The Library of Pantainos, a significant cultural and educational institution in Roman Athens, had perhaps the earliest known inscription in the world which laid out rules for the visitors. “No book is to be taken out. Open from the first hour until the sixth,” the marble inscription reads, suggesting that it functioned as a reference library rather than a lending institution.
The inscription is now preserved in the Epigraphic Museum of Athens. This museum, located near the National Archaeological Museum, houses one of the world’s largest collections of ancient Greek inscriptions.
The phrase “Open from the first hour until the sixth” refers to the Roman timekeeping system, which divided daylight into 12 equal hours. The first hour of the day started at sunrise (~6:00 AM, depending on the season). The sixth hour was midday (~12:00 PM).
The library was built in the late 1st or early 2nd century AD during the Roman period. It was donated to the city by Titus Flavius Pantainos, a philosopher and benefactor, along with his family. The library was part of a larger complex that included lecture halls and a courtyard, serving as a center for learning and intellectual life in Athens.
Situated near the Roman Agora in Athens, along the Panathenaic Way, which housed mostly scrolls was built during the reign of Emperor Trajan, and reflects the Roman patronage of Greek culture. The Romans admired Greek philosophy, literature, and science, and institutions like this helped maintain Athens’ status as an intellectual hub.
Second inscription at the Pantainos library of Athens
The library was established by Titus Flavius Pantainos, an Athenian philosopher and benefactor. His family likely played a role in funding and maintaining the library. An inscription found at the site reads:
To Athena Polias and to the Emperor Caesar Augustus Nerva Traianus Germanicus as well as to the city of Athens, the priest of the Muses of philosophers, T. Flavius Pantainos, son of the Flavius Menander the Successor, dedicated at his own expense the outer galleries, the peristyle, the library with the books and all the ornaments contained therein, with his children Flavius Menander and Flavia Secundilla.
The core of the building consisted of two spaces. One was a large open courtyard measuring 20 × 13.5 m, the floor of which was paved with small irregular marble tiles embedded in mortar. The other space was a large square room, open to the east, whose floor was paved with marble slabs. Later, a peristyle was added to the courtyard, the central part of which was also paved with marble slabs
It was one of several notable libraries in ancient Athens, alongside the Library of Hadrian, which was built slightly later and on a grander scale.
The library was likely destroyed by the Heruli, a Germanic tribe that invaded Athens in 267 AD, along with many other structures in the city.
Unlike the larger Library of Hadrian, which was later restored, the Pantainos Library was not rebuilt and gradually disappeared from historical records.
Related: Rome Conquered Greece, and Then Greece ‘Conquered’ Rome
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