THE ACROPOLIS--It was customary for a Greek town to be built about an acropolis,--an eminence by which it was commanded, and on which stood the citadel. On the acropolis at Athens were the buildings and statues in which the glory of Athenian art was impressively displayed. There were three edifices which excelled all the rest in splendor. On the south side of the elevated area was the _Parthenon_, built of Pentelic marble, two hundred and twenty-eight feet in length, and of faultless proportions. On the northern edge was the _Erechtheum_, an Ionic temple of extraordinary beauty. The _Propylcea_, approached by sixty marble steps, was a noble gateway: it stood on the western end of the acropolis, which it magnificently adorned. ATHENS--No other description of Athens, in the age of Pericles, equals his own in the _Funeral Oration_ (431 B.C.), as given by Thucydides, for those who had fallen in the war. It shows how an Athenian looked upon his city. "It is true that we are called a democracy; for the administration is in the hands of the many, and not of the few. But while the law secures equal justice to all alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit. Neither is poverty a bar; but a man may benefit his country, whatever be the obscurity of his condition. There is no exclusiveness in our public life; and in our private intercourse we are not suspicious of one another, nor angry with our neighbor if he does what he likes: we do not put on sour looks at him, which, though harmless, are not pleasant. While we are thus unconstrained in our private intercourse, a spirit of reverence pervades our public acts: we are prevented from doing wrong by respect for authority and the laws, having an especial regard to those which are ordained for the protection of the injured, as well as to those unwritten laws which bring upon the transgressor of them the reprobation of the general sentiment. "And we have not forgotten to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil. We have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year. At home the style of our life is refined, and the delight which we daily feel in all these things helps to banish melancholy. Because of the greatness of our city, the fruits of the whole earth flow in upon us; so that we enjoy the goods of other countries as freely as of our own.