The Thessalian Ainians or the Ainians of Thessaly? Dedications and games of identity in Roman Thessaly (original) (raw)
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AURA 6, 2023
The central Greek region of Thessaly is perhaps most famous for the important Neolithic sites of Sesklo and Dimini, and the area is one of the first to which agriculture spread in mainland Europe. Regarding later periods, important Classical-Hellenistic cities, such as New Halos (Reinders and Prummel 2003), Kastro Kallithea (Tziafalias et al. 2009), and Goritsa (Bakhuizen 1992) are also found within the region, and recent archaeological exploration highlights the wealth of the area in Antiquity. The Roman period in Thessaly, however, have for long been overlooked; this in spite of the existence of large, important regional centers such as Demetrias, Hypata and Larisa. For the scholar not literate in modern Greek, Thessaly constitutes one of the most inaccessible regions of Greece when it comes to archaeological evidence. Apart from a handful of foreign projects and collaborations in the area, nearly all fieldwork has been conducted by the local ephorates, and is consequently mainly available as short governmental notices in Greek. The only study presenting archaeological material from the whole region remains Friedrich Stählin's Das hellenische Thessalien (Stählin 1924), a landmark in Thessalian studies, which remains influential today, even if outdated. More thematic overviews exist, such as the chapter on Thessaly in the Inventory of Archaic and Classical poleis (Decourt et al. 2004), and the Αρχαίες πόλεις Θεσσαλίας και περίοικων περιοχών (Nikolaou and Kravaritou 2012), but these focus on urban sites and mainly on the Classical and Hellenistic periods. A gazetteer of sites-especially in English-summarizing the totality of Roman period sites and finds in the region would consequently be highly influential among scholars. Enter the Tabula imperii romani (TIR) project, which has been in the making for nearly a century, aiming at publishing the archaeology of the Roman empire based on the 56 sheets of a 1:1,000,000 map of the wider Mediterranean world. There has been a drive to publish the Greek sheets of the TIR by the Academy of Athens, with several volumes published in recent years (within the J 34 Athens sheet, we may note the Aegean islands, Attica, Boeotia, and Epirus) For the reasons stated above, the addition of this volume on Thessaly by Zachos is especially welcome, as there has been remarkably little research on the Roman period in this region. The volume contains a preface, a list of abbreviations, an introduction to the history and archaeology of Roman Thessaly, a catalogue of sites organized after geographical sub-region, and an index of place-names. Included is also an appendix with four full-color maps of Thessaly, one of the perioecic region of Achaia Phthiotis, one plan of Larisa (map 6), and one of Demetrias. All bibliographic entries are given within and after each section.
Mediterranean Historical Review, 2007
This paper examines the evidence (literary, epigraphic, and archaeological) for the presence of Pharsalians outside their territory from the sixth to the first centuries BC and discusses it against the archaeological record from the city, in an attempt to determine what types of links Pharsalians had with the outside world, the types and frequency of these contacts, and the regional and chronological patterns. The peak of Pharsalian connections abroad was during the fifth and fourth centuries, when Pharsalian cavalry was in high demand, and its geographical position made it highly desirable for states with hegemonic aspirations. Most references can be explained as xenia-ritualized friendships of certain individuals with prominent allies abroad. Public life and representation abroad was dominated over many generations by members of a few families. Pharsalians were proactive in forming lasting networks only in the second half of the fourth century, when, similarly to other Thessalians, they allied themselves with the Macedonian kings. Thereafter, the introvert stance of the Pharsalians was more pronounced, prompted by military events, the economic crisis, the end of penetism in the late third century, and the exclusion of the city from the Thessalian Koinon.
The aim of the paper is to reanimate the discussion on Thessalian rites of passage, in the light of supplementary epigraphic evidence, directly or indirectly related to local age-classes and pertinent ritualized attitudes. Archaeological evidence will be taken into consideration as well, in particular groups of votives from Thessalian sanctuaries dedicated to kourotrophic deities, who presided over the passage between the various stages of the human biological and social life. Lastly, attention will be paid to legendary narrations, which recount attitudes as well as feats of young Thessalian heroic figures. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 658573. cf. https://history-bookstore.eie.gr/en/section-greek-roman-antiquity/a010780/
Trikala: approaching the evolution of a thessalian urban center (12th-15th c.)
By the late Byzantine period the urban landscape of Thessaly had undergone significant changes. It is sufficient to recognize that the new model of the local cities is worthy of intensive treatment. Transport lines constitute a crucial factor concerning the location of Trikala: the city is established at the junction of two important transport routes, the one is connecting Thessaly with Kastoria, and this road is the continuation of the great highway that begins on the shores of Adriatic and reaches the city of Thessaloniki, and the other is connecting Thessaly with Epirus through the mountainous passages of Zygos and Metsovo. 1 The urban milieu is essential for the development of certain kinds of social organization as it is clearly demonstrated by the case of Trikala. Civil and ecclesiastical administration and a military presence created conditions that encouraged further development. The leading role of church is emphasized by the transportation of the local metropolis from Larisa to Trikala, at the beginning of 14 th century. According to Edrisi, Trikala is documented as an important city with a flourishing urban hinterland, at the junction of the route among Kastoria and Larisa. 2 Later, the city is mentioned by Benjamin of Toudela, 3 in the middle of 12 th c., as a place inhabited by a community of Jews, and at the chrysobull of Alexius III, in favour of the Venetians, 4 which implicates the presence of commercial activities. The allotment of commercial and fiscal privileges to the local bishopric and monasteries reveals certain economic activities in the region. Information about the social and economic developments has been preserved in the documents in favour of monastery Porta-Panagia, which was granted special privileges as it is demonstrated by the chrysobulls
T HE PRESENT paper focuses on the relations between the Greeks and Iranians in the Cimmerian Bosporus and, more specifically, in Tanais. Founded by the Greeks of the Cimmerian Bosporus in the first quarter of the third century BC, this city was isolated geographically from the very beginning from other Greek settlements (the closest ones are situated on the Bosporus) and was surrounded by the Sarmatians, local Iranian-speaking tribes. Information about the city's civic institutions is mainly available from local inscriptions, the overwhelming majority of which date from the second and third centuries AD . These inscriptions attest that a very high percentage of the city's population bore Iranian names; they (or their ancestors) originated without doubt from the Sarmatian milieu. In the second and third centuries AD this phenomenon was typical of the Bosporan Kingdom as a whole but was especially accentuated in Tanais. Such onomastic evidence -derived primarily from the long lists of names recorded in inscriptions of local thiasoi-« accounts, moreover, for almost half of the available linguistic materials that give us some idea of the Sarmatian language, including its particular character as an Iranian language of the northeastern group and of its kinship with modern Ossetic.