The Cave of the Nymphs at Pharsalus Brill Studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy
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The Cave of the Nymphs at Pharsalus Brill Studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy Editorial Board John Bodel (Brown University) Adele Scafuro (Brown University) VOLUME 6 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bsgre The Cave of the Nymphs at Pharsalus Studies on a Thessalian Country Shrine By Robert S. Wagman LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Pharsala. View of the Karapla hill and the cave of the Nymphs from N, 1922 (SAIA, Archivio Fotografico B 326) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Wagman, Robert S. Title: The Cave of the Nymphs at Pharsalus : studies on a Thessalian country shrine / by Robert S. Wagman. Description: Boston : Brill, 2015. | Series: Brill studies in Greek and Roman epigraphy, ISSN 1876-2557 ; volume 6 | Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Identifiers: LCCN 2015032381| ISBN 9789004297616 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789004297623 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Thessaly (Greece)—Antiquities. | Excavations (Archaeology)—Greece—Thessaly. | Inscriptions—Greece—Thessaly. | Farsala (Greece)—Antiquities. | Excavations (Archaeology)—Greece—Farsala. | Inscriptions—Greece—Farsala. | Nymphs (Greek deities) Classification: LCC DF221.T4 W34 2015 | DDC 938/.2—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015032381 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1876-2557 isbn 978-90-04-29761-6 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-29762-3 (e-book) Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Α. καὶ Α. ἀνέθε̄κα θεαῖς τόδ’ ἔργον ∵ Contents List of Plates, Tables, and Charts IX Acknowledgements XI Abbreviations and Other Prefatory Matters XIII Introduction 1 1 Geography and Landscape (Plates I–V, VII–X) 4 1 Overview of the Pharsalian Territory 4 2 The Pharsalian Hill Country: Anatomy of a Borderland 11 2 The Site (Plates VI, VIII–XXII) 18 1 Description 18 1.1 Approach 18 1.2 The Site (Lower Level) 19 1.3 The Site (Upper Level) 19 2 Interpretation 21 2.1 Approach 21 2.2 The Sacred Garden 21 2.3 The Stairway 26 2.4 The Forecourt and Its Structures 28 2.5 The Roof 30 2.6 The Cave 31 3 Conclusions 32 3 The Votives (Plates XXV–XXXV) 35 1 Discovery 35 2 Excavations 35 3 Catalog of Objects 36 4 Appendix: Unpublished Objects 52 5 Conclusions 53 6 Charts 56 4 The Inscriptions (Plates XXIII–XXIV) 57 1 Inscription I 57 1.1 Epigraphical Overview 57 1.2 Text and Translation 59 1.3 Metrical Conspectus 60 1.4 Commentary 60 1.5 Conclusions 62 viii Contents 2 Inscription II 66 2.1 Epigraphical Overview 66 2.2 Text and Translation 68 2.3 Metrical and Stylistic Conspectus 69 2.4 Commentary 70 2.5 Conclusions (Pantalces: Construction of a Cult Founder) 84 Conclusion 94 Bibliography 97 Indices Index of Sources 113 Index of Names 118 Index of Geographical Names 125 Plates i–xxxv List of Plates, Tables, and Charts Plates ( following page 128) I Pharsala and environs. Map of the physical Fig. 24. Apsidal chapel. View of triangular base features discussed in the text and niche II Pharsala and environs. Map of the sites XVII Fig. 25. Karapla, upper sanctuary. General view discussed in the text from E III Pharsala and environs. Detail from HMGS Fig. 26. Entrance to roofless vestibule with General Use Map bench in background IV Aerial view of Karapla and environs XVIII Fig. 27. Entrance to roofless vestibule. View V Detail from H. Daumet, ‘Les collines de from N Pharsale’ Fig. 28. Roofless vestibule interior. View from S VI Cave site plan Fig. 29. Roofless vestibule. Small water VII Fig. 1. The Pharsalian high country channel in W wall Fig. 2. General view of Karapla ridge and Fig. 30. Roofless vestibule. Fissure in W wall Mavrochoma XIX Fig. 31. Roofless vestibule. Watermarks on VIII Fig. 3. Karapla ridge, Mavrochoma, and Steni E wall pass Fig. 32. Entrance to cave. View from N Fig. 4. Karapla, Sykies summit. NE approach Fig. 33. Cave interior. View from S from Mavrochoma fields XX Fig. 34. Cave stream channel. Lower tract at IX Fig. 5. Karapla ridge, seen from the acropolis of vestibule entrance Proerna Fig. 35. Cave stream channel. Middle tract. Fig. 6. Karapla, Sykies summit. Approach View from S from W Fig. 36. Cave stream channel. Mid and upper X Fig. 7. Karapla, Sykies summit. View from the tract. View from N top, looking N Fig. 37. Cave stream channel. Upper tract Fig. 8. Karapla, Sykies summit. View from the XXI Fig. 38. Cave, upper end of corridor. View top, looking S from S XI Fig. 9. Cave. View from above Fig. 39. Cave, upper end of corridor. Fissure in Fig. 10. Roofless vestibule. View from above W wall Fig. 11. Roofless vestibule. View from ground Fig. 40. Cave, E elbow corridor XII Fig. 12. Karapla, lower sanctuary. Terrace with XXII Fig. 41. Cave, entrance to inner chamber elms Fig. 42. Cave, inner chamber. Detail of pillar Fig. 13. Karapla, lower sanctuary. General view Fig. 43. Cave, inner chamber. Interior view from W XXIII Fig. 44. Inscription I with stairway in XIII Fig. 14. Stairway foreground. View from W Fig. 15. Stairway Fig. 45. Inscription I Fig. 16. Karapla, upper sanctuary. View from XXIV Fig. 46. Inscription II. View from N below Fig. 47. Inscription II, enhanced XIV Fig. 17. Stairway. View from upper sanctuary XXV Fig. 48. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 331 Fig. 18. Stairway, detail of upper steps Fig. 49. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 332 Fig. 19. Stairway, detail of landing step XXVI Fig. 50. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 333 XV Fig. 20. Karapla, upper sanctuary. General view Fig. 51. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 334 from W XXVII Fig. 52. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 335 Fig. 21. Apsidal chapel with ‘altar’ stone Fig. 53. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 336 Fig. 22. Detail of ‘altar’ top with niche in XXVIII Fig. 54. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 337 background Fig. 55. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 338 XVI Fig. 23. Apsidal chapel, detail of wall dressing XXIX Fig. 56. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 339 with niche to the left Fig. 57. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 340 x List Of Plates, Tables, And Charts XXX Fig. 58. SAIA Arch. Fot. B 341 XXXIII Fig. 64. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 908a Fig. 59. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 911 Fig. 65. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 908b XXXI Fig. 60. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 904 XXXIV Fig. 66. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 909 Fig. 61. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 905 Fig. 67. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 910 XXXII Fig. 62. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 906 XXXV Fig. 68. Handle from vase Fig. 63. SAIA Arch. Fot. C 907 Fig. 69. Fragment from stone object Tables 1 Decrease in the population of rural centers south of Pharsala 1981–2011 14 2 Chronological conspectus 96 Charts 1 Distribution of votives by period 56 2 Distribution of votives by gender of figures represented 56 3 Distribution of votives by period and gender of figures represented (synopsis) 56 Acknowledgements What better way to supply a plot for the directionless colleagues and family. Work proceeded in fits and starts, soul than at least read about a trip, at best to go on but the stark beauty of the Thessalian mountainland and one and write it up? the friendliness of its people provided the cement that my Eisner, Travelers to an Antique Land discontinuous research calendar was lacking. At home my daughter grew along with my fieldbooks, relishing in tales I made my first acquaintance with the Karapla cave while of caves, bats, and giant horseflies that attack little girls. collecting material for a dissertation I never wrote. The An expert at decoding my non-native English, my wife topic of my doctoral thesis was decided during a fateful bravely proofread the first draft of this manuscript as it conversation with my graduate mentor in Baltimore. As slowly took shape. a result of that meeting, in the late eighties I relocated to Despite the small size of the resulting monograph, Athens to begin work on a corpus of Greek sacred poetry researching the Karapla cave was a long and complex preserved in inscriptions. The memory of my first year project that could not have been accomplished without the abroad is a blurry succession of images which fade into assistance of many people. I aknowledge them here in no the chaotic background of 1987 Athens. Like Henry Miller, particular order. In Greece: Professor Ioannis Barmpoutis eventually I found peace at Epidaurus. Between visits to and the Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment of the the Argolis, the American School of Classical Studies gave Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Dr. Panagiotis (Takis) me room, board, and a refuge where to collect the pieces Karkanas of the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and of my personal and professional life. As work at Epidaurus Speleology of S.