ABSTRACT: Scholars have identified many allusions to the Tyrannicides monument of Kritios and Nesiotes in vase painting. This article argues that the majority of these proposed allusions cannot stand—not only because the “Harmodios blow” predates the Tyrannicides but also because scholars’ identifications of “Aristogeiton” allow many discrepancies from the original figure and ignore his most distinctive attribute, a scabbard. Attention to this attribute reveals a series of vase paintings, originating before the creation of the Tyrannicides statue group, in which a scabbard-bearing hero pursues a perfidious woman, womanly man, or female animal. Aristogeiton may be understood to belong in this group: his scabbard puts the absent Hipparchos in the place of a woman or unmanly man and reasserts the masculinity of Harmodios and Aristogeiton—and through them, that of all free Athenian males.
this article examines the evidence for seismic activity in Lycia during the early 2nd century CE. By comparing a hitherto neglected passage in the Chronographia of John Malalas with the epigraphic evidence from Patara and other Lycian cities, it reevaluates the chronology of major earthquakes in Lycia and suggests that a destructive event in 115 CE preceded the catastrophe of 141/2 CE. Using recently published inscriptions and a new text presented here for the first time, the study sheds light on the way in which natural disasters influenced urban development, and on the role played by civic benefactors in the region's recovery.
The second campaign of the Molyvoti,Thrace, Archaeological Project (MTAP) focused in 2019 and 2022 on the House of Hermes, a 4th-century BCE structure, and its hinterland. A discussion of the architecture, a representative sample of artifacts, and a preliminary presentation of plant and animal remains illustrate the organization of the house, the activities that occurred within it, and its place in regional networks. From the post-Classical periods, Roman ceramics illuminate trends in the circulation of wares in the Aegean. Pedestrian surface survey noted an absence of Roman material away from the coast, while detecting Late Byzantine and Ottoman predecessors to modern villages.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, craftspeople in the Ottoman world encountered Western-style ornament through books printed in Vienna and Venice that circulated throughout the Balkans. Although not intended as pattern books, these prints often served as sources for iconographic and ornamental motifs for the painted decoration of buildings, leading to the dissemination of Western Baroque motifs even into remote and rural areas. This article relates this phenomenon to the church of Ayios Athanasios in Palamas, Thessaly (built 1810-1811), examining how a group of painters decorated its interior with motifs copied from liturgical books produced in Venice. The result was a regional artistic idiom that transcended the limits of modern scholarly designations such as "folk art" and "post-Byzantine."
Gladiatorial spectacles were held in Roman Thessaloniki, though the exact venue for these events remains uncertain. The martyrdom accounts of St. Demetrios, who was reportedly executed in the city during the reign of Galerius in the early 4th century CE, mention the stadium as the site of these games. These texts suggest that the Thessaloniki stadium was temporarily transformed into an arena, with a wooden barrier constructed to close its open side and a protective fence installed for the safety of spectators. This is the only known literary source describing the temporary modifications made to theaters and stadia to accommodate gladiatorial and related spectacles. Moreover, these descriptions offervaluable insights for assessing the historicity of the martyrdom accounts of St. Demetrios.
A marble slab, probably a stele, engraved with the image of a helmeted man was recovered in 1964 at Ayia Irini, Kea. John L. Caskey identified the figure as a "Mycenaean" warrior of Late Bronze Age III date, interpreting it as an indication of Mycenaean cultural domination at Ayia Irini. This article presents the first systematic study of this distinctive example of Keian visual and material culture. An assessment of formal and iconographical comparanda establishes an early Late Bronze Age date and demonstrates strong links between the helmeted figure and Neopalatial Cretan iconography. The localized social context of the slab as "island iconography" within the competitive transcultural environment of early Late Bronze Age Ayia Irini is emphasized.
This article explores the relationship between inscriptions and images in Greece ca. 750-450 BCE by examining a wide range of artifacts across various media and social contexts. It highlights the regional diversity of Greek epigraphic and pictorial habits, the general patterns of their development, and the perceived similarities and differences between alphabetic letter and figural image during this time. Comparanda from the Near East serve to reveal parallel, divergent, and directly related practices in the combination of writing with images. The article advances a novel argument for why the period ca. 650-450 BCE was one of marked and unprecedented affinity between letter and figure in the Greekworld.
The identity of the colossal Roman statue at the peak of Raphtis island in Porto Raphti Bay has been long debated. The Bays of East Attica Regional Survey (BEARS) project has advanced our understanding of the monument, beginning with a newly discovered fragment of one of the statue's missing arms. Autopsy of the statue and pedestal blocks using 3D models indicates that most elements of the monument were not originally designed for the site. Surface collection by the project has also further clarified the occupational history in Porto Raphti, where there was a lack of substantial activity during the 1st millennium CE except in the Late Roman period. From the evidence, we conclude that the statue was acquired from a still unknown, defunct Attic sanctuary and repurposed as a naval marker sometime between the 4th and 7th centuries CE, when the bay was a thriving commercial center.
ABSTRACT: The 2022 and 2023 excavation seasons at Corinth focused on the southern part of the field northeast of the Theater. More of the "marble room" (perhaps the apodyterium of a Late Roman bath complex) was exposed, as were parts of two massive walls that appear to represent two later (6th-century?) building phases. A deep deposit of earth and debris yielded a variety of finds that support a 7th-century date for the abandonment and filling in of the room. Portions of the Roman cardo flanking the east side of the marble room were explored. Middle Byzantine walls were revealed to the east of the Byzantine road that succeeded the cardo .
the 2022 and 2023 excavation seasons at Corinth focused on the southern part of the field northeast of the theater. More of the "marble room" (perhaps the apodyterium of a Late Roman bath complex) was exposed, as were parts of two massive walls that appear to represent two later (6th-century?) building phases. A deep deposit of earth and debris yielded a variety of finds that support a 7th-century date for the abandonment and filling in of the room. Portions of the Roman cardo flanking the east side of the marble room were explored. Middle Byzantine walls were revealed to the east of the Byzantine road that succeeded the cardo.
Three small prominent hills at Kleidi near the Late Classical-Early Hellenistic fortifications of Samikon mark the point on the west coast of the Peloponnese where, based on Strabo's description, the regionally important Sanctuary of Poseidon is thought to have been located. This article brings together for the first time all available archival material, the results of recent geoarchaeological and geophysical research, and a critical assessment of known literary sources to reappraise the ancient topography in the area. A plan of the area maps all recognizable structures on and adjacent to the Kleidi hills and offers the basis for a fresh evaluation of the site.
the Small Cycladic Islands Project (SCIP) is a regional archaeological survey that covered 87 small, currently uninhabited Aegean islands between 2019 and 2024. Fieldwork in 2021 and 2022 included comprehensive surveys of 14 islets around and between Kythnos, Seriphos, Siphnos, Kimolos, and Melos. Material culture from multiple periods was found on nearly every island. In addition to habitation, archaeological evidence was documented for numerous other forms of exploitation, including hunting, fishing, agriculture, pastoralism, mineral extraction, fortification, and surveillance. Comparative analysis indicates a strong correlation between the size ofan island and the intensity of occupational history. Other factors, including natural resources, network centrality, and proximity to larger landforms, also influence histories of island occupation and use.
This article examines how the Menelaion sanctuary and the Late Helladic remains at Therapne (Sparta) became lieux de m & eacute;moire, "memory spaces" of the local past. The "sacralization" of the landscape at Therapne is viewed in the context of the gradual naissance of Spartan state formation ca. 700 BCE, when Sparta slowly established itself as a community, and of the subsequent monumentalization of the sanctuary in the Archaic period. The inception of the cult at the end of the 8th or early 7th century BCE illustrates how heroes could serve as anchors for later communities undergoing periods of transformation, allowing them to define themselves through their local past.
Bothroi are a distinctive feature of late 3rd-millennium BCE living environments in mainland Greece, but their usage and purpose remain unclear. This article critically examines the paradigms influencing their study and argues that bothroi have often been analyzed through a dichotomy between practical and ritual interpretations, limiting our present understanding. By focusing on the spatial relationships of bothroi and their fills, this study offers an alternative approach. While centered on Lerna, it also incorporates evidence from other mainland sites, suggesting that activities associated with bothroi played a role in reinforcing the connections of people to specific places during a period when living environments were undergoing significant transformation.
This article reexamines three dedications by iaromnamones at the Argive Heraion dating to the early 5th century BCE (ca. 480-460). While these inscriptions were published around the turn of the 20th century, their importance for understanding the finances of Hera's sanctuary at a crucial point in Argive history has not been appreciated. The inscriptions reveal that iaromnamones regularly froze Hera's wealth as dedications, suggesting an apprehension about maintaining a sacred treasury in cash. By situating the inscriptions in their Archaic context, this article offers a new paradigm for understanding magistrate dedications as a form of public accountability and highlights the institutional complexity of communal resources in the early Greek polis.
The Ancient Methone Archaeological Project (AMAP) was a four-year, multidisciplinary study focused on Methone and its associated environs in northern Greece. One component, a surface survey balancing intensive coverage with time constraints, was initiated with a goal of investigating 80 ha of land surrounding the Classical and Macedonian sites. It was found that the area surrounding the urban core had evidence of human activity ranging from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period and later. This article outlines general research philosophies and methodologies of the survey and integrates knowledge of the surrounding area that would generally be classified as "extensive" data.
This article examines the iconography and function of the hare in Athenian funerary art of the Archaic and Classical periods. The animal appears on a limited number of vases and funerary reliefs decorated with scenes at the grave, images related to the hunt, or depictions of a deceased holding a pet hare. It is almost exclusively associated with male figures, especially of young age. This is due to the animal's popularity as hunting prey and its highly sexual nature. A live hare in a funerary scene functions as a symbol of untimely death and lost potential for young males, emphasizing that they died before they could marry and produce children that would continue their family line.
ABSTRACT: Nine silver croeseids were discovered at Sardis, together with bones of their owner, in the historic destruction level of 547 bce, when Cyrus defeated Croesus. All nine are heavily worn, the result of more than 14 years of circulation. This supports Robert Wallace’s argument that Croesus’s reign began in the 580s rather than in 561 bce. The most significant achievement of Croesus’s monetary reform was the introduction of coinage in pure silver, which enhanced the convenience of small change and was quickly adopted throughout the Greek world. Meticulous conservation of the nine croeseids allowed use wear to be distinguished from postdeposition corrosion. The discovery offers new insights into the origins of the world’s first silver coins.
ABSTRACT: This article examines the importance of group membership in the lives and identities of those who attended and administered the gymnasion of Delos in the Late Hellenistic period, when Athens controlled the island and many foreigners resided there. The evidence of inscriptions suggests that formal and informal groups offered a means of transcending geographical and cultural differences in a way that brought civic relevance and socioeconomic exclusivity to gymnasion users, and a degree of political control to the institution’s Athenian officials. The analysis, conducted from both a bottom-up and a top-down perspective, reveals the gymnasion’s locally specific social dynamics as well as its role in the cultural and political life of the island during a period of considerable change.
ABSTRACT: This article discusses the inscription known as the “Stele of the Punishments” together with new archaeological findings in order to explain the case of the architect Perillos, who was sentenced twice for the consequences of inadequate planning of the position of the anterior columns in the one-storied stoa of the Abaton in the Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidauros. Dating to ca. 360 bce, this is the earliest surviving record of an architect’s liability in Classical Greece. A second legal case of ca. 355 bce, recorded on the same stele and concerning the ivory carver Pasiteles, is also given a thorough juridical and historical presentation. Methodologically, this approach brings together epigraphy, archaeology, and ancient legal history.
