Roman Crete

The Naumachia of Ierapetra. An informative article that published on the site of e-storieskritis.gr
Ένα διαδικτυακό ενημερωτικό άρθρο δημοσιευμένο στον παρακάτω ιστότοπο.
https://www.e-storieskritis.gr/2018/08/blog-post_84.html?fbclid=IwAR17rUXgdA2WoBg5e4g0kPkT9-M0Njqc967IcYlYYdwzXiq3lv1hGSgjlxI#.W4jPpXpf8as.facebook

In recent years new research and investigation along the coastlines has added to our understanding of the maritime cultures and traditions of ancient Greece. Even so, the maritime cultures, traditions and social aspects remain understudied and the traditional boundaries between terrestrial and underwater archaeology are still problematic and a challenge to researchers. Throughout time the settlements that stood beside the sea became increasingly important to local and regional economies as they often benefitted from local, inter-island and cross-Mediterranean trade and the commercial and networking opportunities that this offered. Many of these settlements were the first point of contact for seafarers, travellers, and migrants, playing an important role in the diffusion of cultural, political, and religious ideologies. The papers in this volume take us on a journey in time from an Early Bronze Age settlement on Paros to the Closed Harbours of Archaic and Classical Greece, and on to life in Hellenistic and Roman Crete. Whilst being preliminary perspectives, the contributions in this volume demonstrate the broad variance in subject material and off er an interesting insight into the world of maritime Greece.

Many foreign travellers, geographers, botanists, naturalists, archaeologists etc. travelled  during previous centuries to Crete (1204-1939) and recorded their experiences and researches, also many similar experts studied and wrote about the island based on ancient texts without having visited it, acting often as guides of those who did visit. Important work has also been done by Greek archaeologists and antiquities’ curators. For anyone who would like to look for relevant information I quote their names below as well as the titles of books or articles or scientific (archaeological, etc.) magazines where they published their writings and generally the sources where these writings can be found. As my research actually intended to find out citations and visitors of Polyrrinia Kissamos some special notes in such cases are quoted.
The links usually lead to the e-books. In many cases there are also links to informative websites about the authors. Wherever possible I have already linked or noted the page where Crete and Polyrinia are referred.

SOMMARIO


C. Ricci, A S. E. l'On. Edoardo Daneo Ministro dell'Istruzione

D. Comparetti, Prefazione

D. Comparetti, La iscrizione arcaica di Mantinea (tav. I-III)

L. Pernier, Templi arcaici sulla Patèla di Priniàs in Creta. Contributo allo studio dell'arte dedalica (tav. IV-VI). I. Storia dello scavo e dei ritrovamenti, p. 19 - II. I templi e le costruzioni adiacenti, p. 30 - III. Le sculture e le suppellettili dei templi, p. 48 - IV. Esame dell'architettura, p. 75 - V. Esame delle sculture, p. 93

D. Comparetti, Laminetta argentea iscritta di Aidone in Sicilia (tav. VII)

A. Maiuri, Gortina (Creta) - Un ninfeo presso il Pretorio (tav. VIII)

G. Bendinelli, Gortina (Creta) - Sculture rinvenute nel Ninfeo presso il Pretorio

P. Perali, Gortina (Creta) - Un ninfeo presso le grandi Terme e altri ruderi di fontane

D. Comparetti, Iscrizione Cristiana di Cirene

G. Gerola, I monumenti medievali delle tredici Sporadi. Introduzione, p. 171 - Le isole dei Cavalieri di Rodi, p. 174 - Rodi, p. 192

L. Pernier, La pianta completa del Palazzo di Phaestos
L. Pernier, Ricognizioni Archeologiche nelle Sporadi
G. Oliverio, Iscrizioni inedite delle Sporadi
G. G. Porro, Rodi - Esplorazioni nel territorio di Kamiros
B. Pace, Rodi - Ricerche sul territorio di Jalysos
B. Pace, Rodi - Scoperte archeologiche a monte Smith
B. Pace, Ricordi classici nell'isola di Patmos
B. Pace, Gortina (Creta) - Traccie dell'epoca preistorica
L. Pernier, Scavo dell'edificio della Grande Iscrizione
G. Oliverio, Gortina (Creta) - Scoperta del santuario delle divinità egizie
B. Pace, Gortina (Creta) - Scavo del Pretorio o Basilica
B. Pace, Viaggi della Missione archeologica italiana nell'Anatolia meridionale
C. Anti, Recenti esplorazioni a Thasos della Scuola Francese di Atene (con nota suppletiva ddel Dr. Ch. Picard)
F. Pellati, Bibliografia dei lavori delle Missioni archeologiche italiane
L'opera della R. Scuola archeologica italiana di Atene dal 1 luglio 1909 al 30 giugno 1912. - Regolamento della Scuola. - Direttore e alunni. - Adunanze annuali

Elenco delle tavole. - delle figure nel testo
Indice delle materie

Tavole

The complexity of regional study of municipal elites in the Greek part of the Roman Empire is commonly known. Nonetheless, many aspects of the Cretan notables' activity can be investigated, not only in the island but also in other regions of the Empire. Material is distributed among four large chapters: 1/ Polis and its organization, 2/ Cretan Koinon, 3/ Mobility of municipal elites in Crete, 4/ Economy. Yet again it is clear that one should regularly appeal to various types of evidence because inscriptions surely constitute material most abounding in first-rate information but often insufficient to obtain pertinent results. In every stage of the research one seeks to assess the degree of changes in comparison with Hellenistic epoch. In this way Crete appears to us as the land of old traditions which continued to exert great influence in Roman period. On the other hand, some forms, inherited from the remote times, received entirely new content, in conformity with general tendencies of the epoch. http://www.theses.fr/2003TOUR2003

The Historical Setting At the end of the fourth and for the most part during the third and second centuries B.C. the economic and cultural life of Eleutherna flourished greatly and the city made a dynamic appearance on the historical stage. At this point, it already had frequent contacts with mainland Greece, the islands of the Aegean, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Egypt, and took part in the political events of the era, as inscriptions, testimonia, and new discoveries from excavations tell us. The evidence for Eleutherna's relations with Alexandria, with which Crete had especially close connections since the end of the fourth century BC, makes reference to commerce, industry, and the profession of mercenary soldiering as sources of wealth and incitements for opening the closed Cretan society in the outside world. The last quarter of the third century BC was a period of fairly general disturbances and political strife in the Peloponnesus, with Sparta as their epicenter that affected even the greatest of the cities of Crete. The fact that in 220 BC, two years after the battle of Sellasia, the people of Eleutherna rose up to demand the democratization of the constitution and the extension of citizenship rights to the lower classes is no coincidence. 2 The mercenaries succeeded in having themselves recognized as possessing limited rights as citizens and being incorporated into the social group of the Neocretans. The city's artistic production was no longer limited to the famous musicians of the Archaic period, but found expression through the sculptor Timochares of Eleutherna, who settled in Rhodes after 200 BC and crafted works of art for the cities of Lindos, Knidos, Karpathos, Astypalaia, and Sidon. His son Pythokritos and his grandson Simias were sculptors as well, though they held Rhodian citizenship. In 157/6 BC, Serambos, son of Heraippos leased a " workshop " (ergasterion) in cosmopolitan Delos with Hermippos, son of Hermippos of Eleutherna as his guarantor, while on the same island Heraippos, son of Heraippos of Eleutherna together with his slave Aristion leased a " shipyard " (naupegeion).

Θέμα της ανακοίνωσης αυτής αποτελεί ένα μαρμάρινο άγαλμα του Ηρακλή, μικρών διαστάσεων (ύψους περίπου 1 μ.), που βρέθηκε στα Δράμια του Δήμου Αποκορώνου. Στη συγκεκριμένη περιοχή τοποθετείται η αρχαία Υδραμία που άκμασε κατά τους ρωμαϊκούς χρόνους. Το γλυπτό εκτίθεται σήμερα στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Χανίων με αριθμό καταλόγου Λ 41 και στηρίζεται σε «παραλλαγή» ενός ρωμαϊκού αντιγράφου μιας υστεροκλασικής δημιουργίας, του τελευταίου τετάρτου του 4ου αι. π.Χ. Ειδικότερα, πρόκειται για ένα έργο που αποδίδεται στον Λύσιππο και σώζεται στον αγαλματικό τύπο του «Ηρακλή Farnese». Ο συγκεκριμένος τύπος είχε ιδιαίτερη απήχηση στον ρωμαϊκό κόσμο, που έδειχνε προτίμηση σε έργα υψηλής καλλιτεχνικής ποιότητας, διάσημων δημιουργών. Ως εκ τούτου, ο Ηρακλής των Δραμίων, πέρα από την όποια καλλιτεχνική του αξία, αποτελεί μια ισχυρή ένδειξη για την ιστορική σπουδαιότητα της περιοχής, την αρχαιολογική εικόνα της οποίας προσπαθεί να ανασυνθέσει, κατά τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες, η έρευνα της αρμόδιας Εφορείας Αρχαιοτήτων.

The Roman period of Crete is a promising area of archaeological enquiry which offers a unique perspective from which to view the transformative processes of an expanding empire. Much is to be gained from the vast amounts of data that have been collected by the Cretan archaeological service in the form of rescue excavations and large-scale investigations into areas of dense archaeological remains. Focusing on the mortuary evidence from three case studies located on the eastern half of the island, this paper presents primary data on funerary trends that were practiced during the early Roman period. This paper further seeks to place this data into the social and economic contexts of three very different communities interacting with and reacting to contact with Rome. By examining the mortuary landscapes of Hierapytna, Lato pros Kamara, and the Colonia Julia Nobilis Cnosus, discourse is created concerning the interaction of incoming and local customs following the absorption of the island into Rome's 'globalizing' empire.

Divus Augustus occupied a prominent position in the Cretan pantheon beside Zeus Kretagenes (“born on Crete”) – with whom he is often associated in images – and Artemis/Diktynna, who appears as his patroness. After summarizing the most important changes occurring in Cretan religion after the Roman conquest – among them the imperial cult being a major feature –, this paper aims to illustrate the continuance of Cretan military tradition into the imperial age. Cretan soldiers, especially archers, certainly served in the imperial army; and some forms of logistic support from the island are documented too. This military involvement of an otherwise peaceful province can help us to better understand the warlike character of some elements of its traditional cults as well as of the emperor worship. This latter seems to increase noticeably in coincidence with military actions and imperial victories. In this way, the cult of the emperor offered an ideal vehicle for the military character of the Cretan tradition to find its appropriate place in the general frame of the Roman Empire.

This paper presents a new edition of a boundary stone between Capua (on Crete) and Knossos. I identify the post of Publius Messius Campanus as procurator Campaniae rather than procurator Caesaris. The appearance of the procurator Campaniae on Crete is linked to a dispute between the colony of Capua and a private citizen called Plotius Plebeius. This new reading has several important historical consequences: first, it is the earliest attestation of a procurator Campaniae (and the first outside Italy); second, it offers a new interpretation of the juridical category of Knossian lands as part of the ager vectigalis of the Italian colony of Capua in the form of a praefectura Campana or Capuensis; third, it proposes a reinterpretation of the process of arbitration between a public entity (Capua) and a private owner.

Hitit dini inancına göre Boğa, Fırtına Tanrısı Tešup’un simgesi olmuştur. Hititler, dini ritüellerinde Boğa sembolüne sunu yapmışlardır. Boğa motifli rhytonları dini ritüellerinde kullanmışlardır. Özellikle Fırtına Tanrısı ile ilgili ritüellerde, Fırtına Tanrısına boğa kurban etmişlerdir. Bazı ritüellerde Boğa üzerinden atlama hareketini gerçekleştirmişlerdir. Girit dininde de bir boğa kültü bulunmaktadır. Girit halkı dini ritüellerinde kutsama boynuz çiftine sunu yapmışlardır. Knossos Sarayında görüldüğü gibi bazı ritüellerde boğa üzerinden atlama hareketi gerçekleştirmişlerdir. Bu çalışmada Hitit dini ile Girit dini arasındaki benzer noktalar ve bu noktaların kökenleri incelenmiştir.

Abstract
The bull was symbol of Tešup, Storm-God, according to Hittite religion. Hittites made offering to bull symbol on their religious rituals. They used bull shaped rhytons in their rituals. Especially, they sacrified bull for Storm-God in rituals in related to Storm-God. They performed bull-leaping in their some rituals. Crete religion had a cult of bull. Crete public made offering to horns of consecration. They performed bull-leaping in their some ritulas as seen on Knossos Palace. In this paper, it is examined similarities and it’s origins between Hittite and Crete religion.

http://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id={668B55B8-4BCC-4AAB-A8F0-1604E0A47666}                                                                          In this paper I examine the difficulties encountered in securing the water supply for the Roman city of Lyttos in east central Crete. The city, set on an elevated spur in the western foothills of the Lasithi range, represents one of the relatively few examples of a flourishing upland Roman city on the island. Lyttos was both an inland centre and one of the most prosperous cities of Roman Crete. Its lofty position, simultaneously overshadowing the Pedhiadha plain and controlling the main pass into the Lasithi plateau, secured its control over a wide agricultural area. At this inland, and relatively inaccessible site, economics (as manifested in viticulture), as opposed to geographical accessibility per se, connected the city with the broader Roman world. Despite the relative inconvenience of the city’s topography, the city remained on its perch in order to control the pass into the lucrative Lasithi plain. The city’s strategic placement undoubtedly presented a challenge for its Roman planners, yet the city survived (and continued to flourish into the Byzantine period), by virtue of its hydraulic surveyors taking full advantage of the city’s mountainous surrounds in designing its aqueduct.

Please do not forget: to avoid the incorrect display of even/odd pages (what is particularly important when displaying the section of tables A–K, pp. 339–429), the “Two pages scrolling” mode should be used simultaneously with the “Show cover page in two pages view” mode.

Thirty Roman mosaics are now known from the Knossos Valley. The Villa Dionysos, with eight mosaics thus far uncovered, forms the largest coherent group. Recent work undertaken at the nearby bath house has revealed a small group of three mosaics. For the most part the remainder are isolated examples, commonly found during rescue excavation and often not well preserved. The mosaics range in date from the late first to the late third century AD and they display a variety of styles from black and white to polychrome and themes from simple geometric to complex figured designs. This paper presents a catalogue of the mosaics followed by a synthetic analysis, providing cultural evidence for the hitherto not well-understood Roman period of Knossos and adding to the corpus of mosaics in Greece.

Despite the limitations of such a study, imposed by the nature of the recovery of the material culture, it is possible, through an understanding of mosaic distribution, context and type, to make suggestions regarding the function of different areas within the city. An analysis of chronology and evidence for workshop production provides data for economic and cultural fluctuations and, importantly, a study of the mosaics helps to place Knossos within the broader context of the Roman Empire.

This paper examines the architectural context associated with the execution of the Ten Martyrs of Crete at Gortyna. The analysis primarily focuses on the architecture of Gortyna’s amphitheatre, tracing its transformations from the imperial period to the present day. The study reviews dates put forward for the earliest church or shrine constructed in the arena and, in doing so, presents competing narratives for the Christianization of the site.

This contribution presents some of the results from the ‘Phaistos Project’, a survey and excavation that began in 2007 under the auspices of the Italian Archaeological School at Athens and the Greek Ministry of Culture. It examines the most significant archaeological data for reconstructing the forms and modes of organization of the Phaistian polis. In particular, the research carried out in recent years on the hill of Christos Effendi, where the acropolis of Phaistos was located, allows us to illustrate the development of the site’s occupation from the end of the second millennium to the Archaic period, during which time the polis seems to have been divided into several villages situated on the hills. Finally, the author suggests a reconstruction of the urban shape of the polis and of its fortification during the Classical and Hellenistic Ages.

The 25th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquites recently conducteda rescue excavation in a plot at Sfakaki of Pagkalochori, a site near Rethymnon.There was revealed significant part of a cemetery of the Hellenistic and Romanperiods (3rd century BC to 1st century AD). The existence of the cemetery atthis site was already known from adjacent plots which had been excavated inthe past. It is located on the north side of the New National Road connectingHeraklion and Rethymnon.
Thirty-eight graves were investigated. They are classified in four types: tilecoveredgraves, two types of cist graves and a pit grave. The majority of them isfound disturbed. However, the findings show that their vast majority were filledwith many and various items. Most of the finds belong to pottery, but there arealso many glass and metal objects, including coins and gold jewellery. The lanplanning and the typology of the graves, but also the funeral gifts, complementour view for the types of burials and the organization of the cemetery. On theother hand, both provide material for the study of burial customs, and also ofaspects of the daily life of the people who inhabited this area.