Polygyros in Chalcidice

Polygyros in Chalcidice is in the news since its Archaeological Museum has reopened after being closed for twelve years to upgrade it to today's standards. 

Chalcidice is the three-fingered peninsula just east of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece, famous for its exotic beaches and natural landscapes. It is a popular vacation destination for people from Balkan countries, Austria, and Germany. 

Polygyros is situated at the peninsula's center, with easy access to notorious antique sites like Olynthus, Potidea, and Stagira. It is also close to the narrow where King Xerxes I of Persia dug a canal across the most easterly finger (Mount Athos Peninsula) during the Second Persian War in 480 BC (see: Stagira, the Birthplace of Aristotle). 

I vividly remember visiting the Museum of Polygyros when I toured around Chalcidice. I was determined to see the arrowheads from Olynthus (see: Olynthus and its houses), with their unique inscription ΦΙΛΙΠΠO (Philippou), meaning from Philip. It had taken Philip of Macedonia nearly two years to conquer Olynthus, and his army apparently had quite a sense of humor. The siege ended in 348 BC, after which Philip razed the city to the ground. 

Another treasure at the museum is the surviving part of Philip's treaty with the Chalcideans. Alarmed by Philip's policy after he occupied Amphipolis in 357 BC, the Chalcidean allies and the Olynthians concluded a treaty with Philip against Athens, who had refused an earlier proposition. To seal their agreement on the treaty's terms, the two parties solemnly swore by Zeus, Gaia, Helios, and Poseidon. 

Three copies of this treaty were made, and the Chalcideans would display theirs at the Temple of Artemis in Olynthus, and Philip would do the same in the Temple of Zeus in Dion. They jointly would exhibit a third copy in Delphi after having it ratified by the gods. 

Strolling further through this small museum, I discovered several artifacts worth my attention. There was, for instance, a terracotta Niké from Sane, 6^th century BC, a lion spout from the Temple of Ammon-Zeus in Kallithea, 5^th century BC, and a piece of cornice from an archaic sanctuary in Stagira, 6^th century BC. Last but not least, an exciting collection of silver and copper coins that was unearthed in Stagira, mainly carrying effigies of Macedonian kings. There were also coins from other cities like Akanthos (modern Ierissos), Sermyle, Skione, and Ouranopolis on the Chalcidice, and from more distant Amphipolis, Pella, Thessaloniki, Corinth, etc. 

These treasures may be dwarfed in the museum that has been enlarged to accommodate an extensive donation of more than one thousand artifacts. The generous benefactor is Iraklis Lambropoulos, who donated the collection his father, Ioannis, had gathered in the 1930s. In fact, he gave it to the Greek State, provided it would be displayed at the Archaeological Museum of Polygyros. 

Today's visitor will see finding from excavations carried out throughout Chalcidice dating from the Palaeolithic to the Archaic, Classic, Hellenistic, and Roman eras. Special attention is drawn to an unfinished kouros, which may have escaped my attention or is entirely new. Noteworthy is also a marble head of Dionysos from Aphytos, 4^th century BC, two marble grave statues from the Heroon of Stratoni, 1^st century BC, and the artifacts unearthed in Olynthus and its cemetery. 

It is obvious that I should visit this museum the next time I am in Chalcidice.

Air pollution in antiquity

We are inclined to believe that air pollution is a modern phenomenon that started with the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, but recent research has shown that the problem existed already in Greek and Roman antiquity.

The first mining of metals started in the 6^th millennium BC but mass production was a Roman invention as they intensively used lead for the production of water pipes, household items, and to mint their silver coins. The smelting of lead releases toxic heavy metals into the air.

It has never been established, for instance, to what extend King Philip’s mines in Crenides, Stratonici, Skouries, and Olympiade on the east side of the Chalcidice peninsula, and Potidaea contributed to the air pollution (see: Macedonia's gold and silver mines today) .

Until now, scientists relied on the traces of metal trapped in Greenland’s ice but that is far away from the actual mine sites. At present, the concentrations have been measured in the deepest layers of ice on the Mont Blanc, which is geographically much closer to the source.

The study of alpine ice has revealed that lead emissions in antiquity increased the natural level by a factor of 10. By comparison, the use of leaded gasoline in Europe matched up to a factor of 50 to 100. The impact may not seem so important were it not that the Roman pollution spread over many centuries, while our leaded gasoline damaged our air quality for "only" 30 years or so.

Although the Roman smelting and mining activities went on for almost 500 years, it appears that they knew two peaks in atmospheric lead pollution, i.e., during the 2^nd century BC and again during the 2^nd century AD. The Romans mined lead all over Europe, from Iberia to Great Britain, and the production eventually declined gradually after the fall of the Empire in the 5^th century.

We look at the Roman Empire with its grand monuments and great works of art but never consider that all that wealth came at a very high price.

Today we aim to bring our air pollution back to standards from before the Industrial Revolution, but it is clear that it existed for a long time. To take the values from before the Industrial Revolution as a “clean” standard does no longer stand either. There were many ups and downs, like noted in the Middle Ages when mining activities almost became nil, particularly when the Black Death pandemic hit this part of the world in the mid-14^th century.

Beside the lead pollution, quantities of antimony were also released into the atmosphere. It is important to know that lead ores also contain elements like arsenic, copper, silver, and gold.

High stakes at Corinth

When Philip was proclaimed leader of all the Greeks at Corinth, he was clever enough to insert a clause in the treaty-making his title hereditary. Each state had individually sworn not to harm any other member of the Common Peace and not to interfere in their internal affairs. They also had sworn not to become allies with any foreign power that could damage any member of the Treaty. No member could undertake any operation that might endanger the peace or overthrow its constitution. The then assembled council or synedrion at Corinth was the final authority to settle any dispute between individuals or between member states. They had to help each other if one of the members was attacked but were not allowed to accept support from foreign powers.

This means that after the assassination of Philip in 336 BC, it was one of Alexander’s priorities to be accepted and confirmed as Hegemon of this League of Corinth.

Walking around the impressive remains of Corinth, crowned by the Temple of Apollo, which Alexander saw in all its glory, makes you wonder where these meetings took place. The most obvious location would be the theatre rebuilt early 4^th century BC on the foundations of an older one from the 5^th century BC. This theater could seat around 15,000 spectators, but there is very little left of this building. There is also a Bouleuterion behind the Agora to consider, but this turns out to be a Roman construction that didn’t exist in Philip’s days.

The Lechaion Street, which connected the center of Corinth to the western harbor of the same name, is one of the highlights of the city. In recent years, expert divers have been exploring the very harbor of Lechaion to expose the infrastructure of this important port city, locating two monumental piers built of ashlar blocks next to a smaller dock. They also found a canal entrance leading into Lechaion’s three inner harbors, as well as a breakwater.

Lechaion was only one of Corinth’s harbors, as the city strategically straddles the isthmus between mainland Greece and the Peloponnesus (less than 6 kilometers wide), which means that it needed both an eastern and a western harbor. Lechaion, on the Gulf of Corinth, served the western sea routes to Italy, Sicily, and beyond to Spain. The harbor of Kenchreai gave access to the Saronic Gulf from where the ships sailed to and from the Aegean, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt. Goods could be transported overland from one port to the other as lightweight ships were hauled using a platform along the road connecting Lechaion to Kenchreai. This was before Nero planned to dig a canal meant to link both sides, a plan that eventually materialized two thousand years later. The remains of Kenchreai Street are not as impressive as Lechaion Street, which is tucked away behind the shops of the Agora, but both were familiar to Alexander.

The Temple of Apollo certainly is the main landmark. It is built in Doric order, counting 6x15 columns, seven of which are still standing and define the skyline of Corinth. Rather unique is the fact that the columns are monolithic and stand more than seven meters tall. It is here that the slight convex floor to support the temple’s columns has been implemented for the first time, antedating the much-praised concept for the Parthenon in Athens! There is no trace of the bronze statue of Apollo that once stood inside the temple, as mentioned by Pausanias.

Another unmistakable feature in Corinth is the Fountain of Peirene, built in the late 6^th century BC and enhanced many times, especially by the Romans in the 2^nd century AD. Much older, and probably built together with the Temple of Apollo, is the adjacent Fountain of Glauke, an inelegant cube of about 7.5 meters. Inside is a succession of reservoirs with a total capacity of approximately 527 m3. Water management in antiquity was far more sophisticated than generally admitted.

Since its early beginning, Corinth was a booming trading hub in the eastern Mediterranean and has a lot to tell. For more than one thousand years, roughly from the 6^th century BC till the 6^th century AD, the city was at the center of all trade carried out by its mixed population of Greeks, Romans, and Jews, and later by early Christians as well. The importance of this city cannot be stressed enough, and few people know about the many colonies Corinth founded all over the Mediterranean. As early as 733 BC, the first such colonies were established at Corcyra (Corfu) and Syracuse (Sicily). Less than a century later, many more settlements followed, like Epidamnus (Dϋrres) and Apollonia (Fier), both in Illyria, modern Albania, as well as Potidaea in Chalcidice, Greece. Corinth was also one of the co-founders of Naucratis in ancient Egypt. These facts alone prove the overall importance of the city, which rivaled Athens and Thebes.

It is not difficult to imagine the hustle and bustle of people in Alexander’s days, merchants talking feverishly with buyers and sellers, while seafarers were seeking the distractions common to every port - temples, taverns, and brothels are the same all over the world. Sacrifices to the local and foreign gods were being made to thank them for their safe arrival and to pray for a safe journey onward. Corinth certainly was no exception.

If the story is true, it was here that Alexander met Diogenes (see: Alexander meeting Diogenes in Corinth). This Cynic philosopher originated from the Black Sea and died in Corinth the same year as Alexander, in 323 BC. Diogenes’ own writings have not survived, but were known by his disciple Onesicritus, who accompanied Alexander on his Asian campaigns. It may be thanks to him and Ptolemy that his philosophy slipped into the later Alexander Romance.

Olynthus and its houses

Several months ago, in the frame of the exhibition on Alexander the Great at the Hermitage in Amsterdam, I attended a lecture about Macedonia where one of the subjects treated was the city of Olynthus.

To me, Olynthus was a city repeatedly besieged by King Philip, Alexander’s father, in his attempt to create a united Macedonia. Ultimately, he razed it from the map, flattening the entire place in a final crush. So, it would be interesting to learn more about this part of history. As it turned out, this was not to be the main focus of the lecture, it was to be the houses of Olynthus, and I was in for several surprises!

The town is located in southwestern Chalcidice, covering two flat-topped hills in the middle of a fertile plain, about ten kilometers north of Potideia. The origin of Olynthus goes back to its mythological founder, Olynthus, son of Heracles. Still, the oldest remains date from Neolithic times in the third millennium BC, which were destroyed by the Persians in 479 BC.

We owe it to King Perdiccas II of Macedonia to order local tribes and settlements to move to Olynthus. This population increase led to the city's actual organization, which soon covered the entire north hill. Here, the new town was built according to a grid plan, the Hippodamian plan. Hippodamus of Miletus (498-403 BC), although an eccentric figure in his time, was the father of urban planning. He conceived the city layout with wide straight streets crossing each other at square angles, inevitably leading to an ample space in its very center where the Agora would emerge so the citizens could meet and greet in one central location. The first city to be built according to this principle was, of course, Miletus in Asia Minor. Still, the idea took on rather quickly, and Olynthus and Pella were to be built this way (eventually lavishly implemented by Alexander the Great when he founded his many cities in the east and generously copied by the practical Romans).

From 432 BC onward Olynthus’ power rose substantially to become the leader of the Chalcidian League, a confederation of 32 cities on the Chalcidice peninsula. Both Athens and Macedonia would love to have Olynthus as an ally rather than as their enemy. Still, an alliance with Olynthus never lasted long as they kept changing camp according to their own whims.

In 357 BC, King Philip II concluded a peace treaty with Olynthus and its allies, i.e., against Athens (part of this text is being kept at the nearby Museum of Polygyros). But a couple of years later, Olynthus changed its mind again and sought an alliance with Athens, who in return did nothing or close to nothing to help them. At first, Philip maneuvered in such a way as to isolate Olynthus by taking one neighboring city after the other and thus seriously cutting down its power. In 348 BC, he besieged Olynthus and razed it to the ground. Useless to point out that the speaker in Amsterdam had my undivided attention, and it was obvious I had to see Olynthus for myself on my next trip to Macedonia – which I did.

Because Olynthus has been (nearly) completely flattened, it is easy to get a good overview of its layout. Although hardly 1/10^th of the total area has been excavated, two large avenues, 7 meters wide, clearly stand out with smaller streets dividing the city into blocks (a familiar sight in major American cities today!). Each block counted ten houses with one upper floor and a paved yard. Amazingly, some of the earliest floor mosaics in Greek art have been discovered here!

It is surprising to learn that most of the houses have a similar ground plan which is commonly referred to as “pastas houses”, i.e. roughly squares of 17 x 17 meters, divided in two almost equal parts, while the northern half is again divided in two. This means that the walls and supporting columns are all placed according to a common rule required: one single roof covers all the northern halves of the entire row of houses. Life evolved around a central courtyard situated in the southern half, which opened onto the long northern portico, i.e., the “pastas.” This portico was the focal point in each house, a convenient and comfortable working area. Nearly all the rooms opened directly to the court or to the pastas. It turns out that the houses in Olynthus were non-hierarchical, meaning there were no main or dominant rooms or backrooms. This differentiates them from the “prostas” type of houses that the Romans built in later years.

All Olynthian houses had a room dedicated as a kitchen area, sometimes with a built-in hearth, and another small room assigned to bathing as several bathtubs have been found in situ with their drainage system. But what stroke me most during this lecture was the illustration of the rooms used as “andron.” Now the “andron” is a kind of formal dining room, only for men, of course, which was used primarily for the Greek “symposiums.” These were dinner parties in which the host took care of entertaining his guests, deciding on the subject to be debated during the long eating and drinking séances, and making sure the appropriate amount of water was mixed with the wine. There were music players, but also young boys and hetaerae to be at the dedicated service of the guests. After a few hours, it was obvious that things ran out of hand, and the mosaic floors were valuable assets when cleaning up the mess the guests made of food, wine, and vomit. In Olynthus, these “androns” usually were square rooms of approximately 5 x 5 meters, with plastered and painted walls around which a raised border of about one meter high indicates the place for the couches (klinè). Because of their setting against the walls, the “androns” in Olynthus could hold seven “klinè,” which meant that the room entrance was off center. The floor was drained by a pipe running through the walls straight into the street, an efficient way to clean up after a messy revelry.

There seem to be considerable variations in these house plans; some have larger “androns,” others larger kitchens or general rooms. Several houses had special workrooms and shops with an opening to the street. Besides that, the homes on one block could be very distinctive from those on another block, perhaps because of a different social status or people exercising a different trade.

Armed with all this background information, I’m off to see Olynthus for myself! The city is within easy reach from Thessaloniki; driving south till the freeway turns into a local road and making sure to turn left in Nea Moudania instead of driving on towards the peninsula of Kassandra. The antique city, now called Megale Toumba, lies on the eastern side of the river Olynthios, while the modern town has relocated to the opposite side. The place is fenced and the access path equals a walk in the park, which in spring bursts with a wide range of flowers and blossoming bushes of all kinds where the busy bees are having a party.

Soon the road runs uphill, and I am treated to the first overall view over the remains of this once so proud city. The walls are approximately knee-high, mainly thanks to the archaeologists' reconstruction work. They have done an excellent job here, inserting a pinkish layer of cement where the original stones end and the newly restored ones have been added. It is a clear example of what “razed to the ground” means,  as historians tell us, for that would have offered us very little to see. I stare immediately into one of the main streets running slightly uphill, giving the impression of an aerial view. Modern excavators have named these avenues, while the smaller crossroads are labeled as streets. At more or less regular intervals, the excavators have placed boards with pertaining information about the streets and the houses so that even the unprepared visitor will find the answers he is looking for.

I follow one of the side streets to its dead end against the city wall, where the sewage conduct that runs underneath this street continues through the wall out of the city. I now remember how during the lecture I was told that the walls of the town and the houses might have had only stone basis whereas the top part was built in brick or mud. That would partially explain how Olynthus was destroyed to the ground, although it was located in a strategic and well-defendable position. The Olynthians put up a fierce fight! It took Philip nearly two years to conquer the city with a short interruption for a campaign in Thessaly. At any rate, his army found the time to engrave their spearheads with a personal message “ΦΙΛΙΠΠO” from Philip. The king and his army must have had quite a sense of humor! Examples of these spearheads can be admired at the nearby Museum of Polygyros, exciting stuff!

In most houses, the wells have been located and nicely preserved – covered with a grid to keep the absent-minded visitor from falling into the pit. I come across one well with the restored wooden frame around it, very interesting. And then, there are the floor mosaics that were left in their original location. As I mentioned above, these are the oldest examples showing well-preserved geometrical motives framed within typical Greek bands. They are comparable to the better-known mosaics at Pella, although not as “royal,” maybe. I recognize the Macedonian sun in one of them while the corners are filled with volutes supporting the wave pattern around the sun. Another one shows a horseback hunter wearing the typical Macedonian hat as he rides in full gallop like in the images we have seen of Alexander the Great. One entrance exposes a deer attacked by two griffons, delicately worked out in small pebbles. Breathtaking to watch!

The Bouleuterion that has been discovered is in a relatively poor state with no seats left, only the socles of the columns that once supported the roof. And in the corner next to it are the remains of a fountain or Nymphaeum, partially reconstructed above the ever-present pinkish cement line.

One of the reasons why Philip so thoroughly flattened Olynthus may have been that the city had given asylum to two of his half-brothers, possible pretenders to the throne of Macedonia. However, we may never know this for sure, but the brothers were killed – problem solved.

At the foot of this hill is a small museum offering an exhibition of pictures taken before, during, and after the site's restoration. Still, it also includes some aerial views that can be very helpful for those who want some extra orientation.

To conclude, I would like to mention that Callisthenes (ca. 370-327 BC), the biographer of Alexander the Great who accompanied him on all his campaigns, was born here in Olynthus. All this proves that Olynthus was not just any city, but a city with lots of history to tell.

[Click here to see all the pictures of Olynthus]

King Philip, one year later - Macedonia forged by Philip II - 3

King Philip, one year later (358 BC)

But, returning to 358 BC after one full year of kingship, Philip had to secure his border with the Paeonians again and trounced them. As a result, Paeonia became a sort of buffer zone between Macedonia and the tribes of the Danube to the north, which was the trade route up the Axios Valley and beyond. Philip’s army now numbered 10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry, no small achievement if you consider that only a year or two earlier, the Illyrians had defeated nearly the entire Macedonian army. He was confident about marching into Illyria and bluntly refused to accept old King Bardylis’ terms. Both armies met near today’s Lake Ochrid, maybe close to the town of Heraklea Lyncestis, and by the end of the day, the Macedonians had killed 7,000 Illyrian soldiers.

Philip seemed to have it all planned. He demanded that the Illyrians pull out of Upper Macedonia north to Lake Lychnitis, including the tribes of Orestis, which until now were controlled by the Molossian King of Epirus. This way, he had an open route into Epirus to the south and Orestis in the east. A surprising fact is that Parmenion, one of the Paeonian chieftains, was made a general soon after coming over to Philip’s side – an interesting background for this man who served both Philip and Alexander for many years. At this stage, Philip started training recruits from these newly conquered territories, the non-nobles as infantrymen and the nobles as cavalry. This practice stayed in place far into our 20^th century!

This latest victory also meant that Macedonia virtually doubled in size, that the size of Philip’s army increased substantially in only one year, and that Upper and Lower Macedonia were united as never before. Philip, still married to the Illyrian princess Audata, found it wise to change her name to Eurydice to mask her origin. Their daughter Cynane later married Amyntas, the original heir to the Macedonian throne.

Let us switch our attention to the southern borders with Thessaly and two of its cities in particular, Pherae, with its harbor, Pagasae, controlling the coastal states, and Larissa, which controls the inland states. Strangely enough, both cities were bitter enemies. It so happened that Larissa turned to the king for an alliance against Pherae. Philip agreed, be it for his own reasons, i.e., to incorporate the expert Thessalian cavalry into his new army (estimated to be 3-6,000) and to consolidate Macedonia’s southern borders. This alliance was cemented by Philip’s (third) marriage to Philinna from Larissa. She was to bear him a son, Arrhidaeus, the following year.

After these events in 358-357 BC, Philip planned to include Epirus to consolidate his borders. Three large tribes dominated that country: the Thesprotians, the Chaonians, and the Molossians, who spoke a kind of Greek dialect and were the most powerful and prosperous. Since Epirus had also suffered from the Illyrians, a treaty with Philip was relatively easy, and it was sealed by his marriage to Princess Olympias, Philip’s fourth wife. So in 357 BC, Philip’s borders were mainly secure, but there were still two significant enemies to deal with: Athens and the Chalcidian League, who, luckily, were not on friendly terms with each other!

The Chalcidian League had a powerful army, counting 10,000 infantrymen and no less than 1,000 cavalry. We should remember that the Chalcidice owed its economic importance to the mines of the Crenides. The Athenians, meanwhile, had established settlements at Potidaea (on the neck of the Kassandra peninsula), close to Olynthus, and had captured Torone at the tip of the middle finger of the Chalcidice. And, of course, they still had an eye on Amphipolis, a most important crossing on the trading route with Thrace, including the rich mines of Crenides, the waterway to the Strymon River, and the Danube beyond. To send help to Amphipolis, Athens needed a nearby base for their fleet, and it eventually found one on the island of Thasos.

Philip’s attack on Amphipolis was quickly settled, and the city capitulated in the late summer of 357 BC. He also attacked Athens’ ally Pydna, which promptly fell to him. As a reminder, we should not forget that Philip was only 26 years old then.

Tensions between Philip and Athens ran high at this point, and both parties sought an alliance with Olynthus because of the forces it could muster. Olynthus apparently was blinded by Philip’s promises, and a treaty was made in the winter of 357-356 BC. Copies were set up in Delphi, at the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, in Dion, and at the Temple of Artemis in Olynthus. As a consequence, Philip besieged Potidaea and occupied the city.

He had no time to take a break, for now, the king of eastern Thracia besieged the strategic and precious city of Crenides. It was only about 40 miles east of Amphipolis, right above the port of Neapolis (today’s Kavala), a valuable naval base in the region. Philip immediately marched in and defeated the Thracian forces despite their sudden coalition with Illyria and Paeonia. Philip was determined to stay and to put his stamp on this place; he changed its name to Philippi. He fortified the city walls and towers and increased the output of silver coinage. The marshy plain was drained and cultivated, meaning another boost for the local economy.

Click here to read the full story about Philip II from the beginning