Probably the most obvious place to look for Rome’s legacy in Athens is at the “Roman Agora,” and we were excited to see it again. You enter the site through a colossal gate.

It’s a nice gate, and there are nice columns and remains of nice capitals and such. Inside, there’s a section with Roman-style public toilets, an invention of my favorite Roman Emperor, Vespasian. But that’s not the really exciting part.

 

 

 

 

It was the gorgeous, well-preserved octagonal tower that we came to see (again, actually). It’s called the Tower of the Winds, and it’s magnificent and fascinating. It once had a wind vane on it, and it contained a water clock and sundials. It may even have had a mechanism within it to chart the night sky.

You can tell it’s the Tower of the Winds because the frieze at the top has beautiful reliefs depicting each wind by their respective directions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day, sated with seeing these Roman sites, and toasted by the summer heat, we retreated to our hotel, with its wonderful view of the Acropolis and, fortunately, refreshing little pool. The next day, we were headed home… to start planning our next trip to Rome.

*Thank you to Serkan’s travel blog Sequ’nun Seyahatnamesi (Sequ’s Travelogue) for identifying this as an olive press and discussing the inscription. I spent several frustrating hours, but this was the only website I found that discussed the press!