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Great Waterworks in Roman Greece Aqueducts and Monumental Fountain Structures Function in Context

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Great Waterworks in Roman Greece Aqueducts and Monumental Fountain Structures Function in Context Great Waterworks in Roman Greece Aqueducts and Monumental Fountain Structures Function in Context Access edited by Open Georgia A. Aristodemou and Theodosios P. Tassios Archaeopress Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 35 © Archaeopress and the authors, 2017. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Gordon House 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED www.archaeopress.com ISBN 978 1 78491 764 7 ISBN 978 1 78491 765 4 (e-Pdf) © Archaeopress and the authors 2018 Cover: The monumental arcade bridge of Moria,Access Lesvos, courtesy of Dr Yannis Kourtzellis Creative idea of Tasos Lekkas (Graphics and Web Designer, International Hellenic University) Open All rights Archaeopressreserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Printed in England by Oxuniprint, Oxford This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com © Archaeopress and the authors, 2017. Contents Preface ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� iii Georgia A. Aristodemou and Theodosios P. Tassios Introduction I� Roman Aqueducts in Greece �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1 Theodosios P. Tassios Introduction II� Roman Monumental Fountains (Nymphaea) in Greece �����������������������������������������10 Georgia A. Aristodemou PART I: AQUEDUCTS Vaulted-roof aqueduct channels in Roman Macedonia ������������������������������������������������������������������15 Asimina Kaiafa-Saropoulou The aqueduct of Actian Nicopolis ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26 Konstantinos L. Zachos and Leonidas Leontaris The water supply of Roman Thessaloniki ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������50 Manolis Manoledakis Access The Hadrianic aqueduct of Athens and the underlying tradition of hydraulic engineering ���������70 Eustathios D. Chiotis The Hadrianic aqueduct in Corinth �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������98 Yannis Lolos Open The Roman aqueduct of Mytilene ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������109 Yannis Kourtzellis, Maria Pappa and George Kakes Roman aqueduct of Samos �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������131 Τelauges Ν. Dimitriou A Roman aqueduct through the Cretan highlands – securing the water supply for elevated Lyttos � 147 Amanda Kelly PART II: NYMPHAEA Archaeopress Shifting tides: approaches to the public water-displays of Roman Greece ����������������������������������173 Dylan Kelby Rogers Fountain figures from the Greek provinces: monumentality in fountain structures of Roman Greece as revealed through their sculptural display programs and their patrons ���������������������� 193 Georgia Aristodemou The monumental fountain in the Athenian Agora: reconstruction and interpretation��������������� 218 Shawna Leigh New water from old spouts: the case of the Arsinoe fountain of Messene �����������������������������������235 Mario Trabucco della Torretta Reflecting the past: the nymphaeum near the so-called Praetorium at Gortyn ��������������������������� 246 Brenda Longfellow i © Archaeopress and the authors, 2017. Access Open Archaeopress © Archaeopress and the authors, 2017. ii The monumental fountain in the Athenian Agora: reconstruction and interpretation* Shawna Leigh Abstract In the last ten years the architecture of and various issues regarding the monumental fountain in the Athenian agora, a building not preserved above foundation level, leaving all possible reconstructions largely hypothetical, have undergone renewed scrutiny. Brenda Longfellow has briefly reviewed its evidence in her book on Roman monumental fountains and suggests that, like the more recent reconstruction of the Olympia nymphaeum, the Agora fountain had two stories, based on the thickness of its back wall. Additionally, Julian Richard has considered the monument in terms of siting and meaning in his monograph on Roman monumental fountains in the eastern empire. These studies leave questions regarding the monument that require a fresh look at the building. In this article I will reconsider the evidence and possibilities for the architecture and decorative program of the Athenian fountain, and the degree to which its reconstruction based on the Olympia structure is likely. Additionally, I will postulate the possible water technology utilized in the structure, a topic largely ignored in previous studies. I will also discuss the meanings behind the siting of the ‘nymphaeum’, its imperial connections, and how the monument and its supply aqueduct visually changed the southeastern Agora space and the important ceremonial approach to the Acropolis, the Panathenaic Way. This focused restudy will allow the building to be better understood within its context in Imperial Greece as well as within Hadrian’s program of Athenian euergetism. Access Keywords: Fountain, Athens, Agora, Hadrian, Antonine. Open During the 1954 American School of Classical Studies’ Agora excavation season the remains of a curvilinear Roman monumental fountain (Nymphaion) were investigated in the southeast corner of site. Very little above the foundations of the building remained in situ, and the 11th century AD Church of the Holy Apostles sits on the western portion of the monument. Homer Thompson associated a few decorative architectural elements found in various nearby locations and a statue with the fountain’s superstructure but stated that no reconstruction was possible because of the scanty remains at the site. He compared aspects of the building to the Nymphaeum of Herodes Atticus at Olympia and the monumental fountain at Tipasa in Algeria, and suggested that the Agora Nymphaion was covered by a semi-dome as was postulated for those buildings. As a part of her 1979 dissertation, Susan Walker went so far as to suggest that the architect for both the Olympia and Athenian structures was the same, presenting a reconstruction that resembled the contemporaryArchaeopress reconstruction of the Olympia Nymphaeum (Figure 1);1 at that time Walker supported the theory that both buildings had one story and were hypaethral. Three additional statues were associated with the Athenian structure.2 Recently the architecture of and various other issues regarding the monumental fountain in the Athenian agora have undergone renewed scrutiny. At the outset it must be stated that since the building is not preserved above foundation level all possible reconstructions are largely hypothetical. Brenda Longfellow briefly reviewed the evidence in her book on Roman monumental fountains and speculated that, like Bol’s 1984 reconstruction of the Olympia Nymphaeum, the Agora fountain had two stories based on the fact that the thickness of the foundation trench for the back wall would allow the structure to support an extra level. Additionally, Julian Richard has considered the monument in terms of siting and meaning * I would like to thank John M. Camp for suggesting that I work on this topic, the staff of the Agora Excavations of the American School of Classical Studies for their aid on the project, most particularly Sylvie Dumont, Craig Mauzy and Richard Anderson. I would also like to thank the chief editor of this volume, Georgia Aristodemou, for the opportunity to publish this paper and Susan Walker, without whose work this paper would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to thank William Wallace Roberts II for his support and comments on drafts of this project. All remaining errors are my own. 1 For the one story reconstruction of the Olympia Nymphaeum, see Yalouris 1982: 107, ill. 43. 2 Thompson 1955; Walker 1979. 218 © Archaeopress and the authors, 2017. Shawna Leigh: The monumental fountain in the Athenian Agora: reconstruction and interpretation Access Open Figure 1. Restored perspective drawing of the ‘nymphaion’ looking southeast by Susan Walker. (Courtesy American School of Classical Studies at Athens: Agora Excavations) in his monograph on Roman monumental fountains in the eastern Roman Empire. These studies leave questions regarding the monument that require a fresh look at the building. In this paper I will reconsiderArchaeopress the evidence and some possibilities for the architecture and decorative program of the Athenian fountain, and the degree to which its reconstruction based on the Olympia structure is likely. Additionally, I will postulate the possible water technology utilized in the structure as indicated by its supply aqueduct, a topic largely ignored in previous studies. I will briefly discuss the discernible meanings behind the siting of the Nymphaion, its imperial connections, and how the monument and its supply aqueduct visually changed the southeastern Agora space, functions and the important ceremonial approach to the Acropolis. This focused restudy will enable scholars to better understand the building within the context of the major 2nd century AD water embellishments of Imperial Greece both symbolically and technologically. The remains In situ remains As mentioned above, the fountain sits in the southeast corner of the Agora, which, given its high elevation compared to the rest of the Agora (66.88m above sea level
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