Old Piraeus Map

 Old #MAP of #PIRAEUS 

I was reading Xenophons description of the revolt against the Oligarchs and how it started at Munychia spread across Piraeus and then up into Athens. The northern larger harbor is much more important now so much more suitable for larger modern shipping. The two smaller ports facing seawards would have been even more useful at ancient times for ships powered as much by oar as sail. 

Sicyon Phlius and Xenophon

 I've been thinking about Sicyon and Phlius and other names on this map because I recently reread Xenophons History of my Times also called the Hellenika. 

Sicyon and Phlius are shown in large print on this old map like Corinth and Argos but today they're the sort of ruins that need a map if you are exploring onsite and theres not much to see using Google Earth or other photos either. Yet Sicyon and Phlius were much more important in the past.

Xenophon writes about Phlius because he was impressed by their warriors valor and skills and Sicyon was the home of famous artists art schools craftsmen sculptors and Aratus and others but today they are both rubble and ruin though one thing remains the Asopus river still flows past both of the sites. 

Corinth is still a major city though all this time because to control and build at Corinth is to control the Isthmus, the canal, the ports on both sides, the roads that cross the Isthmus and the high and low city. 

I'm also sharing this cos I love those old maps that show the topography! 

Linear B place names Map

A useful map I found the other day while doing a random search of the WWW
#linearb #map #mycenaeangreece

Note to the copyright holder I don't have a link for the original source or contact details for you. Thank you for this great map. Hope its okay to share for educational purposes?

Contact me so I can add details or add a link in the comments!

Lake Copais Three

Lake Copais Three

#lakecopais #ancientgreece #map

Here's a third interpretation of the available data about the Mycenaean canalization of Lake Copais.

Where it says kat. are indications of the places where the lake drains into underground rivers and sinkholes. Well the ones we know about. Strabo writes 9.2.16 of earthquakes blocking some and opening others over the centuries and there may have been an underground river flowing from the NE and rising from the ground to flow a short distance into the sea near Larymna, again according to Strabo.

The goal of the Minyan engineers from Orchomenus may possibly also have been not just to divert flood waters away from their city but to also make it easier to cross the wetlands when the waters was low by using the canals and paths along them as roads or for barges perhaps? Plus silt building up behind the facings of the canals might have increased the available areas for not just grazing cattle and horses but also growing crops.

Bu the ancient works were destroyed allegedly by Heracles during a dispute between Orchomenus and Thebes and the waters and shorelines changed again and yet again and according to Strabo 9.2.17 several settlements had to change their location and move away from the lakes ever shifting shorelines.

This leads us to the mystery of GLA.

Next time
 Just which one of the polises mentioned in Homer's Catalogue of ships was GLA?

Lake Copais TWO

#lakecopais #boeotia #ancientgreece

The Green Area is one of severel interpretations of the evidence for Lake Copais' shorelines during the Helladic / Mycenaean era. I picked this map to share first because it shows the surrounding mountains and rivers flowing out and into the Copaic Basin and plains. If you search the web yourself you will see other maps NOT showing a Se extension towards Thebes or showing more water around GLA in the NE. Please also bear in mind some of that GREEN area was wetlands with beds of reeds and marshy plants. There were also seasonal changes depending on the winter rains and spring runoff.

The reason there are question marks next to some sites is that whole settlements moved often further towards the hills or disappeared over the centuries.

Orchomenus for example was certainly NOT in the lake. I think the mapmaker is trying to indicate the possible location of a settlement / town mentioned by one ancient  historian who stated that it was moved off the plains due to flooding.

The dilemma for early settlers who wanted to use the shorelines for farming and grazing was the constantly shifting shoreline changing vastly after a major flood event and probably shifting every year  as silt was deposited or the eastern sinkholes blocked and cleared and blocked again.

Next time the rise and fall of the Minyans and Orchomenus.


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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.

Miletus and Mud

#Miletos #Miletus #Balat #turkey #Greekcolony #Ionia

I was looking for more town plans showing agoras when I came across this map that shows the the intersection of #history and #geography.

Yes now that gray green area in the middle was once open water!

Now Miletus has been occupied since at least the Bronze Age and hence probably even earlier. Who was there before the Minoans and Mycenaeans I don't know but it was a city and port both multicultural and yet a classic Ionian Greek Polis too! However like Ephesus silting turned it from a major port to a declining backwater now in ruins near the modern Turkish village of Balat.

Odd that the Romans who could drain lakes and build canals and breakwaters for their ports never turned their engineering skills to divert the silt behind dykes.

Of the ancient note that Smyrna now Izmir is still a port but it lies in a narrower river valley in which the river flows straight with less silt buildup.

Back to Miletus home of philosophers and the Milesians.

They had a double agora and no not because the Romans expanded the agora area building a forum next to the Greek agora as happened in many cities.

While the bay marked D was the primary port the other bays and coves were probably used too by fishermen. However with the silt buildup moving the shore line closer and closer what was once a sheltered bay with great anchorage and clear views of any enemy fleets became an indefensible site. 

Poor Miletus conquered by geography!

The nearby fertile riverlands that attracted Greek colonists  ended up becoming a bane instead of a blessing!

The Hills of Athens

When you're building city walls in a pre artillery culture and don't have to worry about cannon fire from heights having mountains and hills around your city can be useful .

Athens had the advantage of a range of hills to the west that could be used as wall foundations, the Pynx, the Museion, the Areopagus, Kolonos, with the Acroplis rising in the midst of the city and the low rise of Ardettos which may have had a spring of water.

Lycabettos was outsid eof the city walls in ancient times.

Further to the south west Piraeus once a island was built around two hills then linked to the city by the Long Walls.

If you read the previous post you know Attica as a whole was protected by mountains.

Once again think about how geography and history are linked.

Think about environment as well as artifacts.

The Mountains of Attica

Have a look at this map of Attica.

Geography does effect history. This map doesnt show all of the small foothills within Athens city walls. If all the foothills were included the city would look like it was surrounded by a shape more like a triangle than a rectangle.

There's only two major passes from Boeotia and the road to Corinth is coastal so any invasion force arriving by land would be quite visible. The Athenians wisely built a series of hill forts and watch towers.

Consider also that you need flat land for cereal crops.

The Athenians had an abundance of hills and sloping sites. No wonder they turned to olive cultivation and imported grain and had military forces dominated by hoplite infantry and the navy.

Been to modern Greece. Some coastal plains under cultivation NOW were swamps lakes or wetlands in the past or had irregular rainfall.

Geography and history are linked.

Next the Hills of Athens.

Alexander and Geography

When you're studying Alexander's conquests do consider the physical barriers he had to over come and not just of distance.

Take a look at this map.

Alexander's armies and navies had to cross the Mediterranean and the Mountains  of Asia Minor then move across the highlands of Persia and deserts to reach India.

Terrain this diverse also partly explains why his empire broke up into the lesser realms of the Diadochii. Ptolemy wisely claimed Egypt protected by deserts. The Seleucids tried to control Asia Minor and Mesopotomia and further east but lost the east to the Parthians.

One of the most successor Hellenistic era generals were not a Seleucid or Antigonid or Ptolemy. Our next post discusses Pyrrhus of Epirus.