9. The Zysti and the Zysta, were distinct places, both in Greece and Rome. Zysti, were places covered at top, designed for the exercise of wrestlers, when the weather did not permit them to contend in the open air. Zysta, were walks open at the top, designed for recreation, or exercises, in the heat of summer, and milder seasons of the winter.

10. The Baths, in which were waters hot and cold, in different degrees, and in these they refreshed themselves, when they were wearied with exercise, and at other times. Amongst the ancient Greeks, baths were not much frequented, being rarely used, but after the accomplishment of some very great work, which required abundance of labour and toil; as the ending of a war, or the atchieving of any great and painful enterprize. Thus Agamemnon, after the Trojan war, on his returning home, went into the bath, there to wash away the remembrance of his past toils, and was slain by the treachery of his wife Clytemnestra. In latter ages they became more common, and were frequently used for health and recreation, by both sexes.

11. The Stadium, was a large semi-circle, in which exercises were performed; and for the better convénience of spectators, which flocked thither in vast multitudes, was built with steps one above another, that the higher ranks might look over the heads of those in the inferior seat. Several of these were in Athens, in their Gymnasia, and at other places; but the most remarkable was that which was built near the river Ilissus by Lycurgus, and afterwards enlarged by Herodes Atticus, one of the richest citizens Athens ever had; it was built of Pentelic marble, with such great magnificence, that, when Pausanias comes to speak of it, he apprises his readers, that what he is going to relate is so extraordinary, that they would hardly believe him, for that the edifice he was about to describe was the wonder of all who beheld it, being of that stupendous magnitude, that it looked like a mountain of white marble upon the banks of the Ilissus. Sir George Wheeler reports, that at this day there remains some of the stone work

at the end towards the river, but the rest is only a stadium of earth above ground. Its size and figure are to be traced, though the upper works are all destroyed. It is a long place with two parallel sides, closed up circularly to the east end, and open towards the other end. It is about a hundred and twenty-five geometrical paces long, and twenty-six or twenty-seven broad, which gave it the name of a stadium, which was a measure commonly used by the Greeks, and was equal, as before observed, to the eighth part of a Roman mile.

Athens had several Gymnasia, of which the most noted were the Lyceum, Academia, and Cynosarges. Lyceum was situated on the banks of the Ilissus; the building of this structure is by some ascribed to Pisistratus, by others to Pericles, and by others to Lycurgus; probably Pisistratus laid the foundation of it, Pericles reared the superstructure, and Lycurgus enlarged and beautified it. Here Aristotle taught Philosophy, and discoursed with such as resorted to him for instruction, and here he walked every day till the hour of anointing, which was just before dinner. By thus delivering his instructions while walking, he and his disciples were called Peripatetics; Alexander the great was one of those who received instructions in this way.

Academia was part of the Ceramicus, without the city, from which it was distant about six stadia, or three quarters of a mile. It was so called from Academus, an old hero, who, when Helena was stolen by Theseus, and concealed at Aphidnæ, discovered her to Castor and Pollux, for which he was extremely honoured by them during his life; and the Lacedamonians, when, in after ages, they made several incursions into Attica, and destroyed all the country round about, always spared this place for his sake. It is however asserted, that these were two Arcadians in the army of Castor and Pollux, the one called Echedemus, the other Marathus; the former of which gave name to the Academy, the other to the borough of Marathon. Plutarch deseribes the academy as surrounded with shady woods

and retired walks, well suited to study and meditation, as the poets and others witness; as in the following line from Eupolis,

In Academus' shady walks.

And Horace expresses himself in nearly the same words, In Echedemus' groves to search for truth.

At the first it was a desert place, and uninhabited on account of the fens and marshes that were in it, by which it was rendered very unhealthy; but the marshes being drained by Cimon, the place became pleasant and delightful, and was much frequented by all sorts of people, especially such as applied themselves to the study of philosophy, for they resorted thither in great numbers to Plato's lectures, which he read constantly in this place. It is proper to add, that this seat of the muses was surrounded with a wall by Hipparchus, the son of Pisistratus; who to defray the expence of the work, laid a heavy tax on the people: from which every expensive undertaking was afterwards called Hippar

chian.

Cynosarges was a place in the suburbs, near the Lyceum, so called from a white, or a swift dog, that when Diomus was sacrificing to Hercules, snatched away part of the victim. It was adorned with several temples, dedicated to Hebe, Alcmena, and Iclaus, all which bore some relation to Hercules, who was the chief deity of the place, and was here honoured with a magnificent temple; but there was nothing in it so remarkable as the Gymnasium, in which strangers, and those that were but of Athenian descent by one of their parents, were to perform their exercises; because Hercules, to whom it was dedicated, was under some degree of illegitimacy, and was not one of the immortal gods, but had a mortal for his mother; and therefore Themistocles, who was only an Athenian in, the right of one of his parents, persuaded several of the young noblemen to accompany him to anoint and exercise themselves at Cyno

sarges; in doing which he seemed, with some ingenuity, to remove the invidious distinction between the truly noble and the stranger; and between those of the whole and those of the half blood of Athens. There was also a court of judicature held in this place, wherein causes respecting illegitimacy were heard, and an examination made concerning persons who were suspected of having falsely inserted their names among the true born Athenians. In this Gymnasium Antisthenes instituted a sect of philosophers, called Cynics, from the name of the place as some think.

All Theatres were dedicated to Bacchus and to Venus, the deities of sports and pleasures; to the former of which they are said to owe their origin. The most ancient Theatres were constructed of boards, so arranged as to form a series of seats raised above each other. But this slight way of constructing these places of resort, had liked to have proved fatal to the commonwealth, for almost the whole city being assembled to hear Pratinas act a tragedy, the Theatre, being too weak to support so immense a multitude, on a sudden gave way, and had nearly buried them all in its ruins, but for a timely and sudden retreat. This led them to a

safer plan of building their edifices of stone; and from that time the Athenians, whose example the rest of the Grecians followed, erected fixed and durable Theatres of stone, and more generally of marble, which, by degrees, arrived at that magnitude, that they exceeded almost all the other buildings in Greece.

The figure of Theatres was semi-circular, or rather they were reared on the segment of a circle, that exceeded the semicircle, so that, if two such segments were brought together they would form an ellipsis, The Grecian Theatre consisted of two parts, called in latin Scæna and Cavea. The scene was the division assigned to the actors; it reached quite across the Theatre, which, in days of ancient simplicity, was decorated with boughs and leaves; but in later and more refined times, was adorned with rich and costly hang

ings; these drew sidewards, or upwards, and were occasionally drawn up and let down, as is the practice at this time. The Theatres had three principal entrances or gates; one upon the right hand, another upon the left, by which were presented meaner and smaller edifices; and a third in the middle, by which more magnificent structures, as temples of the gods, or palaces of kings, were brought into view; and on each side of the gate was a smaller entrance, through which the persons of either gods or men were introduced by various machines. The whole scene was divided into various parts, of which the following were the chief:

1. Brontium, a place underneath the floor, wherein were kept brazen vessels, full of stones and other materials, with which they imitated the noise of thunder.

2. A place upon the top of the scene, in which all the machines, whereby they introduced the various figures and scenes, were moved.

3. The dressing room, a place before the scenes, in which the actors dressed and adorned themselves.

4. The Stage, or place before the scenes, in which the players acted; and the Orchestra, in which the Chorus used to dance and sing, in the middle of which was the pulpit or platform to speak from.

5. The Hyposeene, a partition under the pulpit or stage, for the music.

6. The Cavea, or Pit, appointed for the spectators: it consisted of three parts, regularly elevated above each other; the lowest of which belonged to persons of quality and magistrates; the middle to the common people; and the uppermost to the women. And because Theatres were open at the top, they erected porticos behind the Pit, to which the people might retire for shelter in rainy weather.

Athens had Three Harbours for Ships.

1. Piraus, which was about five Roman miles from the city. It had three docks, also two temples; one of