Listed 100 (total found 192) sub titles with search on: Archaeological sites for wider area of: "PELOPONNISOS Region GREECE" .
DIMENA (Village) EPIDAVROS
At the hillock of Bassas there developed, first, a settlement of the Greek Middle Ages. Around the area were found tombs with remarkable objects. Because of the natural fortification, it survived during Mycenaean times. It is surrounded with blocks of stones, but only those at the south site have been saved. Some people guess that it was the capital of some small kingdom. Significant is the fact that there are still tracks from the corrugations that were on the carriage roads, impressed where the wheels of the carriages went deep.
This text is cited Mar 2003 from the Municipality of Epidavros URL below.
MANTINIA (Ancient city) ARCADIA
Κοντά στον αρχαιολογικό χώρο της αρχαίας Μαντινείας βρίσκεται λόφος
χαρακτηριστικού σχήματος, ο λόφος Γκορτσούλι και ο αρχαιολογικός του χώρος. Στούς
πρόποδες του λόφου υπάρχει μικρός οικισμός, ενώ ένας χωμάτινος δρόμος οδηγεί στην
κορυφή του. Σύμφωνα με τους αρχαιολόγους στη θέση αυτή υπήρχε εκτεταμένος οικισμός
και ακρόπολη των Πρωτοελλαδικών χρόνων. Στους αρχαϊκούς χρόνους η πόλη μεταφέρθηκε
στον επίπεδο χώρο, δηλαδή στη θέση του αρχαιολογικού χώρου της αρχαίας Μαντινείας.
Στην κορυφή του λόφου, όπου και ο ναός της Ζωοδόχου Πηγής, βρέθηκαν σε ανασκαφές
του Θ. Σπυρόπουλου μυκηναϊκά όστρακα και ένα ναϊκό κτίσμα ορθογωνίου σχήματος
στο εσωτερικό του οποίου αποκαλύφθηκαν πολλοί σφαιρικοί αρύβαλλοι και άλλα ευρήματα
των όψιμων αρχαϊκών χρόνων. Λείψανα ναϊκού κτίσματος ανακαλύφθηκαν επίσης και
στον κοντινό λόφο Τριπήχι, όπου βρέθηκαν χαρακτηριστικά λατρευτικά πήλινα εδώλια
κάποιας θεότητας, τα οποία εκτίθενται στο Αρχαιολογικό
Μουσείο Τρίπολης.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Μάρτιο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, του ARCADIA website, του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών
PALEOKASTRO (Village) GORTYS
TIRYNS (Mycenean palace) ARGOLIS
Murus or Moenia (teichos). A wall surrounding an unroofed enclosure, as opposed
to paries (toichos), the wall of a building. The word maceria denotes a boundary
wall, fence-wall. Cities were enclosed by walls at a very early period of Greek
history, as is shown by the epithet used by Homer "well-walled" of Tiryns,
Mycenae, etc., and the massive remains of those cities have also demonstrated
the fact So vast, in truth, are some of these structures as to have induced a
belief among the ancients that they were the work of Cyclopes. (See Cyclopes.)
The following principal species of city walls are to be distinguished:
(a) those in which the masses of stone are of irregular shape and put together
loosely, the interstices being filled by smaller stones, as in the wall at Tiryns;
(b) those in which polygonal stones are carefully fitted together, and their faces
cut so as to give the whole a comparatively smooth surface, as in the walls at
Larissa and at Cenchreae; and (c) those in which the blocks are laid in horizontal
courses more or less regular with the vertical joints either perpendicular or
oblique, and are more or less accurately fitted together, as in the walls beside
the "Lion Gate" at Mycenae.
Brick was largely used in Egypt, Assyria, and Chaldaea, and also in
Greece and Italy; but was often defended against the weather by an outer casing
of stone, when the bricks were sun-dried instead of burned (See Fictile).
After the first Persian War the Athenians began to use marble for their finest
buildings, as in the Propylaea and the Parthenon. A century later marble was also
used for facing walls of brick. Less important structures were made of smaller
stones, rough or square, flints, or bricks.
At Rome there were several kinds of masonry (See Caementum).
(a) Blocks of stone were laid in alternate conrses, lengthwise in one course and
crosswise in the next. (b) The stones in each course were laid alternately along
and across. (c) The stones were laid all lengthwise. (d) The stones entirely crosswise.
(e) The courses were alternately higher and lower than each other. The earliest
walls at Rome, largely of Etruscan origin, were built of huge quadrangular stones,
hewn, and placed together without cement. Such were the Carcer Mamertinus (see
Carcer),
the Cloaca Maxima (see Cloaca),
and the Servian Walls (see Etruria).
The Romans also used small rough stones, not laid in courses, but held together
by mortar (opus incertum) and courses of flat tiles. Tiles were also introduced
in the stone and brick walls. Brick covered with painted stucco was a very common
material at Rome, and even columns were so constructed.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AKROKORINTHOS (Castle) KORINTHOS
Various WebPages
ELLINIKO (Village) ARGOS
At the distance of about a mile from the Erasinus,
and about half a mile to the right of the road, the remains of a pyramid are found,
occupying the summit of a rocky eminence among the lower declivities of Mt. Chaon.
Its site corresponds to that of the sepulchral monuments of the Argives,
mentioned by Pausanias (ii. 24.7); but its style of architecture would lead us
to assign to it an early date. The masonry of this edifice is of an intermediate
style between the Cyclopian and polygonal, consisting of large irregular blocks,
with a tendency, however, to quadrangular forms and horizontal courses; the inequalities
being, as usual, filled up with smaller pieces. The largest stones may be from
four to five feet in length, and from two to three in thickness. There are traces
of mortar between the stones, which ought, perhaps, to be assigned rather to subsequent
repairs than to the original workmanship. The symmetry of the structure is not
strictly preserved, being interrupted by a rectangular recess cutting off one
corner of the building. In this angle there is a doorway, consisting of two perpendicular
side walls, surmounted by an open gable or Gothic arch, formed by horizontal layers
of masonry converging into an apex, as in the triangular opening above the Gate
of Lions and Treasury of Atreus. This door gives access to a passage between two
walls. At its extremity on the right hand is another doorway, of which little
or nothing of the masonry is preserved, opening into the interior chamber or vault
(Mure, vol. ii. p. 196) This was not the only pyramid in the Argeia.
A second, no longer existing, is mentioned by Pausanias (ii. 25.7) on the road
between Argos and Tiryns;
a third, of which remains exist, is described by Gell (Itinerary of Greece, p.
102), on the road between Nauplia
and Epidaurus; and there
was probably a fourth to the S. of Lerna,
since that part of the coast, where Danaus is said to have landed, was called
Pyramia. (Plut. Pyrrh. 32; Paus. ii.38.4). It is a curious circumstance that pyramids
are found in the Argeia,
and in no other part of Greece, especially when taken in connection with the story
of the Aegyptian colony of Danaus.
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ISTHMUS KORINTHOS (Isthmus) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
The
Diolkos is a paved road which was used for the transport of boats by land
on a platform ("puller of boats").
Its western section was excavated to a length of 255m. on the Peloponnesos
side of the Isthmus and of 204 m. on the Sterea Hellas side, in the precinct of
the School of Engineering.
Its width is 3,40 - 6,00m. It is paved with square blocks of poros
and carried two grooves in the middle, at a distance of 1,50 m. from each other.
On its western side it ended on a paved quay.
It became necessary to built the "diolkos" in order to provide a quick
passage for the boats between the Saronic Gulf and the Corinthian Bay. It was
constructed during the 6th century B.C., probably during the tyranny of Periandros
in Corinth. Its
westren end was reconstructed at the beginning of the 4th century B.C. It was
used for the transport of small boats, mostly warships, up to the 9th century
A.D. as is confirmed by various sources.
The monument was excavated during the years 1956-1959 by the Greek
Archaeological Service (under the direction of N.Verdelis). Supplementary
investigations were undertaken in 1960 and 1963 by the archaeologist with funds
from the Archaeological Society.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture URL below.
PYLOS (Ancient city) MESSINIA
The palace of Nestoras, son of Neleas, was discovered and searched in 1939 by Konstantinos Kourouniotis and excavated by the American Karl Blegen and is found in the region «Eglianos» 4 km south of the borough of Chora. It is a piece of work dating back to the 13th century B.C. and was built by the Dynasty of Neliedon. It consists of five main buildings which take up such a large area that it can only be compared, in terms of size and arrangement of indoor space, to the palaces of Mycaenae and Tiryntha. In two small rooms of the central building there have been found 1250 signs with writing in Grammiki B, one of the oldest kinds of Greek writing, which has been decoded by the architect Michael Ventris, while in the rooms of Kylikeio and the storage rooms there have been found cups and pots and pans.
n an 80 m distance in the north of the palace, there has been found a magnificent domed tomb ascribed to Nestoras and his successor Thrasymides. The palace was destroyed by fire at the end of the ceramic of style IIIB (1200 B.C approximately), when the palaces of Mycaenae and Tiryntha were burnt down too, for unknown reasons. At the same time, in about 1120 B.C. the Dories descended in Messinia due to the weakening of the powerful Kingdoms of the area. The extended area around the hill of Eglianos which was taken up by the palace of Nestoras as well as the royal domed tomb has been formed and welcomes the visits of many tourists.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
ASKLEPIEION OF EPIDAURUS (Ancient sanctuary) ARGOLIS
In the picturesque valley with a magical environment, where there were natural and healing sources, the sanctum of Asklepios was built in ancient times. It developed, over the years, to become the famous therapeutic center where many of the patients came from everywhere to the god "Deliverer", as they called him. Symbols of the Asklepios were the snake, the stick and the pot of therapeutic fluid. In the valley, at first, appeared a prehistoric settlement. The king of Epidavros "Malo" built then the first sanctuary in honor of Apollo of Maleata.
According to the local tradition, Asklepios was son of Apollo and Koronidos, daughter of the Thessaly king, Flegia. Askelpios was born at the Tithio rock, where his mother left him because she feared the anger of her father Flegia. So she left the child and a goat found and suckled the baby and the dog from the flock notified the shepherd, who found the infant. Then the first mountain was named Tithio in honor of the goat and the next mountain named "Kinos" in honor of the dog that found him. The influence and the brilliancy of Asklepios as the most important therapeutic god, brought huge economic power to the sanctuary during the 4th and 3rd century b.c, and the large group of buildings in the area materialized. Under the cover of these monumental buildings, the whole worship took place.
This text is cited Jan 2003 from the Municipality of Epidavros URL below, which contains image.
The Sanctuary of Epidavros is one of the most significant religious
and therapeutic centers of Ancient Greece. The sanctuary was dedicated to worshipping
the God, Asklepios, whose adoration brought him from Thessaly
to the city of Epidavros in the 6th century B.C. A hospital was gradually appended
to the sanctuary for the ill in addition to a Spa. Every four years (nine days
following the Isthmia celebration) gymnastics and drama competitions took place
in this area in order to honor Asklepios. Asklepios' splendor lasted throughout,
the course of Ancient Times approximately. It did, however, undergo a second prosperous
phase during the 2nd century B.C. upon, Pausanias' visit, a traveler. The excavations
within the Epidavros area began in 1879 and continue today within various sections
of the area. Until now, the archaeological mattock has discovered a plethora of
structures: the Tholos, the Gymnasium, the Palaestra, the Stadium, the «Katagogeion»
Hotel, the Thermae, and the Temple of Artemis . The structures however, that stand
out within the area are the Temple of Asklepios and the Ancient Epidavros Theatre.
The Doric Temple of Asklepios was built during the period 380 - 375
B.C. by the Architect Theodotus. In its construction, Corinthian poros stone was
utilized, excluding of course the sculptures and the decorated areas as well as
the waterspouts, which are made of marble. A trench tracing the length of the
wall was located on its right side, which was not unusual to the hospitals treating
the ill whilst it was also a significant instrument in the ritual for advice.
Later, they filled it with dirt. The Temple's interior contained an ivory and
gold statue of Asklepios that was the work of artist from Paros, Thrasimides.
In 1988, UNESCO enlisted the monument in its World Heritage List of Monuments.
The Epidavros Theatre was built in the 4th century B.C. by the Architect
and Sculptor, Polikleitos Junior. He is renowned for his exceptional - practically
perfect - acoustics, exhibited by the Theatre. He is also famous for the actors'
dialogues and the Chorus that played in the orchestra. The Orchestra is clearly
heard from the highest Theatre seats above. The Orchestra, along with the Chorus
as was usual in those days, is similar to all other theatres in that it is circular
and was constructed from dirt (a characterizing trait of theatres of the Hellenistic
Period). Also, the Orchestra's basis contained a drainage trench (2 meters in
width) that assisted in collecting rainwater. It is the only theatre in which
the Orchestra has been preserved and is in such excellent condition. The Altar,
however, has not been preserved, which was located in the center of the Orchestra.
The koilon (its right side has been rebuilt) maintains an occupancy rate of 14.000
spectators. The 34 rows of seats, which are located at the lower end of the Theatre,
have not been replaced and were constructed by following their original structure.
On the contrary, the 21 rows located in the upper section of the Theatre were
added later during the Roman years. The Stage was located behind the Orchestra
and exactly opposite the Koilon. This was the area the actors used to change costumes
and is referred to as the Proscenium. Only ruins are evident now. Access to the
Orchestra was available from the two parodoses (on the right and left sides),
which maintained monumental gates that were only recently reconstructed. Today,
the Epidavros Theatre continues to give ancient drama performances, which comprise
the most significant art and cultural events of the summer season.
This text is cited May 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs URL below.
ISTHMIA (Ancient sanctuary) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
KONTOVAZENA (Village) ARCADIA
LYKOSSOURA (Ancient city) MEGALOPOLI
The ruins are 7 km W of Megalopolis. The only source for the city
is Pausanias' reference (8.37-38) to the Sanctuary of Despoina, a very ancient
Chthonic divinity identified with Persephone-Kore, whose date was confirmed by
excavations undertaken in 1889 and later. To the E and to the N foundations of
a Doric portico have been found, before which, from E to W are arranged three
altars consecrated to Demeter, Despoina, and the Great Mother. The temple was
15 m from the altar farthest to the W, and was perhaps constructed in the 4th
c. B.C. It is a Doric prostyle temple, with a hexadic facade of marble, on three
steps, oriented to the E. Recognizable are a pronaos and a cella, the major part
of which was occupied by a pedestal which supported a group of cult statues in
marble. These were the work of Damophon of Messene, active around the middle of
the 2d c. B.C. They represented Demeter, Despoina, Artemis, and Anytos. During
the excavation many fragments of sculpture recognizable as belonging to the group
were found, which permitted its reconstruction after a coin of Megalopolis. Despoina
and her mother Demeter were seated, while Artemis and Anytos were standing. The
remains of the group are in the National Museum at Athens. One exited from the
temple to the outside through a lateral door in the S wall. In the cella are the
remains of a mosaic, and before the temple there are two bases for bronze statues.
Several tiles with the inscription Depoinas have come from the excavation, and
date between 74 and 66 B.C. To the S of the pronaos several bases for offerings
have been found, while the N part of the temple has been under discussion, even
to the foundations. The temple dates, according to the latest interpretation,
to the 2d c. B.C. On the N side in a spot called megaron by Pausanias, the remains
of a large monumental altar have been found. The ancient city was located at the
head of the plain of Terzi, to the W of the sanctuary. There the city walls have
been identified, dating from the 5th-4th c. B.C., and the foundation of a temple
has been found under a Byzantine chapel.
G. Bermond Montanari, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MANTINIA (Ancient city) ARCADIA
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
A replica of a temple (5th century B.C.). This monument of Leonidas
contains the bones of the hero of Thermopylai; it lies to the north of the modern
town.
This extract is cited Apr 2003 from the Laconian Professionals URL below, which contains image.
TAINARON (Cape) ANATOLIKI MANI
MYRO (Village) KYPARISSIA
There is an imposing sight at the village Myro, 8 km northeast of Kyparissia, and on the hill of Peristeria where the archaeological spade of Spyros Marinatos brought to light, in 1960, an ancient settlement which belongs to the Protomycaenic Period (17th-16th century B.C). There, they found houses belonging to the Mesohellenic Era (2200-1580 B.C), three domed gold-bearing tombs, a wall surrounding tombs and remnants('perivolos') of a wall which surrounded the hill of Peristeria in the south. In 1976, the archaeological spade of professor Korre discovered monuments such as a domed tomb belonging to the first Mycaenic Era, a surface, a four-wall tomb and structures of 1500 B.C.
The findings from the excavations, like golden jewellery, three golden cups, quite a few ostraka, golden horseshoes, spear points, a bronze sword, golden rodakes, a two-edged tool made of keratolithos, a golden owl etc are kept in the Museum of Chora. The wealth of findings and the size of buildings render the area of Peristeria as the centre of the extended area in the mycaenean era, while they are referred to as the «Mycaenae of Western Peloponesse» by Spyros Marinatos.
This text is cited Jan 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
ISTHMIA (Ancient sanctuary) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
ASKLEPIEION OF EPIDAURUS (Ancient sanctuary) ARGOLIS
Is it one of the most important and beautiful archeological places around Greece. In a green plain, surrounded by friendly mountains, a place of worldwide brilliancy and culture, the Ancient theatre at the side of mountain Kinortiou, the miracle of Epidavros, was built by the architect and sculptor Argous Poliklito the last. It built in two separate stages, the first at the end of the 4th century b.c. and the second in the middle of the 2nd century, when the famous three part characteristic of the Greek Theatre was finalized in Epidavros: concave - orchestra - stage. The highest distance of the concave is 58m while the diameter of the orchestra is about 20m. There are two friezes that separate into 13 stairs and 12 benches at the lower level and into 23 benches and 22 stairs at the upper level.
The theater displays the perfect form of the antique architecture, impressive with its beauty and symmetry. The capacity of the theatre is about 15.000 seats. The systematic excavation was started in 1881 by the archeologist Panagioti Kavvadia. The wonderful acoustics are the attraction of large number of visitors each year. Here, every summer, the Festival of Epidavros is held with famous performances of ancient drama and comedy.
This text is cited Jan 2003 from the Municipality of Epidavros URL below, which contains images.
The
building of the Theater
The famous theater
seems to have been built around the end of 4th century BC, as part of an extensive
building programme. Its architect remains unknown, although Pausanias mistakenly
identifies him with Polykletos, the famous sculptor. This missidentification testifies
to the fact that even since antiquity the theater at Epidaurus was considered
as one of the very best in the ancient world, due to its elegance and beauty.
The theater was originally designed to serve the production of Greek drama as
established in 5th century Athens. It was built probably in two phases, in any
case closely following the initial plan. The edifice was constructed entirely
of two types of stone: grey-pink limestone for the cavea and soft tufa covered
with stucco for the stage building and the retaining walls. The fine acoustics
of the theater is a natural consequence of the accuracy and geometry of its design.
Description
of the Theater
The orchestra (or dancing floor) has the shape of a perfect circle,
with a diameter just above 19,50 meters. A circular base still preserved at its
exact center most probably held an Altar to Dionysos, called Thymele. The orchestra
was the performing ground for the "choros" of the Greek drama.
Symmetrically placed within the circle of the orchestra are the three
geometrical centers of the concave seat wedges forming a triangle with two very
closed and one very wide corner angle pointing to the auditorium. The one exactly
coinciding with the center of the orchestra is also the center of the 8 central
wedges of the lower part, while the two sets of wedges at either side have their
centers located at each distant corner of the triangle, on a line parallel to
the Stage. Being extensions of the seat wedges of the lower part, those at the
upper part follow the same geometry. This choice of geometrical features enables
better visibility, without disturbing the impression of a perfect shape. The lower
part of the auditorium has 34 rows of seats and the upper 21, bringing the total
to 55, with a capacity of about 14000 spectators. As in most hellenic theaters,
the lowest row of seats has the form of a continuous throne, reserved for state
officials, priests, and other important personages. Through a pair of drains at
both ends of the circular corridor between the orchestra and the lowest row of
seats, the rain water running down from the stone cavea was driven into an underground
drainage system and carried away.
The auditorium had a slope of about 26 degrees. Strong lateral retaining
walls held both of its side limits facing outwards to the stage building. A tower
of unknown function crowned their top at either side. The two oblong passages
left between the retaining walls and the stage building at either side formed
the "parodoi" (passageways). Spectators taking their seats at the lower part of
the auditorium would enter the theater through them, and so would the "choros"
during the performance. Two imposing gateways made of stone, with pilasters carrying
an ionic entablature, architecturally linked the stage building to the auditorium.
Each had twin openings, one leading directly to the orchestra ground, the other
onto the stage via a ramp. Metal grills placed within these openings secured the
theater, when not in operation.
In its final phase during the late Hellenistic period the stage building
was a two-storey structure with a single storey projection towards the orchestra.
The stage building consisted of the following parts:
1. The "Proskenion" (fore-stage) This was a single-storey projection towards
the circular orchestra raising to a height of 3.5 meters. Its side facing the
spectators had the form of an elegant colonnade in the ionic order, with gate-like
wings at either end.
2. The free, flat space exactly above the proskenion was called "Theologeion".
There the main "hypocritae" (actors) would act their parts of the drama during
the performance. The theologeion was accesible from both sides via the ramps entered
through the openings at the gateways.
3. Behind the proskenion and the theologeion lay the stage proper, a two-storey
building. Its groundfloor was called the "Skene" (stage) and had four columns
carrying the upper floor called "Episkenion" (over-the-stage). The front side
of the episkenion facing the spectators was open, with four pillars that covered
the span from side to side. The openings between the pillars were blocked with
hanging "pinakes" (backcloth screens) carrying painted settings appropriate for
each play.
Recent
history of the Theater
The theater at Epidaurus was uncovered by the Athenian Archaeological
Society, which excavated the site around the turn of the century. The auditorium
survived the delapidation of all building material suffered by any structure standing
above ground during Middle Ages, due to landslide or gradual silting that covered
it with soil. On the contrary, almost nothing survived of the stage building itself
except scattered architectural members, thankfully enough to allow archaeologists
and architects to reconstruct its form at least on paper. Apart from a summary
report by the archeaologist P. Kavvadias in his general book dedicated to the
results of the excavations at Epidaurus, the theater was thoroughly measured and
studied by Armin von Gerkan and Wolfgang Mueller-Wiener of the German Archaeological
Institute. The results of their studies were published in "Das Theater von Epidauros"
(W.Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1961).
The present state of the theater is the result of extensive restoration
work carried out during the 20th century. Restoration included complete rebuilding
of the collapsed retaining walls, and the gateways as well as reconstruction of
the lateral seat wedges.
Since the beginning of the current decade the Greek Ministry of Culture
has undertaken additional restoration work focusing on the auditorium and the
gateways. At the same time concerted efforts are made to enhance the protection
of the theater against overworning, by regulating the access of visitors and its
use during the summer festivals. After World War II the Greek Tourist Organization
initiated a Summer Festival of Greek Drama, which for years has been a major cultural
event.
Lately the whole site of the Sanctuary of Asklepios at Epidaurus,
including the theater, was enlisted in the List of International Cultural Heritage
of UNESCO.
This text is cited Jan 2003 from the Foundation of the Hellenic World URL below, which contains images.
Theatrum. As the Greek drama sprang from the choral dances round the altar
of Dionysus, so the architectural form of the Greek theatre was developed from
the circular dancing-place, the orchestra. At first there was no chorus distinct
from the general body of worshippers, all of whom were free to join in the dance.
As soon as a regular Chorus was instituted, it became necessary to reserve a
circular space of ground for it. A ring of stones sufficed to mark off this
circle. The altar of Dionysus was placed at its centre. The spectators stood
around it, and watched the dance. So long as the dramatic element was limited
to a dialogue between the Chorus and one actor, that person could stand on a
raised place in the middle of the Chorus, and address himself to various points
of the circle in turn. But when Aeschylus added a second actor, it became necessary
that the actors should play towards some one side. It was no longer possible
that the spectators should form a complete circle. They were now arranged in
a semicircle, or something like it. But the whole circle of the dancing-place
was still, as of old, kept clear for the Chorus. The actors stood facing the
spectators, not within the circle of the dancing-place, but on the further side
of it. Behind them was the tent or booth (skene) in which they dressed. It was
an easy improvement to conceal this tent from the spectators by a wooden screen,
which could represent the front of a house, or such other background as suited
the play. This screen was the proskenion--that which masked the skene. In the
matured theatre the term was retained, though its primitive sense may have been
forgotten. The proscenium was the background visible to the audience, whether
this was a temporary wooden structure, or, as in later times, a permanent wall.
Then skene came to denote that part of the theatre which belonged to the actors,
as distinguished from orchestra, the place of the Chorus. Thus the kommos, a
lyric dialogue between Chorus and actor, is defined by Aristotle as threnos
chorou kai apo skenes (Poet. 12): and he uses the phrase epi skenes where we
should say, on the stage (ib. 24).
The oldest theatre of which we have any knowledge is the Dionysiac
theatre at Athens. It has generally been supposed that a permanent stone theatre
existed in the Lenaion, or precinct of Dionysus, from the early years of the
5th cent. B.C. This belief rested on a passage in Suidas (s. v. Pratinas). He
states that in the 70th Olympiad (500-496 B.C.) Pratinas was exhibiting tragedy,
in competition with Choerilus and Aeschylus, when the wooden benches (ikria)
on which the spectators were standing happened to fall; and, in consequence
of this (ek touton), a theatre was built. But the history of the Dionysiac theatre
has been placed in a new light by the recent researches of the German Archaeological
Institute at Athens. The excavations, begun in 1886, have yielded the following
results, according to Dr. W. Dorpfeld:
(1) In the 5th cent. B.C., and down to about 330 B.C., the precinct contained
no permanent building for scenic purposes. There were in it two temples of Dionysus
(Fig. 1, D, E, see inside URL below), both to the south of the present theatre.
The older of these (D), which was the more northerly, dated from a time before
Peisistratus. Close to it, on the N.E., was a circular orchestra, about 78 feet
in diameter, of which traces have been found under the buildings erected by
Lycurgus. This orchestra was then the only permanent provision for drama. All
scenery, therefore, was temporary; and the spectators sat on wooden benches.
It is observed that Andocides, in the speech on the Mysteries (399 B.C.), speaks
of the conspirators whom he observed within the precinct of Dionysus as apo
tou odeiou katabainontas eis ten orchestran, not eis to theatron ( § 38): and
the latter word, when used by Aristophanes, always means the spectators.
(2) The first permanent building for drama in the Lenaion was that completed
by Lycurgus, about 330 B.C. It consisted of a stone wall with two small wings,
like towers, projecting from it on right and left (A, A); the length of the
wall between them was about 65 ft. 7 in. The temporary decorations (of wood,
with linen hangings) were erected in front of this wall, and supported by the
wings. Behind the wall was an oblong room, extending somewhat beyond the wings,
and serving for the use of the actors. A portico (C, C), opening on the precinct
of Dionysus, ran along the south side of it. The new orchestra was to the north
of this building. Dr. Dorpfeld supposes that it formed, like, the older one,
a complete circle, and that there was no raised stage; the actors stood on the
same level with the Chorus. Rows of stone seats for the spectators were now
constructed. After the time of Lycurgus no change, except of detail, took place
in the auditorium.
(3) At some later date, which cannot be fixed, a permanent stone proscenium
(B), adorned with columns, and about 10 or 12 ft. high, was built in front of
the wall with projecting wings which Lycurgus had erected. As the wings no longer
served a practical purpose (in supporting the temporary scenery), they were
annexed to the new proscenium, a part being cut off the front of each, so as
to bring them more nearly into line with it.
(4) An architrave-inscription found in the theatre shows that it was modified
and embellished in the reign of Claudius, by whom Nero seems to be meant. It
was probably at this time that the orchestra received its present pavement of
Pentelic and Hymettos marble; the significance of the diamond-shaped figure
traced in the centre is uncertain. To this period also is referred the erection
of a raised stage, supported in front by a sculptured wall.
(5) The latest recorded changes in the Dionysiac theatre are associated with
the name of a certain Phaedrus, and took place probably in the 3rd cent. To
these belong the existing front wall of the stage, adorned with sculpture of
an earlier period; also the balustrade which now separates the auditorium from
the orchestra, and the partial covering of the orchestra-canal with marble flags.
It is maintained by Dr. Dorpfeld that, not only in the Dionysiac
theatre, but in all theatres of the Greek type, the actors stood on the same
level with the Chorus; a stage raised above the orchestra was a Roman invention;
and where such a stage occurs in a theatre of Greek origin, it is a later addition,
made under Roman influence. The Roman raised stage, he thinks, was developed,
when a Chorus was no longer used, by depressing the level of the circular orchestra
in that part of it--the part furthest from the actors--where the Chorus formerly
stood. This startling theory is based chiefly on the nature of the proscenium
as it appears in the remains of some Greek theatres. The theatre of
Epidaurus (Fig. 2, see inside URL below), built about the middle of
the 4th century B.C., is the best-preserved example of the Greek type;
excavations have lately been made in it by the Greek Archaeological Society
(1883).
The orchestra forms a complete circle, defined by a ring of flat
stones. Beyond this circle, on the side furthest from the audience, are remains
of a wall, about 12 ft. high, adorned with Ionic half-columns, and flanked by
slightly projecting wings; there was one door in it, at the middle point. This
wall must have been either the background of the scene, or the front of a raised
stage. It is argued that it must have been the background, because (a) 12 ft.
would be too great a height for a stage; (b) the width of the stage--about 8
ft.--would have been too small; (c) there is no trace of steps leading from
the top of the wall to the orchestra. A similar wall occurs in the theatre at
Oropus, and is identified as the proskenion by an inscription which it bears.
The theatre in the Peiraeus affords another example.
On the other hand, several considerations tell in favour of the
received view, that Greek actors, at every period, had a raised stage.
(1) The statements of the architect Vitruvius, who wrote about 20 A.D., is decisive,
so far as the Roman period is concerned. He states that the Greek theatre had
a raised stage, about 10 or 12 ft. high, but narrower than the Roman; the Greeks,
he says, called logeion. Vitruvius uses the-word proscaenium to describe this
stage; and the same use of the term occurs in other writers, both Roman and
Greek. Dr. Dorpfeld is therefore reduced to assuming that Vitruvius has made
a mistake, confusing the background of the scene in a Greek theatre with the
front of a raised stage. But it is absurd to suppose that Vitruvius should have
made such a blunder about the Greek theatres of his own day; and that, having
accurately described a raised stage which did not exist, he should also have
invented a name for it, logeion.
(2) The theatre at Megalopolis in Arcadia has been excavated by members of the
British School at Athens (see an account by Mr. W. Loring in the Report of the
School for 1890). The date of the theatre may be placed in the second half of
the 4th century B.C. Here there is a raised stage, of which the height was originally
about 6 ft., and the width about 18 ft. A flight, of steps, extending from end
to end of it, led down to the orchestra. That it was a stage, and not a background,
is proved (a) by these steps, (b) by the fact, that access was given to it by
three doors in the wall behind it. There is no reason to doubt that this stage
is of the same date as the auditorium. A later Roman stage has been found in
front of it. By this example, then, the existence of a raised, stage in a Greek
theatre of the 4th century B.C. is placed beyond doubt.
(3) With regard to the 5th century B.C., it was not to be expected that any
remains of a raised stage should be found; temporary wooden structures would
leave no trace. The Greek plays do not supply any literary evidence which can
be deemed conclusive. There are some passages which indicate that the place
where the actors stood was accessible to the Chorus (e. g. Soph. Oed. Col. 836
ff.); -as would be the case, if we supposed a stage with steps leading up to
it, as at Megalopolis. Among the passages which seem to imply a raised stage,
we may notice Ar. Vesp. 1514, where Philocleon says, atar katabateon g' ep'
autous. This may, indeed, be rendered, I must enter the lists against them;
but it also implies some change of position, more marked than such as would
consist in moving merely from one spot in the orchestra to another, and would
be most naturally explained by a descent into the orchestra from the stage.
Some vases of Lower Italy, referable to the period 300-100 B.C., depict scenes
from the Old Attic Comedy acted on a raised logeion. Plato (Symp. p. 194 A)
speaks of the tragic poet Agathon as anabainontos epi okribanta meta ton hupokriton.
This probably refers, not to a performance in the theatre, but to the proagon.
Still, it shows that the idea of placing actors on a raised platform was familiar
to Athenians of the 5th century B.C. Even in the days before Thespis, when one
member of the Chorus held a dialogue with the rest, he was mounted, we are told,
on a kind of table (eleos: Pollux, iv. 123). A recent writer suggests that the
source of this story may have been a Comedy in which the beginnings of Tragedy
were burlesqued (Hiller, Rhein. Museum). If this were so, it would only show
that some sort of raised stage was conceived as necessary for even the most
primitive form of drama.
Lastly, there is a strong a priori objection to the theory that
actors and Chorus stood on the same level. The Chorus were usually drawn up
in ranks facing the actors. With his cothurnus and mask, a tragic actor would
still not overtop the Chorus by more than a head. Hence, a view of the actors
would have almost been wholly denied to spectators whose seats were in the middle
part of the lowest row. But those were the seats assigned to the most distinguished
persons. This argument cannot be met by saying, as Dr. Dorpfeld does, that the
Chorus was usually divided into hemichoria (leaving the actors visible between
the two groups). Such an arrangement was not usual, but very exceptional. It
may be allowed that, when the stage came to be as high as 12 ft., permanent
means of communication between stage and orchestra cannot have existed, though
temporary wooden steps might be employed at need. But before stages of that
height came into use, such communication had ceased to be requisite, since the
Chorus had no longer an active part in drama.
Vitruvius gives the ground-plan of a Greek theatre as follows. Describe a circle
for the orchestra, and in it inscribe three squares. One side of one of these
squares will represent the front line of the stage (A B). A parallel tangent
to the circle will be the back wall of the stage (C D). The stage (pulpitum,
logeion) must be not less than 10, or more than 12 feet high. Next, parallel
with A B, draw a diameter of the circle, E F. It will be seen in the diagram
that at E and F the semicircle is so continued as to make a horse-shoe, ending
at G H. The curves which thus continue it are segments of circles described
from E and F as respective centres, with E F as radius. This is known as the
construction from three centres, viz., E, F, and the centre of the orchestra.
The auditorium is shut in by lines which bisect the right angles at I and K.
The space between G H and C D is a raised stage.
The 4th century B.C. was the period at which stone theatres became
usual in Greece. We may now proceed to consider their characteristics more in
detail.
The orchestra.
It has been seen that, even in the matured theatre, the dancing-place
was still a complete circle, as in the old days of the cyclic choruses. Its
central point was sometimes marked, either by a small pit (as at the Peiraeus),
or by a stone (as at Epidaurus). Such marks probably indicate the spot on which
the altar of Dionysus was to be placed. The word thumele, a place of sacrifice,
means in classical poetry either a shrine, or, more specifically, an altar.
Lexicographers and scholiasts often mention a thumele in connexion with the
theatre; but they do not agree as to what it was, nor do they furnish any certain
clue. The most probable conclusion is that the thumele was the altar of Dionysus,
in the centre of the orchestra. Another view is that the name thumele was transferred
from the altar to a platform in the orchestra on which the altar was placed,
and that this platform was the station of the Chorus,--connected by steps with
the lower level of the orchestra (konistra) and with the higher level of the
stage (logeion). It is true that the use of thumele to denote a kind of stage
was current in later times, when thymelici, music-hall artists, were distinguished
from actors proper (Isidore, Orig. xviii. 47). But this use arose under Roman
influences, and cannot be assumed for the Greece of the 5th or 4th century B.C.
A channel, to carry off rain-water, often surrounded the orchestra, being bridged
by stones at the points from which the stairways led up to the seats.
The Auditorium.
In default of a special term like cavea, this is sometimes called
theatron: though that word, when it does not mean the whole building, more often
denotes the spectators (as we speak of the house ). In the older Greek theatres
the public entered by the side-passages (parodoi) between the proscenium and
the orchestra,--the same which the Chorus used. Sometimes, indeed, we find an
alternative mode of access, viz. by a path traversing high ground, and leading
directly to one of the upper tiers: this was the case at Athens, but it was
exceptional. A crowd entering by the parodoi would find the pressure greatest
at the mouths of the semicircular passage between the orchestra and the lowest
row of seats,--before the spectators had distributed themselves to the several
parts of the house. This fact helps to explain a peculiarity of construction.
The lowest row of seats is not, as a rule, completely concentric with the orchestra,
but is usually so contrived as to leave a wider space at the points just mentioned.
A further advantage of this arrangement was that it afforded a better view to
those who sat at each end of the semicircle.
Flights of steps ascending from the orchestra to the highest tier
of seats divided the auditorium into wedge-like segments. The Greek word for
such a segment was kerkis, which properly meant radius; the Latin term was cuneus.
A further division into upper and lower zones was effected by passages called
diazomata, girdles (praecinctiones), which ran completely round the semicircle.
At Epidaurus there is only one diazoma, which is not half-way between the lowest
and highest tier, but nearer to the latter; and, while the lower zone (between
the diazoma and the orchestra) is divided into only twelve kerkides, the upper
contains twenty-two. At Athens only one diazoma can now be traced, but there
may have been another: the number of kerkides is thirteen. The word diazoma
can denote, not only the passage itself, but the zone which it marks off: thus
the eleventh row in the upper zone is expressed by to hendekaton tou deuterou
diazomatos bathron. zone is also used in that sense. Above the highest tier,
another open passage ran round the house. The term ikria properly denoted the
wooden benches on which, in the earlier times, the spectators sat (cf. Ar. Ach.
24 f.: ostiountai . . . peri protou xulou). When stone seats were introduced,--which
at Athens does not appear to have occurred before the time of Lycurgus (c. 330
B.C.),--such seats were founded, where it was possible, on the natural rock
of the slope. At Athens, as at Megalopolis, artificial substructions were required
in several parts, and this must almost everywhere have been the case, more or
less. The material used for the seats varied much. Sometimes it is marble, as
at Iassus in Caria and Perga in Pamphylia; at Athens and in the Peiraeus, it
is (for the ordinary seats) a white limestone, finely wrought; while the smaller
provincial theatres were often content with coarser stone and workmanship. The
tiers of seats were called bathra or anabathmoi. At Athens the space allotted
to one person was indicated merely by a line engraved on the stone (as at Sparta
by a groove): it is described as hedra, topos, chora, chorion, or simply thea
(thean agorazein, katalambanein).
The privilege of proedria in the theatre was given chiefly to four
classes of persons: (1) certain priests and priestesses, among whom the priest
of Dionysus was foremost: (2) certain magistrates: (3) foreigners who were honoured
in an official character, as presbeis or theoroi: (4) citizens or foreigners
who were honoured in their personal capacity, as benefactors of the state. For
such persons special seats were provided, like armchairs, called thronoi or
kathedrai. At Athens these chairs, made of Pentelic marble, occupy the whole
of the lowest row, while others are placed in different parts of the house,
though in no case higher up than the twenty-fourth row; those assigned to priests
or officials bear their titles; thus the central chair of the semicircle is
inscribed, "Iereos Dionysou Eleuthereos". According, to one recent
view, the chairs in the lowest row date from the time of Lycurgus; it has more
generally been supposed that all these chairs are of the Roman age,--as all
the present inscriptions certainly are. At Epidaurus several rows of seats with
backs and arms were assigned to those who enjoyed proedria. Elaborate ornament
was often applied to such chairs,--the feet being shaped like lion's claws,--the
front or back carved with mythical subjects in relief, etc.
The acoustic properties of a Greek theatre would be naturally good,
since the actors had a high wall behind them and a rising slope in front. Vitruvius,
indeed, says that artificial aid was sought from brazen vessels, which the Greeks
call echeia, so placed in the auditorium as to reverberate the voices of the
actors. He even speaks of these resonators as being nicely adapted to the required
musical pitch (ii. 1, 9). The theatre at Aizani in Cilicia has a series of niches
above the diazoma: and similar niches exist elsewhere. According to one view,
these niches held the echeia, while another connects them merely with the substructions
of seats. The statement of Vitruvius leaves no doubt that echeia were used,
at least sometimes, in the theatres of his own day: but it remains uncertain
whether such a device was employed by the Greeks of an earlier time.
The outer wall enclosing the auditorium ordinarily followed the
curve of the semicircle, unless the nature of the ground caused some deviation.
At Athens the auditorium was partly bounded on the N. by the steep rock of the
Acropolis, while the rest of its boundary was formed by strong walls of conglomerate.
Where the external appearance of these walls became important, viz. in the S.
and S.W. portions, they were cased with finely-wrought limestone. The general
outline at Athens was that of a large segment of a circle, described from a
centre considerably N. of the point which served as centre of the orchestra:
for a small distance at the S.W. corner the curve passed into a straight line.
Examples also occur in which the walls enclosing the auditorium were rectangular,
as at Cnidus, and in the smaller theatre at Pompeii. The walls flanking the
seats at each end of the semicircle were either carried in a single sloping
line from the topmost tier to the orchestra, or built in a series of steps corresponding
with the tiers. In the best Greek period such walls were not exactly parallel
with the line of the proscenium, but started inwards a little, towards the centre
of the orchestra. This was the case at Athens and at Epidaurus.
Scenic Decoration.
The testimonies on this subject are of two classes.
(1) Notices in writers chiefly belonging to the Roman age, especially lexicographers
and scholiasts. Among these the most important is the grammarian Julius Pollux
(flor. 170 A.D.), in his Onomasticon, book iv., sections 128-132 (peri hupokriton
skeues). As has lately been shown by Rohde, the source principally used by Pollux
was a work by Juba, a writer of the later Alexandrian age, entitled Theatrike
historia, in at least seventeen books; while Juba, in his turn, had sources
going back to Aristophanes of Byzantium (200 B.C.), but not further. The besetting
fault of Pollux, in abridging from this ample material, seems to have been an
omission to distinguish between the normal and the occasional resources of the
stage.
(2) The second kind of evidence is that derived from the Greek dramatic texts
themselves. This source, scanty as it is, is the principal one on which we have
to rely in regard to the practice of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. Not long
ago it was the custom to treat the notices. in Pollux and the other late authorities
as if they could be applied without reserve to the great age of Athenian Tragedy
and Comedy. A more critical study has shown the. need of greater caution in
this respect. It is not difficult to suppose that, when dramatic poetry had;
culminated, the art of scenic decoration may still have been very rude, while
it is probable that much of the apparatus described by late writers had its
origin under the Diadochi or the Empire. The history of our own stage could
show a similar, course, from the triumphs of poetry to those of mechanism.
In the extant plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes,
the action most often takes place in front of a house, with a practicable door;
sometimes in front of a temple, a cottage, a tent, a cave, or a rock. Painted
linen hangings, erected on a wooden frame, would have sufficed for such a background.
Aristotle, in sketching the growth of Tragedy, says that Aeschylus added the
second actor, and made the dialogue predominate over the choral part, while
Sophocles introduced the third, actor and the use of scenen-painting (skenographia).
Now, this last fact must have stood out clearly in Athenian tradition, which
Aristotle had every means of knowing, when he thus coupled it with the other
novelty as an invention distinctive of Sophocles. It is usually assumed, even
by recent writers, that Aristotle is here irreconcilable with Vitruvius, who
ascribes the introduction of scene-painting to Aeschylus. Such an assumption
is not, we think, necessary. The words of Vitruvius (vii. praef. 11) are: primum
Agatharchus Athenis, Aeschylo docente tragoediam, scaenam fecit et de ea commentarium
reliquit: and he then goes on to say how the stimulus given by Agatharchus.
led Democritus and Anaxagoras to develop principles of perspective. The phrase,
while Aeschylus was exhibiting tragedy, merely describes Aeschylus as contemporary
with the innovation. Sophocles first exhibited in 468 B.C., twelve years before,
the death, of Aeschylus. Aristotle and Vitruvius are reconciled if we suppose
that Sophocles introduced skenographia the early days of his career; a fact
which will also help us to understand why that improvement was peculiarly associated
with this name. Even before Agatharchus had made a beginning of artistic skenographia,
some ruder kind of drawing may have been used. Thus in the Persae of Aeschylus
(472 B.C.) the palace was probably indicated. In the Ion of Euripides (circ.
421 B.C.), where the scene is laid at Delphi, the Chorus of Athenian maidens
point with admiration to the sculptures which adorn the front of the temple.
We may suppose that some, representation of these, though not perhaps a very
elaborate one, appeared on the proscenium.
With regard to massive decoration, as distinguished from a painted
background, the objects required by the texts are simple, such as altars, statues
of gods or, heroes, rocks, and seats. But the texts further prove that certain
mechanical appliances were available at need.
(1) The ekkuklema was a small movable stage on wheels, which could be rolled
forward through the door in the proscenium. There was room on it for three or
four persons, and it was low enough to allow of an actor stepping off it with
ease. The most frequent use of the ekkuklema was when the corpse of a person
slain within the house was to be shown to the audience,--sometimes with the
murderer standing beside it. The moment at which the ekkuklema was pushed forward
is often, though not always, marked in the text by a reference to the opening
of the door.
Examples are:--in Aesch. Ag., Clytaemnestra is thus shown standing by the corpses
of Agamemnon and Cassandra; in Cho., Orestes with the corpses of Aegisth us
and Clytaemnestra: in Soph. El., Orestes and Pylades with the corpse of Clytaemnestra;
in Ant., the corpse of Eurydice: in Eur. Here. Furens, Heracles with the corpses
of his wife and children; in Hippol., the corpse of Phaedra.
But this was not the only case in which the appliance was used:
it could also be employed for any tableau in the interior of a house. Thus in
Aesch. Eum. the Pythia speaks. the prologue in front of the temple, and then
the ekkuklema is used to show Orestes at the omphalos within. Similarly in Soph.
Ai., when Tecmessa opens the tent, this machine serves to display Ajax prostrate
amid the slaughtered cattle. As appears from some passages, the ekkuklema could
be pushed far enough forward to admit of an actor entering, or making his exit,
at the door behind it. It should be noted that the use of the ekkuklema is not
merely an inference from later writers and from hints in Tragedy, but is proved
by the two parodies in Aristophanes, where Euripides and Agathon are wheeled
out, and are then once more withdrawn fiom view (Ach. 408 ff., ekkuklethet'
. . . ekkuklesomai: Thesm. 265,eskuklesato). The exact nature of the exostra
is uncertain, but it was evidently akin to the ekkuklema, differing from it,
possibly, only in the mode of propulsion.
(2) Machinery for showing persons in the air was required by the appearances
of the gods, and in some other cases, -as when Medea is, seen above the palace
in the chariot given to her by the Sun (Eur. Med. 1319), or when Trygaeus soars
aloft on his beetle (Aristoph. Pax, 80). Two different contrivances seem to
have been used: both were, of course, concealed by the proscenium. One was an
apparatus worked by a wheel (trochos) and ropes. (aiorai), and called aiorema,
-which was used when the person was to be seen gradually rising into the air,
or descending from above. As Trygaeus rises into the air, he begs the operator
to be carefult: o mechanopoie, proseche ton noun hos emhe (Aristoph. Pax, 174).
So in fragment 3 of the Daedalus the machinist is thus directed, ho mechanopoios,
hopote boulei ton trochon i elan anekas, lege, chaire, phengos heliou. The other
device was a sort of platform, projecting from the wings at the back of the
proscenium, close to its upper edge. This was the so-called theologeion, used
when the apparition of a god or hero was to be sudden, as it is in Soph. Phil.,
and in Eur. I. T., Helen., Suppl. The kremathra in which Socrates is suspended
(Aristoph. Nub. 218) is a burlesque of the tragic appliances.
(3) Akin to the theologeion must have been the contrivance used when a person
is to appear on the roof of a palace (as the watcher in Aesch. Ag.: Antigone
and the paedagogus in Eur. Phoen., etc.). A wooden platform, high up behind
the proscenium, would have sufficed: according to Pollux, it was called a distegia.
These seem to be the only forms of decoration or mechanism which
can certainly be inferred from the texts of the tragedians and of Aristophanes.
They are all compatible with a temporary wooden structure, and with a comparatively
simple phase of scenic art. When, in the course of the 4th century B.C., permanent
stone theatres became usual in Greek lands, the general character of scenic
decoration was perhaps not at first affected thereby. Behind the proscenium
there was now a permanent wall, forming the front of the building assigned to
the actors. But the proscenium itself probably continued, for a time, to be
temporary,--a wooden structure, with painted hangings. In the Dionysiac theatre,
as Lycurgus left it, two small tower-like wings project from each end of the
permanent back wall. These, it is conjectured, were designed to facilitate the
erection of the wooden proscenium.
It may have been at this period that periaktoi were first introduced.
These were triangular wooden prisms, revolving on a pivot (whence the name),
with scenery painted on each of their three faces. One periaktos was placed
at the left wing, and another at the right. They took the place of modern side-scenes,
and also served to indicate changes of scene, according to a regular conventional
method. The periaktos on the spectator's right hand represented the locality
in which the action was taking place. The periaktos on his left hand represented
a region outside of that locality. If, for instance, the scene of the play was
laid at Delphi, the Tight-hand periaktos would illustrate that place, while
the other might represent the road leading to Athens. The same rule governed
entrances and exits: a Delphian would come on from the right, a stranger from
the left. If the scene was to be changed from one spot near Delphi to another
in the same vicinity, the lefthand periaktos would be turned so as to present
a new face, but the right-hand one would be left unaltered. If the scene was
shifted from Delphi to Athens, both periaktoi would be turned. The first case
was technically a change of topos: the second, of chora.
There are only two Greek plays in which it is necessary to assume
a chance of scene. In the Eumenides the action is transferred from Delphi to
Athens: in the Ajax, from the front of the hero's tent to a lonely place on
the sea-shore. It is probable that, in the first of these examples, the change
was merely symbolised, by substituting the bretas of Athena for a statue of
Apollo; while the building painted on the background was identified, first with
the Delphian temple, and then with the Erechtheum. In the second example, if
the background was a landscape, nothing was required, but to remove the hangings
which represented the tent. The use of periaktoi in the 5th century B.C. cannot
be proved from the dramatic literature. On the other hand, they would have been
found peculiarly convenient when the old wooden proscenia, with painted hangings,
were replaced by stone proscenia adorned with sculpture. At Epidaurus there
is such a proscenium, with Ionic half-columns, which is probably of a later
date than the rest of the building; and the small wings which slightly project
from it at each end may have served, according to a probable conjecture, for
the reception of periaktoi. In the Dionysiac theatre a permanent proscenium
was similarly introduced, after the time of Lycurgus. The projecting towers
of his scene-building (noticed above) then became wings of the new structure,
like those at Epidaurus. There is no evidence that, in addition to revolving
scenery, the Greek theatre had scenes which could be shifted on grooves; though
the Roman stage, as Servius tells us, had both (scaena versilis--scaena ductilis:
on Georg. iii. 24).
Entrances for the actors.
Pollux speaks of three doors in the proscenium, the central one
being called thura basileios, because the chief persons of the play used it.
Vitruvius confirms this statement. Ruins of the Hellenistic or Roman age show
sometimes three doors, sometimes five. In the latter case, the two extreme doors
may have opened, not on the stage, but on spaces at either side of it (paraskenia),
used by actors waiting for their turns, or by officials. In the theatre at Megalopolis
(4th cent. B.C.) there were three entrances to the stage. Only one entrance
is traceable in the remains at Epidaurus, Zea, and Oropus respectively. It is
on a level with the orchestra; hence those who disbelieve in a raised stage
regard it as the entrance for the actors. But it may have passed beneath a raised
stage, serving to give the employes of the theatre a direct access to the orchestra.
How many doors there may have been in the painted hangings of the old wooden
proscenia, we cannot tell. The 5th century texts show that, besides the door
or doors in the proscenium, there were also entrances for the actors from the
sides, right and left.
Pollux says that when ghosts appeared on the scene they came up
either by anapiesmata (our trap-doors ), or by the charonioi klimakes. It has
generally been supposed that these klimakes led from the orchestra to the stage.
This is the case at Megalopolis, where the steps extend along the whole front
of the logeion. Another theory is that they connected the stage with a passage
beneath it, invisible to the spectators.
No curtain was used in the Greek theatre. When a play opened with
a group in position (such as the suppliants in the Oed. Tyr.), the actors must
have simply walked on to the scene, and assumed that position. When one play
followed another, and the background had to be changed, that change took place
before the eyes of the spectators. In such matters we cannot judge the feelings
of Athenians, assembled at the Dionysia, by the requirements of modern playgoers.
At Athens dramatic idealism went hand in hand with scenic simplicity.
The Administration of the Theatre.
A Greek theatre was the property of the state, and the performances
in it were acts of public worship, under state control. At Athens, in the 5th
and 4th centuries B.C., drama accompanied two Dionysiac festivals,--the Lenaea,
in January, and the Great Dionysia, in March. (We are not here concerned with
the Rural Dionysia, in December,--at which, during this period, no new pieces
seem to have been acted.) At each festival, both Tragedy and Comedy were produced;
but the Lenaea was peculiarly associated with Comedy, and the Great Dionysia
with Tragedy. There was a period, indeed, of some fifty years, dating from the
first institution of the Great Dionysia (circ. 478 B.C.), during which Comedy
alone appears to have been produced at the Lenaea. The cost of the
performances at each festival was defrayed from three sources.
(1) The theatre was let by the state to a lessee, who received the money paid
for admission, and in return undertook certain charges. One of these, as appears
from an extant document, was the maintenance of the building in good repair.
Hence the classical name for the lessee, architekton (Dem. de Cor. 28): later
writers call him theatrones (Theophrastus), or theatropoles (Pollux). He was
also bound to provide a certain number of free seats (as for the persons entitled
to proedria): but for these he was probably reimbursed by the Treasury. The
provision of scenery, and of costume for the actors (excepting the choreutae),
appears also to have devolved upon the lessee. He was certainly charged with
the custody of the scenery and of all the theatrical dresses and properties.
He also paid the cashiers, the persons who showed spectators to their places,
and all other employes of the theatre.
(2) The second source of contribution was the choregia. For each festival the
Archon Eponymus appointed as many choregi as there were competing poets; at
the Great Dionysia the number was usually three for Tragedy and three for Comedy.
The choregi were chosen from men nominated by the ten Attic tribes in rotation.
The duty of the choregus was to furnish one chorus of fifteen persons for Tragedy,
or of twenty-four for Comedy. He provided a suitable place for their training
(choregeion), and maintained them till the festival was over. If the poet did
not train them himself, the choregus had to find a chorodidaskalos. He had also
to supply the flute-player (auletes) who preceded the Chorus on entering or
quitting the orchestra, and played the occasional music. He purchased the costumes,
masks, etc., for the Chorus. But his task was not finished when the Chorus was
trained and equipped. He had also to supply any mute persons (kopha prosopa)
that might be required for the piece.
(3) The third contributor was the state. When a poet had applied to the Archon
for a Chorus, and his application had been granted, the Archon next assigned
to him three actors, who were paid by the state. It did not rest with the poet
to decide which of these three should be protagonistes, etc.: he received them
from the state already classified according to merit, as actors of first, second,
and third parts. This classification rested ultimately on special agones in
which actors were directly tried against each other, and which were distinct
from the performances at the festivals. If a poet ever required a fourth actor
(probably a very rare case), he could only go to the choregus, who might make
an extra grant (parachoregema). The state also paid the marshals (rhabdouchoi)
who kept order in the theatre, and who were stationed in the orchestra. Lastly,
a certain honorarium (distinct from the festival-prizes) was paid by the Treasury
to each of the competing poets, according to the order in which they were placed
by the judges.
The character of the dramatic contests as solemnities conducted
by the state was strongly marked in the forms of procedure. A few days. before
the Great Dionysia, the ceremony called the proagon ( prelude ) was held in
the old Odeion near the Enneacrunos. The competing poets, with their respective
choregi, were then formally presented to the public; the actors and choruses
were also present, in festal, but not in scenic, attire; and the titles of the
plays to be produced at the approaching festival were officially announced.
When the first day of the Great Dionysia arrived, the dramatic contests were
preceded by the transaction of some public business in the theatre. It was then
that crowns of honour were awarded for public services, and that the orphans
of Athenians slain in war were presented to the citizens. In due course a public
herald summoned the first on the list of competing poets. He entered the orchestra,
attended by his choregus and chorus) and poured a libation at the thymele to
Dionysus. His procession then withdrew; the orchestra was once more empty (until
the Chorus should make its dramatic entrance); and the play began. One prize
for Tragedy and one for Comedy were awarded by ten judges, taken by lot from
a large number of persons whom the senate (with the choregi) had chosen from
the tribes. At the close of the contests, five judges (taken from the ten by
a second ballot) announced the awards. The successful poets were then crowned,
before the audience, by the archon. Shortly after the festival, a public meeting,
for business connected with it, was held in the theatre. Any complaints of misconduct
which might have arisen were then heard; and officials who had distinguished
themselves received public commendation.
The Audience.
According to a recent estimate, the Dionysiac theatre was once
capable of seating about 27,500 persons. It must be remembered that all the
upper tiers have been destroyed, and that the ancient capacity was enormously
greater than it would appear from the seats which still exist. Plato was using
round numbers when he spoke of more than 30,000 Greeks as present in the Dionysiac
theatre at the tragic contests (Symp. 175 E), but it is quite conceivable that
the number was sometimes nearer to 30,000 than to 20,000. The vast theatre at
Megalopolis could hold, according to one modern computation, no fewer than 44,000
persons. Such numbers become intelligible when we consider that the Greek drama
was essentially a popular festival, in which the entire civic body was invited
to take part. Even young boys were present, both at Comedy and at Tragedy. Women
were certainly present at Tragedy; and a fragment of Alexis shows that, in the
4th cent. B.C., they were admitted to the performances of Comedy also. This,
however, was the Middle Comedy -very different, in some respects, from the Old
Comedy of Aristophanes. It would be a natural inference from the seclusion in
which Athenian women lived that they were not admitted to the Old Comedy. But
against this a priori argument may be set another,--viz. that, at the Dionysia,
Tragedy and Comedy were merely different sides of one agon: those who could
participate in one were entitled to share in the other. A line drawn on grounds
of decorum would dissever elements which, in the Dionysiac idea, were inseparable.
There is no conclusive literary evidence. But one passage in Aristophanes (Pax
964 ff.) cannot be naturally explained except on the supposition that women
were present. Another passage in the same play (Pax 50 ff.) speaks, it is true,
of males only: but that is, obviously, because the speaker, a slave, is describing
his despotes to actual, or future, despotai. At Athens the metoikoi were admitted
to the theatre. (Their exclusion fiom the Lenaea is not proved by Aristoph.
Ach. 507 f., even if v. 508 be sound.) Foreigners were also admitted, whether
officials or private persons.
In the earliest days of Athenian drama, admission was doubtless
free of charge; payment may have been introduced after the expulsion of the
Peisistratidae, when the city began to find the cost too heavy. In the 5th and
4th centuries B.C. the price of admission for one day was two obols, or not
quite 4d. Pericles introduced the system by which the state paid two obols to
each citizen for each day of the Dionysiac festivals, in order that he might
attend the theatre. This theorikon was partly defrayed from the tribute of the
allies, and probably began about 454 B.C. It was distributed by the demarchs
in the several demes; and, though it was first devised in the interests of the
poor, the only condition of obtaining it seems to have been inscription on the
lexiarchikon grammateion of the deme. The number of persons receiving the theorikon
in 431 B.C. has been computed at 18,000. In its later and wider form (as extended
to non-dramatic festivals) the theorikon became an abuse: in its original form
it was substantially a state-grant in aid of education. All seats were of the
same class, except those reserved for persons who had the right of proedria,
and who paid nothing. (Cf. Dem. de Cor. 28.) The places of payment were probably
in the parodoi leading to the orchestra. Specimens of ordinary Greek theatre--tickets
are extant. These are small leaden coins, bearing on one side some emblem of
the theatre, such as a Dionysus with a tripod, or an actor's mask; and on the
obverse, the name of an Attic tribe, or a numeral... Another kind of theatre-ticket
also occurs. This is a small round mark of bone or ivory, bearing on one side
some artistic device (such as the head of a deity), and on the other a number
(never higher than 15), in both Greek and Roman figures. These were tickets,
of the Imperial age, for persons who had proedria. The numbers probably indicate
divisions of the house.. How far such division was carried is uncertain. It
is a probable conjecture that at Athens a certain portion of the house (perhaps
a whole segment, kerkis) was allotted to each of the Attic phulai. This is confirmed
by the occurrence of tribal names on the leaden tickets noticed above; also
by the fact that the choregia was organised on a basis of tribes; and, lastly,
by the analogy of Roman colonies in which certain cunei of the theatre were
assigned to certain curiae. The members of the senate sat together in a definite
part of the Dionysiac theatre (to bouleutikon, Aristoph. Av. 794). For youths
between the ages of 18 and 21, a space was similarly reserved (to ephebikon).
The performances began in the morning, and lasted till evening;
but it is attested by the comic poet Pherecrates -who gained his first prize
in 438 B.C.- that the spectators had usually taken the morning meal (ariston)
before they came (Athen. x. 464 e). In the next century, however, we hear of
performances beginning at daybreak (Aeschin. in Ctes.76). The older Athenian
custom was for all the spectators to wear wreaths (as at a sacrifice); but this
had perhaps gone out before 350 B.C. As the whole day was spent in the theatre,
the visitors brought light refreshments (tragemata) with them. Choregi sometimes
courted popularity by a distribution of cakes and wine: and Aristophanes has
pilloried those rival poets who employed slaves to throw nuts about the house.
An Athenian audience was closely attentive,--detecting the slightest fault of
speech,--and highly demonstrative. Loud clapping of hands, and shouts of applause,
expressed their delight; disapproval found vent in stamping with the feet, hissing,
and hooting (klozein). Never, probably, has the ordeal for an actor been more
severe than it was at Athens. Persons of note who entered the house were recognised
with frank favour, or the reverse. Indeed, the whole demeanour of Athenians
at the Dionysia appears to have been marked by a certain sense of domestic ease,
as if all the holiday-makers were members of one family.
From the latter part of the 4th century B.C. onwards, it became
usual to produce drama, not merely at the Dionysia, but on any occasion of special
rejoicing; a result partly due to the personal taste of Alexander the Great
for theatrical shows of every kind. Hence the theatres gradually lost that sacred
character which had been theirs so long as they were set apart for the worship
of Dionysus. A further consequence was that they began to be used for various
entertainments which had nothing to do with drama, such as the exhibitions of
conjurers or acrobats, and, in the Roman age. gladiatorial shows, or combats
with wild beasts. Even in the 5th century B.C., indeed, cockfighting had been
held on one day of the year in the Dionysiac theatre, -a custom which legend
connected with an omen seen by Themistocles in the Persian wars: but this -unlike
the later innovations- was consistent with the religio loci, since the cult
of Asclepius had points of contact with that of Dionysus. Thus the proagon of
the Dionysia (noticed above) was held on the day, and near the place, of the
sacrifice to Asclepius.
Mention has been made of the meetings for public business held in
the Dionysiac theatre just before and after the Great Dionysia. In the latter
part of the 5th century we hear of [p. 820] the citizens convening the ecclesia
in the theatre at Munychia, and in the Dionysiac theatre itself, when, under
the Four Hundred, the Pnyx was not available (Thuc. viii. 93 f.). By 250 B.C.
it had become usual to hold ordinary meetings of the ecclesia in the Dionysiac
theatre; though the elections of magistrates (archairesiai) continued to be
held on the Pnyx. From the 5th century B.C. the theatre had been the regular
place for the bestowal of public honours, such as crowns. In later times a theatre
was often also the scene of an exemplary punishment. One of the earliest instances
is the execution of Hippo in the theatre at Messana, of which place he had been
tyrant (circ. 338 B.C.; Plut. Timol. 34). Sepulchral inscriptions, of the Roman
age -sometimes commemorating Christians- have been found both in the Dionysiac
theatre and in the Odeum of Herodes Atticus; whence it has been conjectured
that, in late times, burials occasionally took place within those precincts.
As statues of Themistocles and Miltiades stood in the Dionysiac theatre, so,
at every period of Greek antiquity, such places were adorned with monuments
of statesmen and soldiers, no less than of poets, musicians, and actors. This
was in accord with the true idea of the Greek theatre, which was not merely
the home of an art, but also a centre of civic reunion.
THE ROMAN THEATRE.
Rome possessed no theatre of stone till 55 B.C. Just a century earlier
such an edifice had been in progress, when P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica procured
a decree of the senate for its destruction (Liv. Epit. 48). The spirit of the
Roman veto on permanent theatres was one which refused to regard the drama except
as a passing frivolity. Wooden theatres were erected, and pulled down when the
occasion was over. But before the middle of the 1st century B.C. these temporary
structures had already begun to show a high elaboration. The building put up
by the aedile M. Aemilius Scaurus in 58 B.C. contained 80,000 seats; the proscenium
was adorned with pillars of marble and statues of bronze; and the whole work
seems to have possessed every element of grandeur except permanence. The old
interdict had already lost its meaning; and three years later Pompeius was allowed
to erect, near the Campus Martins, the first theatre of stone. The model is
said to have been the theatre of Mitylene, and the number of seats 40,000. The
theatre of Marcellus, built by Augustus, and named after his nephew, was also
of stone, and could hold 20,500 persons. A third such building, with a capacity
of 11,510, was completed in 13 B.C. by L. Cornelius Balbus. These are the trina
theatra of Suetonius (Aug. 45). Meanwhile many provincial towns in Italy and
elsewhere had long possessed stone theatres, built or altered under Roman influence.
The Roman type of theatre is simply the Greek type modified in certain
particulars. The ground-plan is thus described by Vitruvius (see image inside
URL below). In a circle, of the same diameter which the orchestra is to have,
inscribe three equilateral triangles. Take one side of any triangle, and let
this be the back wall of the stage, scaenae frons (A B). A diameter of the circle,
drawn parallel with A B, will represent the line dividing the stage from the
orchestra (C D). The seats for the spectators are arranged round the orchestra
in semicircles concentric with it. The five points above the line C D, where
the angles touch the circumference, are the points from which five flights of
steps lead up to the seats, dividing them into six cunei. Above the first zone,
or semicircular passage (praecinctio), the seats are divided into twelve cunei
by eleven stairways. Just above the points C and D, access is given to the orchestra
by two vaulted passages which pass under the upper rows of seats (E, F). The
platform of the stage is prolonged right and left, so that its total length
(G H) is equal to twice the diameter of the orchestra. In the back wall of the
stage there are to be three doors, the positions of which are marked by the
points I, K, L. Thus the distinctive features of the Roman theatre are these
two:
(1) The orchestra is not, as in the Greek theatre, a circle (or the greater
part of it), but only a semicircle. The diameter of the orchestra is now the
front line of a raised stage. Consequently the auditorium, also, forms only
a half-circle. The primary cause of this change was that the old Dionysiac chorus
had disappeared; the orchestra, therefore, had no longer a dramatic use.
(2) In the Greek theatre the auditorium and the scene-buildings were not architecturally
linked. The parodoi were open passages between them. In the Roman theatre the
side-walls of the scene-building were carried forward till they met the side-walls
of the auditorium. By this organic union of the two main parts the whole theatre
was made a single compact building.
These two main differences explain the other points in which the
Roman theatre varied from its Greek original. Thus:
(i.) Having closed the openings afforded by the parodoi, the Romans needed some
other access to their semicircular orchestra. Here the arch served them. By
cutting off a few seats in the lower rows at the angles right and left of the
stage, they obtained height enough for vaulted passages, which ran under the
auditorium into the orchestra.
(ii.) The solid unity of the Roman theatres lent itself to the Roman taste for
decoration of a monumental character. The permanent Greek proscenia, though
usually adorned with columns, had been simple. But the richest embellishments
of architecture and sculpture were lavished on the Roman proscenia, in which
two or more stories were usually distinguished by carefully harmonised modes
of treatment.
(iii.) A similar magnificence was shown in the external facades. Greek theatres
had usually been erected on natural slopes. A Roman theatre was more often built
on level ground. The auditorium rested on massive substructions, of which the
walls were connected by arches. From the open spaces thus afforded, numerous
wide staircases ascended, beneath the auditorium, to the several rows of seats.
Corridors, opening on these staircases, ran along the inner side of the semicircular
wall which enclosed the auditorium. The exterior of this wall was adorned with
columns, having arcades between them, and rising in three or more successive
stories, divided by architrave and cornice. Thus, while the architectural significance
of a Greek theatre depended wholly on the interior, a Roman theatre had also
the external aspect of a stately public building.
With regard to the internal arrangements of the Roman theatre, the
following points claim notice.
(1) The raised stage (pulpitum, logeion) is in some instances on a level with
the lowest row of seats behind the orchestra, as at Aizani in Cilicia and Aspendus
in Pamphylia. Sometimes, again, the stage is rather higher, but the (originally)
lowest tow of seats has been abolished, leaving the stage still level with those
seats which are actually lowest: this is the case at Pergamnum and Assus. In
a third class of examples, the stage is higher than the lowest row of seats,--as
it is at Orange. The Roman stage in the Dionysiac theatre at Athens is of this
class.
(2) Awnings were spread over the theatre to protect the spectators from sun
or rain.: These were usually called vela: the term velaria occurs only in Juv.
iv. 122. Pliny, who describes them as carbasina vela (made of linen), says that
they were introduced by Q. Catulus, in 78 B.C. (xix. 23). They were supported
by masts (mali), fixed to the outer walls of the theatre by massive rings or
sockets, which can still be seen at Orange or Pompeii. Between the masts were
cross-beams (trabes), for greater convenience in unfurling the vela. Such awnings
were of various colours, as yellow, red, darkblue (Lucr. iv. 75 ff., where see
Munro).
(3) Until the play began, the stage was concealed by a curtain; which was then
lowered. The place into which it sank, just inside of the front line of the
stage, can be seen in the larger theatre at Pompeii. At the end of the piece
the curtain was drawn up. Hence, where we say, the curtain rises, the Romans
said, aulaeum mittitur or subducitur: the curtain is up, aulaeum premitur: the
curtain falls, aulaeum tollitur. The word siparium (from the rt. of sipharos,
top-sail, supparum) meant a folding screen. Apuleius (150 A.D.) describes a
kind of, ballet as beginning when the curtain had been lowered, and the screens
folded up (sipariis complicitis, Met. 10, p. 232; cp. ib. 1, p. 7). If these
screens were within the curtain, the reason for using them along with it may
have been to heighten the effect of a tableau by disclosing it gradually. In
the later parts of the piece, they may have served to conceal sceneshifting.
Another use is also possible. Theatres of the Macedonian and Roman period sometimes
had two stages, the higher being used by the regular actors, the lower by mimes
or dancers; and the latter may have been concealed by the siparium, as the other
by the aulaeum.,The word siparium is regularly associated with comedy or mimes.
(Seneca, de tranq. An. c. 11, 8; Juv. Sat. 8, 186.)
(4) Allocation of seats. The orchestra was reserved for senators. As a special
mark of distinction, foreigners (usually ambassadors) were occasionally admitted
to it (see Tac. Ann. xiii. 54). The rest of the auditorium was called cavea.
The Lex Roscia, proposed by the tribune L. Roscius Otho in 67 B.C., provided
that the fourteen rows of seats in the cavea nearest to the orchestra should
be reserved for the equites--excluding any who should have become bankrupt (Cic.
Phil. ii. 44). Owing to the large number of equites who had been ruined by the
civil wars, Augustus decreed that the privilege given by the Lex Roscia should
be enjoyed by any eques who had at any time possessed, or whose father had possessed,
the amount of the equester census, viz. 400,000 sesterces (Suet. Aug. 40). This
is probably the Lex Julia Theatralis meant by Pliny (xxxiii. 8). Augustus farther
assigned special portions of the cavea to (1) women; (2) praetextati, i.e. boys
who had not yet assumed the toga virilis, and their paedagogi; (3) soldiers;
(4) married men belonging to the plebs. This was a premium on marriage, like
others provided in the Lex Julia et Papia Poppaea. In some provincial theatres
the town-councillors (decuriones) had seats of honour (bisellia) on the rows
next the orchestra. Corresponding to the royal box in a modern theatre was the
tribunal, immediately over the stage on the spectator's left. This was occupied
by the emperor, or by the president of the performance. A corresponding responding
tribunal on the left side was assigned to the Vestals, among whom the empress
sat. Thus, from the Augustan age onwards, the contrast between a Greek and Roman
theatre was extended to the arrangements for the audience. Instead of the simple
Greek distinction between those who had or had not proedria, the Roman auditorium
exhibited an elaborate classification by sex, age, profession, and rank.
Odeum.
The term oideion, denoting a species of theatre appropriated to
musical performances, occurs first in a fragment of the comic poet Cratinus
(circ. 450 B.C.), with reference to the Odeum of Pericles (Thraittai, fr. 1);
but it may have been in use from a much earlier time. The oldest recorded example
is the Skias at Sparta, which is said to have been round, and to have been named
from the resemblance of its top to a sunshade (skias or skiadeion: Etym. Magn.).
It was said to have been built by the architect Theodorus of Samos (circ. 600
B.C.). On its walls the Spartans hung up the cithara of the famous musician,
Timotheus of Rhodes (circ. 400 B.C.),--not as an honour, but as a stigma, because
he had marred the ancient simplicity of the instrument by increasing the number
of its strings. In the latter part of the 2nd century A.D. the Skias was still
used as a place for public assemblies (Paus. iii. 12, 10). No traces of it remain.
The circular brick building of which ruins still exist near the Eurotas seems
to have been originally an Odeum, modified perhaps, with a view to other than
musical performances, in the Roman age of Sparta.
Athens possessed three oideia:
(1) The oldest of these stood near the fountain Enneacrunus by the Ilissus.
Its origin is uncertain, but has been conjecturally referred to Peisistratus,
or even to Solon. The most probable inference from the notices concerning it
is that it was a semicircular building, arranged on the general plan of a Greek
theatre, but with a roof. It was in this Odeum that the proagon was held before
the Great Dionysia, as described above. This, too, is the Odeum to which Aristophanes
refers as being used for a law-court (Vesp. 1109); the scholiast on that passage
identifies the place with the scene of the proagon. The same building must be
understood when we read of the Odeum as a rendezvous or a lodging for troops
(Xen. Hellen. ii. 4, 9, 24), and as place for the distribution of corn (Dem.
c. Phorm. 37: [Dem.] in Neaer. 52). It appears to have been restored, or built
anew, by Lycurgus (circ. 330 B.C.); for the words of Hypereides (fr. 32, oikodomese
de to theatron, to oideion) cannot well refer to the Periclean building,--then
little more than a century old.
(2) The Odeum of Pericles stood a little S.E. of the Acropolis and N.E. of the
Dionysiac theatre: modern houses cover its probable site. Plutarch preserves
a tradition that the shape of the building was intended to recall the tent of
Xerxes (Per. 13). The fact that the top rose to a peak--like that of the Spartan
Skias, as we may suppose--apparently prompted the joke of Cratinus, when he
described Pericles, the Zeus with peaked head (schinokephalos), as toideion
epi tou kraniou echon (Thraitt. 1). These notices at least prove that the form
was round, and such as to suggest a tent. In the conception of Pericles, the
new Odeum, like the new temple of Athena, was associated with the Great Panathenaea.
As the final act of the festival was celebrated in the Parthenon, so the Odeum
was the place for the performances with which the festival began,--contests
of flute-players, singers, and rhapsodes. The Odeum of Pericles was completed
about 444 B.C. It was burnt down in 86 B.C. by Aristion, the tyrant of Athens,
when he fled before Sulla to the Acropolis. The restoration of the building
by Ariobarzanes II. (Philopator), king of Cappadocia, about 60 B.C., is the
last recorded incident in its history. It is remarkable that Pausanias speaks
as if, at the time of his visit (circ. 155 A.D.), the old Odeum by the Ilissus
was the principal building of its kind in Athens (i. 14,1). He refers to the
Odeum of Pericles merely as a structure (kataskeuasma) said to have been built
in imitation of the tent of Xerxes, and does not even name its founder (i. 20,4).
(3) The third Odeum at Athens was built by the eminent rhetorician Herodes Atticus,
in memory of his second wife, Appia Annia Regilla, who died before 161 A.D.
It had not been commenced when Pausanias described Athens; but he mentions it
in speaking of the Odeum at Patrae, which was, he says, second only to that
of Herodes (vii. 20,6). The Odeum of Herodes stood on the south slope of the
Acropolis, W. of the Dionysiac theatre. Considerable remains still exist. It
was not a round building, but a theatre of the ordinary Roman type, with a roof
superadded. Hence Philostratus describes it as to epi Rhegillei theatron (Vit.
Soph. ii. 1, 5, cf. 8), and Suidas (s. v. Herodes) as theatron huporophion,--the
Latin theatrum tectum. It was distinguished by the great splendour of the internal
decoration. The ceiling was of cedar,--with probably an open space for light
in the middle. The seats in the cavea were cased with marble, and divided into
an upper and lower zone by a diazoma. The floor of the orchestra was inlaid
with marble mosaic-work. The proscenium, which had three doors, was decorated
with columnar arcades, in four successive storeys, and with statuary. A similar
mode of decoration, though less elaborate, was applied to the external facade.
Behind the proscenium spacious accommodation was provided for the performers.
Philostratus mentions a smaller theatre in the Cerameicus at Athens, called,
after its founder, the Agrippeion, which seems to have been used for rhetorical
declamations rather than for music or drama (Vit. Soph. ii. 5, 3 and 8, 2).
The building of Pericles and that of Herodes Atticus illustrate
the twofold relation of the ancient Odeum to the ancient theatre. (1) The circular
Odeum, such as that of Pericles, was the place for music or recitation, as the
Greek theatre for drama or chorus. From an artistic point of view, it was the
supplement of the Greek theatre. (2) The semicircular Odeum, such as that of
Herodes, was merely a roofed Roman theatre; and, as such, it was used not only
for music, but for other entertainments also, such as mimes, or even regular
drama. In the Roman period the first type continued to exist along with the
second. Trajan built a round Odeum at Rome (Paus. v. 12, 4, theatron mhega kukloteres),
called oideion by Dio Cassius (lxix. 4). In many instances where an Odeum is
mentioned, the type to which it belonged remains uncertain.
In conclusion, it may be useful to enumerate some of the more important
Greek and Roman theatres of which remains exist. The following list is mainly
based on that given by Dr. A. Kawerau in Baumeister's Denkmaler. A fuller enumeration,
with references to the topographical and archaeological literature in each case,
will be found in Dr. A. Muller's Lehrbuch der griechischen Buhnenalterthumer
(1886).
I. Greece Proper.
Attica.
1. The Dionysiac theatre at Athens. Excavated in 1886 by the German Archaeological
Institute.
2. Theatre at Zea in the Peiraeus. Excavated in 1880 and 1885 by the Greek Archaeological
Society. The orchestra was surrounded by a canal, like that in the Dionysiac
theatre.
3. Theatre at Oropus. Excavated in 1886 by the Greek Archaeological Society.
The proscenium, with one door, remains.
4. Theatre at Thoricus. Excavated in 1886 by the American School. Remarkable
for the irregular curve of the orchestra, which recedes more than anywhere else
from the form of a semicircle, and approaches that of a semiellipse.
Epeirus.
1. Theatre at Dramyssus. The cavea well preserved. It had two diazomata.
2. Theatre at Elatria (now Rhiniassa). A great part of the cavea remains.
Sicyonia.
Theatre at Sicyon. Excavations begun in 1887 by the American School.
Argolis.
1. Theatre at Epidaurus. Excavated in 1883 by the Greek Archaeological Society.
The best-preserved and finest example of a Greek theatre of the classical age.
It was built about 350 B.C. by the younger Polycleitus (Paus. ii. 27, 5).
2. Theatre at Argos. The central part of the cavea was hewn from the rock; sixty-seven
rows of seats remain, separated by two diazomata. The two ends of the cavea
were formed by substructions of rude masonry.
Arcadia.
1. Theatre at Mantineia. Notable as an exception to the rule that Greek theatres
were built on natural slopes. Here the cavea rested on an artificial mound supported
by polygonal walls.
2. Theatre at Megalopolis. The largest known to Pausanias (ii. 27, 5). The site
was a natural slope, but recourse was had also to an artificial embankment at
each horn of the auditorium. Excavations begun here in 1889 by members of the
British School at Athens have disclosed the stage and the lowest portion of
the seats.
II, Islands of the Aegean Sea
The older theatre at Delos is that in which the segment of a circle formed by
the curve of the cavea most largely exceeds a semicircle. The Cretan theatres
at Gortyna, Hierapytna, and Lyctus are among those which have the niches intended,
as some have supposed, for echeia (see above).
III. Asia Minor
Among the theatres of the later Greek or Hellenistic age, those at the following
places show a peculiarity in the curve of the cavea like that noted above at
Delos: Side (Pamphylia), Myra (Lycia), Telmissus (do.), Iassus (Caria), Aizani
(Cilicia). The last-named theatre affords another example of the niches mentioned
above. Other interesting theatres of the same period are those of Pergamum (excavated
in 1885 by the German Expedition) and Assus (excavated in 1883, for the American
Archaeol. Institute, by Mr. J. P. Clarke). The Roman theatre at Aspendus (Pamphylia)
is the best-preserved ancient theatre in existence. The proscenium has five
doors.
IV. Italy
1. The two theatres at Pompeii. The larger shows a peculiarity in the four lowest
rows of seats, which are separated from those above, and appear to have been
the places of honour. The stage is also of interest. The smaller theatre was
roofed.
2. Theatre at Falerii. One of the best preserved. It was finished in 43 B.C.
V. Sicily
Theatres at Syracuse, Acrae, Catana, Tauromenion, Tyndaris, and Segesta. The
general characteristic of the Sicilian theatres is that they were founded in
Greek times and afterwards modified, or reconstructed, under Roman influences.
VI. France.
The Roman theatre at Orange (Arausio) is well preserved. The reconstruction
of it by A. Caristie (Monuments antiques a Orange, Paris, 1856) conveys a probably
just idea of its original beauty. In one respect it forms an exception to the
ordinary Roman rule; for use was made of a natural slope to support the cavea.
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
EPIDAVROS (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
On the acropolis of the ancient city of Epidavros and at the south west side there was, in the ancient age of Asklepios, a small theater for the public necessities, but the main reason that this theater was used was to honor the god Dionisios. From the dedicated inscriptions it is known that the construction of the theatre was finished in the 4th century, aided by the donations of the local lords and famous people of that age. At the concave of the theater, at the time, 9 benches were arranged with 18 series of images at each one. When the theatre was first built, it had a capacity of about 5000 seats. Characteristic of the theatre were the inscriptions that they made it to look like a museum.
After 23 centuries of silence, in 1971, the excavation began. Every July here, in Epidavros, music performances take place under the auspices of the Ministry of Development.
This text is cited Jan 2003 from the Municipality of Epidavros URL below, which contains images.
GYTHIO (Town) LACONIA
In the Northern part of Gythio, near the entrance of the city there
is the theatre, which is the most important edifice of the Roman Age. (It was
renovated during those times). The auditorium , which is divided in four parts
is well preserved. You can also see the foundations of the first stage wall dated
back to the early AD years.
South -east of the theatre there was an ancient agora. Above the theatre,
on the top of the 50m hill the Acropolis was situated. Today the remains of its
walls are distinguishable. Here there were the temple of Athena and the Gates
of Castorides as well as an aqueduct the ruins of which are still preserved.
This text is cited Apr 2003 from the Laconian Professionals URL below, which contains images.
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
MEGALOPOLIS (Ancient city) ARCADIA
ORCHOMENOS (Ancient city) LEVIDI
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
The ancient theater is located on the south slope of the Spartan
Acropolis. It was re-built during the Post-Hellenistic period (1st century B.C),
and it more then likely replaced an older wooden theater (2nd century B.C).
It is a huge public structure, supported by two large walls. Based on its space
availability, it is assumed that it entertained as many as 16,000 guests per
performance. The center and the stage were composed of white marble while the
walls were composed of limestone (which blends better with the environment).
At the upper peripherals of the center is the colonnade, where the audience
would seek refuge from the rain.
There where 48 sitting rows (9 in the lower and 18 in the upper
frieze). The entrance was located on the east side of the theater, where today
we can see the remains of a magnificent staircase leading to the frieze. The
audience could also enter the theater from the top or from Athena's Copper Temple.
The stage underwent several changes. Originally it must have been
wooden because at its western alley we find a brick storage space which was
mainly used in the winter. The wood was probably replaced during the second
century B.C., during the theater's reconstruction.
Today, the ancient theater which is no longer in good condition is
covered by the time's embankment. Only a very small portion of it has been excavated:
the orchestra, the stage and few other sections above the center. We all await
the excavation's continuation and long for the theater's restoration, even if
it is only partial.
This text is cited Apr 2003 from the Laconian Professionals URL below, which contains images.
ANTHIA (Village) THOURIA
On the hill of Hellenikon at Anthea 25 domed myceanean tombs, known as shelters, have come to light, four of which were excavated in 1995-1996,
ARNA (Village) FARIDA
There was found a Mycenaean vaulted tomb at the place Arkina near the village. It probably belonged to the Mynians or the Boeotians who set out from Boeotia and invaded Sparta. What is more, findings of all ages, and especially earthen pots, were found in several places at «Spartias», between Arna and Arkina. It turns out from these findings that this place had always been a junction of the road that led from Sparta to Messenia..
KATO MALTHI (Settlement) TRIFYLIA
In Malthi (the homeric Dorio), the biggest acropolis of the 2nd century, there is the best-preserved domed tomb of Greece. The construction of its upper part is still saved today as well as the stone of the ceiling which is called Kleidi (Key) and sealed the top of its beehive-like construction.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
KORYFASSIO (Cape) NESTOR
The domed tomb of Koryfasio (excavated by Kourouniotis in 1925) contained ostraka(fragments of vases) which belonged to the Mesohellenic Period (2200-1580 B.C)which is a sign that Messinia had domed tombs when in Mycaenae pit tombs were used.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MESSINIA (Prefecture) PELOPONNISOS
The domed Tombs, a tomb monument of the 2nd millenium B.C., was first created in Messinia, as a continuation of another kind of tomb, the Tymvos, and spread over Greece reaching its peak at Mycaenae with the Τreasure of Atreas. It consists of a circular chamber which supports a dome and of a mouth, the entrance, to which a passage leads. Most of the tombs were constructed in about the 15th century B.C. close to settlements which are all over Messinia, from Eglianos and Voedokelia to Kambos Avias, Anthea (Ancient Thouria - 'Hellenika'), Malthi and Peristeria. In Nestora's kingdom, the nekropolis of Eglianos, three tombs were found on the hill of Eglianos, two at Tragana, two at Myrsinochori, one at Koryfasio and one at Voedokelia.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MYCENAE (Mycenean palace) ARGOLIS
. . . The most celebrated of these are the so-called thesaurus of Atreus at Mycenae,
and that of Minyas at Orchomenus (see Trophonius). The latter is only partly,
the former wholly, preserved. The ground-plan of these structures is circular,
and consists of one enclosed room with a domed roof, constructed of horizontal
layers of massive stone blocks, projecting one over the other. This circular chamber
was used probably for service in honour of the dead. The actual resting-place
of the body was a square room adjoining. The large room at Mycenae is fifty feet
in diameter, and about the same in height. It consists of thirteen courses, the
uppermost of which was only a single stone. It was decorated with hundreds of
bronze plates, the holes for the nails being still visible.
This extract is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Dec 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
I. Greek.
Sepulchral chambers cut in the rock are found at all periods and in all parts
of the Greek world. The so-called prison of Socrates at Athens is a well-known
example of this kind of grave (Curtius, Atlas von Athen, vii. 4). The form and
arrangement of these rock-cut tombs are very various. They consist sometimes of
a single chamber, sometimes of an assemblage of chambers forming a small catacomb.
Generally one or more shelves are cut in the rock, at the side of each chamber,
for the reception of the bodies, and for the vases and other objects which are
placed beside them. (Rock-cut graves found in Cyprus, at and near Paphos, at Rhodes,
at Selinus in Sicily, in Karpathos)>
In the greater part of the Hellenic world rock-tombs are rather the
exception than the rule, and were probably a luxury of the rich; but in Asia Minor,
and especially in Phrygia and Lycia, they are found in enormous numbers, and often
of elaborate and ornate kinds.
(1) The commonest type of ornate rock-tomb in Lycia is a very close imitation
of a wooden structure, in which a framework of beams, the intervening spaces being
filled with wooden panels, supports a flat roof with projecting eaves. The minutest
details of wood-construction are reproduced in stone. Sometimes the facade only
of such a house is cut in a wall of rock; sometimes it stands cornerwise, with
two sides free; sometimes it is attached to the rock at the back only; and sometimes
it stands entirely free. The interior consists of a small low chamber, generally
furnished with three stone couches upon which to place the bodies. In some cases
a pointed arch is found above the flat roof, similar to that which forms the top
of the sarcophagus tombs. In the later examples the whole facade is gradually
assimilated to the typical facade of orthodox Greek architecture, with columns
and architrave. The pointed arch then becomes converted into a pediment.
(2)The sarcophagus tombs are very numerous. Benndorf estimates that there are
some two thousand of them in Lycia ...
(3)Tombs in the shape of a high square column or pedestal, with a projecting cornice
at the top, are found at Xanthos and elsewhere. Benndorf enumerates eleven of
them. The best known example is the Harpy Tomb --the sculptures from which are
now in the British Museum...
In Phrygia many rock-tombs are found. In some cases the facade is
architectural in character, and ornamented with geometrical patterns.
Large temple-tombs or hcroa are found in various parts of Asia Minor.
A central chamber stands upon a high basis or podium, and is surrounded by a colonnade.
The Nereid Monument at Xanthus was of this type, and was probably sepulchral...
This type found its highest development in the Mausoleum
at Halicarnassus in Caria, which was so widely celebrated in the ancient world
that the word Mausoleum was used by the Romans in the meaning of a splendid tomb.
Large stone or marble structures of this type are seldom found in Greece proper;
perhaps to some extent on account of the sumptuary laws, which restrained expenditure
upon monuments. Thus, at Athens, it was provided by one of Solon's laws that no
one should erect a monument which could not be completed by ten men in the course
of three days; and Demetrius Phalereus forbade the erection of any funeral monument
more than three cubits in height (Cic. de Legg. ii. 2. 6, 66).
An early and very remarkable form of tomb is that known as
the bee-hive, or domed tomb. The best known example of this type is the socalled
Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae (image in the link below). A large circular
chamber is built of courses of stones, which gradually overlap until they meet
at the apex, so as to form a dome-shaped building, but not a true dome. The space
for this chamber is excavated in the side of a hill, so that the whole projects
very little above the natural level of the ground. It is approached by a stone-lined
passage or dromos cut into the slope of the hill. The lintel of the door to which
the dromos leads is formed of a single enormous block of stone. A door at one
side of the domed chamber leads into the small sepulchral chamber cut in the rock.
Other graves of a similar type have been found at Mycenae, and at
many other places on the eastern shores of Greece; for example, at Menidi (Acharnae),
Spata in Attica, Orchomenos, Nauplia, near the Heraeon in the neighbourhood of
Argos, and at Volo in Thessaly. It seems probable that these tombs represent a
later stage of the same civilisation which produced the graves excavated by Dr.
Schliemann upon the Acropolis at Mycenae; but it is impossible here to discuss
the questions which arise in connexion with them.
The normal form of Greek grave may be considered sidered to be a hole
or trench in the ground, whether dug in earth or cut in rock. These are generally
found in groups; forming, in fact, cemeteries. They are often marked with a monument;
and they contain many objects besides the body. We have therefore to consider
(1) the position in which graves were placed; (2) the form of the grave; (3) the
monument placed above the grave; (4) the contents of the grave.
1. Place of Burial.
In the earliest times it was the custom, in Attica at any rate, for
the dead to be buried in their own houses (Plat. Minos, 315 D); and traces of
graves inside houses have been found at Athens. At Mycenae the very early graves
excavated by Dr. Schliemann are within the circuit of the citadel walls; and at
certain places the burial of the dead within the city was not forbidden in historical
times; as at Sparta (Plut. Lyc. 27:en tei polei thaptein tous nekrous kai pleoion
echein ta mnemata ton hieron ouk ekoluse), Megara (Paus. i. 43 3), and Tarentum
(Polyb. viii. 30). As a general rule, however, the places of burial were outside
the city walls, and frequently by the side of roads and near the gates of the
city. Thus at Athens the place of burial for those who had fallen in war was the
outer Kerameikos, outside the Dipylon gate, on the road leading to the Academia
(Thuc. ii. 34; Aristoph. Av. 395; Paus. i. 29, 4); and the common place of burial
was outside the Itonian Gate, near the road leading to the Piraeus (Eriai pulai,
Etym. Mag. and Harpocr; Theophr. Char. 14); while burial within the walls was
strictly forbidden (Cic. ad Fam. iv. 1. 2, 3). At Tanagra the tombs are outside
the ancient town; the three chief cemeteries being on the E., N., and S., and
the groups of tombs chiefly cluster round the roads.
2. The Forms of Graves.
At the Necropolis. of Myrina, far the commonest form of grave was
an oblong trench cut in the tufa, corresponding in size with the body to be buried.
This sometimes had a covering of stone plaques, but often was merely filled in
with earth. This form of grave was also common at Tanagra; but when it was covered,
tiles were used instead of stone plaques, and the trenches are for the most part
dug in the earth, not cut in rock. At Tanagra round pits, 1 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft.
in diameter, are also found. At both places the graves are sometimes lined with
stone slabs. In Cyprus, in the neighbourhood of Paphos, the tombs consist almost
entirely of vaulted chambers, cut in the rock or earth, sometimes with niches
radiating from a central chamber. The cut below shows one of the more. elaborate
rock-tombs.
There are various statements in ancient authors as to the orientation
of tombs (Plut. Solon, c. 10; Aelian, V. Hist. v. 14; Diog. Laert. i. 2, 48);
but in cases in which careful observations have been made, no uniformity of direction
has been found.
3. Outer Adornment or Monument.
The earliest kind of mark placed over a grave was probably the simple
tumulus. In later times a grave-stone of some kind was generally set up. The shapes
of these grave-stones are extremely various. They are divided by Koumanoudes into
the following classes: (1) kionisko. Small round columns, often with a simple
moulding near the top, below which is the inscription. This is the commonest shape.
(2) plakes, rectangular slabs, lying upon the ground. (3) stelai. (4) Aediculae
or shrine-shaped stones. The top is generally of pedimental form, supported by
pilasters or free columns. The space thus enclosed is filled by a sculptured representation,
in very high relief in the later examples. (5) Mensae (a term used by Cicero,
apparently for monuments of this class). Large rectangular blocks of stone, with
architectural ornament at the base and on the cornice. (6) Hydriae. Large marble
vases, in the shape of a lekythus, or of a tall amphora, of the kind used for
funeral purposes (funus),
were sometimes set up as funeral monuments. Eustathius (ad Il. xxiii. 141) says
that tois pro gamou teleutosin he loutrophoros, phasin, epetitheto kalpis, eis
endeixin tou hoti aloutos ta numphika kai agonos apeisi. Koumanoudes argues from
this passage that these marble vases were loutrophoroi, and marked the graves
of unmarried persons, and confirms his view by the fact that out of 171 cases
in which the tombstone is a vase or bears a representation of one, all but five
are certainly to be referred to unmarried persons. Other passages, however (Demosth.
adv. Leoc. § 18; Pollux, viii. 66), seem to show that the loutrophoros was a figure
bearing a vase: as, indeed, the formation of the word would indicate. (7) thekai,
stone receptacles, for the ashes after cremation; round or square, with a lid.
(8) Sarcophagi. The word stele is also used in a more general sense to include
most kinds of funeral monuments; and a fuller discussion of the artistic ornament
of funeral monuments will be found in... sarcophagus.
This classification of Attic monuments will apply with little modification
to other parts of Greece. Thus at Tanagra we find classes (1), (3), (4), and in
addition tombstones in the shape of altars. Altar-tombs are also common in Delos.
4. The Contents of the Grave
It was the universal custom, at all periods and in all parts of the
Greek would to bury objects, of a great. variety of kinds and often in great numbers,
with the corpse. Our knowledge of the minor Greek arts -pottery, vase-painting,
jewellery, terra-cotta work, gem-engraving e.t.c.- is almost entirely due to this
custom. The scores of thousands of vases and terra-cottas contained in the Museums
of Europe were, with few exceptions, discovered in tombs.
That the custom goes back to very early times is shown by the rich
contents of the Mycenaean graves, now in the National Museum at Athens. These
include gold and silver cups and ornaments; bronze caldrons and other vessels;
bronze sword-blades and other weapons, sometimes decorated with inlaid work of
gold or other metals; and other objects, too numerous to mention here.
The objects usually placed in tombs may be thus classified (La Necropole
de Myrina):
(a) The vase which contained the ashes, if the body had been burnt. This was most
often of pottery, but sometimes of gold, silver, or other precious material. If
the body had not been burnt, a coffin was often used. This was either of wood
(as in some Greek graves in the Crimea, or of earthenware, or of stone.
(b) Objects which apparently belonged to the dead, and were used by him when alive:
such as strigils, mirrors, perfume bottles, needles, &c.; rings, brooches, and
other personal ornaments, including wreaths and diadems, which were often made
of flimsy material for funeral purposes.
(c) Vessels intended to hold meat and drink for the dead. Sometimes remains of
food are found in these vessels. The number of them is sometimes very large; in
some tombs at Myrina as many as sixty or seventy earthenware bottles and vases
were found.
(d) Small terracotta figures. The reason for placing these in the tomb has been
much discussed. They are specially frequent in Boeotia, and are usually named
after Tanagra, the place where they were first found in large numbers. They were
sometimes intentionally broken before being placed in the tomb. Some connexion
may be traced between the subject represented and the owner of the grave. Statuettes
of women and of female divinities are more common in the graves of women; male
divinities, as Dionysus, Heracles, Atys, in those of men; and toys in those of
children (La Necropole de Myrina - terra-cotta).
(e) Charon's coin (see funus).
To these must be added a variety of miscellaneous objects,
such as engraved gems, earthenware lamps, small objects of bronze, glass bottles
and cups, so far as they are not included under the first category.
II. Italian.
Among the nations of Italy the Etruscans are remarkable for the care which they
gave to their graves. These graves are almost always subterranean. The more sumptuous
tombs consist of chambers hewn in the rock; either beneath the surface of the
ground, or penetrating horizontally into a cliff. A large number of such tombs
are described and represented in Dennis's Etruria, and the accompanying woodcut
of the Tomb of the Tarquins at Cervetri is taken from that work (i. 242).
It will be observed that this tomb is hewn in imitation of wood-construction;
and in fact the sepulchral chambers generally imitate the abodes of the living.
For example, a tomb at Corneto has its roof cut in the form of a cavaedium displuviatum.
In these tombs the bodies were generally placed upon stone couches, accompanied
by numerous vases and other objects (see below). The walls also are frequently
adorned with paintings, representing scenes of the cult of the dead, and of daily
life, and, in some of the late examples, scenes from Greek mythology.
But, as in Greece, so in Italy, rock-tombs are not the most common
form. Extensive and careful excavations in the neighbourhood of Bologna, at Falerii,
and in other places, have given us full knowledge of several Italian cemeteries.
The objects found in graves at Bologna are admirably arranged in the Museo Civico
at that place. The results obtained from comparison of them are, shortly, as follows.
The graves may be divided into three classes.
(1) Umbrian. The graves are oblong, polygonal, or square holes lined with stone.
In each tomb is a large earthenware vase, containing the ashes of the burnt body.
In a few of the later tombs unburnt skeletons are found, but these are very rare.
Arms, knives, and ornaments are found in great numbers; in the earlier tombs of
bronze only, in the later of iron also. Vases, spindles. and whorls of pottery
also occur in great numbers. In the later tombs a great advance is shown in the
skill with which the potter varies the forms and adornment of the vases.
(2) Etruscan. The earliest Etruscan tombs appear to be of about the same date
as the latest Umbrian: possibly of the 6th century B.C. They are distinguished
from the Umbrian tombs partly by the method of burial,--two-thirds of the bodies
are buried without burning, and one-third only are burnt,--partly by the tombstones,
often bearing representations of Etruscan religious scenes, which are placed above
the graves, and partly by the contents. The shapes of the bronze objects found
are characteristic and varied; and the pottery is almost all of Greek workmanship,
or imitated from Greek models. The Greek vases are for the most part red-figured;
but vessels of the Corinthian style, and an amphora partly black-figured and partly
red-figured, have been found in the earlier tombs.
(3) Gallic. A certain number of graves, of a rather late period, appear to be
Gallic in character.
The collection of objects found at Falerii is now displayed in the
new museum at the Villa Giulia, outside the Porta del Popolo at Rome. The graves
at Falerii consist for the most part of chambers furnished with a number of niches,
and so capable of receiving the remains of a number of persons. This peculiarity
makes the investigation of the chronological sequence of the graves difficult;
for the interments in each chamber extend over a considerable period. It is impossible
here to discuss in detail the questions involved. It must suffice to mention one
remarkable method of burial. In several cases coffins have been found made of
the trunk of a tree, cut in half and hollowed. A similar coffin has been found
near Gabii; and at Rome, beneath the agger of Servius, a terra-cotta sarcophagus
has been discovered, resembling in form the trunk of a tree. This form of treecoffin
appears frequently in Northern Europe, especially in Westphalia.
At Rome it has been shown by recent excavations that a large cemetery
lay on the east side of the city, outside the Porta Viminalis, and that it was
still in use in the latest times of the Republic. This was the place of burial
for slaves and poor people (Hor. Sat. i. 8, 8). The graves are of various kinds;
among others puticuli or well-graves; that is to say, pits which served as a common
grave for the bodies of those who could not afford the expense of separate burial.
(Varro, L. L. 5, 25: a puteis puticuli, quod ibi in puteis obruebantur homines,
nisi potius, ut Aelius scribit, puticulae, quod putescebant ibi cadavera projecta.
Qui locus publicus ultra Exquilias. Festus, Ep. p. 216; Com. Cruq. ad Hor. Sat.
i. 8, 10, &c.) Here, too, the bodies of executed criminals were thrown unburied
(Hor. Sat. i. 8, 17; Epod. 5, 99; Dionys. xx. 16). This cemetery was disused from
the time of Augustus onwards, and was turned into gardens, to the great improvement
of the sanitary condition of the district (Hor. Sat. i. 8, 14; Porphyrio and Com.
Cruq. in loc.).
Burial within the city was forbidden, from the time of the Twelve
Tables; but exceptions might be made in the case of specially distinguished persons--as,
for example, in the case of C. Fabricius (Cic. de Legg. ii. 2. 3, 58) and Valerius
(Plut. Q. R. 79), and generally in the case of those who had celebrated a triumph
(Plut. ib.). The Vestal Virgins and the emperors were buried in the city, according
to Servius (ad Aen. xi. 205), because they were not bound by the laws, but Eutropius
(8, 5) tells us that Trajan was the only emperor for whom the privilege was used.
By a rescript of Hadrian, those who buried a person in the city were liable to
a penalty of 40 aurei (Dig. 47, 12, 3, 5). The practice was also forbidden by
Antoninus Pius (Capitol. Anton. Pius, 12) and Theodosius II. (Cod. Theod. 9, 17,
6). A similar prohibition was in force elsewhere (Lex Coloniae Genetivae, lxxiii.;
Ephem. Ep. iii. p. 94).
The customary place for the tombs of well to-do families was by the
side of the roads leading out of the city. Many such tombs are still preserved
by the side of the roads leading out of Rome, especially the Appian Way, and many
more have been destroyed in comparatively recent times. A row of them also stands
outside the Herculanean gate at Pompeii. Part of this Pompeian street of tombs
is represented in the accompanying woodcut, taken from Mazois, Pompeiana, part
i. pl. 18. These private tombs vary very widely in arrangement and architecture.
In some cases we have underground chambers, similar to those found in Etruria;
as, for instance, the tomb of the Scipios on the Via Appia. But generally the
tomb consists of a building enclosing a chamber; and in this chamber are placed
the urns containing the ashes of the dead. Some not uncommon forms are shown in
the above representation of tombs at Pompeii. Other forms are the pyramid, as
in the case of the tomb of C. Cestius, near the Porta Ostiensis; the round tower,
as in the well-known tomb of Caecilia Metella; and the conical turret, as in the
so-called tomb of Virgil near Naples, and the so-called tomb of Aruns or of the
Horatii and Curiatii near Albano. This last shape seems to follow an Etruscan
model, for conical turrets are the chief feature of the tomb of Porsenna, as described
by Pliny (H. N. xxxvi 91-93). One of the most splendid sepulchral edifices was
the Mausoleum of Hadrian.
Another form of grave is the columbarium. This is found not unfrequently
at Rome, but is hardly known elsewhere; probably because land; at Rome was much
more valuable than at any other place. It consists of a building provided on the
inside with a large number of niches, flat at the bottom, arched at the top. Each
niche, as a rule, is intended to hold two urns, in which the ashes were placed.
The name columbarium was given to such graves because of the resemblance which
these niches bear to the holes of a pigeon-house. The general arrangement of a
columbarium is shown in the above woodcut, which represents one found in the year
1822 at the Villa Rufini, about two miles beyond the Porta Pia. Columbaria were
sometimes provided by great families as a burying-place for their slaves, freedmen,
and dependents: e. g. by the Statilii Tauri, by the Volussi, and by Livia.. But
most frequently they were erected by burial societies, formed by persons who were
too poor to purchase a place of burial for themselves. Considerable light has
been thrown upon the constitution and arrangement of these societies by inscriptions,
and especially by those found in the year 1852 in a columbarium upon the Via Appia,
not far from the tomb of the Scipios.
An account of Roman tombs would not be complete without some mention
of the Catacombs; but as they were almost exclusively used by the Christians,
it must suffice here to refer to the Dictionary of Christian Antiquities and the
authorities there cited.
Contents of Tombs.
If the body was not burnt, it was placed in the tomb either enclosed
in a coffin or sarcophagus, or unenclosed. In the latter case in Etruscan tombs
it is generally placed upon a couch of stone, as is shown in the accompanying
representation of a tomb at Veil (see in the URL below). If the body was burnt,
the ashes were placed in an urn or pot (urna, olla). The urn takes many forms.
The hut-urns found at Albanos (see cut under tugurium)
are made of earthenware, and represent a primitive hut, with a peaked straw roof,
similar apparently to the contemporary dwellings of the living. The urns also
in the Bolognese cemeteries and in the columbaria are generally of earthenware.
In Etruria a favourite form is a miniature sarcophagus of earthenware or stone,
with a recumbent figure upon the lid. Marble, stone, and alabaster are commonly
used; and the next woodcut (see in the URL below) represents a sepulchral urn
of marble in the British Museum. The inscription shows that it contained the ashes
of Cossutia Prima. It is of an upright rectangular form, richly ornamented with
foliage and supported at the side. by pilasters. Its height is 21 inches, and
its width about 15. Other materials used are glass, and various metals, -lead,
bronze, silver, and even gold.
A large number of other objects (of which some mention has been made
above) were generally placed in the tomb, apparently with the intention of supplying
the dead with the customary apparatus of life. Thus in the early tombs weapons
and armour frequently occur. Later, agricultural implements and tools are often
found; and in the case of women, articles of the toilet, scent-bottles, ornaments,
and so forth. Clothes, money, food and drink, and vessels for containing them,
were often added. The last purpose may explain to some extent the large number
of vases which are often found in tombs. Several are to be seen in the picture
of a tomb at Veii given above. In Etruria Greek vases and native imitations of
Greek vases were used in very large numbers for this purpose; and it is from Etruscan
tombs that the majority of extant Greek vases comes. With the exception of those
which were found at Pompeii, nearly all the objects of daily use in our Museums
have been taken from graves. We must add lastly altars, lamps and candelabra,
intended for ritual purposes.
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MYRO (Village) KYPARISSIA
At Peristeria, the Mycaenae of Western Peloponnese, four domed tombs have been found, one of which is the biggest in Messinia. In the tombs of Peristeria there have been found written characters in Hieroglyphics and Grammiki A', engraved elements of Knossos, golden cups, jewellery and magnificent vases which are exhibited today in the museum of Chora.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MYRSINOCHORI (Village) NESTOR
The two tombs found in Myrsinochori can be characterised as princely because Cretan vases, amber necklaces, manuals with golden covering, a gold ring etc. were found there.
PALEOKASTRO (Village) GORTYS
SKALOMA (Settlement) LOUTRAKI-PERACHORA
At the pretty spot called Skaloma (to the east of the Vouliagmeni
lagoon, on the way to Makryloi) Mycenean tombs dating from 1600-1500 BC have
been discovered. A total of twelve shaft tombs, dug out of a hillside of soft
oil, have come to light. The tombs are circular in shape and roofed with protruding
domes. The grave-goods accompanying the dead were unusually rich and impress with
the delicacy of their technique and their linear decoration.
THOURIA (Ancient city) MESSINIA
The presence of a myceanean civilization in the area of ancient Thouria is also proved by the chamber tomb found there. It was built in 1500 B.C. and was 1,80 m. wide. It was covered by 2 flat stones 2,75 m. long each while the partitions were symmetrical with hewn stone of 2 m.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
TRAGANA (Settlement) GARGALIANI
The archaeologists Skias and Marinatos have excavated the two tombs of Tragana. In one of them they found hollows containing remnants of burnt corpses (coal and bones).
VAFIO (Settlement) SPARTI
About 8 miles south of Sparta one can find the Vafio hill. Excavations
brought to light a Mycenaean behive tomb containing splendid gold and silver artifacts,
some of which are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Athens.
This is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Greece.
The findings from Vafio, underline the significance of the region in the post
- Hellenic Mycenaean years.
The Mycenaean vaulted tomb of Vafion, constructed from small, chiseled
stones, has been the subject of many archaeological project and has acquired international
fame because of the two golden cups found inside. These cups, bearing depictions
of wild bull hunting, can be seen at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens,
and even though the location of the palace of Mycenaean Sparta has not been identified,
they constitute irrefutable evidence of the prosperity and development of the
region much earlier than 1000 B.C. The region's significance has been corroborated
by the discovery of Mycenaean graves in the location: "Spilakia".
This text is cited Apr 2003 from the Laconian Professionals URL below, which contains images.
VOIDOKILIA (Beach) PYLOS
The tomb of Voedokelia is attributed to Nestora's son, Thrasymidis, according to the archaeologist Marinatos, and under the passageway stone and bronze arrows were found.
MEGALOPOLIS (Ancient city) ARCADIA
MESSINI (Ancient city) ITHOMI
It had been built by the feet of the mountain of Ithomi in 369 B.C., where the prehistoric Ithomi was, by the Theban general Epaminondas with the help of Epitelis from Argos. It was erected as a shelter for the settlement of refugees from Messinia and Arkadia and in order to create a powerful city to counterbalance the sovereignty of Sparta. The city was protected by a circular symmetrical wall built with huge stones which were 2-2,5 m. wide and 4,5 m. high. Its perimeter extended for 9,024 m. and followed the two slopes of Mount Ithomi which was a place of worship for Ithomata Dia (Zeus). In terms of structure the wall is considered to be one of the best examples of architecture and fortification of the fourth century B.C. with two gates; the eastern, the Lakoniki and the northwestern, the Arkadiki. The Arkadiki Gate had two doors and a big circular yard was included inside while the wall had ramparts and overlooking turrets at intervals as well as embrasures on two different levels.
The centre of the town was in the place of the contemporary village Mavromati while in the Agora, according to what has been Knhwn until 1986 and what comes to light with the excavations on the area of ancient Messini by the professor in the University of Crete, Petros Themelis, was the source of Arsinoe or Kallirroi Krini. In the archaeological site there is the Asklaepeio, holy sanctuaries of Poseidon, Aphrodite and Demeter, statues of the Mother of gods (attributed to the Messinian artist Damofondas), Lafias Artemidos, Elitheias, the Dioskouri, a monument to honor Aristomenis, the Gymnasium and the Sevasteio or Kesharion, a building dedicated( from 14 A.D) to the worship of Roman emperors.
Skeletons of Synedrio, Alexandrianis era and Ierothisiou have been found close to the Agora as well as statues of all the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and of the founder of the city, general Epaminondas, and ruins of the theatre, the Vouleftirio and the stadium. It was the capital of the federation of messinian cities (338-191 B.C) and reached its heyday during the Achaic and Aetolic confederacy.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
From 1987, that professor Petros Themelis began the excavations, till now, there have been found:
Two sanctuaries on the SW slope of mount Ithome.
The N side of the market-place.
The sanctuaries of Demeter and the Dioscouri.
The sanctuary of Artemis Orthia (standing).
The N wing of the Asclepion.
A public bath.
Two rooms of Roman buildings.
Part of the Hierothesion.
The stadium and the gymnasium.
The shrine of Heracles and Hermes with their statues of worship.
The Heroon, a Doric temple in the stadium.
The ancient theatre.
The water-basin Arsinoe, where the village Mavromati takes water from. Behind the water-basin there was found a sanctuary of Acheloous. (source: Publication of the Prefectural government of Messenia).
MYCENAE (Mycenean palace) ARGOLIS
Mycenae was the center of the Mycenaean Civilization during the period
that Greece prospered, that is, the Bronze Age. Mycenae, with all its wild beauty,
is located in the northern section of the Argolic Gulf and has been built at the
top of a fortified hill. This location comprised a transport intersection. Homer
refers to Mycenae as "polychryses" and "efktimenes", meaning well built with multiple
gold. Perseus (son of Zeus and Danae) is said to have built Mycenae in 1500 B.C.
Under the Atreides' Dynasty, Mycenae reached great prosperity. King Atreus was
the leader of the Greeks in their crusade to Troy.
In 468 B.C., the people of Argos destroyed Mycenae and Tiryns.
Since then, the buildings' ruins were covered with dirt. The excavations within
the Mycenaean site began in 1841. H. Schliemann began excavating Grave Circle
A. The work of the Archaeology Service in conjunction with P. Stamatakis, Ch.
Tsountas, J. Papadimitriou, N. Verdelis, G. Mylonas, S. Iakovides as well as the
British School of Archaeology of Athens (A.J. B, Wace, W. Taylor) maintains great
significance.
Mycenae was comprised within a Citadel or an Acropolis during the
period of prosperity, which could be accessed only through the renowned Lion Gate
(it was named after the pictured sculpture) from the Lower City, which was also
encased within the surrounding settlements that were found outside the walls.
The Acropolis Wall was built between 1350 - 1300 B.C. and was comprised of a rectangular
stone cube (Cyclopean Fortification wall). The Palace of Atreides as well as the
framework of a Doric Temple that was built in place of a Mycenaean Palace were
located at the Citadel's peak. The most noteworthy area is the Royal Cemetery,
which was protected by a circular surrounding wall. Schliemann discovered five
shaft graves (1876) and P. Stamatakis uncovered the sixth (1877). On the east
side of the Citadel, remains of many Mycenaean buildings are found, the largest
of which is the House with the columns. This comprises the central section of
the Palace's east aisle, which was surrounded by warehouses, workshops, shops
and the Residences of the Officials. The southeastern side of the hill was constructed
in 1225 B.C., a tunnel of circular inner walls that led to an underground cistern
fed by the Persian Spring (12 meters in depth) that was used for the purpose of
ensuring water in the event of a siege.
There was a series of houses in the Lower City of Mycenae, such as
the House of Shields (Aspidon), the House of an olive-oil trader (13th century),
which was found in 1950 upon which tile was used that illustrated linear graphics
as well as the House of Sphinxes. Today, only their foundations have been preserved.
The famous Tomb of Agamemnon or Treasury of Atreus is found in the Lower City.
It was agreed that it would be referred to as such even though it was constructed
in 1350 B.C. and belongs to a King that followed. A narrow path carved into a
cliff leads to a colonnade and lintel that are formed by two massive blocs. The
arched booth continues, which comprises a circular hall that is shaped like a
beehive. The Tholos is comprised of 33 successive rings built in accordance with
the bearing system, thus resulting in the fact that the peak can only be closed
by one slab. A passage leads to a side hall (ossuary). The tomb walls are covered
by bronze slabs and the entire structure is covered with dirt. To the right of
the Treasury of Atreus is Clytmenestra's Tomb and the Aegisthus in addition to
a fourth tomb, a little older and near the Lion Gate. Additional tombs were uncovered
in 1902 by J. Papadimitriou. Numerous tombs are located on the west side of the
hill with the Treasury of Atreus (Tomb of Spirits, the Hill of Panagia, Epano
Phournos and Kato Phournos).
This text is cited May 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs URL below.
ORCHOMENOS (Ancient city) LEVIDI
PALLANTION (Ancient city) TRIPOLI
PRASSIES (Ancient city) LEONIDION
EVA (Ancient settlement) ASTROS
LOUTRAKI (Town) CORINTHIA
The considerable importance of this building can be deduced from the
large number of marble architectural members it contained and from the mosaic
scenes that ornamented its floors. The luxurious villa was equipped with a skillfully
constructed bath linked to the warm medicinal springs of Loutraki. The medicinal
springs of Loutraki, which still attract large numbers of visitors today, were
not unknown in ancient times. Loutraki was called Therma
meaning “hot springs” - and traces of the ancient settlement have
been identified beneath the modern town. Ancient writers mentioned the therapeutic
properties of the waters.
EXAMILIA (Small town) KORINTHOS
The Isthmus of Corinth
is a narrow strip of land between Central Greece and the Peloponnese,
and it is the only entrance from the north into the southernmost part of the Greek
mainland. For that reason, it played an important part in the history of the area.
Again and again, the Peloponnesians built and repaired α line of walls across
the narrow neck of land, to the south of the modern canal. In recent years, the
foundations of a Cyclopean wall have been discovered south of the sanctuary
of Poseidon; this must have been constructed in the late Mycenean period in
α vain attempt to stem the Dorian invasion.
Much of the Hexamilian Wall, built in the time of the Emperor Justinian
of Byzantium, has survived.
It was subsequently reconstructed twice - in 1415 by Manheul ΙΙ Palaeologus and
in 1443 by Constantine Palaeologus before the Turks finally broke through it
in 1446. The wall is 7,300 meters long, with α thickness of 3 m., 153 towers and
a large tort at either end. Much ancient material from the sanctuary
of Poseidon was incorporated into the wall - so much, indeed, that it was
believed for many centuries that it has been a Classical structure.
MEGALOPOLIS (Ancient city) ARCADIA
A large rectangular building located on the north-eastern side of
the ancient Agora. It was built a short distance from the main area of the Agora,
on the other bank of the river Elisson.
It was used as the meeting place of the "myriad", the 10.000 members
of the Arcadic confederation. According to Pausanias, the foundation of the building
was attributed to Thersilos, around 4th century BC. The building was constructed
after the foundation of Megalopolis by Epameinondas, in 371 BC, after the defeat
of the Lacaedemonians by the Thebeans at Leuctra.
At the south side of the auditorium was a rectangular "orchestra".
Along the other three sides there were rows of wooden seats. The 65 columns supporting
the roof, were arranged in lines radiating from the center, to ensure visual contact
with the speaker.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Foundation of the Hellenic World URL below.
MESSINI (Ancient city) ITHOMI
It was intended only for the meetings of the 76 members of the congress of the town, for whom there was a stone bench along the three sides, while in the middle of the fourth there was supposed to be the podium of the speaker (Ekdot. Athinon, Pausaniou Periegissis, vol.3, p.124, note 3).
SIKYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
A big, almost square building on the south side of the agora of Sikyon,
presumed to have served as the meeting place for the Voule (Parliament). It dates
back to the 3rd century BC.
Its erection is related to the re-establishment of the city on a diferent
location by Demetrius Poliorketes, one of the successors of Alexander the Great.
The Bouleuterion consisted of a single, almost square auditorium,
with two internal concentic ionian colonnades. Inside were round benches and two
rectangular basins, into which water was channeled through pipes from a spring
at the foot of the Acropolis. The main entrance was on the north side, across
the Agora, and was decorated with a portico.
The building is mentioned by Pausanias (2nd century BC). In the roman
period it was used for public baths.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Foundation of the Hellenic World URL below.
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
Εllipsoid roman building in the southern part of the Roman
forum. It was established to house the local Voule of the city, and dates back
to the late 1st century BC.
The erection of Curia was part of the major project of rebuilding
the city after 44 BC, the year when the city was re-established by the Caesar
as a roman colony. The building was divided to the main conference room and an
ante-chamber. The roofed main room was formed by two linear and two curvilinear
walls, along which were stone benches. One or three gates led to the oblong room
with curvilinear narrow sides. The north facade of the building was decorated
with two front portals.
The architectural form of the building is unique in Greece, but it
bears some resemblance with some roman buildings in Italy. The walls are perserved
up to a considerable height.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Foundation of the Hellenic World URL below.
MANTINIA (Ancient city) ARCADIA
A Stoa at the South of agora, the seat of the local Boule (parliament)
founded during 4th century BC. Wooden benchy along the walls provided for seating.
Initially, the edifice had an "U" shaped plan, comprising three wings
and a colonnade opening to the Agora. At the turn of 4th to 3rd century BC a second
stoa was added at a lower level to the south connected to the older one through
stairways. A room built at the east side during 2nd century AD most probably was
dedicated to the worship or to man emperors.
The use of the building for civic purpose rests on several inscriptions
of a political nature (that where) found in or near it. The bouleuterion at Mantineia
is a rare example of a stoa used for housing an assembly.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Foundation of the Hellenic World URL below.
PYRRICHOS (Ancient city) ANATOLIKI MANI
There are remains of buildings and there have been found tomb inscriptions and the body of a woman's statue.
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
ASSEA (Ancient city) VALTETSI
Asea in Arcadia
Asea is located in the heart of the Peloponnese. The Asea valley was
inhabited, first in the Middle/Upper Paleolithic period (ca. 40.000 B.P) by people
making their living from hunting and fishing. During most of the Neolithic period
and the Bronze Age there were several villages in the valley, of which the most
important one was located on the Asea Paleokastro hill. After a couple of dark
centuries, an urban settlement developed on and around the Paleokastro with the
hill as its akropolis. Just to the north of the akropolis a cultplace was located,
which especially during Classical times attracted visitors from near and afar
in order to make their offerings. This and much more has been learnt through the
Asea Valley Survey undertaken between 1994-1996 and directed by Jeannette Forsen
from Goteborg University. As a direct spinoff from the survey the Late Archaic
temple located on top of the mountain Ayios Elias in Asea was excavated in 1997.
During a four week long campaign Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian scholars found
evidence of a nearly unbroken chain of cult practice from the Late Bronze Age
to Hellenistic times. Sporadic finds of a younger date were also made. The city
walls on and below the Asea Paleokastro were documented in the year 2000. The
preliminary results of this work show that only the spurwalls are of Hellenistic
date, whereas other walls on top of the akropolis are of Classical date.
Jeanette Forsen
This text is cited Jun 2005 from The Swedish Institute at Athens URL below
ASSINI (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Asine in the Argolid
In the ship's catalogue in the Iliad, Homer informs us who sent ships
to the Trojan War. In connection with the Argolid he notes that Asine, situated
at the head of the bay, sent six ships. This Asine has been identified with modern
day Kastraki near the village of Tolo. The Swedish Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf came
here in 1920 on a private tour of Greece. One of the reasons for his choice of
country was his interest in archaeology. He had already participated in archaeological
excavations in Sweden and believed that Sweden should join in investigating ancient
Greece. He was the initiator of the Asine excavations, Sweden's first excavation
on a large scale in the country.
For nearly two decades, until the outbreak of the Second World War,
Swedish archaeologists worked extensively in the Argolid and always under the
direction of Axel W. Persson. He was Swedish archaeology in Greece. As he was
not a field archaeologist but a philologist the Asine Committee appointed Otto
Frodin, an experienced field archaeologist to direct the fieldwork together with
Persson. When the publication appeared in 1938 (Results of the Swedish excavation
at Asine 1922 - 1930) in Stockholm it reflected the main interest of the two directors
as well as the focus of archaeological research at the time: prehistory. Extensive
investigations were carried out on the acropolis and in the so-called Lower Town
or the northern slopes of the rock.
Further, on the Barbouna Hill two cemeteries were partly investigated:
a Late Bronze Age one (c. 1600 -1100 BC) on the eastern slopes and a Late Geometric
one (8th century BC) on the south slopes.
Methodologically the excavations were very advanced. Much of the soil
was sieved in order not to miss small objects and all material was considered
important enough to keep. A large sherd collection is now kept in the Asine Collection
at the University of Uppsala as a result of an exchange of materials done in the
1930's between the Swedish Asine Committee and the Greek government. From several
Swedish museums prehistoric flint tools and weapons were given to Greece.
In 1970 investigations at Asine were resumed by the Swedish Institute
at Athens under the direction of Carl-Gustaf Styrenius, its director at the time.
The brothers Karmaniola who owned land east of the acropolis wished to build a
camping-place and test trenches by the local archaeological authorities indicated
extensive ancient remains. A year later Robin Hagg joined the project and the
southern slopes of the Barbouna Hill were included in the investigations. The
Karmaniola area was excavated from 1970 - 1974 and is today mostly published (in
the Acta of the institute); Hagg did his last field season in 1989. The results
of the work on Barbouna are partly published in a periodical of Uppsala University:
Boreas.
In 1985 Berit Wells investigated the Late Geometric walls on the northern
slopes of the Barbouna Hill ('Early Greek building sacrifices' in Early Greek
cult practice, eds. R. Hagg, N. Marinatos and G.C. Nordquist, Stockholm 1988)
and in 1990 the previously unexcavated corner north of the Hellenistic bastion
(A. Penttinen, 'Excavations on the acropolis of Asine in 1990', Opuscula Atheniensia,
1966). At present no fieldwork is being carried out at Asine.
At all times Asine was a site of strategic importance. This is today
reflected in the Hellenistic fortifications built by the Macedonians (probably
by Demetrios Poliorketes) c. 300 BC and in the trenches and guard towers built
by the Italian army during the occupation of Greece in the Second World War.
There is more or less continuous habitation at Asine from the Neolithic
period onwards. The place flourished through the Bronze Age and continued doing
so also after the destruction of the Mycenaean citadels and into the early Iron
Age. Not until c. 700, when Argos destroyed Asine, do we see a decline in settlement
but not a discontinuance as was proposed in the old publication. People continued
living here and c. 300 BC there was a re-colonization, when the above-mentioned
fortifications were built.
About the later history we catch only glimpses. In the Late Roman
period (c. 400 - 500 BC) at least one bath was erected; in 1686 Morosini landed
on the eve of the capture of Nauplion; and after the War of Independence Cretan
fishermen attacked and destroyed a still Ottoman village (according to tradition)
on the island of Romvi. They settled on the shore opposite and founded the village
of Tolo.
Berit Wells, ed.
This text is cited Jun 2005 from The Swedish Institute at Athens URL below
DORION (Prehistoric settlement) TRIFYLIA
Malthi/The Swedish Messenia expedition
Malthi is the name of the northern spur of the mountain range of Ramovouni
in northern Messenia. The village of Vasiliko is situated some kms northeast of
Malthi. In 1926 Natan Valmin came to the region and was shown two tholos tombs
which he excavated the same year. Later on a third tholos was identified, but
it was destroyed before there was time to excavate it. The tholos tombs are situated
just west of the Malthi acropolis, by the small village of Malthi (former Bodia).
Tholos I was robbed and contained a mixture of Mycenaean pottery sherds and later
material. The diametre of the circular chamber was 6.85 m and the height was 5.80
m. Tholos II was partly collapsed at the time of excavation and this tomb had
also been robbed. Both tombs were obviously cut out from the cliff (according
to Hope Simpson & Dickinson, A gazetteer of Aegean civilization in the Bronze
Age, Vol I: The mainland and islands, 1979, 174) and were not built directly on
flat ground as Valmin states. The next year Valmin excavated two more tholoi:
one west of Kopanaki and another between Vasiliko and Bouga-Kallirrhoi. The results
are published in Bulletin de la Societe Royale des Lettres de Lund 1926-1927,
190 ff.
The same year, 1927, the excavation of the settlement on top of the
acropolis started. Excavations continued in 1929, 1933 and 1934. During these
years the entire settlement, which is encircled by a wall, was uncovered. The
area within the wall measures 140 x 80 m. Valmin stated that the earliest habitation
was Neolithic. This he called Dorion I. Dorion II was larger och would, according
to Valmin, belong to the Early Bronze Age. The wall around the settlement was
erected during Dorion IV in the Middle Bronze Age. This habitation continued down
into Mycenaean times.
Valmin describes how Dorion IV was divided into three separate parts:
the central area where the architecture seemed to be more of a monumental character
and where there were workshops in the northern part, the area which runs along
the interior of the wall, and the empty areas where there was no habitation.
A number of 47 graves were excavated in the settlement within the walls. They were situated beneath and between the buildings. They are either simple pitgraves or cist graves, the sides of which consisted of stone slabs or were built by smaller stones. Single burials were most common, although some of the graves held two individuals and some held several. Two of the graves held no human bones. Nine of the burials were adults and the rest were children. Valmin searched in vain for chamber tombs in the region during all the excavation campaigns.
It is now believed that the earliest habitation at Malthi cannot be
dated earlier than the Middle Bronze Age. The pottery which Valmin called coarse
'Adriatic Ware' and which he found throughout the layers in the habitation beginning
in the so-called Neolithic settlement, has proved to be typical for the local
Middle Bronze Age in Messenia ((R.J. Howell i W.A. McDonald, 'Excavations at Nichoria:
1972-1973', Hesperia 44, 1975, 111). The encircling wall is now dated to the Late
Helladic period (P. Darque, L?architecture domestique mycenienne. These du III°
cycle, Paris 1980, 32f.).
A building or part of a settlement dating to the Late Bronze Age was
excavated in 1936 in the same area, where the two tholoi were excavated in 1926.
In 1929 Valmin travelled around Messenia and some of his observations
are recorded in Etudes topographiques sur la Messenie ancienne, 1930. After his
travels Valmin saw reason to return and conduct excavations at two archaeological
sites which he had found being of special interest. One of the sites was a temple
to the rivergod Pamisos in Hagios Floros, ca 5 km east of Messene. The finds from
this excavation indicate that this cult place had been in use from Archic down
to Roman times. The other site was Koroni in southeastern Messenia (the colony
of the inhabitants from Asine in the Argolid). Just north of the town Valmin excavated
a Roman mosaic in a room supposed to have been a larger complex: a villa or a
gymnasium. Dionysos is the central motif of the mosaic.
Many of the finds from the various excavations conducted by Valmin
and his colleagues were restored and put on display in the local museum of Vasiliki.
This museum is now closed. The finds from his excavation are now in the Kalamata
Museum.
The following excavations under the direction of Valmin are published
in The Swedish Messenia Expedition, 1938:
The two tholos tombs of Malthi (Bodia).
The settlement of Malthi including the tombs.
The temple of Pamisos at Hagios Floros.
The Roman mosaic at Hagia Triada close to Koroni.
Ann-Louise Schallin, ed.
This text is cited Jun 2005 from The Swedish Institute at Athens URL below
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