’Spolia’ in Fortifications and the Common Builder in Late Antiquity

235 Pages·2016·7.91 MB·English

by  Jon M. Frey

SpoliainFortificationsandtheCommonBuilderinLateAntiquity
Mnemosyne
Supplements
history and archaeology
of classical antiquity
SeriesEditor
HansvanWees(UniversityCollegeLondon)
AssociateEditors
JanPaulCrielaard(VrijeUniversiteitAmsterdam)
BenetSalway(UniversityCollegeLondon)
volume389
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/mns-haca
Spolia in Fortifications
and the Common Builder in
Late Antiquity
By
JonM.Frey
leiden | boston
Coverillustration:Constructionscenefromthe4thcenturya.d.TombofTrebiusJustusinRome. Usedwith
thepermissionofMinistryofCulturalHeritageandActivities–SuperintendenceforArchaeological
HeritageofRome.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Frey,JonM.,author.
Spoliainfortificationsandthecommonbuilderinlateantiquity/byJonM.Frey.
pagescm.–(Mnemosyne,supplements.Historyandarchaeologyofclassicalantiquity,ISSN0169-8958;
Volume389)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-28800-3(hardback:alk.paper)–ISBN978-90-04-28967-3(e-book)
1.Fortification–Greece–History–To1500.2.Buildingmaterials–Recycling–Greece–History–To1500.3.
AeginaIsland(Greece)–Antiquities.4.Isthmia(Greece)–Antiquities.5.Sparta(Extinctcity)6.
Greece–History,Military–To146B.C.I.Title.
UG429.G8F742006
725'.18–dc23
2015034788
Thispublicationhasbeentypesetinthemultilingual“Brill”typeface.Withover5,100characterscovering
Latin,ipa,Greek,andCyrillic,thistypefaceisespeciallysuitableforuseinthehumanities.Formore
information,pleaseseewww.brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn2352-8656
isbn978-90-04-28800-3(hardback)
isbn978-90-04-28967-3(e-book)
Copyright2016byKoninklijkeBrillnv,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
ListofFigures ix
1 Introduction 1
TheStructureofthePresentStudy 4
2 Themes 9
WhatareSpolia? 9
DefiningSpolia 19
AnAgencyApproach 22
Fortifications 36
TheLargerContext 43
3 ReuseasRepair:The“InscriptionWall”atAegina 45
TheCityofAeginaandSiteofKolonna 45
HistoricalandArchaeologicalContext 47
DescriptionoftheInscriptionWall 56
ReuseasRepair 63
ToichobateandOrthostate 70
HeadersandStretchers 72
VerticalJoints 74
MeaningfulorDecorativeReuse? 75
Uniformity? 79
Conclusions 81
4 ReuseasReinterpretation:SectionratSparta 85
SpartaintheRomanPeriod 85
PreviousStudyoftheFortificationatSparta 89
DescriptionoftheLateRomanFortification 93
Descriptionof“Sectionr” 106
SourcesofMaterial 113
LateRomanConstructionTechniques 116
AReinterpretation?Shape,ColorandtheDoricStyle 120
UnitsofConstruction? 123
Conclusions 125
vi contents
5 ReuseasRejection:TheFortressatIsthmia 128
TheSanctuaryandFortressatIsthmia 129
RecentStudyoftheFortress 134
DescriptionoftheCourseoftheFortressWalls 136
Tower7andAdjacentWall:TraditionalTechniques 140
Tower14andAdjacentWall:ADifferentApproach 156
ASingleUnifiedProject? 166
WorkinginTeams 171
Conclusions 174
6 SpoliationasProcess,MilitaryStrategy,andDemocratization 176
Similarities 177
Differences 179
FortificationsasEvidenceofSpoliation 182
ProcessandAgency,NotTypology 185
SpoliaandMilitaryStrategy 189
DemocratizationinLateAntiquity 191
WorksCited 195
IndexofNamesandSubjects 217
Acknowledgements
ThisbookisbasedonfieldresearchIconductedasadoctoralstudentinthe
AncientHistoryandMediterraneanArchaeologyprogramattheUniversityof
California, Berkeley and as an Associate Member of the American School of
ClassicalStudiesatAthens.Iamgratefultobothinstitutionsfortheirfinancial
support,intheformofaSamuelBrittanTravelingFellowshipandaGorham
P.StevensFellowship,withoutwhichIwouldnothavebeenabletogainthe
first-handknowledgethatisessentialforanyintensivestudyofarchitectural
process.WhileinAthensandBerkeley,Ibenefittedfromtheadviceandsup-
portofRobertBridges,AnthonyBulloch,SusannaElm,CrawfordGreenewalt,
ChrisHallet,JamesHerbst,JohnOakley,MariaPilali,CarolRedmount,Andrew
Reinhard, Carol Stein, Ron Stroud, Stephen Tracy and Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst.
IwouldalsoliketothankChuckJones,BenMillisandthestaffattheBlegen
library,MariaGeorgopoulouandthelibrariansattheGennadeion,PennyWil-
sonandSandraPelelasisattheBritishSchoolLibrary,andAmaliaKakissisat
theBritishSchoolArchives.
Althoughscholarstodayareincreasinglyinterestedinfortificationsasmore
thanevidenceofmilitarystrategy,atthetimemyrequesttoengageinadetailed
studyofthesedefensesasexamplesofspoliationwassomewhatunusual.Thus,
I thank the First Byzantine Ephorate, Florens Felten, Walter Gauss, Stephan
Hiller,KlausHoffelner,EdwardPollhammerandElenaWalter-Karydiforallow-
ingmetoworkatAeginaandforgrantingmepermissiontoreprintimagesof
theInscriptionWall.IwouldalsoliketothanktheFifthByzantineEphorateand
theFifthClassicalEphorate,JeanLi,ClarePickersgill,StellaRaftopoulou,Guy
Sanders,SusanWalker,JohnWilkesandGeoffreyWaywellforhelpinginvari-
ouswaysatSparta.IalsothankClaireTaylorandCambridgeUniversityPress
for permission to reprint images of the fortifications at Sparta. It has been a
continualsourceofhappinesstobeabletospendmysummersworkingatthe
ExcavationsatIsthmiaandIthankthedirectorsandstafffortheirhelpatvar-
iousstagesofthisproject.
If one includes the original dissertation research upon which it is based,
it is quite likely that this book has taken longer to finish than the different
fortificationwallsthatareitsfocusofstudy.OverthattimeIhavebenefitted
fromtheadviceandsupportofanumberoffriends,mentorsandcolleagues:
Mark and Erin Arlinghaus, Susan Bandes, Jared Beatrice, Tom Berding, Ben
Campbell, Kirsten Dangaran, Aristides Denezakis and his family, Panayiotis
Diacopoulos,AthenaHadji,BethJudge,CandaceKeller,JessicaNager,Marshall
Olds, Isabelle Pafford, Themis Pantazis, Anastasia and Takis Petikidis, Lita
Tzortzopoulou-Gregory,andEugeniaZouzoulaandherfamily.
viii acknowledgements
Myunderstandingofspoliation,fortificationsandlateantiquityingeneral
has benefitted a great deal from conversations with Bill Caraher, Elisabeth
O’Connell, David Pettegrew, and Richard Rothaus. I am particularly grateful
to Denise Demetriou for her help with this project, but especially for her
friendship.Yetmostofall,Iamthankfultohavehadtheopportunitytostudy
withTimothyGregory,whoseteachingintroducedmetoarchaeology,whose
mentoring shaped both this project and my development as a scholar and
whosefriendshipcontinuestobeasourceofinspirationandjoy.
Finally,Iowesomuchtomyparents,mywifeSusannahandmysonsTimo-
thyandTheodore.Itisnotlostonmethat,justliketheancientbuildersIseek
tostudy,sotoohavethemembersofmyfamilyservedlargelyanonymous,yet
absolutelyessentialrolesinenablingmetobringthisprojecttocompletion.It
istothemIdedicatethisbook.
List of Figures
1.1 MapoftheGreekpeninsulashowingthelocationsoftheprojectcase
studies 5
3.1 MapoftheislandofAegina 46
3.2 Planshowingacropolisandnorthernandsouthernharbors 47
3.3 PlanoffeaturesofSanctuaryofApollowithlocationofInscriptionWall
indicatedingrey 49
3.4 CentralsectionofInscriptionWallfromnorth 50
3.5 ErnstFeichter’ssketchofexcavatedwallin1924 51
3.6 RemainsofHellenistic-eratowernorthoftheTempleofApollofromwest 53
3.7 Planofnortharchaictemenoswallandlaterrenovations 55
3.8 ElevationofentirespanofInscriptionWall(top)anddetailviewofcentral
section(bottom) 57
3.9 East“tower”andrepairedeastwall 58
3.10 Elevationdrawingofarchaicremainsofeast“tower”andwall 59
3.11 DetailviewofconstructionofcentralsectionofInscriptionWallfrom
north 60
3.12 ViewalongexteriorfaceofInscriptionWallfromeastshowingslightbendin
thecourseofthefortifications 62
3.13 RearfaceofcentralsectionofInscriptionWallbuiltupagainstremainsof
Archaicperiodwallfromwest 64
3.14 WesternendofcentralspanofInscriptionWallfromsoutheastshowing
bondedmasonryandlaterrepairstowall 65
3.15 Projectingeastern“tower”fromnortheast 66
3.16 Westsideofeastern“tower”fromwest 67
3.17 RearfaceofcentralsectionofInscriptionWallfromsouth 68
3.18 Rearfaceofcentralspanofwallfromsouthshowingalternationofblock
positionstoachieveaheaderandstretchereffect 73
3.19 Rearfaceofcentralspanofwallfromsoutheastshowinginscribedblock
orientedtowardinteriorofwall 77
3.20 DetailofcentralsectionofInscriptionWallfromnorthshowingtracesof
mortarandevidenceofdiscoloration 81
4.1 MapofsouthernPeloponnesos 86
4.2 1907Britishtopographicplanofacropolisarea 88
4.3 LateRomanFortificationsatthestartoftheBritishexcavationsin1906 90
4.4 PlanshowingrelationoflaterRomanwallstotheater 91
4.5 R.Traquair’sillustrationofthefoundationsofthefortificationsneartheSouth
Gate 94