The Pnyx, Democracy & "The Brick in the Wall"

Entrance is free, but the site is fenced and in only accessible from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and from 12 to 7 p.m. on Mondays (summer schedule). No facilities. Upper and lower egress.

The Pnyx
(Pnee-ka: 'brick' in ancient Greek) is the name of the place where the 6,000 or so eligible Athenian male citizens met to discuss and vote on ancient Athens' civic affairs.

This drawing above right has it approximately correct in relation to the Acropolis but may actually depict the Agora or the Areos Pagos instead - you get the general idea however.

Ancient Athens needed a place like the Pnyx because with an estimated population of maybe 30 to 40,000, classical Athens had its own voting peculiarities and was run akin to a corporation in the sense tha every male in Athens was not automatically eligible to vote! Most men, all women and all slaves were not allowed to vote!

Money Talked in Ancient Athens - some things never change!

Richer land owners voted first but these class-distinct restrictions were gradually eased over the years when even the landless peasants were allowed especially if they rowed the tri-emes city-state Athens so desperately need to enforce it empire or during the huge mistake, Peloponesian War, fight Sparta!

Early on the voting privilege was balanced by responsibility and attendance was mandatory not to say prudent too if you were a mover and shaker.

Unlike today, when the ancient Athenians discussed democracy back then, they played for keeps, and their elected officials were held accountable for their decisions. Maybe I was sick that day, but I never heard that aspect of democracy discussed in school or on the news either for that matter.

Being held accountable for your decisions could, in extreme cases, lead to exile or even execution depending on the offence. In fact, as a private citizen, one could be exiled even if not an elected official.

If you were a big enough problem and 6,000 people wanted to exile you, once a year they could (vote) ostracize you by writing your name on a broken piece of clay pot they called an ostraka, many of which have survived and are on display in various museums you can visit like Keramikos, the Greek Agora museum and the National Archeology museum too!

If there is an example of more than one type of democracy, and we hear about those all the time, then this, the Athenian one, is darn near the original version! And I vote for this obscure rule to be enforced today as a requirement to serve in public office.

These two particular gents, Kimon and Miltiadies, ostracized here in the example were generals or strategoi who latter returned to Athens in time of war to help in the agona or struggle. Strategy is a Greek word meaning a soldier with the rank of General a Strategos.

The Pnyx: a walk in the park

Nature is the thing that makes the Pnyx worth visiting. Its on a rocky knoll to the southwest of the Acropolis between the Hill of Nymphs and Philopapo Hill and its usually beautiful and deserted if you are lucky.

In fact its one of the least visited, yet more scenic sites of Athens; modern or ancient. After all, this Pnyx area is one of the few green areas of Athens, the least green capitol city in Europe. There are evergreen trees here all year long guaranteeing some green no matter the season.

There are two entrances and exits to the Pnyx, an upper and a lower. The upper is accessed via a stone paved path just near the small 15th century Church St. Demitrios Lombardairis which you will come to as you trod the stone paved paths in search of the Pnyx across from the Acropolis south slope. One could, as we did, enter via the upper entrance and exit via the lower which brings you out near the Thession Area and the Greek Agora on the other side of the Acropolis on Aiyinitou street.

'Skai O Tzitzitakas'! (Its wicked hot!)

Since its always shoulder to shoulder at the Acropolis, at the Pnyx, it may be serene and hypnotically hot with not a soul around! In that case you will need to to know the following Greek expression: 'Skai O Tzi-tzikas'!

In high summer, you'll be seduced by the incessant droning of the Cycadias beetles in the intense but dry heat. The Greeks have a saying about these harmless droning insects, they call then 'tzitzikas' - Skai O Tzi-tzikas which means "its so hot the tzitzikees have come out". About as profound and insightful as our rhetorical "hot enough for ya?" Its still a handy expression to know. Or at other times of year, like spring or fall, there will be no manifestations of O tzitzikas but the forested area which surrounds the Pnyx will likely bring a welcome, gentle, cool breeze wafting through the pines. There will be bird sign and calling back and forth too.

From here one gets an unimpeded view of the Acropolis and, on a clear day, of the coast of Phaliron and Piraeus to the south. The only better view is from Philopapo's Hill close by, only a short (10 min.) up hill trek.

Visiting the Pnyx is also a photo opportunity ~ click to see larger

The Pnyx, whose name drives from the Greek word for 'brick', was one of the more densely populated areas of ancient Athens. The remains of Classical streets and houses and a small, rock-cut sanctuary to Pan (right) can be seen at the northern foot of the hill, near the corner of Apostolou Pavlou (Apostle Paul) and Aiyinitou street (below left).

From the end of the 6th century BC, the area near the summit of the Pnyx served as the open-air meeting place of the Athenian Assembly (Ekklesia). It was here that famous statesmen and politicians, among them Themistokles, Perikles and Demosthenes, would address their fellow citizens and put forth their proposals.

Today little can be seen of the earliest meeting place of the 6th century BC. Archaeological investigations have shown that it consisted of an auditorium, with a speaker’s rostrum (bema) at the northern side. At the end of the 5th century BC this orientation was reversed. Remains of the retaining wall (below) and stepped entrance of the second meeting place are visible in a deep trench that was left open on the north side.

In the late 4th century BC, the Pnyx was remodeled once more, probably as part of an extensive rebuilding under the Athenian statesman and financial expert Lykourgos.

It was then that the auditorium reached its largest and most monumental form. It was provided with a rock-cut rostrum and a truly monumental retaining wall, built of huge trapezoidal blocks (the largest in Athens, visible when one follows the path up from the main entrance).

An information board at the western side shows the plans of the different building phases. Rock-cut niches in the wall behind the late 4th-century BC rostrum date from the Roman period, when there was a sanctuary for Zeus, here worshipped as a healing god with the epithet Hypsistos (‘the highest’)

In the Classical period the Assembly would meet approximately every ten day. In this early experiment of participatory democracy, the citizens who attended would receive financial compensation.

Despite this, only a relatively small proportion of the tens of thousands of Athenian citizens eligible to attend these meetings actually seems to have done so: even in its largest form the Pnyx could never have accommodated more than 13.000 people.

A ‘police-force’ of Scythian archers, armed with ropes dipped in red paint, would try to herd those citizens present in the city to the Pnyx for the meetings. The late-comers tainted with red paint lost their right to payment.

On the terrace above the meeting place rock-cuttings can be seen for the foundations of two large colonnaded porches or stoas, whose construction, for reasons unknown, was never finished. Other rock-cuttings probably indicate the place of an altar for Zeus Agoraios (‘of the market place’) and of a sundial or heliotropion (433 BC). To the south, just below the crag of the hill, are remains of the late 4th century BC city wall and towers (diateichisma).

The lower entrance (photo right) to the Pnyx is via pleasant for a stroll Aiyinitou street (a 10 minute walk from either the Acropolis or Theseion subway station). The upper entrance (above left) is from the southeast and can be reached via the path from the church of Agios Dimitrios Loumbardiaris across from the Acropolis main entrance street level.

Entrance is free, but the site is fenced and in only accessible from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and from 12 to 7 p.m. on Mondays (summer schedule). No facilities.

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