Greek Public Monuments of the Persian Wars

57. Trophy on the battlefield.

Plutarch, Aristides 20.3:

Plutarch’s notice of two trophies for the battle of Plataea apparently contradictss the information of Pausanias (9.2.6), who speaks of a single trophy. For a possible explanation see no. 32.

58. Persian spoils dedicated in the Parthenon as votive offerings.

Demosthenes 24.129 (In this passage Demosthenes charges Timocrates with stealing treasures from the Acropolis. The speech was probably delivered in 353 B. C.):

Dio Chrysostom 2.136:

Pausanias 1.27.1:

Harpocration, s. v. argyropos diphros [“silver footed throne”]:

A great quantity of the spoils of battle came into the hands of the Greeks after the battle of Plataea (Hdt. 9.80) and had doubtless come into the hands of the Athenians after Marathon, although the booty of the earlier battle was perhaps not so spectacular as that of the latter. The Persian spoils kept on the Acropolis were included by Pericles in his account of the wealth of the Athenian state at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war (Thus. 2.13.4).

Among the more noteworthy items of the spoils were the gold corselet of Masistius (Paus. 1.27.1), the sword of Mardonius (Paus., ibid.); Demosthenes 24.129; Dio Chrysostom 2.136), the silver footed throne of Xerxes (Harpocration; Demosthenes, ibid.). Moreover, the Odeum of Pericles (no. 59) was supposedly built from the masts and timbers of Persian ships and the entire structure was made ini imitation of the tent of Xerxes. According to Pausanias and Harpocration the spoils had been dedicated to Athena.

From known examples of Persian antiquites D. B. Thompson speculates profitably as to the precise nature of the spoils, especially the corselet of Masistius, the dagger of Mardonius, and the throne of Xerxes (1956: 281-291).

59. Odeum of Pericles, made in imitation of the tent of Xerxes with masts and timbers of Persian ships used as beams.

Plutarch, Pericles 13.5-6:

This squill-headed Zeus comes

with the Odeum on his head,

since the ostracism has passed.”

Pausanias 1.20.4:

Vitruvius 5. 9.1 (Immediately preceding this passage the various porticoes in existence have been enumerated):

The Odeum or Music Hall of Pericles was said to have been made in imitation of the tent of Xerxes, with the mastrs and timbers of Persian ships used in support of the roof. The evidence for this is literary, but Plutrch should be reliable on this point (Pericles 13.5-6), since he apparently follows a fifth century source, the comedian Cratinus.

The Odeum would have been an odd, exotic-looking structure, proding a good setting for the performance of drama. Moreover, the tent of Xerxes was left behind for Mardonius (Hdt. 9.82) and could easily have fallen into Greek hands after the battle of Plataea. As a memorial of the Greek victory it served as a reminder comparable to the Persian spoils kept on the Acropolis (Thuc. 2.13.4) and the cables of Xerxes’ bridge over the Hellespont displayed in the Athenian portico at Delphi (no. 43).

The building was square (cf. Kastriotis, in Karo 1930: 89 and Broneer 1944: 309) and had a conical roof with stone columns and wooden seats. Vitruvius (5.9.1) says that Themistocles had roofed the Odeum with the masts and timbers of Persian ships taken as booty in war. He is the only authority for this statement.

The mention of ships taken as spoils of war coud only refer tothe battle of Salamis. The Music Hall of Pericles, however, was apparently built in the last quarter of the fifth century (cf. Dinsmoor 1951: 317-318).

Excavations have shown that there were stone columns and wood used in the construction of the building, but there is no way of choosing between Themistocles or Pericles as the builder (Davison 1958: 34-35). Davison has recently drawn attention to passages in Hesychius (s. v. odeion) and Suidas (s. v. Pratinas) in which it is clear that musical contests took place in an Odeum upon a platform designated as ikria (cf. Pickard-Cambridge 1953: 10-15). Suidas reports taht the platform collapsed . davison claims that it is reasonably safe to conclude that the accident occurred during the first thirty years of the fifth century. It is likely that Themistocles did some building on the Odeum site after Salamis and that Pericles later rebuilt and repaired the original building.

60. Persian helmet dedicated at Olympia.

The excvations of the German Archaeological Institute at Olympia have recently brought to light a Persian helmet of bronze with an inscription indicating that it is a dedication to Zeus (cf. Kunze 1961 and Hood 1961-1962: 11; Schischilone 1963: 285; Rolley 1963: 231; and Knudsen 1964: 76). Clearly this is a dedication for one of the battles of the Persin wars but the particular battle is not specified. The Zeus of Olympia was a Panhellenic deity, however, and there are apparently no Athenian dedications to him for the battle of Marathon. The helmet may be a dedication for Plataea or, perhaps, a dedication after that battle for the victory over Persia in general, but this is not certain.

61. Shields hung on the architraves of the temple at Delphi dedicated from spoils.

Aeschines 3.116:

Pausanias 10.19.4:

Shields taken as spoils from one of the battles of the Persian Wars had adorned the architraves of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Early in the fourth century the temple was destroyed, either by fire or earthquake. Its rebuilding occupied the remainder of the century.

In the rebuilding, shields of the Persian type, which were gilded, were hung on the architraves as they had been previously. Near them the Athenians engraved an inscription saying that they had taken them from the Persians and the Thebans. It was doubtless a copy of an earlier inscription. Aeschines (3.116) said that the Amphiktyons attempted to fine the Athenians for hanging the shields on the temple. According to the orator this resolution was by the Amphiktyonic council in the archonship of Theophrastus (340/39 B. C.).

Pausanias (10.19.4) says that these gilded shields were dedicated from the spoils of Marathon but the inscription reported by Aeschines indicates that in the battle concerned the Athenian foes were the Persians and the Thebans. Thebes fought with Persia only at Plataea (Hdt. 9.67) and therefore the shields must be a dedication from the spoils of Plataea (Parke 1939: 71-78).

62. Epigram for Plataea.

Palatine Anthology 7.257:

Sons of the Athenians, having destroyed the army of Persia,

Kept hateful slavery away from the fatherland.”