Between the Odeion of Herodes Atticus and the Theater of Dionysos is the Stoa of Eumenes, built by King Eumenes II of Pergamon (197-160 B.C.), who not only erected magnificent buildings in his own city (Great Altar of Pergamon) but also sought to do honor to Athens by the building of this stoa. His example was followed by his brother and successor Attalos II (160-139 B.C.), who built the Stoa of Attalos in the Agora, probably using the same architect.
The Stoa of Eumenes differed from the Stoa of Attalos, which it exceeded in length by 46m/150ft, in having no rooms behind the double-aisled hall. It was thus not designed for the purposes of business but was merely a spacious promenade for visitors to the temple and theater of Dionysos. It was two-storied, with Doric columns on the exterior, Ionic columns in the interior on the ground floor and capitals of Pergamene type on the upper floor.
Since the stoa was built against the slope of the hill, it was protected by a retaining wall supported by piers and round arches; the arcades, originally faced with marble, can still be seen.
In 1060, during the Byzantine period, the buildings on the southern slopes of the Acropolis were incorporated in the fortifications of the citadel, the Rizokastron. The defensive wall, coming from the Propylaia, took in the outer walls of the Odeion of Herodes Atticus, the arcades of the Stoa of Eumenes and the walls of the parodoi of the Theater of Dionysos.
In front of the east end of the Stoa of Eumenes are the foundations of the Monument of Nikias, erected in 320 B.C. to commemorate Nikias' victory as choregos. After its destruction by the Herulians in A.D. 267 material from this monument was built into the Beulé Gate of the Acropolis.
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