The Asclepieion of Athens was an ancient Greek temple in Athens built to honour of the gods Asclepius and Hygieia, located west of the Theatre of Dionysos and east of the Pelargikon wall on the southern escarpment of the Acropolis hill.Travlos p. 127 It later became a Christian church in the sixth century.
History The Asclepieion was one of several asklepieia in the ancient Greek world that served as rudimentary hospitals. It was founded in the year 419–18 BCE during the Peloponnesian War, perhaps as a direct result of the plague,Camp p.122 by Telemachos Acharneas.However, there remains the question of whether the cult of Asklepios was a private or public one. Bronwen L. Wickkiser in, Asklepios, Medicine, and the Politics of Healing in Fifth-Century Greece: Between Craft and Cult, 2003, argues that the state must have had a role in the importation of the cult An account of the foundation is inscribed in the Telemachos Monument,IG II2 4960 and 4691, NAM 2490+ a double-sided, marble pillar which is topped by reliefs depicting the arrival of the god in Athens from Epidaurus and his reception by Telemachos. The sanctuary complex consisted of the temple and the altar of the god as well as two galleries, the Doric stoa which served as a katagogion, a space where visitors seeking healing would spend the night in the hope of seeing the god in their dreams and being healed by him, and the Ionic Stoa that served as a dining hall and lodging for the priests of Asclepius and their visitors.Travlos p.127
The Doric stoa was built according to inscriptions in 300/299 BCEAleshire, 1989 p.29, IG II2 1685 and was a two-storey building with 17 Doric columns on its façade. This is framed by the sacred spring at its eastern end and a pit lined with masonry at its western end. The sacred spring is a small cave cut into the rock behind the stoa, which contains a natural spring. The circular well or pit, a deep hollow with polygonal masonry built into the cliff face, was accessed from the second floor of the Doric stoa and its date is disputed between the last quarter of the 5th century and 300/399 BCE. F RobertF. Robert, Thymélé, Bibliothèques de l'Ecole française d'Athènes et de Rome - Série Athènes, 147, 1939 proposed that it was a place devoted to the celebration of Heroes in the Asklepeion during the Heroa,IG II2 974-975, see Travlos p.127 which witnessed sacrifices to the chthonic gods and heroes, as testified epigraphically.
The Ionian stoa, west of the temple, is dated to the last quarter of the 5th century.Travlos p.127 At the west side of the sanctuary was a propylon which allowed visitors to access the sanctuary from the roadway to the south. According to epigraphic evidence, the propylon was renovated in Roman times.Diokles in 52/1 BCE, IG II2 1046
At the beginning of the 6th c. CE, when Christian worship succeeded the ancient, all the monuments of Asclepius were demolished and the material incorporated into the complex of a large, three-aisled Early Christian basilica.Travlos, p.127 In the Byzantine years (11th and 13th centuries) two smaller, single-aisled temples occupied the position of the basilica, while the latter of them functioned as the catholicon of a small monastery. Since 2002, partial restorations have been undertaken to the west end of the ground floor of the Doric Stoa façade, the room of the Sacred Cave on the first floor of the Doric Stoa and the temple of Asclepius.(eds) Constantine Boletis, Klimis Aslanidis, George Aslanis, Restoration works, 2002-2005, Committee for the Theatre and Shrine of Dionysos, Asklepieion on the Acropolis South Slope, 2006.
List of priests Between the mid-fourth century BC and the age of Augustus, the priests of Asclepius were chosen by lot each year, in a set cycle based on the Athenian tribes. This cycle makes it possible to date many of the priests, making them an important factor for Athenian chronology. In the Roman period, the priests were appointed for life instead.
The following list is based on Sara B. Aleshire, The Athenian Asklepieion (1989), pp. 370-373 and Asklepios at Athens (1991) 75-220, except where otherwise stated. Date Name Tribe number 420- Telemachus ca. 350-325 Ari- ca. 350-325Aristarchus of Cothocidae 6 ca. 350-325Arch- of Coele 8ca. 350-325Elpines ca. 350-325Thea- ca. 350-325Menestratus of AngeleAleshire distinguishes this priest from -stratus of Angele, but IG II3 4 684 identifies them. 3 ca. 350-325Nicodemus ca. 350-325-us ca. 350-300-stratus of Angele3ca. 350-300Amphitecton of Prospalta 5 or 7 ca. 350-300Theophanes of Ach- 6 or 8ca. 350-300Theophilus ca. 350-300Melanopus of Cholargus5 ca. 350-300 -us of Phalerum9 ca. 350-300 -sius ca. 350-300 ... of Sphettus 5 or 7 ca. 350-300 Timon ca. 350-300 Philocles of Xypete 7 or 2 Before 343/2 Theogenes Before 343/2 Lysitheus of Tricorynthus 9 Before 343/2 -mus Before 343/2 -us Before 343/2 Pataecus 341/0 Eunicides of Halae 2 340/39 Diocles of Myrrhinous3 339/8 Polyxenus 4 338/7 Teisias5 336/5 Telesias 7 Before 329/8Te- 332/1Philippus 1 331/0P- 2 330/29Demon of Pania 3 329/8P---s of Cettus4328/7Androcles of Cerameis 5 ca. 320Leucon of Phrearrhi 4 ca. 325-275Nicostratus of Aphidna9 or 11Late 4th centuryOlympichus of Cydathenaeum3 or 1 Late 4th centuryPhanostratus of Erchia 4 4th/3rd centuryArchippus 4th/3rd century -menes of Angele5Early 3rd centuryAeschronides 1 or 9 Early 3rd centuryEuthydemus of Oeum2 or 10 Early 3rd centuryPhilius of Phalerum11Early 3rd centuryNiconides of Phlya9284/3 Phyleus of Eleusis 10 280/79Onetor of Melite2277/6Philochares of Oa5276/5A- 275/4Philippus Before 274/3An- Before 274/3 Archestratus Before 274/3 Diopeithes Before 274/3Epicrates Before 274/3Eudidactus Before 274/3 Eumnestus Before 274/3Theo- Before 274/3Thrasyboulus Before 274/3Ctesicles of Hagnus2 or 5Before 274/3M- Before 274/3-machus Before 274/3Phaedrippus Before 274/3Phanomachus Before 274/3Philoctemon Before 274/3Charinus 266/5Demagenes4 Before 260/59Archicles of Laciadae 8 Before 260/59Lycomedes of Conthyle 7 Before 260/59Lysanias of Probalinthus7 Before 260/59Nicomachus Before 260/59Xenocritus of Aphidna11 Before 260/59-sides of Alopece 12 Before 260/59... of Sounium6 260/59 or earlierPe- 259/8 or earlierAmein-7258/7 or earlierTimocles of Epicephisia8257/6 or earlierLysicles of Sypalettus9256/5 or earlierProcles of Piraeus 10 255/4 or earlierLyceas of Rhamnus 11 254/3 or earlierPhileas of Eitea 12 254/3 or earlierCalliades of Aegilia12253/2 or earlierThexenus of Pergase 1252/1 or earlierTheodorus of Melite 2251/0 or earlier... Euonymum 3250/49 or earlierPhilippus of Ionidae 4 249/8 or earlierAutocles of Oa 5248/7 or earlierPhilocrates of Hecale 6247/6 or earlierPraxiteles of Eiresidae 7246/5 or earlierCtesonides 8245/4 or earlierBoescus of Phlya 9 240/39 or later... of Xypete 2215/4Eustratus of Oinoe7 or 12 3rd century BCSimylus of Coele 2 or 10 or 11ca. 200 BCCalchas of Hamaxanteia 10 or 11 190-170Ammonius of Pambotadae 1165/4Protagoras of Pergase 1 ca. 150Me- 138/7... of Phlya 7ca. 120-110Zenon of Melite 8 109/8Nicodorus of Cephisia 1 After 109/8Embius of Prospalta 7 2nd century BCGorgus Late 2nd century BC Leonides of Phlya 7c. 100 BC... of Cholleidae 4 75/4Menandrus of Cephisia 1 After 75/4 Ameipsias of Potamus 4 62/1Socrates of Cephisia 151/0Theodorus of Myrrhinoutta 2 ca. 26/5Diocles of Kephisia 7 ca. 50-10 BCTheodorus of Hestiaea 9 ca. 25 BC-9 ADTheophilus of Eleusis 9 9/8 BC-13/4 ADZenon of Rhamnus1st century BC... of Cephisia 1 Late 1st century BCAsopodorus of Phlya1st century BC or AD-on son of Lysi- 85/6-94/5 ADGaius Casius ... of Collytus1st century ADPericles of Paiania ca. 190-200 ... of Apollonieis ca.200 AD Publius Aelius Dionysodorus of Acharnaeca. 200 ADFlavius Onesicrates of Diomeia 235-260 ADQuintus Statius Glaucus of Cholleidae 3rd century ADNicostratus ca. 304 AD Marcus Junius Nicagoras ca. 400 AD Plutarch of Athens?
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