PHILIPPOI - 2007

Philippoi. S. Provost (EfA/Nancy), G. Tirologos (ISTA-Besançon) and M. Nikolaïdou-Patera (ΙΗ΄ ΕΠΚΑ) report on a 2nd season of survey. Attention focused on the organization of the agricultural territory of the colony of Philippoi, with priority given to examination of areas where ditches, which might relate to the boundaries of the anc. land allotments, are visible on aerial photographs and old maps. The objective of the campaign was to verify the nature of these traces.
Cleaning of the Kiemer arch, built in the aftermath of the battle of 42 BC on the Via Egnatia, helped to define its size and orientation. Surface prospection in fields near the arch and in the gap separating them from the road confirms the presence of the Via Egnatia in the direction expected, with a deviation of ca. 45° E of the arch. A trench 15m x 1m, across the theoretical route of the road, showed that the stratigraphy consisted of a simple surface of stones laid flat and set into a ca. 0.6m d. layer of sandy clay. This surface may have been bounded by a stone kerb. Cultivation has destroyed the upper layers of paving, above the anc. surface, and possibly drainage ditches to the sides. The section of surface unearthed was ca. 7.4m, or 20 Rom feet, although this is not necessarily indicative of the width of the road surface: compare the width of the passage of the Kiemer arch (5.4m).
The earth rampart raised by the Republicans during the battle of 42 BC has long been identified via an elevation associated with a gap between the Mound of Alexander and around the Kiemer arch, which is detectable on aerial photographs. The structure stops 20m S of its theoretical intersection with the road and returns at right angles to the SE; it then runs parallel to the track that is detectable for 100m. Three trenches showed the route of these Republican fortifications and confirmed the existence of a buried structure. A V-shaped gap was identified 2.6m from the surface and up to 2.7m w. The southernmost trench showed a significant difference in stratigraphy on the E side of the ditch, with a thick (0.4−0.5m) layer of clay and coarse white sand extending for some 2.5−3m. These are probably the remains of the raised land mentioned in the sources, and perhaps a grass rampart raised by Republican troops in 42 BC.
E of the city, the course of the Via Egnatia is known from a section of the old national road from Drama to Kavala. For nearly a decade it was assumed to be a cadastral axis. In 2007 this proposition was tested. The result is a first distribution map of remains that may relate to the existence of an anc. cadastral system.