Library of Pantainos (Athens, Greece)
Dublin Core
Title
Library of Pantainos (Athens, Greece)
Subject
Library of Pantainos (Athens, Greece)--Pictorial works.
Libraries--Greece--Athens--Pictorial works.
Excavations (Archaeology)--Greece--Athens--Pictorial works.
Libraries--Greece--Athens--Pictorial works.
Excavations (Archaeology)--Greece--Athens--Pictorial works.
Description
Research has identified a Pantainos of Gargettos as having served as eponymous archon after 102, which was around the time the library was built. Since “Pantainos” is an uncommon name, it has been assumed that this archon was the same person who built the library. Therefore, he was either an Athenian citizen or became a citizen. He and his family probably also had Roman citizenship, and they were wealthy. Only wealthy men could serve in the eponymous archon position. Also, Titus Flavius Pantainos was a philosopher like his father, Flavius Menandros.
Information about the library comes from the inscription on the door lintel. The building, the porticos and the books were given to the city of Athens in the name of the emperor Trajan and Athena; the gift was from Pantainos, his son, Flavius Menandros, and his daughter, Flavia Secundille.
The Library of Pantainos is the only ancient library whose rules have survived antiquity. Found in situ, the translated inscription reads:
No book shall be taken out,
since we have sworn thus.
[The library will be] open from the first
hour until the sixth.
Nothing else is known about the library; it is not named in any surviving text, and Pausanias does not mention it in his work on Athens. The library was destroyed in 267 during the Heruli sack of Athens.
Information about the library comes from the inscription on the door lintel. The building, the porticos and the books were given to the city of Athens in the name of the emperor Trajan and Athena; the gift was from Pantainos, his son, Flavius Menandros, and his daughter, Flavia Secundille.
The Library of Pantainos is the only ancient library whose rules have survived antiquity. Found in situ, the translated inscription reads:
No book shall be taken out,
since we have sworn thus.
[The library will be] open from the first
hour until the sixth.
Nothing else is known about the library; it is not named in any surviving text, and Pausanias does not mention it in his work on Athens. The library was destroyed in 267 during the Heruli sack of Athens.
Creator
Michael W. Handis
Date
December 12, 2013
Rights
Copyright, Michael W. Handis, all rights reserved
Format
jpeg
Language
eng
Collection Items
Antefixes from ancient Greek buildings and an antefix and lion spouts on the reconstructed Stoa of Attalos, Athenian agora.
Four photographs.
The first three photographs are examples of antefixes from Greek buildings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These antefixes joined the tiles together as well as provided decoration.
The fourth photograph is a detail of the…
The first three photographs are examples of antefixes from Greek buildings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These antefixes joined the tiles together as well as provided decoration.
The fourth photograph is a detail of the…
Close-up of the Herulian Wall, Athenian agora.
In 267 AD the Heruli, a Germanic tribe from beyond the Danube, broke through Rome's defenses and made their way down into Greece, where they sacked the city, completely destroying the Library of Pantainos and other buildings. As a result, the…
The Library of Pantainos site looking towards the ancient agora.
This is how the site of the Library of Pantainos looks today from Pikilis Street.
Between the trees can be seen part of the Herulian Wall, created from the spoila of the ruined buildings after the Heruli broke through the empire's defenses and…
Between the trees can be seen part of the Herulian Wall, created from the spoila of the ruined buildings after the Heruli broke through the empire's defenses and…
North stoa of the Library of Pantainos along the road between the Roman and Greek agoras.
Four photographs taken from Pikiis Street, the modern road, which covers the ancient road running between the Roman and Athenian agoras.
Photograph one is a view of the north stoa of the Library of Pantainos, which is marked on the right by the…
Photograph one is a view of the north stoa of the Library of Pantainos, which is marked on the right by the…
Ionic capital with traces of painted decoration, 5th century BC.
Two photographs. This is a capital from an Ionic column of the 5th century BC. The columns of the stoas of the Library of Pantainos were believed to have been Ionian columns.
The Ionic capital would have looked something like this, and was…
The Ionic capital would have looked something like this, and was…
Reconstruction of the Library of Pantainos from Ancient Athens 3D.
These three images illustrate how the reconstructed Library of Pantainos and the surrounding area might have looked like during Roman rule. These are taken from the Ancient Athens 3D web site.
The first image is a raised view of the library with…
The first image is a raised view of the library with…
The Peristyle floor inside the Library.
Two photographs.
This is the view from Pikilis Street, looking at an angle towards the agora. The north stoa rooms are in the foreground. The peristyle, which nearly all Greco-Roman libraries had, allowed visitors to use natural light to read the…
This is the view from Pikilis Street, looking at an angle towards the agora. The north stoa rooms are in the foreground. The peristyle, which nearly all Greco-Roman libraries had, allowed visitors to use natural light to read the…
Model of the Library of Pantainos.
Two photographs. One several models of the Athenian agora in the Stoa of Attalos. This model of the Library of Pantainos is taken from two directions.
In the first photograph, the view is from the southwest agora. Beside the library is the Stoa of…
In the first photograph, the view is from the southwest agora. Beside the library is the Stoa of…
On top of the wall over the north stoa of the Library of Pantainos and looking towards the Roman agora.
Looking towards the Roman agora, standing on top of the wall covering the north stoa of the Library of Pantainos. In the distance, the pediment over the entrance to the Roman agora can be seen in the middle of the photograph.
Roadway between the Library of Pantainos and the Stoa of Attalos.
The remains of the roadway between the Library of Pantainos (right) and the Stoa of Attalos (left). This roadway led to the Roman agora. Between the wall on the right and the wall holding up Pikilis Street in the upper left, a series of poles…