"How majestic, and how perfect in its preservation," says Dr. Clarke, "rises the Choragic monument of Thrasyllus; and how sublime the whole group of objects with which it is associated. At the time of our visit, and before the work of dilapidation had commenced, the ancient sun-dial, the statue of the god, the pillars for the tripods, the majestic citadel;--the last of these has, indeed, defied the desolating ravages of barbaric power; but who shall again behold the other objects in this affecting scene as they then appeared? or in what distant country and obscure retreat may we look for their mutilated fragments?" The monument of PHILOPAPPUS[80] stands upon the hill of Musæus, where that celebrated poet is said to have been buried. It is within the walls of the ancient city, though at some distance from those of the modern one; and the view from it of the citadel of Athens and the neighbouring territories is very striking; for, looking towards the sea, the eye commands the ports of the Piræus, Munychia, and Phalerus; the isles of Salamis and Ægina, and the mountains of Peloponnesus, as far as the gulf of Argos. It originally consisted of three compartments between four Corinthian pilasters; that is to say, of an arched recess, containing a central sitting figure, having a square niche on each side of it. Below these appeared three superb sculptures in relief. That in the centre, beneath the sitting statue, exhibits Trajan in a car, drawn by four horses, as he is represented on many monuments of that emperor. On either side, in square compartments, were seen the attendants, preceding and following the triumphal car. Philopappus' monument, says Mr. Dodwell, has its faults and deficiencies; but it is an elegant and imposing object. In the interior of the basement are some blocks of the grey Hymettian marble, and the soft stone from the Piræus. The superstructure is of Pentelic marble. It is a structure of white marble, says another writer, built a proportionable height, something circular. In the middle was a large niche, with a figure of marble sitting in it, and under his feet, in large letters,--"Philopappus, son of Epiphanes of Besa." Wheler found a still longer inscription, in Latin, which he thus translates:-- _Caius, Julius, Philopappus, son of Caius, of the tribe of Fabia, Consul, Frater Arvalis, chosen among the Prætors by the most good and august Emperor Cæsar, Nerva, Trajanus, who conquered the Germans and Dacians._ Among the inscriptions in this city may be noted one on a large marble stone, standing on end, in the wall of a private house, relating to the sale of oil; and as it teaches many things we shall cite it, as translated by Wheler:-- _The law edict of the God-like Hadrian._