Most Recent Visit: May 2022 Today located at the site of the modern city of Autun in eastern France, the Roman city of Augustodunum was founded sometime in the late 1st century BCE, during the reign of Augustus. Named after the emperor (with the added Celtic suffix denoting a hillfort, dunum), the city was a…
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Continued From Messene, Achaea – Part VII Continuing along the road another kilometer and few minutes of driving (not through the gate) is another well-preserved section of the fortifications. There is no gate here, but rather the wall was destroyed to allow the passage of the road. On both sides of the road, significant portions…
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Continued From Messene, Achaea – Part VI To the east of the gymnasium/palaestra area is the stadium, which is effectively considered part of the gymnasium complex. It is bordered on the northern, western, and eastern sides by doric stoas that have been reconstructed using the materials found in situ. The seating at the north end…
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Continued From Messene, Achaea – Part V The road that runs along the east side of the residence leads down to the Doric propylon entrance to the gymnasium-stadium complex, originally constructed in the 4th-3rd century BCE. Some bits of the road are preserved along the way. The Doric propylon was constructed in the 1st century…
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Continued From Messene, Achaea – Part IV Continuing up the eastern wing of the Asklepieion is the monumental eastern propylon of the sanctuary. This was the primary entrance into the Asklepieion from the eastern road, at a slightly elevated height, down into the eastern stoa. The exterior face of the propylon had an open triple…
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Continued From Messene, Achaea – Part III Immediately adjacent to the Sanctuary of Demeter and the Dioscouri to the southeast, the Asklepieion. The Asklepieion was located on the south side of the agora; some bits of the southern portico of the agora are visible on the north side of the path that skirts the north…
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Continued From Messene, Achaea – Part II Just to the east of the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis is another religious building, the so-called Theater Basilica. The three-aisled early Christian basilica seems to have been constructed sometime after the middle of the 6th century CE and made extensive use of existing materials on site. One…
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Continued From Messene, Achaea – Part II Taking one of the staircases from the Theater Quarter leads up into an area above the summa cavea/epitheatron of the theater. Conversely, one can walk back out to the main area and around this retaining wall to access the theater area as well. The theater seems to have…
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Most Recent Visit: July 2023 Prior to the foundation of the classical city of Messene in the 4th century BCE, the southern slope of Mount Ithome (Ithomi) was the location of a settlement that itself seems to have been named Ithome, which had been occupied since at least the Bronze Age. Messene was the name…
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Most Recent Visit: July 2023 Little is known of Venusia (today modern Venosa in Italy’s Basilicata region) prior to conquest by the Romans, though according to legend it was founded by Diomedes after his arrival in Italy. He dedicated the city to Aphrodite in hopes of making amends with the goddess after he wounded her…
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