which had been changed into a stone building. On its front sometimes a
house or a palace was painted, just as nowadays theaters are furnished
with painted scenery. In these open-air theaters thousands of people
gathered. Plays were generally given as a part of religious festivals,
and there were contests between writers to see which could produce the
best play. Sometimes the plays followed one another for three days
from morning until night. Many of them are so interesting that people
still read them, after twenty-five hundred years. The Romans studied
them, and so do modern men who are preparing themselves to write
plays.

[Illustration: THE MODERN STADIUM AT ATHENS]

THE STADIUM. A building which somewhat resembled the theater was the
stadium, where races were run. The difference was that it was oblong
instead of half round. The most famous stadium, at Olympia, was seven
hundred and two feet long, with raised seats on both sides and around
one end of the running track. The other end was open. About fifty
thousand persons used to gather there to watch the races.

PORTICOES. There were other buildings, some for meeting places, some
for gymnasiums, and still others called porticoes, where the judges
held court or the city officers carried on their business. The
porticoes were simply rows of columns, roofed over, with occasionally
a second story. As they stretched along the sides of a square or
market place they added much to the beauty of a city.

GREEK SCULPTURE. We know that the Greeks were skilful sculptors
because from the ruins of their cities have been dug wonderful marble
and bronze statues which are now preserved in the great museums of the