat of worship of Æsculapius. In the Peloponnesian place of that name, in the district of Argolis, on the western shore of the Saronic Gulf, I will now pause a while; for here is a spot of earth of special interest, dearer than Salerno, or even Cos, to every lover of the annals, historical and legendary, of the healing art. Very different is Epidaurus now from what it was in other days; there has been a change, and for the worse. Here was once the scene of teeming life; the home of a people of culture and renown. It is not so at present. As with many other parts of Greece, time has dealt harshly with Epidaurus. But for the ruins and the imperishable records we have of them, one could find very little there worthy of much attention. It is chiefly in the work of Pausanias, before mentioned, that the great medical institution of Epidaurus, the Æsculapian Temple, with its auxiliaries, survives. This observing and inquisitive old Greek traveler has left an interesting account of it. He lived in the second century of our era. The ruins have been carefully studied and described by Mr. Leake.[47] Under a commission from the Archæological Society of Athens, Mr. P. Kavvadias, in 1881 and forward to the present time (1885), has been making exploratory excavations, for full accounts of which the “Proceedings of the Society” must be consulted.[48] Although the Asclepion was not within the town of Epidaurus, it was generally spoken of as part and parcel of the latter. Thus, Strabo says: “Epidaurus was a distinguished city, remarkable particularly on account of the fame of Æsculapius, who was supposed to cure every kind of disease, and whose temple is crowded constantly with sick persons, and its walls covered with votive tablets, which are hung thereon and contain accounts of the cures in the same manner as is practiced at Cos and at Tricca.”[49] In the time of the Romans, the town was regarded as “little more than the harbor”[50] of the Æsculapian Oracle. Still, at one time it was of considerable importance. Pausanias speaks favorably of it. In it there were statues of Æsculapius and his reputed wife, Epione, and of Diana, Venus, and others. There were public accommodations for persons dying and lying-in women. This was necessary, because births and deaths were not allowed to occur within the Sacred Grove. The exclusion was, according to Pausanias, “agreeable to a law which is established in the island of Delos.”[51] Epidaurus was open to intercourse with the Phœnicians and other peoples. Its citizens were enterprising. It is interesting to note that they colonized the island of Cos. Under the name of Pidhavro the ancient town remains in existence; but it is a mere hamlet of a few dozen families, most of which are engaged in raising vegetables for the Athenian market.