SOURCE: "Pausanias in the Agora of Athens," Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, January, 1959, pp. 21-44.

In the following excerpt, Wycherley traces Pausanias's account of the Athenian agora and, with knowledge gained from modern excavations, attempts to resolve problems arising from his occasional lack of clarity.

Pausanias' route in the agora was worked out fully and satisfactorily by E. Vanderpool in Hesperia, Vol. 18, pp. 128ff. The probable identification of Pausanias' Enneakrounos as the south-eastern rather than the southwestern fountain house subsequently produced a modification which made for greater simplicity and clarity. I accept in all essentials the emended route-line as given in the plan published in the agora Guide and in Athenian Agora, Vol. III¹; I merely offer a few comments on Pausanias' methods and on certain particular problems.

As each new site described by Pausanias is excavated and its topography largely determined, users of his periegesis...