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Modern Description: So-called Demian Gate: one of the gates of the Themistoclean wall in the NW slopes of the hill of Nymphs. The term was coined by modern topographers from the Greek word dimios, which means executioner. The gate was near the Barathron, where the bodies of executed criminals were exposed. The actual gate has not been found but traces of the road leading to it are preserved. The one ancient mention, in the lexicon of Hesychius, muddies the waters further by saying the name came from the prostitutes who stood in front of it. Δημίασι πύλαις· κοιναῖς, ἐπεὶ προεστήκεσαν ἐν ταῖς πύλαις αἱ πόρναι. ὁ δὲ Ἀντίπατρος τὸ γυναικεῖον μόριον δημόσιον ἔφη. οἱ δὲ τὰς Κεραμεικὰς πύλας· πρὸς γὰρ αὐτάς φασιν ἑστάναι τὰς πόρνας. μήποτε οὖν ἀντὶ τοῦ Διομῇσι πύλαις Δημίασιν εἶπεν διὰ τὴν ἐγγύτητα τῶν ὀνομάτων
[Judith Binder: Barathron: place-name (from the generic term), cleft on the Hill of the Nymphs west slope into which criminals were thrown: Hdt. 7.133; Milchhöfer, A. 1891, 1-11 s.v. Barathron; Judeich, W. 1931, 126 note 3, 140 notes 2-3, 168 note 5, 390, 425 notes 2-5, Plan I B/C-5; according to Judeichʼs plan the barathron was approximately at the junction of Kymaion and Demophontos Sts.]
Wikidata ID: Q5888309
Trismegistos Geo: 364

Info: A.E.

(Aspa Efstathiou, ToposText volunteer)

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