- - - - - StartFragment - - - - -The Western Hills (Hill of the Muses or Philopappus Hill, the Pnyx and the Hill of the Nymphs) site covers 680,000 sq.m. to the west of the Acropolis. It was an important and densely inhabited section of the ancient city, with many important road axes. The Pnyx is dominated by the site where meetings of the Assembly of the Demos, the principal institution of Athenian Democracy, were held. Philopappus Hill is crowned by the monument of the same name as well as a modern Observatory. The Philopappus monument is a funerary stele erected in 114-116AD by the Athenians in honour of Caius Julius Antiochus ‘Philopappus’, the exiled prince of Commagene (a kingdom in south-east Asia Minor that had just been conquered by Roman Empire).This area, mythically connected with the Amazonomachy, was first inhabited during the 6th century BC. During the 5th century BC, it was one of the most densely populated parts of ancient Athens including two well-known ‘demes’ (districts), Melite and Koile. The ancient Koile road, running from Athens to the port of Piraeus, was a most important commercial and strategic thoroughfare. - - - - - EndFragment - - - - -