It's a Graeco-Roman World

The city of Athens is filled with Roman ruins. We came across them under the floors of shops, restaurants and metro stations. When Caesar Augustus famously defeated the lovers Cleopatra (Greek Queen of Egypt) and Mark Antony (Roman General), and captured Alexandria, Roman occupation of the Greek world was established.

Throughout the city of Athens, the Romans have made their mark. Built in 161 CE, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on the southwest slope of the Acropolis was a music and festival venue. The three-story stone front wall once held up a wooden roof made of expensive cedar of Lebanon timber. Today the renovated structure is still used as a concert venue.

The theatre looks out across to the Philopappos monument, which crowns a hill close to the Acropolis. The ruins were once a mausoleum for a member of the Roman Senate and one of the most important benefactors of Athens. Further down the hill, the Roman Agora (central public space) boasts impressive buildings that are still standing, including the Gate of Athena Archegetis and the remarkably preserved Tower of the Winds, which is a clock, weather vane, compass and sundial all in one.

By the National Gardens, the Arch of Hadrian was built when the Emperor visited Athens in 131 CE. Nearby, Hadrian’s Library was the heart of an important ancient learning centre also built on the orders of Hadrian around the same time. During its golden age, the library used to house over 17,000 books, manuscripts, scrolls, documents and papyri.

These fallen monuments point to a period of interlocking civilisations in classical antiquity. The Graeco-Roman world saw both societies flourish and wield huge influence in an era idealised as “the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome”.