Unique opportunity to explore Alexander’s homeland

The team at Peter Sommer Travel has crafted a new unforgettable itinerary, ‘in this extraordinary part of the world’, Macedonia in Greece: Visiting Alexander the Great at Home.

To quote PST’s own tantalizing words from Facebook:

'... a tour ideal either for the first-time visitor to Macedonia, or as a profound deepening of the experience, revelatory even for those who have travelled there before. Meticulous attention has gone into every detail: superb accommodation in selected characterful locations, fascinating in their own right; excellent meals that reflect the full spectrum of the local tradition, wine-tastings highlighting this ancient product of the area, and a succession of site visits offering insights into the breadth of the region’s culture and history, eagerly brought to you by our trademark team of expert guides.’

For me, Macedonia is all about Alexander and his legacy, of course. I marvel at how many historical markers PST's tour has included, all set in this wonderful landscape where we can breathe the same air Alexander did so many centuries ago.

This Exploring Macedonia Tour covers an incredible amount of sites familiar to Alexander, his predecessors, and his successors.

Back in 2007, I had the immense pleasure of following Alexander's conquest of the Persian-occupied cities in what is now Turkey with Peter Sommer, based on his own memorable walk from Istanbul to the Syrian border. Sadly, that tour, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, no longer exists. It was an unforgettable three-week experience that led me to look at Alexander's world from his point of view, which I still do today. I would expect this Macedonia Tour to have the same impact on the visitors.

Excavations restarted in Ptolemais, Cyrenaica region of Libya

It is heartwarming to read that excavations in the city and harbor of Ptolemais have resumed in 2023.

The initial diggings began in 2001 and were carried out by a Polish Mission (see: Ptolemais, heritage of the Ptolemies). Work was, however, interrupted in 2010 because of the Libyan Civil War that led to the downfall of Muammar Gaddafi and years of unrest and chaos. 

[Picture from TVP World]

After its return, the Polish Archaeological Mission focused on Ptolemais’ Acropolis, sitting on a plateau some 300 meters above the city. Following a hitherto unknown road, they discovered remains of a residential area from Roman times. The layout of a residence revealed several rooms surrounding an inner courtyard, including a kitchen and a staircase leading to the upper floor. At least one of the rooms was paved with mosaics. The most remarkable feature was perhaps the presence of a basin at the center of the courtyard where rainwater was collected. From there, the water was led into two underground cisterns for storage. Also, a plaster mask was retrieved from one of the cisterns. It has been modeled on a human face, and its purpose remains unclear. It is thought to be related to some unknown Libyan tradition, as similar masks were found in a sanctuary at Slonta, in northern Libya.

Nearby, a Roman milestone with a Greek inscription was unearthed. It has been dated to the days of the Severan Dynasty Emperors, who ruled between 193 and 235 AD.  In the meantime, conservators in Poland are joining their efforts to restore the excavated mosaics and frescoes. 

The ancient port of Ptolemais lies about four kilometers to the East, where its remains sit close to the surface of the Mediterranean. What appeared to be a single shipwreck turned out to be a series of sunken ships: a 100-meter-long scatter of fragments and amphorae, probably used to transport wine, was located. The underwater explorations carried out in 2024 and 2025 exposed submerged port structures, traces of roads, discarded anchors, and sounding weights among fallen columns. 

A rare find was that of a bronze aequipondium, literally a counterweight used in Roman weighing scales, in this case in the shape of a woman’s head and filled with lead. 

Obviously, a lot of work remains to be done in this country, where excavations are a precarious enterprise.

Antiquity in full color

Since 2013, I have repeatedly highlighted how colorful our world was in Greek and Roman antiquity.
 

In my first post, Ancient Greece in full Technicolor, I explained the modern techniques used to analyze and define the true original color pigments applied on statues, reliefs, temples, theaters, and many other monuments in a world we know basically as bright white. The technique is very well explained in a video I posted in 2022, Gods in Color – How it’s done.
 
In our modern concept, marble is such a precious material because of its structure and natural color that shines by itself. Nobody in their right mind would apply paint to a marble bust, for instance. The vision of our forefathers was entirely different.
 

Our ancient world was very colorful as we witness inside the houses of Ephesos and Pompeii, or in Etruscan and Macedonian tombs, to name only a few examples. Why do we find it so difficult to accept and imagine that the outside of monuments and their statuary decoration was painted as well?
 
An answer to this intriguing question is given in this French video (with English subtitles), Les couleurs de l’antiquité, which is well worth watching. However, it may not be available after 11 June 2026.
 
It’s always a pleasure to share this kind of thorough research!

[Top picture by Marsyas]

Uniqueness of Agrigento’s Gymnasium

Antique Greek and Roman cities come with a standard number of very recognizable monuments, such as the temples to their gods and goddesses, the Bouleuterion, the Theater, and the Stadium. Less impressive but still important is the Gymnasium and/or the Palaestra.
 
Among the many quoted examples, perhaps the most striking one is the impressive Gymnasium of Olympia, home of the Olympic Games. We can easily visualize the layout, with its central courtyard surrounded by a wide Stoa whose roof was supported by a double row of Doric columns. It was 220 meters long and 120 meters wide, a size that is very close to that of a Stadium (see: Olympia, an ongoing excavation project).

Less known is that besides being a center for physical training, the Gymnasium served for intellectual education, where young men studied rhetoric and the duties of civic life. How exactly this formal education was taught remained rather obscure till this year’s excavations in Akragas (modern Agrigento), the largest colony the Greeks founded in Sicily in 580 BC.
 
This Gymnasium from the 2^nd century BC revealed a semi-circular covered classroom or auditorium in the style of a theater with eight rows of seating, which could accommodate some 160 youngsters. The orchestra was the central space where teachers and students presented their exercises before the audience. This room is a unique example known so far in the Greek world. Archaeologists found two blocks of white limestone with a Greek inscription that could have been used as a pulpit. This inscription, with traces of red pigment, holds the word gymnasiarchos, the director of the Gymnasium, and tells us about the renovation of the apodyterion, the large changing room that got a new roof. The project was appropriately dedicated to Hermes and Heracles, underscoring the role of the Gymnasium as a center for both physical and intellectual development. These gods were associated with youth athletics, and strength.
 
This inscription is also important because, on the one hand, it is one of the very rare texts found in Akragas and, on the other hand, confirms that the Greek language and customs continued to be used far into Roman times.

The auditorium in Akragas opens onto a 23-meter-long and 11-meter-wide hall that holds benches designed for classes and intellectual competitions. Competitiveness was key in the Greek education!
 
Akragas’ Gymnasium also housed a Palaestra, i.e., a section reserved for boxing and wrestling. At present, work is underway to define its layout and role within the entire complex. Elsewhere in the antique world and particularly in smaller cities, a Palaestra could exist as a standalone facility, but that certainly is not the case here. 
 
The premise also included a 200-meter running track and a swimming pool. This year (2026), research will focus on the water supply and map the entire hydraulic system. The team will also investigate the western rooms of the Gymnasium, hoping to find traces of its construction’s history that ranged from the 2^nd century BC to the early days of the Roman Empire.

[Pictures from Institut für Klassische Archäologie]

A few words about Syedra

Syedra was discovered as recently as 1994, but excavations only slowly exposed parts of this ancient port city, a good 20 kilometers south of modern Alanya on the coastal road to Anamur and Tarsus beyond. In antiquity, the city was either part of Cilicia or Pamphylia.
 

I read the name Syedra while visiting the Archaeological Museum of Alanya, before knowing where to look for it. I was struck by its mosaics, clearly Roman and belonging to the 3rd century AD.
 
Archaeological excavations have revealed standard elements of the town, but none show signs of in-depth study. The structures are listed as a street lined with columns, shops, several staircases, remains of a town hall (Odeon?), a temple, a theater, and several cisterns that provided water to the city.
 
On the upper terrace that holds the Acropolis stands a building tentatively identified as a Heroon. Its walls with traces of frescoes welcome the visitor at the end of the colonnaded street. It is not known to whom this shrine was dedicated.
 
Important sections of the city walls display the remains of entrance gates, for instance, on the southwest and western side; the latest being the strongest, which is recognized as the main access to the city.
 

[Picture from Daily Sabah]

Another interesting feature is the Roman Bathhouse, where a large floor mosaic depicts the Twelve Labors of Heracles with life-size human figures. It was excavated in late 2020 and dated to the 2^nd century AD. The rectangular mosaic with an apse-like recess at one end measures 21.95 x 7.92 meters, which would typically fit the layout of a Caldarium. 
 
The reports also mention a statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, that I have not seen at the Museum of Alanya at the time of my visit.
 
By the end of 2025, a huge Stadium from the 2nd or 3^rd century AD was discovered, when Syedra reached its height. It is about 190 meters long and 16 meters wide and can accommodate 2,000-3,000 people. Since it was cut into the solid rock, it remained hidden till now.
 
Researchers also mention some 40 inscriptions on Syedra’s walls providing information about sports and entertainment.
 

At the Museum of Alanya, I had noticed a large inscription in which Septimius Severus praised the city for its bravery and loyalty in resisting the pirates that constantly raided the eastern Mediterranean (see: Exploring Olympos, next to Chimera). In the text from 194 AD, the Roman Emperor underscores Syedra’s “goodwill towards the Romans”.
 
The city also has two Necropolises, one to the northwest and the other to the south, which one day may reveal more important information about its citizens and their burial practices.

Sadly, excavations have not been structured so far, and even the intrepid visitor will have a hard time imagining the layout and monuments that graced this commercial hub and bustling harbor during the twenty centuries of its existence. Syedra was founded in the 7^th century BC and remained inhabited until the 13^th century AD.

The Trojan War in the absence of Helen

Hector seated

The Trojan War, as recounted by Homer, is a beautiful love story of Paris and Helen set against the cruelty of war when Achilles dragged the dead body of Hector behind his chariot around the city. It is the kind of subject we can still recognize today. 

Recently, I had echoes of another version in which Helen never made it to Troy but stayed in Egypt instead. One of the sources was Herodotus’ book "Histories". 

At first, I dismissed the information, mostly because Homer’s account was so familiar. When Heinrich Schliemann discovered the walls of Troy and Priam’s gold treasury in the late 19^th century, the history of Troy and the Trojan War came back alive. 

Herodotus, a native of Halicarnassus, is described as ‘The Father of History’. He was an intrepid traveler, very inquisitive about foreign lands and customs. He journeyed widely around the Mediterranean, as far south as Elephantine on the first cataract of the River Nile and as far north as the Black Sea. He visited southern Italy and eventually settled in Thurii on the Gulf of Taranto. He may well have spent time in Cyrene and even in Babylon. 

Herodotus

This Greek historian lived in the 5^th century BC (he died in 425 BC), roughly three hundred years after Homer. Both men relied on the world around them and on the sources that were available to them.

During his stay in Egypt, Herodotus spoke to the priests of the Temple of the “Foreign Aphrodite”, meaning Astarte. They said that Helen arrived in Egypt with Paris after a severe storm had blown their ship off course. The couple was brought before the pharaoh in Memphis, who condemned Paris for taking Helen away from her husband, whether by force or not, and seizing treasures from Sparta. He granted Paris three days to leave the country to return to Troy,  but he kept Helen in Memphis. 

Questioning the priests further, Herodotus was informed about the Trojan War as told to them directly by Helen's husband, Menelaus. 

What happened was that after the abduction of Helen, the Greeks sent their forces to support Menelaus. The Spartan king and his delegation were received at Troy’s Palace, where they demanded the return of Helen and the stolen treasures. The Trojans responded that neither Helen nor the treasure was in their possession, but was held in Egypt instead. Obviously, the Greeks refused to believe them and laid siege to Troy. They fought each other for ten years, and all that while Helen waited in Egypt. 

When Troy fell, and there was still no trace of Helen, Menelaus sailed to Memphis. After giving the pharaoh a true account of what had happened, he was reunited with Helen, 'having suffered no evil’, and the stolen treasure was restored. 

This looks like a happy ending, but it was not. Menelaus got cross because contrary winds pinned him down in Egypt for a long time. As an offering to the gods, he took two Egyptian children, whom he offered in sacrifice. This act of disrespect turned the friendship of the Egyptians into hatred. Menelaus was pursued but managed to escape to Libya with Helen and his ships. What happened afterwards, the priests did not know. 

Herodotus was not the only one to suggest that Helen never went to Troy but stayed in Egypt during the Trojan War. 

Euripides

There was Euripides, who in 412 BC wrote his play "Helen", in which Helen is taken to Egypt by the gods. The Helen who accompanied Paris to Troy was an eidolon, a spirit-image or likeness, cursed for her infidelity by the Greeks and Trojans alike. Meanwhile, the real Helen spent the ten-year siege of Troy in Egypt! 

It is noteworthy that Euripides was born ca. 480 BC, meaning that he was 55 years old when Herodotus died in 425 BC. He definitely must have known Herodotus’ travel history and the details of his encounters. Euripides may well have given his own twist to Herodotus’ tale of Troy. 

A similar eidolon image is introduced in Stesichorus' account. This lyric poet, who lived from around 630 to 555 BC, antedates both Herodotus and Euripides. The story goes that Stesichorus was blinded because he slandered Helen, but recovered his eyesight after writing her praise. 

Helen’s eidolon image may have been introduced by Homer or Hesiod, who reached his peak in popularity around 700 BC. 

In his "Histories", Herodotus believes that Homer knew of this eidolon version keeping the real Helen in Egypt, but that he decided not to use it, preferring the more epic poetry. 

Troy walls

Interpreting this ‘eidolon’ in today’s world is very difficult. We may think that Paris believed in ghosts since, according to this story, nobody in Troy had ‘seen’ Helen. It is clear that, in antiquity, the gods played an important role in daily life. Before the outbreak of the Trojan War, Paris had built a reputation for making fair decisions, away from outside influences. For that reason, he had been appointed by Zeus to choose which of the three goddesses was the most beautiful: Athena, Aphrodite, or Hera. He elected Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In return, Aphrodite brought Helen, the most beautiful mortal, into the life of Paris, and they fell in love. The fact that Helen was already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta, and had a daughter, Hermione, did not bother Aphrodite. To alleviate the pain of Paris being separated from his beloved Helen, the goddess introduced Helen's eidolon. 

Papyrus page from the Iliad

That leaves me with Alexander cherishing the Iliad to the point of keeping it at his bedside. His copy had annotations made by Aristotle, which indicates that the Iliad was well studied and discussed by both men. It is unthinkable that Aristotle was not aware of  Helen’s eidolon substitute in Troy, and this goes for Alexander as well. However, I assume that Alexander’s fascination with the Iliad was mainly because of Achilles' heroics. 

First results on the restoration of the Palace in Pella

Until now, very little could be seen of the excavations carried out inside the walls of the Royal Palace in Pella. 

The Palace occupied a strategic hillside, north of the city of Pella. It offered a sweeping view over the surrounding farmland, the port, the lagoon, and the two access roads from the city’s Agora. So far, seven major buildings have been identified, spread over a series of stepped terraces.  

In August 2022, I shared the news that the Palace had been opened to visitors (see: Welcome to the Royal Palace of Pella), but that turned out to be a dead-end lead because the site really opened to the public in the first days of January 2026. The reason for this delay is not given. The billboard on the site, as included in my earlier blog, is still there, unchanged. What happened on the ground remains an open question. 

Reconstructed sections of the Palace of Pella. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

[from The Greek Reporter]

The outline of the seven Buildings today appears to be marked with white pebbles in those places where even the remaining stones are problematic. The identification of the rooms has not progressed beyond the Andron (Building I), to the right of the Propylon entrance, and the Palaestra (Building V) and its swimming pool west of the Royal Residence. The other buildings are tentatively linked to certain functions, but without conviction. After all, the army officers and Royal Pages needed a place to stay, as suggested in Building V. Where to locate the Palace’s kitchen? Buildings VII and III have been tentatively dedicated to workshops or storage areas. 

Andron, the main hall in the northern part of Building I, is destined to host the royal banquets. Aerial view before restoration.

[from The Palace of Pella]

I still can’t get over the emptiness of the Palace, where close to nothing is left to show its grandeur, except its size that spreads further than what has been brought to light so far. The complex not only represented power and living quarters, but also functioned as a center of administration and military planning. 

How come the city of Pella proper has so many more signs of prosperity and wealth to show than the Royal Palace? The Romans thoroughly looted the Palace in 168 BC, and an earthquake in the 1^st century AD seriously damaged the structure. In later centuries, the locals helped themselves to the readily available stones for their own constructions, leaving mere crumbs. 

On the occasion of this opening, two Hellenistic statues discovered in 2015 in the Agora of Pella are being added to the Archaeological Museum of Pella. One statue is that of a woman, the other has been identified as Silenus, a mythological figure related to Dionysus. 

Selinus [from The Greek Reporter]

Apparently, no statues have been unearthed in or around the Royal Palace, but no statuettes, vessels, shards of pottery, or bits of jewelry are mentioned either … 

Gadara holds one of the world’s longest underground aqueducts

Gadara has been identified as the ancient city half-hidden beneath modern Umm Qais in Jordan. 

Until late Hellenistic times, the citizens of Gadara had to rely on a variety of cisterns that collected rainwater. So far, no less than 75 such reservoirs have been identified with a storage capacity varying from 6 to 450 cubic meters. After the arrival of the Romans in the 1^st century BC, the growing population spread out over a wider area, needing more water than the cisterns could provide. 

Water had to be brought into Gadara from a spring 11 kilometers away. It probably flowed through a series of clay pipes buried underground, called Qanat Turab, making a detour around the valleys. Near Gadara, the water crossed another valley by means of a bridge and reached a tunnel under the city’s Acropolis. From here, it was distributed to the baths, Nymphaeums, and houses. 

By the end of the 1^st century AD, however, the population of Gadara and neighboring settlements had exploded to reach about 50,000 people. To meet their needs, a daily debit of 300-400 liters per person was required. Together with the cities of Adra’a and Abila, Gadara decided to build a second long-distance water supply running through a series of tunnels cut in the rock. The project, known as Qanat Fir’aun, was started in 90 AD to be completed in several phases by 210 AD. It is known to have been functioning until the devastating earthquake of 747 AD, which destroyed Gadara. 

[Picture from Culture in Crisis, credit Paul Fischer]

I already touched on the subject in my earlier post, Preservation of the Roman aqueduct at Gadara, without digging deeper into the prowess of the Roman engineers. This elaborate structure started at a reservoir at Wadi Harier, near the Syrian border village of Dille, with a storage capacity of 4 to 6 million cubic meters. The water covered a distance of 170 kilometers to Gadara using gravity, in this case, a gradient of about 217 meters! How these engineers from antiquity managed to figure this out without the help of our modern technology is a pure wonder. For a good 100 kilometers of its course, the water ran through a system of tunnels. On its way, 14 tributaries from Lake Muzarib in southern Syria and several springs added their waters to the main stream. For the maintenance of the entire system, karezes or qanats, providing underground access, were added at regular intervals. 

Access to both aqueducts can be found on the Acropolis of Gadara, i.e., where the remains of the abandoned Ottoman village of Umm Qais now stand. Today’s tourist can visit the last section of this 170-kilometer-long tunnel in a guided tour. A real treat!

Abukir, including Canopus and Thonis-Heracleion

The waters along the Egyptian Coast hold a treasure trove of statues, columns, reliefs, and other architectural elements. Flooded ancient city streets with their temples, abandoned harbors and wooden ships yield a great number of surprises. 

Centuries before the foundation of Alexandria by Alexander the Great, the Greeks had established trade centers in Egypt. The oldest was Thonis-Heracleion in the 8^th century BC (see: Heracleion, ancient Greek port in Egypt), located six kilometers northeast of Abukir. Canopus was first mentioned in the 6^th century BC and lies right next to Abukir, nowadays on the edge of modern Alexandria. 

Since 1992, underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio has been investigating the larger area of the Bay of Abukir together with the Egyptian Ministry for Antiquities. In 2000, thanks to his advanced sonar and magnetic scanning technology, he discovered Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus (see: Getting around in the Nile Delta). He has founded the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) and works closely with a team of archaeologists, Egyptologists, historians, geologists, geophysicists, computer engineers, and the like. He regularly shares his finds on his own website, which contains a wonderful page with pictures of his discoveries. Clicking on a picture reveals the full story of the artifact. 

[Picture from Egypt Museum by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra] 

My absolute favorite is this stunning statue, representing Queen Arsinoe II, the sister-wife of King Ptolemy II, that was discovered in the flooded ruins of Canopus.

The queen’s portrayal here is more Greek than Egyptian. She is the embodiment of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, especially thanks to the “wet look” of her dress clinging to her body. After Arsinoe died in 270 BC, Ptolemy II issued a decree that all temples of Egypt should host a cult statue of the divine Arsinoe. So much to honor one’s spouse! 

But, of course, you are free to pick your own preference and learn more about the great work done by Franck Goddio all those years. There is more than enough for future generations to discover under the sandy bottom of Abukir’s Bay.

Kayseri and its hidden Hippodrome

Kayseri was called Caesarea. To be named after Caesar, in this case Emperor Tiberius, who reigned from 14 AD to 37 AD, underscores its importance. 

The city was founded around 2000 BC as a trading post for the Hittites and the Assyrians. In Hellenistic times, it was known as Mazaka, and changed name again into Eusebia under Cappadocian rule. 

[Picture from Arkeonews]

The Hippodrome, however, is attributed to the Romans and was probably built in the 1^st century BC or early 1^st century AD. It has not been excavated yet, as it lies underneath the local market, which in turn sits on an ancient landfill that was heavily used from 1950 until 1980. Ten thousand tons of debris were deposited, creating a layer nearly 20 meters thick. It remained hidden until its contours appeared in a 19^th-century drawing, where it was labeled a Circus. 

The Roman Hippodrome is one of the three known examples found in Anatolia, i.e., in Ephesos and Pergamon. This structure is about 450 meters long, and its outlines with the curved ends remain intact. 

In late antiquity, Caesarea was an important city that may have counted 50,000 inhabitants. It sat on the main trade routes connecting to the Persian Royal Road and linking Sinope to the Euphrates.

There are no plans yet to start the excavation of the Hippodrome, partly because of the local open-air market that is still held there, partly because of the tons of debris that need to be removed. In the meantime, the site is registered as a protected area and will be monitored with geophysical equipment to gather as much information as possible.