Temple of Ares
The Temple of Ares was a Doric hexastyle peripteral temple dedicated to Ares, located in the northern part of the Ancient Agora of Athens. Fragments from the temple found throughout the Agora enable a full, if tentative, reconstruction of the temple's appearance and sculptural programme. The temple had a large altar to the east and was surrounded by statues. A terrace to the north looked down on the Panathenaic Way. The northwest corner of the temple overlays one of the best-preserved Mycenaean tombs in the Agora, which was in use from ca. 1450-1000 BC.
The temple was originally located at Pallene, where it was dedicated to Athena Pallenis and - probably - Apollo. It is one of four temples by the "Theseum architect" and was probably built around 440-436 or 430-425 BC. It is the largest of several "itinerant temples," which were relocated to the Athenian Agora in the age of Augustus. The roof of the temple was spoliated in the second half of the second century AD to build the post-Herulian fortification wall. The sculptures were systematically defaced by Christians in the fifth century AD and the remains of the structure were demolished in the sixth century AD.
The foundations in the Agora were excavated in 1937, with some further work in 1951, after which they were reburied for their protection. Architectural fragments and sculpture have been found scattered throughout the Agora in secondary use. The original foundations remain in situ at Pallene, where they were excavated between 1994 and 1997.
Temple of Athena Pallenis
The temple originally stood in the sanctuary of Athena Pallenis, where foundations of a temple have been found that match the dimensions of the temple in the Agora. These foundations are located on the corner of Androutsou and Zalougou streets at modern Stavros in Gerakas, a northeastern suburb of Athens, the location of the ancient deme of Pallene. This site is at the base of Keraies hill, which is named by Euripides as the "sacred hill of Athena Pallenis." The foundations are oriented northwest-southeast, so that they align almost perfectly with Delos. They are 16.35 metres wide and 35.25 metres long. The southwest and northwest corners of the building are lost and much of the western side of the temple has remained unexcavated because it is under a residential dwelling. The ground is sloped and as a result, the foundations are over 2.53 metres deep at the west end, but only 1 metre deep in parts of the east end. The foundation consists of a series foundation walls which underlay the walls and columns of the superstructure. These foundation walls sit on top of the bedrock. They show that it was a hexastyle Doric temple whose columns, walls, and steps had the same dimensions as the Temple of Ares in the Agora. At the west end of the temple, two small marble fragments were found - one from a broken lion-headed waterspout and the other a narrow piece of marble from the stylobate. No other traces of the superstructure were found, strongly suggesting that the whole structure had been removed and rebuilt elsewhere.The Temple of Athena Pallenis at Pallene is mentioned in a range of literary and epigraphic sources. Athena was associated with Pallene in several Greek myths, including the slaying of Pallas during the Gigantomachy and the birth of Erichthonius. The mythical king Eurystheus is said to have been buried in front of the temple. The deme had also been the site of Theseus' victory over his cousins, the Pallantidae, which formed the first step in his legendary unification of Attica.
The sanctuary was a key religious site for the four neighbouring demes of Pallene, Acharnae, Gargettus, and Paeania, which together formed a league. The alignment of the temple with Delos and the sculptures of the pronaos and opisthodomos indicate that Apollo was worshipped here alongside Athena. Ares, on the other hand, was not associated with the temple in any way at this stage. Based on features of the superstructure found in the Agora, William Bell Dinsmoor dated the Classical temple to ca. 440-436 BC. Based on features of the sculpture, Andrew Stewart et al. place it ca. 430-425 BC and propose that it was erected in response to the Plague of Athens.
The classical temple of Athena Pallenis was preceded by an archaic temple, which existed at the time of Pisistratus' final seizure of power in 546 BC. An isolated poros triglyph dating to around 650 BC, which was found near the church of St. George in 1927, may derive from this temple. Seventh-century BC figurines that were deposited in the Classical temple's foundations probably also come from the Archaic sanctuary. This archaic templemay have been located to the northeast of the Classical foundations.
Transfer
The temple was transferred to the Agora and rededicated to Ares during the reign of Augustus. A terracotta bowl found in the foundation packing in the Agora confirms the Augustan date. The mason's marks carved on the blocks to facilitate reassembly of the temple use letter forms which are characteristic of the Augustan age. The temple is aligned with the Odeon of Agrippa, which was built between 15 BC and ca. 13 BC. A drain running north from the Odeon diverts around the temple's altar, showing that the transfer of the temple post-dated the construction of the Odeon around 13 BC.The temple was first connected to Ares at the time of this transfer. Stewart et al. propose that it continued to be sacred to Athena Pallenis as well, but there is no explicit evidence for this. An inscription on a statue base found near the Agora records the dedication of a statue by "the community of Acharnae... as a thank-offering to Ares and Augustus," when one Apollophanes was priest of Ares. This is probably connected in some way with the transfer of the temple to the Agora, since Acharnae was the location of Athens' main cult for Ares from the fourth century BC through the Hellenistic period. A statue base found in the Agora inscribed with a dedication to Gaius Caesar "the New Ares" may have been associated with the temple. Several authors have accordingly suggested that the transfer of the temple was associated with Gaius Caesar's visit to the city in 1 BC or his death in AD 4. Alternatively or additionally, it might be linked with the dedication of the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome by Augustus in 2 BC.
Masons' marks
As the temple at Pallene was demolished, a mason's mark was carved on each block, consisting of two or three letters, which would allow it to be placed in its proper location on the new site. Different systems were used for different parts of the building. The marks on the fragments of the crepidoma consist of three letters. The final letter indicated which side of the building the block came from: Α, Δ, Ε, Ο, Θ. The second letter indicated which step the block came from, counting down from Α, to Δ. The first letter listed where the block was located within the course, counting from the leftmost block from the point of view of someone standing outside the temple to the rightmost block. This system was also used for the wall blocks, the columns, the entablature, and the cornice, but the second letter was omitted when this was irrelevant or obvious.Temple in the Agora
The temple is now located in the northern portion of the Agora, east of the Temple of Apollo Patroos and north of the Odeon of Agrippa, with which it is aligned. An inscription from 99/100 AD mentions in passing that Titus Coponius Maximus was the priest of Ares Enyalius and Enyo, which is generally assumed to be the cult based in this temple.Foundations and surrounds
The foundations consist of a packing of broken stone lying on the bedrock, five layers of poros blocks, and a marble euthynteria. These foundations measure 35.032 metres long by 16.202 metres wide. The eastern part remains in situ, the western part was visible only as cuttings in the bedrock. The poros blocks seem to have been spoliated from the Hellenistic Arsenal which was located on the Agora hill and presumably destroyed after the Sack of Athens in 86 BC. In the Athenian Agora, this style of foundation is typical of the early first century AD and the ground level assumed by the foundations matches that of the early Roman period. At the east end of the temple, was a large staircase, 1.30 metres long by 4.7 metres wide, leading up to the front entrance.There was a terrace along the north side of the temple, which extended north 6.75 from the temple at the west end and 7.50 metres at the east end, supported by a 1.44 metre high retaining wall of recycled poros blocks. This area may have been used for statues and as a viewing platform for watching processions on the Panathenaic Way to the north. A late sixth century BC or early fifth-century BC poros base measuring 2.40x2.40 metres stood north of the eastern end of the temple. The Panathenaic Way bends to go around it, indicating its importance. It is matched by another base on the other side of the Way. Both may have borne herms.
On the south side of the temple there are three large monument bases: one at the western end, one in the middle and one at the east end. The middle one is fourth century BC or Hellenistic in date. The eastern base is made of conglomerate and poros and measures 3.08 x 4.10 metres. It post-dates the Augustan temple.
There is another terrace in front of the temple, extending 8.25 metres to the east. The central area, directly in front of the temple was paved with Hymettan marble slabs. About ten metres east of the temple, in this paved area, there was a large altar, measuring 5.62 metres from east to west and 8.30 metres from north to south. The eastern part is the podium where animals were sacrificed; the western part is a stair case, 2.12 metres long and 7.00 metres wide. It was probably the same height as the stylobate of the temple. A set of orthostates with stone shields carved in relief may have run around the edge of the altar. There was an inscription on a band above them, but it is too fragmentary to read. They were subsequently reused as underpinning for the pavement. A drain running north from the Odeon of Agrippa crosses this area and diverts around the altar A base was erected at the southwest corner of the altar. Another was located to the southeast. A marble block with an iron ring on the top, used as a hitching post for sacrifices was located to the north of the altar, but it was probably related to some earlier structure.