conisterium
The room for powdering the body before and after exercise in the Greek gymnasium.

ephebarchus
The public archon who undertook the supervision of adolescents. The institution of adolescence received legal substance in the Athenian state with the “On the adolescents” law in 334/333 BC. Although the office of ephebarchus existed in earlier years, it proved popular in the cities of Greece and Asia Minor during the Hellenistic period.

ephebeum
The main room of the Greek gymnasium. It could have served educational and social fuctions. It usually had the form of an exedra, with seats in it.

exedra, the
1. Large semicircular niche-like structure with stone seats ranged around the walls, often outdoors or with a hemidome over. An exedra may also be expressed by a curved break in a colonnade, perhaps with a semi-circular seat.2. The rectangular hall of the palaestra, open to the courtyard with columns at the front. The exedrae in gymnasium and palaestra could have served many functions. Usually a hall of such type was the Ephebeum.

palaestra
A colonnaded enclosure for athletic exercise. The palaestra functioned both independently and as a part of the Greek gymnasium. It was formed as an open court surrounded by colonnades with adjoining rooms.

stoa, portico, the
A long building with a roof supported by one or two colonnades parallel to its back wall.

Vitruvius
Roman architect, engineer and author of the treatise, De architectura, compiled partly from his own experience and partly from work by famous Greek architects. He lived in the 1st century BC.