ATHENS - Library of Hadrian - 2008

D. Sourlas reports on excavations from 2008 onwards which have sought to clarify aspects of the topography of the Library of Hadrian and the Roman Agora within the site of modern Athens’ first hotel, the Aiolos, built in the 1830s at Adrianou 64 and Aiolou 3-5, on a substantial plot (458.5m²). Trial trenches in the southern basements failed to expose the northeast corner of the Roman Agora, probably located only a few metres further west; but a substantial part of the southeast corner of the Library was found in an excellent state of preservation. A large section (ca. 12m) of the south peribolos wall was revealed to four courses, as well as 3 courses of the east wall (6.5m long). A section of the Late Roman city wall was identified in contact with the east peribolos of Library, mostly its core with much spolia).

Many important honorific statue bases were discovered built into a gate of the eastern arm of the Late Roman walls. The inscriptions honour Athenians and foreigners, and all but one date to the 3rd century AD, the exception honouring the Emperor Nero as the new Apollo. Of particular interest is an base of 18 lines for Lucius Egnatius Victor Lollianus, a prominent official of the Roman Empire of the early 3rd century, consul suffectus, governor of Bythinia and Pontus, three times proconsul of Asia, and finally in 254 praefectus urbanus of Rome. The position of a gate here had been predicted, and it is connected with an ancient road leading to the Hadrianic Pantheon or Panellinion, parts of which had been revealed in excavations in 1968 at Adrianou 78.
Following the course of the Late Roman walls to the east, new works at Adrianou 80 and Diogenous 3 in 2007 revealed the east side of a fortification tower connected with the Justinianic circuit wall. The marble decoration of the gate was discovered, previously known from descriptions and plans of the area. The rectangular tower is preserved to a height of around 5m; its west side set upon the foundations of the Hadrianic building, visible in the adjacent plot on Adrianou 78.