4. Find out why a long distance run is now called a "Marathon."




CHAPTER III


HOW THE GREEKS LIVED

THE GREEK CITIES. The Greeks lived in cities so much of the time that
we do not often think of them as ever living in the country. The
reason for this was that their government and everything else
important was carried on in the city. The cities were usually
surrounded by high, thick stone walls, which made them safe from
sudden attack. Within or beside the city there was often a lofty hill,
which we should call a fort or citadel, but which they called the
upper city or acropolis. There the people lived at first when they
were few in number, and thither they fled if the walls of their city
were broken down by enemies.

In Athens such a hill rose two hundred feet above the plain. Its top
was a thousand feet long, and all the sides except one were steep
cliffs. On it the Athenians built their most beautiful temples.

PRIVATE HOUSES. Unlike people nowadays the Greeks did not spend much
money on their dwelling-houses. To us these houses would seem small,
badly ventilated, and very uncomfortable. But what their houses lacked
was more than made up by the beauty and splendor of the public