III.—The Temple of Aphrodite: its Architectural History and Remains

Abstract

The history of the temple, as far as it can be ascertained from literary records from the study of ancient coins and from any similar sources, is elsewhere fully discussed; it remains to examine the actual ruins of the fabric, in order to extract from them what internal evidence there may be as to the date of the various portions from the style of workmanship and the methods of construction therein employed.It will be easier to follow this examination in connection with the plan if we systematically pursue it from the south-west corner northwards. There are two great divisions into which the work may be separated—pre-Roman and Roman. In the first of these there are certainly three subdivisions, and the Roman work shows two main divisions denoting two great periods of restorative work; but the work of all these five distinct periods is so interwoven that it is not possible to separate and make them clear on a small scale plan. The two main divisions are indicated by differences in shading on the plan opposite, and the position of the more minute subdivisions will be referred to in order as they occur.