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Article

Abydos  

Stephen Mitchell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Near East

Was the best harbour on the Asiatic side of the *Hellespont. In the Iliad (2. 836) an ally of Troy and then a Thracian settlement, it was colonized c.700 bce by Milesians (see colonization, greek; miletus). From 514 it was under Persian control and served in 480 as the Asiatic bridgehead from which *Xerxes crossed into Europe (Hdt. 7. 34, 43 ff.). Thereafter it was successively part of the *Athenian empire until it revolted in 411 (Thuc. 8. 61–2), a Spartan ally until 394, and under Persian rule again until freed by *Alexander (3) the Great in 334. It put up heroic resistance when besieged by *Philip (3) V of Macedon in 200 (Polybius 16. 29–34). In Roman times and in late antiquity it was an important customs-station (OGI521). There are no significant archaeological remains at the site, but its coinage, including early electrum issues, is important.

Article

Acragas  

Arthur Geoffrey Woodhead and R. J. A. Wilson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
Was founded c.580 bce by the Geloans (see gela) in Sican territory in central southern Sicily. One of the most substantial Hellenic cities in size and affluence, it occupied a large bowl of land, rising to a lofty acropolis on the north and protected on the other by a ridge. Its early acquisition of power was owed to the tyrant *Phalaris. In 480*Theron was the ally of *Gelon in his victory at *Himera. After expelling Thrasydaeus, Theron's son, Acragas had a limited democratic government, in which *Empedocles, its most famous citizen, took part in his generation. Acragantine 6th- and 5th-cent. prosperity is attested by a remarkable series of temples, the remains of which are among the most impressive of any Greek city, and by its extensive, wealthy necropoleis. Sacked by the Carthaginians in 406, Acragas revived to some extent under *Timoleon and Phintias (286–280 bce), but suffered much in the Punic Wars.

Article

Amathus  

Hector Catling

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
Amathus, a major coastal city of *Cyprus, on a hill near mod. Ayios Tychonas, 10 km. (6 mi.) east of Limassol, surrounded by extensive and much excavated cemeteries, and immediately adjacent to its built harbour. Its foundation on a virgin site in the 11th cent. bce without nearby bronze age predecessors accords oddly with its alleged autochthonous identity. As late as the 4th cent. bce it used the Cypro-Minoan syllabary to write an unknown language (Eteo-Cyprian: see pre-alphabetic scripts (greece)). But it stood apart from the other cities in 498, refusing to join the *Ionian Revolt; Onesilus of *Salamis (2) therefore besieged it. A series of coins has been attributed to its 5th- and 4th-cent. kings, the last of whom, Androcles, fought with his ships for *Alexander (3) the Great at *Tyre. Recent excavation has located its famous *Aphrodite sanctuary.

Article

Amphipolis  

James Maxwell Ross Cormack and Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
Amphipolis, on the east bank of the Strymon, which surrounds the city on three sides (hence its name), 5 km. (3 mi.) from its seaport Eïon; it was originally the site of a Thracian town, Ennea Hodoi (‘nine ways’, Hdt. 7. 114; see thrace). After two unsuccessful attempts in 497 and 465 bce, it was colonized by the Athenians, with other Greeks, under Hagnon, son of Nicias, in 437–436 bce. It owed its importance partly to its strategic position on the coastal route between northern Greece and the Hellespont, and partly to its commercial wealth as the terminal of trade down the Strymon valley, a depot for the minerals of *Pangaeus and a centre for ship-timber (Thuc. 4. 108). In 424 bce Amphipolis surrendered to the Spartan *Brasidas. It remained independent until 357 bce, when it was captured by *Philip (1) II who gave it a favoured status in the Macedonian kingdom. *Alexander (3) the Great made it the chief mint in his domains.

Article

Antissa  

D. Graham J. Shipley

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture: Bronze Age
  3. Greek Material Culture

Antissa, small coastal *polis in NW *Lesbos; birthplace of the poet *Terpander. A bronze age site has been explored; the Classical town originated in the early geometric period. Three apsidal buildings (possibly temples), stretches of a probable city wall, and remains of a harbour mole have been identified. The Mytileneans strengthened the defences during their revolt of 428 bce (see mytilene). *Thrasybulus captured the town c.389; later it joined the *Second Athenian Confederacy. The Romans destroyed it in 166 bce because of its links with *Antiochus (4) IV, and its territory was given to *Methymna. In medieval times it moved inland.

Article

Bassae  

Richard Allan Tomlinson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Greek Myth and Religion
Bassae, in SW Arcadia, near Phigaleia, the site of one of the best-preserved Greek temples. This was dedicated to *Apollo the Helper (Epikourios). *Pausanias (3) says it was the work of *Ictinus, possible (with some local influence) but unprovable. It dates to the latter part of the 5th cent. bce with an interruption due to Spartan occupation of the area during the *Peloponnesian War. The greater part of the temple is in the local limestone, with carved decoration applied in marble. The *orientation, followed also by its predecessor, was towards the north instead of the east, and the early sunlight, instead of entering through the main doorway, was admitted to the adytum through an opening in the eastern side-wall. Ten engaged Ionic columns decorated the side walls of the cella internally, with a single central Corinthian column—one of the earliest of its kind, and one of the most beautiful (see orders)—between the cella and the adytum.

Article

Brauron  

Robin Osborne

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Greek Myth and Religion
Brauron, site of a sanctuary of *Artemis on the east coast of *Attica at the mouth of the river Erasinos. It is included in *Philochorus' list of twelve townships united by *Theseus (FGrH 328 F 94). Archaeological evidence indicates human presence in the area of the sanctuary and the acropolis above it from neolithic times onwards, and there is an important late Helladic cemetery nearby. In the sanctuary itself there is a continuous tradition from protogeometric on, with a temple built in the 6th cent. (Phot. Lexicon, entry under Βραυρώνια) and an architecturally innovative pi-shaped *stoa with dining-rooms built in the later part of the 5th cent. Flooding in the early 3rd cent. bce led to the abandonment of the site. Some traditions associate the Pisistratids (see pisistratus; hippias(1); *Hipparchus (1)) with Brauron (Phot., as above), or with the local residential centre called Philaidai which lay a short distance inland from the sanctuary (Pl. Hipparch.

Article

Buthrotum  

David R. Hernandez

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture: Bronze Age
  3. Greek Material Culture
Buthrotum (Bouthrotos; modern Butrint in southern Albania) was a seaport occupying a headland on the coast of Epirus in ancient NW Greece. Described as a “little Troy” in Vergil’s Aeneid, the city was said to have been founded by Helenus after the sack of Troy. Established by the end of 7th century bce, Buthrotum served as an emporium and enclave of Corcyra during the Archaic and Classical periods. Occupying a fortified acropolis with a Doric temple, evidently dedicated to Athena Polias, the city was identified as a polis c. 500 bce. An Epirote city of the Chaones during the Hellenistic period, it established a sanctuary of Asclepius with a theatre, inscribed with over 200 manumission decrees, and an agora. After 167 bce, Buthrotum was the capital of the koinon of the Prasaiboi. In the Late Republic, Titus Pomponius Atticus and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa were patrons of the city, the former owning a lucrative and attractive villa praised by Cicero. Colonised by Rome in July 44 bce under a plan devised by Julius Caesar, Buthrotum was refounded by Augustus as colonia Augusta Buthrotum.

Article

Calauria  

D. Graham J. Shipley

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
Calauria (now Póros), a Saronic island (23 sq. km.: 9 sq. mi.) adjacent to the Argolid, and its polis. The town lay near the island's summit (283 m.: 928 ft.); its remains, chiefly Hellenistic, include a probable heroon (see hero-cult) of *Demosthenes (2), who killed himself here.The sanctuary of *Poseidon has Mycenaean tombs, 8th-cent. and later dedications, and cult buildings of c.520–320 bce. It was the focus of the Calaurian *amphictiony, whose members included Hermione, *Epidaurus, *Aegina, *Athens, and Boeotian *Orchomenus (1). The inclusion of Nauplia and Cynurian Prasiae, neither of them autonomous after c.650, implies an early foundation date. Rather than a military, political, or economic union, the amphictiony was probably a cultic association of mainly local, non-Dorian towns: the sanctuary's material apogee is not matched by any known political activity. By *Strabo's time the sanctuary had been sacked by Cilician pirates (see piracy) and the amphictiony no longer existed.

Article

Callipolis  

W. M. Murray

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture

Callipolis (also Callion), main city of the Aetolian tribe Callieis (a branch of the Ophiones), located in eastern *Aetolia on the upper Mournos river. Mentioned by *Thucydides (2) (3. 96. 3) in the 5th cent., the Callieis in the 4th cent. fortified their city, which prospered until it was attacked and destroyed by the Gauls (see Galatia) in 279 bce (Paus. 10. 22. 2–4). Excavations at modern Palaiokastro, near Velouchovo, have revealed clear evidence for the city's wealth and for its destruction. An interesting cache of clay seals from the destroyed archives attests to the diplomatic and business connections of Callipolis before its destruction.

Article

Camarina  

Arthur Geoffrey Woodhead and R. J. A. Wilson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
A Syracusan (see syracuse) colony founded c.599 bce at the mouth of the river Hipparis in southern Sicily, near modern Scoglitti. Its mid-6th cent. fortifications enclose a vast area of 145 ha. (358 acres), far larger than other Syracusan colonies. In constant dispute with the Syracusans, it was destroyed by them in 533 and again c.484 after refoundation by *Hippocrates (1) of Gela. Established once more in 461 by the Geloans, it supported the anti-Syracusan coalition in 427–4, but decided for Syracuse after 415 (cf. Thuc. 6. 75–88). Abandoned by *Dionysius (1) I in 405, but reoccupied from 396, it revived in the period of *Timoleon; several houses of this period have been uncovered. Extensive excavations since 1971 have transformed our knowledge of the topography of the city and its cemeteries. Estimates from the latter suggest that the 6th-cent. population was about 16,000. The agora with two stoas lay at the west end of the city overlooking the sea, and a 5th cent. temple of Athena is known at the summit of the hill near the centre of the city. A cache of over 140 inscribed lead sheets found in this temple in 1987 indicates that after the 461 refoundation the population was divided into three tribes, subdivided into at least fourteen *phratries.

Article

Cassope  

W. M. Murray

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture

Cassope, main city of the Cassopaeans, a Thesprotian people (see thesproti) who broke away around 400 bce to become an independent tribal state. An Epidaurian inscription (see epidaurus) attests to the city's existence by the mid-4th cent., although it was probably not fortified this early. A member of the Epirote Alliance (343/2–232) and the League of *Epirus (232–168), Cassope supported *Perseus (2) against the Romans and suffered reprisals when the Romans punished Epirus following his defeat (168). Never totally abandoned, the city continued in existence until 31 bce when its inhabitants participated in the synoecism of *Nicopolis (3). Well-preserved remains of the city can be found above modern Kamarina and include a 3-km. (1 3/4-mi.) circuit wall, an agora, two theatres, a katagōgion, or ‘guest house’, and numerous Hellenistic houses.

Article

Delphi  

Catherine A. Morgan, Simon Hornblower, and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Greek Myth and Religion
(See also Delphic oracle; Pythian Games). Delphi, one of the four great *panhellenic*sanctuaries (the others are *Isthmia, *Olympia, *Nemea), is on the lower southern slopes of *Parnassus, c.610 m. (2,000 ft.) above the gulf of *Corinth.There was an extensive Mycenaean village in the *Apollo sanctuary at the end of the bronze age; the area was resettled probably during the 10th cent., and the first dedications (tripods and figurines) appear c.800. The settlement was probably relocated after the first temple was built (late 7th cent.). The first archaeological links are with Corinth and Thessaly. The 6th cent. Homeric *hymn to Apollo says Apollo chose *Cretans for his Delphic priests, and early Cretan metal dedications have been found, but Cretan material could have come via Corinth, and Cretan priests may have been invented because Crete was distant i.e. this is a way of stressing the end of local domination. The first .

Article

Ephyra  

W. M. Murray

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Greek Myth and Religion
Ephyra (also Cichyrus: Strabo 7. 7. 5), a city in western Epirus near the mouth of the *Acheron river. Here *Neoptolemus (1) landed on his return from Troy (Pind. Nem. 7. 37–9) and *Odysseus came to gather poison for his arrows (Od. 1. 259–62). The ancient city is marked by a circuit-wall of three phases at modern Xylokastro. Some 600 m. (650 yds.) to the south, at Agios Ioannis, a heavily built complex of Hellenistic date incorporating an underground chamber was identified by its excavator with the ‘oracle of the dead’ (nekyomanteion) of Herodotus 5.

Article

Europus  

Margaret Stephana Drower, Eric William Gray, and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
Europus (also Dura), on the middle *Euphrates, founded by the *Seleucids as a military colony c.300 bce, and a *polis in the 2nd cent. bce. Its importance is chiefly archaeological: excavations in the 1920s and 1930s provide detailed information about a Graeco-Macedonian settlement in the near east under the Seleucids, Parthians, and Romans. The new site was laid out on a grid-plan (see hippodamus) within heavy fortifications; a 2nd.-cent. bce parchment (PDura15) shows that the territory was divided into hereditary farm-plots (klēroi). The *Seleucid phase is marked by an *agora, Greek-style *houses, a temple of *Zeus Megistos with mixed Greek and Mesopotamian elements, and a ‘palace’ in Graeco-Achaemenid style recalling that at *Ai-Khanoum. Occupied by *Parthiac.100 bce, it served for the next 250 years as a Parthian frontier-town; the survival of Greek as the official language and (probably) that most in daily use suggests continuing Greekness. Taken by Rome in ce 165, it became a garrison-town on the eastern *limes; a Roman camp, military equipment, and important Roman military archives belong to this phase.

Article

Gnathia  

H. Kathryn Lomas

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
Gnathia (mod. Fasano), a Messapian port, 58 km. (36 mi.) south of *Barium, which dominated land and sea communications, handling trade with Greece. It prospered in the Hellenistic period, a phase characterized by proliferation of rich burials and Greek-influenced monumental architecture, and flourished until late antiquity. See pottery, greek (end) for ‘Gnathian Ware’.

Article

harbours  

Philip de Souza

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
  3. Roman Material Culture
The earliest man-made harbour facilities in the Mediterranean region were the riverside quays of Mesopotamia and Egypt, for which records go back to at least the second millennium bce. Maritime installations probably began to appear around the Levantine coast in the early iron age, but the earliest securely datable harbour-works are the late 6th-cent. breakwater and ship-sheds of *Polycrates (1), tyrant of *Samos (Hdt. 3. 60). The development of specialized naval and merchant vessels, and a gradual increase in overseas trade, meant that quays and docks of increasing size and complexity were required in the Classical and Hellenistic periods.Early construction techniques made the most of natural features such as sheltered bays and headlands, as at *Cnidus. Exposed shores were protected with breakwaters and moles, like that at Samos. The development in Roman times of concrete which could set underwater enabled ambitious offshore constructions to be attempted, notably *Caesarea (2) in Palestine.

Article

Heraclea (2) by Latmus  

Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture
Heraclea (2) by Latmus, a city of *Caria allegedly founded by *Endymion, on the slope of Mt. Latmus, c. 25 km. (15½ mi.) east of Miletus; in antiquity it stood at the head of an Aegean gulf gradually silted up by the Maeander to become (not before Roman times) a lake. The present city, laid out on a grid, is a refoundation, superseding Classical Latmus, the site of the last lying outside and east of the superb Hellenistic circuit-wall, which (on grounds of style) is unlikely to be pre-*Alexander (3) the Great. A recently discovered inscription dated between 323 and 313 bce (SEG 47. 156, treaty between Latmus and Karian Pidasa) shows that the city was still called Latmus at that time; it was probably refounded as a Heraclea by *Antigonus(1) Monophthalmos. The inscription is of great interest for its provisions about intermarriage. A Delphic inscription of c.

Article

Hippodamus, of Miletus  

Richard Allan Tomlinson and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture

Hippodamus of *Miletus, was the most famous Greek town-planner. He was born probably about 500 bce. Ancient authorities speak of his nemēsis or allocation of sites. Towards the middle of the 5th cent. he planned *Piraeus for the Athenians, and boundary stones found there are probably evidence of his work (cf. R. Garland, The Piraeus (1987)). The agora there was known as the Hippodamian. In 443 he went with the colony to *Thurii and he may well have been responsible for its rectangular plan. *Strabo (14. 2. 9) records a tradition that the ‘architect of Piraeus’ planned Rhodes which was founded in 408 bce. Most modern authorities reject this on the ground that the date is too late for Hippodamus. Aristotle (Pol. 2. 5) speaks of Hippodamus' foppish appearance, and his political theories, and notes that he thought that the ideal size for a city was 10,000 (i.e. probably citizens).

Article

Idalium  

Hector Catling

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek Material Culture

Idalium (mod. Dhali), a small inland city of *Cyprus, in a long-populated area (perhaps the ‘Edi'al’ of the Esarhaddon prism), was 16 km. (10 mi.) SSE of Nicosia, on the south side of the Yalias valley, where in the 12th cent. bce it replaced a complex of bronze age sites further east at Ayios Sozomenos. It stood on the twin acropolis hills of Ambelleri and Moutti tou Arvili, with the lower town between; it had sanctuaries of Athena, Aphrodite, and Apollo-Reshef. The longest known syllabic inscription (the de Luynes tablet), and the bilingual lapidary inscription which allowed the syllabary's decipherment, were found here. Its kings (who may have shared power with a ‘*dēmos’) struck coins from c.500 bce; c.470 it was overwhelmed and permanently absorbed by Citium, its Phoenician neighbour to the south.