Other Cities - ARGOS

Secular Saturday #ancienthistory #argos #greece #maps

ARGOS is one of those Greek cities that have lasted for centuries.

Why?

Having two very convenient hills to center and strengthen your western defences helps!

First a map showing the general area of the #Argolid.  Notice the surrounding roads hills rivers and plains. A great location for trading with Laconia Arcadia and other polises. Two rivers. A nearby port at Tiryns. Mycenae guarding the north east pass to Corinth. A plain suitable for both crops and herds.

Now more detail.

Note that Larissa and the Aspis are both HILLS. 

BIG Hills with Forts and Citadels. 

The modern city center is further east since the invention of cannons and gunpowder overcame the advantages of two high hills joined by walls. 

Still great location. 

Water. Defences. Nearby Farmland. Trade by land and sea.

Successful cities share common resource factors. 

Next time we look at a polis where advance planning and a good location did NOT work yet could have!

Yes Megalopolis in Arcadia!

The other Cities : ONE _ GORTYN IN CRETE

#gortyn #gortys #crete #greekpolises

One could get the impression from #AncientHistory text books and courses that the only two cities of importance in Classical Era Greece were Athens and Sparta and maybe Thebes or Corinth.

HOWEVER if a city or polis is judged by its endurance and sustainability ...

Let us consider #GORTYN in Crete an urban settlement that has endured since the Neolithic and possibly still does if Ayia Deka was once the Eastern edge of the city?

But first here's the three best images / maps I could find that looked like they would work on a variety of screen sizes.

GORTYN has LOCATION AND WATER !!!

With runoff from the hills and mountains a permanent river and situated on a fertile plain the Messara Gortyn's location would have a modern real estate agent screaming "BUT WAIT THERE"S MORE"

LOCATION! LOCATION!

No signs of major occupation in the Minoan period however there could be remains under the foundations of the Classical and Roman period buildings but that "acropolis" was probably a guard or watch post originally and that road has been the main route west east across the messara plain for centuries!
 It is very close to where the road turns north up across the mountains to Knossos and there are other roads leading to the south coast to towns that were ports with trade to African and Egypt. So a Cross roads So  LOCATION?

The Romans also added aqueducts and  given this was the provincial capital perhaps the suburbs and housing quickly reverted back to farmland cos the city included open areas for stock yards and more than one agora or forum or even market gardens?

I suspect more discoveries will be made in this area if they have not already and been quietly sold off on the black market. Most of the statuary was removed to museums but I also suspect there's quite a bit of hidden Roman plumbing and pipes still carrying water to those modern olive groves and other growth.

When you think of Knossos remember that Gortyn stood for a far greater length of time 4000 years from the Neolithic to the 7th century AD Arab Raids in comparision to a mere 2000 or less for Knossos.

Those are approximate numbers as I rounded them off to include Neolithic settlements and I may actually under estimated the dates.

Greece and the Hellenic sphere of influence is far more than Athens and Sparta or Ionia.

Tomorrow back to bible study or easter cards but stay tuned for discussion of Pylos the ARGOLID and Melos as polises over the next few weeks as well as our scheduled weekend bible study.

The Ionian Confederacy

Our next mid week sequence will focus on the Ionian Confederacy.

There were 12 cities including Miletus.

Of the many cities marked on this old map those in the Confederacy were,  from North to South:

Phocaea Smyrna Erythrae Clazomenae Teos Lebedus Colophon Ephesus Priene Miletus  and the two islands Chios and Samos>

I have chosen this old map despite the changes in coastlines since the 1880s  as it clearly shows the mountain ranges and rivers in the area. Also as many of you have probably noticed when looking into the geography of the region modern maps tend to show the Greek or Turkish names but not both or show the Turkish and only mark the archaeological sites unless they are major or give you the impression the nearest modern Turkish  village or town is a short walk away when its not!

More on this next time.

Heirs of Alexander The Seleucids

Seleukos or Seleucus in Latin was another of the Diadochi generals and commanders who seized part of Alexander's conquered realms after his death.
He was a great city builder founding amongst many other cities teh famous Tetrapolis of Antioch Apamea Laodicea and Seleucia.

As with many other dynasties the first two or three rulers were excellent but then there was a decline. 

Seleucus Nicator  the first shown above started off controlling a vast area of Asia from the Mediterranean coast across to the Indus valley. He traded off the far eastern section of his realm for  trained Indian war elephants.

Persia and other areas were lost to the Parthians but the Seleucid empire had a brief revival and expansion westwards under Antiochus the 3rd who conquered Greece but defeated lost all the lands west of the Taurus mountains.

One of the most interesting queens of the Seleucid dynasty mother and wive to several of them was another Cleopatra, Cleopatra Thea a Ptolemid princess.

Faced with the Roman advance to the West and the rise of the Parthians to the East Seleucid dynasty sadly declined destroying itself with internal conflcit between various heirs and pretenders and cousins until its realm was little more than Syria and the two final rulers was slain by Pompey. 

Syria became a Roamn province and is now once again being fought over but the Seleucids left a legacy of city building and Antioch still stands today.