Ετικέτα: Messenia

Ancient Messene:

Ancient Messene is one of the most important cities of the antiquity to have been preserved in its entirety. Today it is an archaeological park that hosts a number of small scale theatrical and musical festivals in the summer. The most prominent monuments of the city are the theater, the Stadium, Gymnasium, and the complex of the Asclepieion. Roman residences with their beautiful mosaics lend some color to the landscape. Messene was built in the 4th century B.C and it started being abandoned shortly after the Early Christian period (4th century A.D).

Messene from whοm the city took its name was worshipped as a goddess. She was one of the principal deities of the city together with Zeus Ithomatas and, in the Hellenistic times (3rd-2nd c. B.C.) when the Asklepieion was built, she was worshipped probably together with Asklepios who was also a chthonic deity of fertility, of life and death historically linked to the pre-dorian past of the land of Messene.

The system of city planning that is encountered in Messene is the so called Hippodameian system named after its original inventor, Hippodamus from Miletus, an architect, geometrician and astronomer of the 5th c. B.C. This plan was pre-determined, strictly geometric in nature, and based on the virtues of the democratic constitution, that is, the principles of isonomy (equality before the law), of isopolity (equal civic rights) and of isomoiria (equal share in landownership); still, it could afford to adapt to the peculiarities of the landscape and the particular climatic conditions of each site so that it conformed smoothly with the natural environment. It is according to these very principles that Ancient Messene, the new capital of the free and independent Messenia, was built in 369 B.C. by Epameinondas from Thebes.

From the official site of Ancient Messene.

I would really like to prepare a text about the financial reality of the excavation and preservation of this kind of archaeological sites, European policies for financing such projects and their contribution to the financial crisis. Ancient Messene isn’t the only site of such a scale to have been preserved in its entirety and as is evident the budget for maintaining such a space is no laughing matter.

Ancient Messene / Northern Stoa and The fountain house of Arsinoe:

Arsinoe was a mythical princess, daughter of the mythical king of Messenia, Leukippos, and mother of Asclepios. The fountain house dedicated to her received its water from the Klepsydra spring. A forty meters long cistern was housed within. The monument received additions and restorations up until the Early Christian era, when it was converted to a water-mill.

Ancient Messene / The sanctuary of Asclepios:

The sanctuary of Asclepios was one of the most important in Messene, functioning as religious and political center of the city. More than 140 bases for bronze statues of eminent citizens as well as five exedrae were placed around the temple, the altar, and along the stoas.

In the complex of the sanctuary there were a number of administrative buildings, a funerary monument and sanctuaries devoted to Artemis and Demeter. The complex also houses an amphitheatrical ekklesiasterion, where the citizens assembled- in which you cannot sit.

The satellite view is from google maps

Ancient Messene / The mausoleum of the Saithidae family:

The doric temple-like building with four columns on the front supported by a high podium functioned as a mausoleum for the burials of the elite family of the Saithidae, from the 1st to the 3rd century A.D. Eminent members of this family held important offices as High Priests and Helladarchs (Governors) of the Province of Achaia under the Roman rule.

Ancient Messene / Stadium and Gymnasium:

The Stadium and the Gymnasium form together one architectural unit, which is pretty rare in the graeco-roman world. The Gymnasium, a Π-shaped gallery encloses the horseshoe of the stadium. The hill slopes within which the stadium projects could also be used for sitting, while the stone seats were mostly reserved for the Messenian aristocracy. On some of the seats inscriptions with these names as a form of “reservation” have been discovered, while the benches and the throne with the lion feet were reserved for city officials and the priest of the Zeus of Ithomi. Just the stone part of the horseshoe has a capacity of 8000 to 10000 spectators.
The Gymnasium and the Stadium were decorated with statues mostly the work of Egyptian (Alexandrian) artists. The stadium was used from the 3rd century B.C up until to the 4th century A.D, when it was mostly being dismantled for building materials. During the Roman period the stadium was used as an arena hosting matches between gladiators, and wild animals. Due to that a protective wall was erected seperating the stadium in the middle. 

The building at the end of the stadium is the mausoleum of the Saithidae family, testament to the fact that the initial  games were held in honour of a deceased hero.

Ancient Messene / The Theater:

The theater had already been constructed in the 3rd century B.C and it was where according to Plutarch, Philip V of Macedonia presented himself to the Messenians in the company of the Sicyonian general Aratus, leader of the Achaean League. Aratus asked Philip to not invade Messene which had been through a period of political restlessness and a public insurrection. It’s evident then that Messene’s theater was also used for important political gatherings.

Most of ancient greek theaters being constructed during the Classical or Early Hellenistic period have their koilon (the seats) built on the slope of a hill for support. However, the ancient theater of Messene was constructed on an artificial slope, planned within impressive fortified walls.

It is highly likely that Messene’s theater also had a movable wooden stage (pegma) that could be retracted, however in the Roman period a permanent frons scenae was erected. From the numerous plaques erected on the account of freed slaves within the theater, we can deduct that a number of performers such as singers and actors were owned and perfomed as slaves.

Messene’s theater has been restored and today it is used for small theatrical festivals from the region in an effort to utilize the archaeological park for cultural gatherings that promote the care and support of the sites to the local community. You can actually sit at the koilon, however that policy does not apply to all ancient theaters. It’s better to first ask a guard if you can sit at a theater, odeon, or stadium.

Information taken by this publication about the Theaters of Messene by Diazoma, authored by Petros Themelis, director of excavations at Ancient Messene

Ancient Messene/ The Theater:

One of the dedicational/votive plaques erected within the theater from the Roman period. The plaque regards the philosopher Tiverius Flavius (Iso)crates and it was probably erected in his honour after his death; it reads: 

Η ΠΟΛΙΣ ΤΙ ΦΛΑΒΙΟΝ (ΙΣΟ)ΚΡΑΤΗ ΗΡΩΑ ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΟΝ ΝΕΟΝ ΠΛΑΤΩΝΑ ΑΡΕΤΗΣ ΠΑΣΗΣ ΕΝΕΚΕΝ

The city (dedicates this to) Τi(berius) Flavius (Iso)crates, hero, philosopher, a new Plato, for all his virtues*

Perhaps today we regard theaters and odeons as places of brief cultural transactions, but in the antiquity they had a serious political and social function. Perhaps this stems directly from the theatrical ceremonies of  Classical Athens, where esteemed citizens were honoured in the presence of almost the entire city, and foreign dignitaries. Other ceremonies included the display of the taxation that other cities paid to Athens, and the display of the orphaned boys the city had raised and equipped with military gear.

*I consulted this publication by Petros Themelis about the theaters of Messene-it’s in greek. Petros Themelis was also the director for the excavations at Ancient Messene.

You can also visit diazoma.gr to learn more about ancient theaters in Greece.