The Hill of the
Muses took its name from the poet Mousaios, who lived and was buried
there. Because of its strategic position, the rock was included
in the Themistoclean defence works and, in 4th century B.C., the
Athenians set up the fortification wall known as "Diateichisma",
which was never completed. In 294 B.C. Demetrios Poliorketes built
a small fort, known as the Macedonian Fortress,and installed a garrison
to control the city.
Gaius Julius Antiochus Philopappos was a prince of Commagene, a
kingdom in Upper Syria, who was overthrown by the Romans in 72 A.D.
Exiled from his native country, he settled in Athens and became
a benefactor of the city. Between A.D.114-116 he built his own funeral
monument, in a very privileged position facing the Akropolis, which
dominated the area and gave his name to the hill.
monument, built from Pentelic marble, is 12 metres height and consists
of a large apse-shaped wall on a pedestal of porous limestone. It
is adorned with sculptures of Philopappos and some of his ancestors,
along with inscriptions giving their titles and names.
Monument of Philoppapos, intact up to the 15th century, gradually
fell victim to vandalism and natural phenomena.
The monument was partly restored in 1904.