Xystus was the Greek architectural term for the covered portico of the gymnasium, in which the exercises took place during the winter or in rainy weather etc. The Romans applied the term to the garden walk in front of the porticoes, which was divided into flower beds with borders of box, and to a promenade between rows of large trees.
"Xystus" was used, by extension, to refer to the whole building containing the gymnasium and portico, as in the xysti of Jerusalem and Elis.
In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate (Greek: στυλοβάτης) is the top step of the crepidoma, the stepped platform on which colonnades of temple columns are placed (it is the "floor" of the temple). The platform was built on a leveling course that flattened out the ground immediately beneath the temple.
Some methodologies use the word stylobate to describe only the topmost step of the temple's base, while stereobate is used to describe the remaining steps of the platform beneath the stylobate and just above the leveling course. Others use the term to refer to the entire platform.
The stylobate was often designed to relate closely to the dimensions of other elements of the temple. In Greek Doric temples, the length and width of the stylobate were related, and in some early Doric temples the column height was one third the width of the stylobate. The Romans took a different approach in their interpretation of the Corinthian order, using a much loftier stylobate that was not graduated except in the approach to the portico.
Stoa (plural, stoae or stoæ) in Ancient Greek architecture; covered walkways or porticos, commonly for public usage. Early stoae were open at the entrance with columns lining the side of the building, creating an enveloping, protective atmosphere and were usually of Doric order. Later examples consisted of mainly two stories, with a roof supporting the inner colonnades where shops or sometimes offices were located and followed Ionic architecture. These buildings were open to the public; merchants could sell their goods, artists could display their artwork, and religious gatherings could take place. Stoae usually surrounded the marketplaces of large cities.
In classical architecture, a sima is the upturned edge of a roof which acts as a gutter. Sima comes from the Greek simos, meaning bent upwards.
The sima runs around all four sides of a building, the raking sima is continuous, while the sima on the other sides is broken by spouts. Early sima featured tubular or half cylindrical spouts, but these were mostly replaced with animal head spouts by the middle of the 6th century BC.
Simas may be made of terracotta or stone.
Simas were normally decorated. Stone simas had continuous naratives, especially on the raking sides where they would not be interrupted by spouts, similar to a frieze. Terracotta simas had repeating patterns that were easy to reproduce with molds.
A Prytaneion was seat of the Prytaneis (executive), and so the seat of government in ancient Greece. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met - normally relating to the government of a city - but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games met at Olympia.
The Prytaneion normally stood in centre of the city, in the agora. The building contained the holy fire of Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
At the southwest side of the agora in Athens, and part of the Bouleuterion complex stood the Tholos, a round temple (Tholos is the Greek word for circle), eighteen metres in diameter, which served as seat of the Prytaneis of Athens and so was their Prytaneion. It functioned as a kind of all purpose venue, with both a dining hall and sleeping quarters for some of the officials.[1] This accommodation was necessary as, after the reforms under Cleisthenes, one third of the senate had to be present in the complex at all times.
It was built around 470BCE by Cimon, to serve as a dining hall for the boule (members of the senate).[1] The site had previously been occupied by an earlier civic building, the Prytanikon.[2]
At Olympia, the Prytaneion was where the priests and magistrates lived; the high priests lived in the Theokoleon.[3] It stands to the north-west of the Temple of Hera and was used for celebrations and feasts by the winners of the games.[4] It also housed the Altar of Hestia where the original Olympic flame once burnt.[4]
The Peristasis (Greek περίστασις) was a four-sided porch or hall of columns surrounding the cella in an ancient Greek peripteros temple. This allowed priests to pass round the cella (along a pteron) in cultic processions. If such a hall of columns surrounds a patio or garden, it is called a peristyle rather than a peristasis.
In ecclesial architecture, it is also used of the area between the baluster of a Catholic church and the high altar (what is usually called the sanctuary or chancel).
Peripteros (Greek - περίπτερος) is the special name given to a type of ancient Greek or Roman temple surrounded by a portico with columns.
It refers to the useful element for the architectural definition of buildings surrounded around their outside by a colonnade (pteron) on all four sides of the cella (naos), creating a four-sided arcade (peristasis). By extension, it also means simply the perimeter of a building (typically a classical temple), when that perimeter is made up of columns[1].
The term is frequently used of buildings in the Doric order[1].
The peripteros can be a portico, a kiosk or a chapel. If it made up of four columns, it is tetrastyle; of 6, hexastyle; of 8, octastyle; of 10, decastyle; and of 12, dodecastyle. If the columns are fitted into the wall instead of standing alone, it is called a pseudo-peripteros[citation needed]
In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peribolos was a court enclosed by a wall, especially one surrounding a sacred area such as a temple, shrine, or altar. Peribolos walls (which may also be referred to as temenos walls) were sometimes composed of stone posts and slabs supported by poros sills.
Famous examples included:
> The peribolos wall and gate in the Sanctuary of Zeus (Altis), north of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Greece;
> The peribolos enclosing the Altar of the Twelve Gods near the north end of the Athens Agora; and
> The Terrace created by retaining and peribolos walls around the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia (Marmaria), southeast of the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, Greece
In the context of classical Greek architecture, orthostates are squared stone blocks much greater in height than depth that are usually built into the lower portion of a wall. They are so called because they seem to "stand upright" rather than to lie on their sides. It is typical in Greek architecture for pairs of orthostates to form the thickness of a wall, one serving as the inner and the other serving as the outer face of the wall. Above a course of orthostates, it is common to lay a course of stones spanning the width of the wall and joining its two faces (a binder course).
The term has been generalized for use in the description of the architecture of many cultures. In Assyrian practice, orthostates are often intricately carved. The term may be used more generally of other upright-standing stones, including megalithic menhirs.
An opisthodomos was the room present at the rear of some Greek temples. It was located behind the naos. By balancing the pronaos at the front of the temple the addition of an opisthodomos could create a symmetrical design.
Opisthodomos are present in the layout of:
Metroon (metrôon) was the name given to a building dedicated to the mother goddess, Cybele, Rhea, or Demeter, in Ancient Greece.
The Metroon in the Ancient Agora of Athens was originally used as the meeting chamber of the boule or city council. At the end of the 5th century BCE, when a new Bouleuterion was built, the building was dedicated to the mother goddess. The Metroon also housed the official archives of the city.[1]
Part of the complex of Olympia, and sited immediately below the terrace which houses the Treasuries, is the late 4th/early 3rd century Metroon.[2]
 Lycosura, Lykosoura, Lycosoura (Λυκόσουρα) | |
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| Location | |
  | |
| Coordinates |  37°23′23″N, 22°1′51.67″E |
| Country | Greece |
| Region | Arkadia |
| Elevation | 568 m |
| Controlling City | Megalopolis |
| Peak Period | Hellenistic to Roman |
Lycosura (Greek, Ancient: Λυκόσουρα, Modern: Palaeokastro or Siderokastro) was a city of Arcadia reputed to be the most ancient city in Greece and, indeed, the world. Its current significance is chiefly associated with the sanctuary of the goddess Despoina, which contained a colossal sculptural group perhaps made by Damophon of Messene; this group comprises acrolithic-technique statues of Despoina and Demeter seated on a throne, with statues of Artemis and the Titan Anytus standing on either side of them - all in Pentelic marble. The dates of both the temple and the sculptural group have occasioned some dispute. Remains of a stoa, altars and other structures have also been found. The Sanctuary of Despoina at Lycosoura is located 9 km WSW of Megalopolis, 6.9 km SSE of Mt. Lycaion, and 160 km SW of Athens. There is a small museum at the archaeological site housing small finds as well as part of the cult group, while the remains of the cult statues of Despoina and Demeter are displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.
The chthonic goddess worshiped by the Arcadians under the title Despoina (Δέσποινα: the Mistress), later conflated with Kore, was originally considered to be the daughter of Poseidon Hippios and Demeter, rather than of Zeus and Demeter as was Kore.[1] Her real name could not be revealed to anyone except those initiated to her mysteries at Lycosura; this name is consequently unknown.
In the 2nd century CE, the Greek periegetic writer Pausanias, relying on personal observations, available texts, and consultation with local persons, wrote the only extant account of the city and its sanctuary. He relates that Lycosura was founded by Lycaon the son of Pelasgus,[2] and that it was the oldest city in the world.[3] He notes that Cleitor the grandson of Arcas (whence the toponym Arcadia) dwelled in Lycosura.[4]
In 368/7 BCE, when many cities in the region were unified into the city of Megalopolis through persuasion or force, the citizens of Lycosura, Trapezus, Lycaea, and Tricoloni refused to relocate.[5] The citizens of Trapezus were massacred or driven into exile by the Arcadians, but the citizens of Lycosura were spared due to reverence for the Sanctuary of Despoina, where they had sought asylum.[6] Many of the cities of the region were thus abandoned in favor of Megalopolis and their sanctuaries fell out of use.[7] Pausanias states that the Sanctuary of Despoina was 40 stades (7.4 km) from Megalopolis, which exercised political control over the sanctuary.[8] In the 2nd century CE a statue of the emperor Hadrian was dedicated in the temple. Coins from Megalopolis of the Severan period in the early 3rd century CE appear to depict the cult statue group. [7] Despite its significance to the Arcadians and occasional notice from the wider Mediterranean world, the cult of Despoina appears to have remained tied to this one sanctuary at Lycosura.[9]
The site of Lycosura occupies a hill of 632 m in the wooded, mountainous region south of the river Plataniston. The Sanctuary of Despoina is sited in a declivity on the north-eastern face of the hill occupied by the city. The temple and considerable remains of the cult statuary group were discovered in 1889 CE by the Greek Archaeological Society, well before the advent of stratographic excavation techniques. Dating of the finds and structures thus remains problematic, although later excavations and studies have attempted to clarify the situation. While the site of the city remains largely unexcavated, the sanctuary of Despoina has been thoroughly uncovered and consists of a temple, a stoa, an area of theater-like seats, three altars, and an enigmatic structure conventionally called the Megaron. Pausanias also describes a temple of Artemis Hegemone (Artemis the Leader) at the entrance to the sanctuary on its eastern side;[10] this structure and a number of others mentioned by the author have not to date been identified archaeologically. Traces of the temenos wall (boundary of the sacred area) have been detected on the north and the east sides of the sanctuary; the southern and western limits of the sacred area are thus unknown.
The Temple of Despoina is prostyle-hexastyle in plan and in the Doric order - i.e. it had six Doric columns across the front façade only. In plan, the stylobate (platform) of the temple measures 11.15 by 21.35 m and is divided between a pronaos (front portico) and a cella.[9] The lower portion of the walls of the temple's cella are built of limestone, consisting of a course of orthostates capped by two string courses; the walls are then completed to the level of the roof in fired clay brick, which would then have been plastered. The six columns of the façade are in marble, as is the entablature. A curious feature of this temple is the doorway in the south wall facing the theater-like area. Although uncommon, side doorways are known from other temples in Arkadia: i.e. Athena Alea at Tegea, and Apollo Epikourios at Bassai.
Rather than extending as steps along the four sides of the temple, the stepped crepidoma spans only the front of the temple and has returns on the sides as far as the antae. The architecture also deviates from the standard Doric schema in that its Doric frieze is 1.5x the height of the architrave.[11] At the rear of the cella is a massive, c. 1m high stone podium designed to hold the cult statuary group, in front of which is a mosaic decorating the floor. General consensus holds that the first construction of this temple dates to the 4th century BCE. There were several repairs in the Roman period.
To the south of the temple, inset into the slope of the hill, is a theater-like area with ten rows of stone seats ranging from 21 to 29 m in length. These rows of seats are uncurved and parallel with the south wall of the temple.
To the NE of the temple, there was a Stoa also in the Doric order with a single story and an internal colonnade, measuring 14 by 64 m. Foundations for a room of uncertain function measuring 5.5 by 6 m are connected to the west end of the stoa. Pausanias reports that the stoa contained a panel painted with matters pertaining to the mysteries and four bas-relief sculptures in white marble depicting:[12]
Unfortunately, none of these reliefs has been recovered in the excavations. Similar use of a stoa to display artwork is know for the Stoa Poikile (Painted Stoa) of ancient Athens, where scenes were painted directly onto the rear wall of the structure. Stoas, as well as treasuries, were frequently used at sanctuaries to store votive gifts to the deities: e.g. the stoa and treasury of the Athenians at Delphi and the multiple treasuries at Olympia.
Three small, stone altars were found in the area c. 15m to the east of the temple dedicated to Despoina, Demeter, and the Great Mother respectively.[13] Many votive gifts and offerings were also found in the excavation of the sanctuary.
The structure termed the Megaron (Great Hall) after Pausanias is poorly preserved but secure in its essential plan, measuring 9.5m in width by 12m in depth. It the view of William Dinsmoor, this structure can be reconstructed as a monumental altar with stairways flanking both sides and having a small stoa at its top - comparable to the Great Altar of Zeus at Pergamon. Of great interest are the over one hundred and forty terra cotta figurines having the heads of sheep or cows that were found in the area of the Megaron. The great majority of these are female and closely resemble the decorative figures carved into the veil of the colossal head of Despoina.[14]
Beyond the Megaron, Pausanias also notes the presence of a grove sacred to Despoina surrounded by stones with altars of Poseidon Hippios and other gods beyond that, with one altar stating that it is sacred to all the gods. From there it was possible to access a shrine of Pan via a flight of stairs.[15] Associated with this shrine were an altar of Ares, two statues of Aphrodite (one marble one wooden - a xoanon - and older), wooden images (xoana) of Apollo and Athena, and a sanctuary of Athena. These features have not been securely located.
Although the sanctuary of Despoina has been excavated to a large extent, the urban area of Lycosura itself and its periphery have received much less attention. Outside of the sanctuary and sixty meters SW of the temple, on the opposite side of the ridge running SE to NW up to the hill of the acropolis, a number of structures of Hellenistic and Roman date have been uncovered that may have hydraulic functions, perhaps a nymphaeum (fountain-house) and a complex of Roman thermae (baths).[9] Some remains of the city wall have also been traced.
Although in many fragments and not completely preserved, the colossal cult group attributed to Damophon by Pausanias has been extensively studied and described. [7] No comprehensive study of all the remains has yet been caried out, however. The relatively small cella of the temple of Despoina was dominated by a cultic group of statues comprising four significantly over life-size acrolithic-technique figures as well as a highly ornate throne for the central figures of Despoina and Demeter - all in Pentelic marble. [16] This arrangement was somewhat unusual in that the typical situation was for there to be a single cult statue at the rear of the cella that was the primary object of veneration. [17] The central figures of Despoina and Demeter were on a colossal scale, significantly greater than that of Artemis and the Titan Anytus. The bust of Despoina is not preserved. Holes are preserved on the bust of Artemis for the attachment of earrings and other metal ornaments, and for a diadem (or rays) on the bust of Demeter. The eyes of Artemis and Anytus were inset, rather than being carved from the marble as they were in the bust of Demeter. The throne of Despoina and Demeter was decorated with tritonesses - an appropriate theme given the identification of Poseidon as the father of Despoina. This nautical reference is underscored by the presence of marine themes on the veil of Despoina as well. One of these tritonesses was replaced in the Roman period, indicating damage to the group, perhaps due to an earthquake.
While the entire group is of significant stylistic interest, the veil of Despoina is particularly so, due to the complexity of its decorative program. In addition to the lines of dancing, animal-headed female figures mentioned above, there are several other registers of sculpted ornamentation on the two levels of the veil. The upper level of the veil of Despoina has the following modes of decoration (from top to bottom):
The lower (and larger) layer has (from top to bottom):
It has been suggested that this veil is representative of the types of tapestry or embroidered woven materials able to be created by contemporary artists. [18] The high level of detail is cited as a hallmark of Damophon's technique. The frieze of marine deities and the running-wave meander pick of the reference to Poseidon in the throne. The band of eagles and winged thunderbolts is likely a reference to Zeus.
| Elements of the Cult Sculptural Group in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens |
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| From L-R: Artemis, Demeter, Veil of Despoina, Anytus, Tritoness from the throne. |
The images of the goddesses themselves and the throne on which they sit, and the footstool under their feet are of one stone. ... The images are about the same size as that of the Mother among the Athenians. These are works of Damophon. Demeter bears a torch in her right hand, and she has placed her other hand on Despoina. On her knees, Despoina has a scepter and what is called the Cista (box), which is held in her right hand. On either side of the throne, Artemis stands beside Demeter clothed in the hide of a deer, and having a quiver on her shoulders, and one hand there is a torch and in the other two snakes. A dog lies beside Artemis, the sort that is appropriate for hunting. Beside the image of Despoina stands Anytus, portrayed as a representation of a man in armor. -Pausanias 8.37.3-5
In addition to the find of the Acrolithic statues commonly attributed to Damophon, this temple is important for the study of ancient Greek religious practice due to the unusual feature of its side doorway coupled with a theater-like area. Several authors have postulated that the side doorway and theater-like area were created to allow a ritual for the mystery cult of Despoina to take place, perhaps an epiphany of the goddess.
According to Pausanias, the Megaron (Μέγαρον) was the location for major sacrifices to Despoina by the Arcadians and the location where they enacted the mysteries of the goddess.[19] The mode of sacrifice at the Megaron was unusual in that it involved hacking a limb from the sacrificial animal rather than cutting its throat. The similarity of the figurines found in the vicinity of the Megaron and the dancing figures carved on the veil of Despoina may reveal something concerning the rituals of the cult.[14] The supposition that the site was a locus of cult activity from considerable antiquity is supported by the presence of multiple xoanon-type cult statues, by the unusual mode of sacrifice, and by the special veneration shown to the sanctuary by the Arcadians in 368/7 BCE as discussed above. Like Eleusis and Samothrace, Lycosura is an important site for the study of ancient mystery religions and religion more broadly, although it remained a regional rather than a panhellenic or pan-Mediterranean cult.
Pausanias relates that the sculptural group of Despoina et al. was created by the eminent Hellenistic artist Damophon of Messene. [20] While Damophon has been placed at dates varying from the 4th century BCE to the age of Hadrian in the 2nd century CE, it is now generally accepted that he was active in the 2nd century BCE. Pausanias also states that the statues of Despoina and Demeter were worked from a single piece of marble without any use of iron clamps or mortar. [21] As these statues are acrolithic in construction, this statement is manifestly incorrect, rendering his attribution of the group to Damophon equally suspect. At the time of Pausanias' visit, the sculptures would have been three hundred or more years old; no one with certain knowledge of their origins was alive. As much of what has been written concerning the style of Damophon relies on these sculptures, their attribution of no little importance.
 View NE from the theater-like seating area across the pronaos of the temple of Despoina with the Stoa in the distance |  View east into the cella of the temple of Despoina - similar to 3d render above. |  A lion-head water spout from the roof of the temple of Despoina. | |
 An inscription in the pronaos of the temple of Despoina. |  View SE at the remains of the altars south of the Stoa. |
The Long Walls (Greek: Μακρά Τείχη), in Ancient Greece, were walls built from a city to its port, providing a secure connection to the sea even during times of siege. Although long walls were built at several locations in Greece—Corinth and Megara being two of the best known examples[1]—the phrase "long walls" generally refers to the walls connecting Athens to its ports at Piraeus and Phalerum. Those walls were constructed in the mid 5th century BC, destroyed by the Spartans in 404 BC after Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War, and rebuilt again with Persian support during the Corinthian War. They were a key element of Athenian strategy, since they provided the city with a constant link to the sea and prevented it from being besieged by land alone.
The original walls of Athens had been destroyed by the Persians during the occupations of Attica in 480 and 479 BC, part of the Greco-Persian Wars. After the Battle of Plataea, the Persian forces that had invaded Greece in 480 BC were safely removed, and the Athenians were free to reoccupy their land and begin rebuilding their city. Early in the process of rebuilding, construction was started on new walls around the city proper. This project drew opposition from the Spartans and their Peloponnesian allies, who had been alarmed by the recent increase in the power of Athens. Spartan envoys urged the Athenians not to go through with the construction, arguing that a walled Athens would be a useful base for an invading army, and that the defenses of the isthmus of Corinth would provide a sufficient shield against invaders, however, despite these concerns the envoys did not strongly protest and did in fact give advice to the builders. The Athenians disregarded the arguments, fully aware that leaving their city unwalled would place them utterly at the mercy of the Peloponnesians;[2] Thucydides, in his account of these events, describes a series of complex machinations by Themistocles by which he distracted and delayed the Spartans until the walls had been built up to such a height as to be defensible [3]
In the late 450s BC, fighting began between Athens and various Peloponnesian allies of Sparta, particularly Corinth and Aegina. In the midst of this fighting, Athens began construction of two more walls, one running from the city to the old port at Phalerum, the other to the newer port at Piraeus. In 457 BC, a Spartan army defeated an Athenian army at Tanagra while attempting to prevent the construction, but work on the walls continued, and they were completed soon after the battle.[4] These new walls, the Long Walls, ensured that Athens would never be cut off from supplies as long as she controlled the sea.
The building of the Long Walls reflected a larger strategy that Athens had come to follow in the early 5th century. Unlike most Greek city states, which specialized in fielding hoplite armies, Athens, since the time of the building of her first fleet during a war with Aegina in the 480s BC, had focused on the navy as the center of its military. With the founding of the Delian League in 477 BC, Athens became committed to the long term prosecution of a naval war against the Persians. Over the following decades, the Athenian navy became the mainstay of an increasingly imperial league, and Athenian control of the sea allowed the city to be supplied with grain from the Hellespont and Black Sea regions. The naval policy was not seriously questioned by either democrats or oligarchs during the years between 480 and 462 BC, but later, after Thucydides son of Melesias had made opposition to an imperialist policy a rallying cry of the oligarchic faction, the writer known as the Old Oligarch would identify the navy and democracy as inextricably linked, an inference echoed by modern scholars.[5] The long walls were a critical factor in allowing the Athenian fleet to become the city's paramount strength.
With the building of the Long Walls, Athens essentially became an island within the mainland, in that no strictly land based force could hope to capture it.[6] (In ancient Greek warfare, it was all but impossible to take a walled city by any means other than starvation and surrender.) Thus, Athens could rely on her powerful fleet to keep her safe in any conflict with other cities on the Greek mainland. The walls were completed in the aftermath of the Athenian defeat at Tanagra, in which a Spartan army defeated the Athenians in the field but was unable to take the city because of the presence of the city walls; seeking to secure their city even against siege, the Athenians completed the long walls; and, hoping to prevent all invasions of Attica, they also seized Boeotia, which, as they already controlled Megara, put all approaches to Attica in friendly hands.[7] For most of the First Peloponnesian War, Athens was indeed unassailable by land, but the loss of Megara and Boeotia at the end of that war forced the Athenians to turn back to the long walls as their source of defense.
In Athens' great conflict with Sparta, the Peloponnesian War of 432 BC to 404 BC, the walls came to be of paramount importance. Pericles, the leader of Athens from the start of the war until his death in 429 BC of the plague that swept Athens, based his strategy for the conflict around them. Knowing that the Spartans would attempt to draw the Athenians into a land battle by ravaging their crops, as they had in the 440s, he commanded the Athenians to remain behind the walls and rely on their navy to win the war for them. As a result, the campaigns of the first few years of the war followed a consistent pattern: The Spartans would send a land army to ravage Attica, hoping to draw the Athenians out; the Athenians would remain behind their walls, and send a fleet to sack cities and burn crops while sailing around the Peloponnese. The Athenians were successful in avoiding a land defeat, but suffered heavy losses of crops to the Peloponnesian raids, and their treasury was weakened by the expenditures on the naval expeditions and on import of grain. Furthermore, a plague ravaged the city in 430 BC and 429 BC, with its effects being worsened by the fact that the entire population of the city was concentrated inside the walls.
The Athenians continued to use the walls for protection through the first phase of the war until the seizure of Spartan hostages during the Athenian victory at Pylos. After that battle, the Spartans were forced to cease their yearly invasions, since the Athenians threatened to kill the hostages if an invasion was launched.
In the second phase of the war, the walls again became central to the strategy of both sides. The Spartans occupied a fort at Decelea in Attica in 413 BC, and placed a force there that posed a year-round threat to Athens. In the face of this army, the Athenians could only supply the city by sea. The Long Walls, and the access to a port that they provided, were by now the only thing protecting Athens from defeat. Realizing that they could not defeat the Athenians on land alone, the Spartans turned their attention to constructing a navy, and throughout the final phase of the war devoted themselves to trying to defeat the Athenians at sea. Their eventual success, in the victory at Aegospotami, cut the Athenians off from their supply routes and forced them to surrender. One of the most important terms of this surrender was the destruction of the long walls, which were dismantled in 404 BC. Xeno tells us that the long walls were torn down with much jubilation and to the song of flute girls.
Following their defeat in 404, the Athenians quickly regained some of their power and autonomy, and by 403 BC had overthrown the government that the Spartans had imposed on them. By 395 BC, the Athenians were strong enough to enter into the Corinthian War as co-belligerents with Argos, Corinth, and Thebes. For the Athenians, the most significant event of this war was the rebuilding of the Long Walls. In 394 BC, a Persian fleet under the Athenian admiral Conon decisively defeated the Spartan fleet at Cnidus, and, following this victory, he brought his fleet to Athens, where it provided aid and protection as the Long Walls were rebuilt. Thus, by the end of the war, the Athenians had regained the immunity from land assault that the Spartans had taken from them at the end of the Peloponnesian War.
From the Corinthian War down to the final defeat of the city by Philip of Macedon, the Long Walls continued to play a central role in Athenian strategy. The Decree of Aristoteles in 377 BC reestablished an Athenian league containing many former members of the Delian League. By the mid 4th century, Athens was again the preeminent naval power of the Greek world, and had reestablished the supply routes that allowed it to withstand a land-based siege.
