ISTHMIA, sanctuary of Poseidon - 2014

Isthmia, Sanctuary of Poseidon. E. Gebhard (Chicago/ASCSA) reports that study of the arms and armour (by A. Jackson) shows that by the time the Archaic Temple burned down (ca. 450 B.C.), it had accumulated a minimum of 32 bronze-rimmed shields and at least 30 sets of shin guards, as well as more than the 225 bronze helmets and over 100 iron weapons. The presence of thousands of fragmentary metal scraps dumped to the north and east of the temple after the usable metal was recycled suggests that the sanctuary probably received scores more items. Hardly any of these are likely to have been manufactured after the time of Xerxes’ invasion (480 BC) Afterwards, dedications reported for the Isthmus are only of spoils from non-Greeks: Persians, Phoenicians and Carthaginians.

The Rachi plateau beyond the excavated part of the original settlement was explored to establish the settlement’s original extent and estimate the possible scale of fighting on it in an engagement of 198 BC. No ancient rock-cut structures were identifiable, even in areas not damaged by modern quarrying. Over much of the flanks of the ridge and in parts of its surface numerous traces of pre-modern quarry workings were identified, extending over 1 km from the tip and over a maximum width of 300m. It is likely that the French archaeologist Paul Monceaux in the early 1880s mistook all the ancient quarry cuttings beyond the excavated area as structural and as evidence of a kilometer-long town. If this explanation is correct, then the original Hellenistic settlement, though now damaged by modern quarrying, will not have been very much larger than the small surviving excavated area (perhaps at most twice or three times as big).

 

T. Gregory (Ohio State/ASCSA) reports the completion of two major studies focused on the areas to the north and east of the Roman Bath and between the Roman Bath and the Byzantine Fortress. Reappraisal of excavations carried out in the 1970s immediately north and east of the Roman Bath indicates the existence of several phases within the large bathing complex from the Classical through the Late Roman period. In the area north of the large classical-period pool lay a structure that added facilities for heated bathing perhaps in the second half of the first century AD. Beyond that, to the east of the Roman bath complex, lay one of the major structures in the ancient Sanctuary of Poseidon - a large rectangular space (ca. 180 x 80m) marked by a series of stoa-like structures and an interior colonnade, which may be the gymnasium of the Classical-Roman periods.

Study of the different types of heating systems used in the Roman bathing facilities at Isthmia (mostly discovered in the 1970s) revealed ‘competing’ hypocaust systems, especially for the heating of the walls of the bathing spaces in the complex below and to the north of the Temple of Poseidon. These systems were characterized by the use of so-called mammata and tubulus-type tiles that can be easily identified in the remains at the site. It is suggested that the transition between the two systems not only has chronological significance but also reflects changes in the economy of southern Greece, particularly as a result of the growing influence of the Roman state in areas such as Corinth, and the development of large-scale industries to supply the larger scale of building activities, especially in the second century AD.