The work at Troy, however, had not gone on uninterruptedly between
1870 and Schliemann's death in 1890, and the discoveries which
occupied some of the intervening years were of even greater scientific
importance, though the glamour of romance attaching to the name of
Troy drew perhaps more attention to the work there. A dispute with
the Turkish Government over the disposal of 'Priam's Treasure' led
to obstacles being placed by the Porte in the way of the resumption
of work on the plain of Troy, and in July, 1876, he settled down
to excavate at Mycenae, the historic capital of the King of men,
Agamemnon, with a view to the proving of his second theory--the
burial of the Atreidae within the Acropolis of Mycenae. The ancient
citadel of Agamemnon stands in the plain of Argos, on an isolated
hill 912 feet in height. Before Schliemann turned his attention to
it, it was already well known to students of archaeology from the
remains of its walls, and particularly from the splendid Lion Gate
(Plate IV.) with its famous relief of the sacred pillar supported by
two colossal lions, and from the great beehive tombs of the lower
city--the so-called 'Treasuries.' But the chief thing which drew
the explorer to Mycenae was not these remains; it was the statement
of Pausanias already referred to. 'Some remains of the circuit
wall,' says Pausanias, 'are still to be seen, and the gate which
has lions over it.
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