Letters

The gymnasia.

The gymnasia of the Greeks were larger than the palaestra of the Romans. We learn from what Solon says in original: "Ἀναχάρσις, Ἢ περὶ γυμνασίων." Lucian, that these places of exercise originated with the Greeks.

The porticus, or first part of the gymnasia.

The first part of the gymnasia was the porticus, or gallery, which contained several distinct rooms where philosophers, rhetoricians, and mathematicians disputed and gave lectures. Pausanias and Suidas mention two at Athens: one called Akademia, where Plato taught, and another called Lyceum, where Aristotle gave his lectures. These rooms were located near the exercise grounds, as is evident from the plan of Hieronymus Mercurialis A physician who wrote De Arte Gymnastica. He was born at Forli, Italy, in 1530 and died in 1596. His works, apart from those on medicine, contain remarkable passages and curious observations. and from the proverb: They prefer to hear the discus more than philosophy.

The ephebeum, or second part.

The second part was the ephebeum, where they met to agree upon the manner of their exercise and to settle the prize for which they were competing.

The coriceum, or third part.

The third part was the coriceum, which seems to indicate the undressing room for those who were bathing or exercising, called by the Greeks the apodyterium. The commentators on Vitruvius are likely mistaken when they imagine this place to have been a part of the gymnasia designated for the specific ball exercise called corycus. Pliny notes the apodyterium in his Tuscan villa, and since Vitruvius mentions no other undressing rooms—which would be necessary in both public and private baths—it is not an unreasonable guess to suppose that the coriceum of Vitruvius was adapted for that purpose.

The elaeothesium, or fourth part.

The fourth part was the elaeothesium, called aleipterion by the Greeks and unctuarium by Pliny, where those...