Pallene

Pallene was a well respected deme of Athens. The former home of the Temple of Athena Pallenis, this scenic deme was also instrumental in the victory of the tyrant Peisistratos, who ruled over Athens on and off during the 561-527 BC period.

Pallene in Athenian history/legend

Pallene makes appearances in both Aristotle's Athenian Politeia and Herodotos. However brief these mentions are, they do not ignore the importance of the deme in turning Athenian history. Following the occupation of Marathon by Peisistratos and his forces made up of exiled citizens, news came to Athens that he would soon be making his way from Marathon to the city. Athenians marched out to stop him and his men at Marathon, but Peisistratos was more than ready to meet them half way. With the help of the Thebans, Lydamis, and the cavalry of Eretria, the tyrant met the Athenian army at the Temple of Athena Pallenis at Pallene, and had no problem overtaking the Athenians as they were not expecting battle until Marathon. After his forces had desimated the Athenians, and only stragglers remained who were fleeing from the battleground, Peisistratos is said to have sent out his sons, Hippias and Hipparchos, on horseback to pick off as many running soldiers as they could.

Temple and Cult of Athena Pallenis

The Temple of Athena Pallenis at Pallene (as shown to the map on the right in relation to its proximity to Mt. Hymettos) is a somewhat mysterious but nonetheless important site. Very little information is known about the architecture of the original building as it first stood, and yet it is mentioned in many ancient texts, even when the name of the deme, Pallene, is not. Features of the site Some scholars attribute this to the strength of the temple's cult, which primary sources dating back to the 7th century establish the movement of.

The cult was wealthy, and a series of laws for the inner and outer workings of the cult of Athena Pallenis were at one point put into place. To enforce and/or follow the laws, a league made up of chosen officials, officiates, and participants in cult activity was made up of individuals from a small selection of neighboring demes. Regionality and tribal similarity seemed to mark the inclusion of particular demes in the league, and some scholars argue that the leage of Athena Pallenis therefore may have been a contributing factor in the development of the Kleisthenic trittyes.

As the cult was already quite aged by the time the likes of Peisistratos came around, primary sources from antiquity provide limited information to exactly what went on with the cult, although they do provide examples of festivals--particularly surrounding the ripening of grain--, sacrifices, and feasts, all of which are universal features of the greater Ancient Greek culture.

View looking over the Agora from east of the Hephaisteion, with the Temple of Ares in the foreground, 1951.

View of the Temple of Ares site from the direction of the altar, with the Hephaisteion visible, 2017.

Temple of Ares

The Temple of Ares (remains shown to the left) is located now on the Athenian Agora. However, it has not always been there. The temple itself was moved from a different location, and brought to the Agora during Roman rule, and rededicated to Ares. Many artifacts have been found along with the remains of the temple that are inscribed with Ares' name, and even statues depicting his face have been found at the site. This practice of moving buildings to Athens was, at that time, not uncommon. For over a decade following the discovery of the Temple of Ares, it was unclear where the temple had been relocated from in Attica. In 1951, the study of a piece of pottery from the site allowed archaeologists to establish the move was made from Pallene during the Augustan period, circa 10 BC. This rededicated temple is what became of the previously praised Temple of Athena Pallenis.

A restored plan of the new Ares temple shows the building as being almost entirely symmetrical, and surrounded by a total of 34 columns. At 15.88m (52 ft) wide and 34.71m (113.8 ft) long including the stylobate, this temple may not take up a large portion of the Agora (as shown below, right, in the Agora site map), but it can be imagined that in its original form and in peak condition as the Temple of Athena Pallenis at Pallene it would have looked incredibly grand. Although the temple was altered along with its rededication, some of the sculptural features, such as a cult statue of Athena, were left in tact following Roman repurposing.

Sculptural Representations at The Temple

Pediments

  • East - Athena and Theseus

  • West - Athena (and Theseus?)

Metopes

  • East - Defeat of Pallantidai

  • West - Amazonomachy

Akroteria

  • East - Nereids flanking a goddess, possibly Hebe

  • West - Nikai flanking another figure

Friezes

  • East - Introduction of Apollo to Pallene

  • West - Sacrifice to Athena and Apollo

Cult Statues

  • 5th century - Athena (and Apollo Alexikakos ?)

  • Augustan Period - Aphrodite (2), Athena, Ares

Temple of Ares dimensions: 15.88 × 34.71m stylobate

Bibliography

Primary Sources

AthPol 5-10 [Solon]; 13-16 [Peisistratos]

Hdt. 1.30-32 [Solon]; 1.59-64 [Peisistratos]

Hdt. 1.63.2-64.1 [Peisistratos]

Secondary Sources

Camp, II, John McK., and Craig A. Mauzy. The Athenian Agora : Site Guide, Fifth Edition, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2005, p. 111. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.wm.edu/lib/CWM/detail.action?docID=4453313.

Dillon, Matthew PJ. “Hdt. 1.64.3: Ἀλϰμεωνίδεω or Ἀλϰμεωνιδέων: Did Alkmeonides Lead the Exiles from the Battle of Pallene (546 B. C.)?” Hermes, vol. 142, no. 2, 2014, pp. 129–142., JSTOR.

March, Duane A. “Kleisthenes and the League of Athena Pallenis.” Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte, vol. 57, no. 2, 2008, pp. 134–141. JSTOR

Schlaifer, Robert. “The Cult of Athena Pallenis: (Athenaeus VI 234-235).” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 54, 1943, pp. 35–67. JSTOR

Stewart, Andrew, et al. “Classical Sculpture from the Athenian Agora, Part 2: The Friezes Of the Temple of Ares (Temple of Athena Pallenis).” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 88, no. 4, 2019, pp. 625–705. JSTOR.

Stewart, Andrew “The Sculpture of the Temple of Ares/Athena Pallenis in the Athenian Agora:Research and Retrieval” Vimeo, uploaded by ASCSA, 19 July 2019, https://vimeo.com/349010112.

Image Credits (in order of appearance)

Peisistratos, copper engraving, 1832, Artist Unknown. Brittanica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peisistratus

Temple of Athena Pallenis in proximity to Mt. Hymettos, Andrew Stewart's lecture, 2019. https://vimeo.com/349010112.

View looking east from the Hephaisteion of the northern portion of the Agora, 1951. ASCSA. https://agora.ascsa.net/id/agora/monument/temple%20of%20ares

View from the Altar of Ares, 2017. Photographer unknown. http://wikimapia.org/7368047/Temple-of-Ares#/photo/6139472

Restored plan of the Doric Temple of Ares, John Camp, 2005.

Labeled Map of the Agora, from Exploring Athens: The Heart of Ancient Athens, http://www.athens-greece.us/exploring-athens/ancient-athens.asp