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Notes on the Towers and Borders of Classical Boiotia Author(s): John McKesson Camp, II Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 95, No. 2 (Apr., 1991), pp. 193-202 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/505722 . Accessed: 27/03/2013 20:56

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This content downloaded from 138.16.130.60 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:56:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Notes on the Towers and Borders of ClassicalBoiotia

JOHN McKESSON CAMP II

Abstract seven minutes at a kalyvia of Granitza, on the foot of A drawing by Simone Pomardimade for EdwardDod- the mountain. Here stands a single Hellenic tower, well has permittedthe rediscoveryof a freestandingClas- about half of which remains."2 W. Gell's account is sical tower between Livadiaand Koroneiaat Rhakes.The even more succinct: "The of Rachi, where is new find leads to observationson the and Kalybea style placement an ancient Hellenic tower r."3 of Boiotian military towers, which in turn leads to the reexamination of the towers and forts along the Attic/ The tower as such has disappeared since the early Boiotian frontier. The conclusion is drawn that several 19th century and has been ignored or forgotten by towers with the fort at hitherto together Eleutherai, rec- the numerous scholars who in recent years have made as Attic, are better understood as Boiotian.* ognized Boiotia one of the more intensively studied areas of .4 A hitherto unpublished drawing of Dod- DODWELL AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE well's now helps put the Rhakes tower back on the RHAKES TOWER map of Classical Boiotia (fig. 1). The drawing is in pencil and wash, measuring 0.44 On 20 March 1805, as he made his way along the x 0.78 m. It shows a square or rectangular tower set south side of the basin, Edward Dodwell de- Copaic on a natural rock The view is taken from scribed an ancient tower: outcrop. above the tower, looking northeast over the Copaic We quitted our hospitable landlord at Libadeaand in basin. The location of the scene is set with certainty an hour reached a small village called Rhakes; where by a series of notations along the top, identifying are the remains of an ancient of square tower, regular features in the drawing: "Orcomenos, Skripu, Caly- of stones. The middle construction, composed large , ancient tower between Lividia and Thebes, distant space of the wall is three feet and a half in thickness, mountains of Eubea, , Village Kamares consisting of a hard mass of small stones and cement, or , modern lined on each side with large blocks; the whole wall aqueduct." The tower as shown is built of forming a thicknessof eight feet and a half. No other large squared ashlar traces of antiquity are visible at this place; and as its blocks and stands some six courses high on its south, situationcorresponds with no ancient town mentioned east, and north sides. Much of the west side has col- Straboor it by , was probablyone of the Mov- lapsed, except for the southwest corner, which stands or forts, built to the vcv@Qytc single-towered guard pass: up to 10 courses, though the top two blocks have for on one side rises a steep mountain,and on the other shifted somewhat out of place. The southwest corner the plain of Kopaisappears in its full extent.' is shown with drafted edges. Where shown, the walls Col. W.M. Leake, traveling with W. Gell in early seem a single block in thickness. The drawing there- December of 1805, also refers to this same tower: fore does not conform to Dodwell's description of the "Following the road from Livadhia to Thebes, along tower as having a wall "eight feet and a half thick." the foot of the Granitza mountain, we arrive in forty- We shall return to this point later.

* This article, which has several parts, owes much to Greeceduring the Years1801, 1805, 1806 (London 1819) I, friends and colleagues. Hector Catling, former Directorof 245. the British School at , made me reexamine old as- 2 W.M. Leake, Travels in Northern Greece (London 1835) sumptions by asking me to lecture on the borders and de- II, 133. fense of . MarkMunn and Josiah Ober, both of whom W. Gell, The Itinerary of Greece; Containing One have done excellent work on the defenses of Attica, were Hundred Routes in Attica, , , , and generous with their time and constructivecriticism, as were (London 1819) 140. W.T. Loomis, Kathryn Morgan, James Sickinger, and an 4 See, for instance, the immense bibliographyof some anonymous AJA referee. Alison Adams accompanied me 434 items compiled by P. Roesch in La Beotieantique (Paris several times and I am indebted also to the schoolmasterof 1985) 22-32, covering just the last 30 years. Two more Laphystio,Athanasios Papaliakos,for considerablehelp in internationalconferences on Boiotia have been held since the village.The maps were prepared by Diane Fortenberry. then, in Munich in June 1986 (H. Beister and J. Buckler, My greatest debt is to the late Eugene Vanderpool, with Boiotika,Munich 1989) and in Thebes in September 1986 whom I first began visiting the forts and towers of the ('En.Erlwt;Srg; 'EratlEagI I, 1, Ath- northwestfrontier in BotLwrtxt(v MEAErtv the 1960s. ens 1988). See also J. Fossey, The Topographyand Population E. Dodwell, A Classical and Topographical Tour through of Ancient Boiotia (Chicago 1988). 193 AmericanJournal of Archaeology95 (1991)

This content downloaded from 138.16.130.60 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:56:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 194 JOHN McKESSON CAMP II [AJA 95 IIIr 6r-% Owl wwwwl??NO "l,71,,?W,.llmm*-I?k

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Fig. 1. Pen and ink drawing of the Classicaltower at Rhakes,done 20 March 1805 by Simone Pomardi for EdwardDodwell. View looking northeast.Private collection.

A "P" inscribed in the upper right corner indicates had been dismantled and the blocks used to build the that the drawing is actually the work of Simone Po- bell tower of the Church of the Taxiarchs, which lies mardi, the Italian artist engaged by Dodwell to accom- just below the house, today heavily plastered and pany him on his travels.5 Both men had a good eye painted. A few leftover pieces, however, had been for landscape and, in addition, they usually made use built into his stable. Figure 3 shows some of the sur- of a camera obscura, which allowed exact-almost pho- viving blocks of the Rhakes tower in their present tographic-drawings in that they were traced from position in the Skorliakos stable. They are large an image projected through a lens. squared blocks of gray limestone, measuring 0.90- x x The precision of this drawing became clear in 1986, 1.00 m long 0.60 m thick 0.45 m high, with when I visited the village of Rhakes, now called La- hammer-dressed quarry faces. A few have pry holes phystio, in the company of several members of the and anathyrosis; in all, some 27 blocks or fragments American School of Classical Studies at Athens. It of blocks survive. In general the blocks closely match proved possible to match the topographical features those used in several other freestanding Boiotian tow- of the Copaic basin with the landscape shown in the ers such as those at Linopyrgos (Evangelistria), Askra, background of the drawing. The original site of the and Mavrovouni.6 tower is now occupied by a private house owned by There is no independent evidence for the date of Athanasios Skorliakos (fig. 2). When questioned, he the Rhakes tower other than the masonry itself. This informed us that in his grandfather's day the tower is true for all the parallel towers as well, which are

5 Pomardihimself also wrote an account of their travels worked up later, thereby permittinga bit of artisticlicense. in together: Viaggio nella Grecia negli anni 1804/6 (Rome The preliminarysketch and the drawing are a private 1820), though he makes no specificreference to the Rhakes collection. tower. 6 For Linopyrgos/Evangelistria:R. Kallet-Marx,"The The shading of the drawing is peculiar, showing what EvangelistriaWatchtower and the Defence of the Zagora should be the southern face as shaded, with light on the Pass,"Boiotika (Munich 1989) 301-11. I am grateful to Prof. western face, whereas the drawing was actually done in Kallet-Marxfor showing me the manuscriptof his article morning light. There is a preliminarypencil sketch for this prior to publication.For Askra and Mavrovouni,see infra 11 drawing and it may well be that the finished version was ns. and 12.

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Fig. 2. Modern Laphystio(formerly Rhakes). View looking northeast,showing the site once occupied by the Rhakestower. The arrowmarks the house of AthanasiosSkorliakos. usually dated on the basis of masonry style and/or general historical considerations to the second or third quarter of the fourth century B.C. It remains to consider briefly the function of the Rhakes tower. Perched on the shoulder of Mt. La- phystio, it commands an excellent view of the west end of the Copaic basin and the Kephissos valley where it enters the plain. Looking eastward, it has good sight-lines with both the fort at Petra and that at Orchalides,7 and northward to Orchomenos. As a lookout, then, it is well situated, though it is poorly placed for signaling to the two nearest towns, Livadia and Koroneia. A more likely function, as suggested by Dodwell, is that it served to guard the road that passed along the south side of the Copaic basin, the main road from Boiotia and southern Greece to Phokis and northern Greece. It is known that the ancient route closely followed the line of the road used by the early travelers that brought them right by the tower.8 Further, it seems likely that the tower served also to guard the border between Koroneia and Livadia. A fragmentary inscription found east of the village indicates that the ancient border ran over Mount Laphystio, apparently from some springs, up a ravine, to an altar of Laphystios, which Pausanias places on the heights of the mountain.9 The inscription was Fig. 3. AthanasiosSkorliakos and worked blocks from the found with its base and should not therefore have Rhakestower built into a modern stable

7 For Petra and Orchalides,R. Kallet-Marx(supra n. 6). See Paus. 9.34.5 for the altar of Zeus on the 8 Laphystios Paus. 9.33-34 and the Homeric Hymn to , lines mountain, 20 stades from Koroneia. No trace of this altar 224-76. has ever been reported and it may well have been a simple 9 SEG XXIII, 297 and SEG XXXV, 406; see also P. ash altar of the type often used for the worship of Zeus on Roesch, Thespies et la conftddration Boeotienne (Paris 1965) Greek mountains: M.K. Langdon, The Sanctuary of Zeus on 61-63. IG VII, 2792 records another boundary set by the Mount Hymettos (Hesperia Suppl. 16, Princeton 1976). Boiotians,between Kopaiand Akraiphnia.

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0 .5 1km

Livadia

Rhakes Tower

Find-spot of boundary ) inscription Paai AGHIOS IOANNES a

Koroneia

C>

1

Fig. 4. Map of Mt. Laphystio,showing the positionof the Rhakestower traveled far from its location.'0 It was very original :-:-::- ~_~_~~~~____~______~-----"i":';"::~:-i-~---a_-~_~,~:i:i~ii__i:iigii~iia ~--IIi-~--I ~-I- 1- 1-11111-1~~~~1~~~:1 -:- ::::~-----:-:lii:---i--il------::i-::-.-.:::-:l--i-- ---~~:_: ~~ discovered ca. 300 m east of the church of ---i-:::i:ii-iiii-ii:i:i:ii::i-i::iiiiiiiii--::ij:i:iiiii--ijiiji:iijiiiii iiiiiii-ii-i--iiiiiiiii:i:i::iii-i-ii-i-ii-i-ii-- i-iiiiiiiijijiiiiii:i-:ii:iiiiiiii:- Aghios : :i-:~:-~~~~~_~~__~~_~__~ :'---- '--~-~---::- loannes (figs. 4, 5), which is built beside an abundant -illl-:-ii:1:-111111:Iljli--~j: ~~~~l~-~-~~~~l~~~i~_-~~~__~~~~~~_~___~~ that referred to in the : : i:i:-.- -.--- : ~ I--~-::ii ii- ii:~w~l; --~:~-i-iii--ii: .-.-:--" iiiiil source, presumably inscription. :1:1'::::i''''''i-1'I_~l_(l~(~j!l(~_(_l(i!:lii-l:i:l:-ili-:i-i-i: a The tower is set on a rocky eminence just about a mile i-:;--i-i;:::lj::i::::i- - :-:::::::i:i-i-- . :::i::_::_i j:l;:IJli___~ __- (ca. 1600 m) to the west, well inside what should be :::: ::-- --: :i:-: i: :-:: ::::: II !I i the territory of Livadia. It may well be that the tower :-i: i::::::: is the work of the Boiotian confederacy, best under- -:i : -::::: :I-:-::::: :: : : stood as part of a system of similar structures that _~~~~__~_-? 'li; I guarded and/or watched over Helikon (Evangelistria, Askra, and Mavrovouni, fig. 6). Thus the drawing serves to restore the Rhakes tower to its proper place among the military installa- :::.::: :--:iiiiiiiiiiiiiii:~iiiii-ii::---i::i~~_':''':'

-:iiiiiii:iiiiii:i::i-i-ii:..:: ii:ilii::i:iii iiiiiiiii-_i~i~ii- 10 The is discussedin detailby Papadakis findspot greatest -i- 1 in "HneLr6 XaQ6xsLov ii;g Kogwovclag," ArchDelt 1916, : : 258-59. The name of the villagewhere the tower stood and iiiiii----:i:i-~~ near which the inscription is said to have been found has changed several times. In Dodwell's day it was known as Raches, a kalyviaof Granitza,which lay higher up on the mountain. Sometime after the War of Independence the inhabitantsof the upper village moved to the lower settle- ment, bringing the name Granitzawith them. The third : ::: : name, Laphystio,was given to the lower villagein 1923. The site up on the mountain, now no more than piles of over- grown rubble,is known today as Palaigranitza,linked to the lower villageby a narrowcobbled road (calderimi).Interest- ingly enough, P. Kretschmerhas noted ("Literaturbericht fiir das Jahr 1911,"Glotta 5 [1914] 265) that the early mod- ern (and Mediaeval?)name of the villageand the mountain, Granitza,is the Slavicword for border. Fig. 5. The springs at the church of Agios loannis

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Rhakes

Koroneia S Fort Haliartos

Fortified Town he

SThespi ae 0 arna Rhamnous Plataia vro uni Kreu.s Krou Tsoukrati Aphidna

a Eleutherai Stavrochoraki Oinoe Kasiid Dekeleia Velatouri

Square Tower Aigaleos Round Tower

A Fort t a Hymettos Pr 0 Fortifled Townor Derne Boudoron Athens

L ? 0 5 'Okmj

Fig. 6. The Attic/Boiotianfrontier, showing position of towns, forts, and round and square towers tions of Boiotia, serving as it did to guard both the through a door in its south face. It is built of trape- principal road through as well as the zoidal limestone blocks with quarry faces. The south- border between Koroneia and Livadia. The disap- ern part of the tower was hollow, with a short stairway pearance of the tower from the scholarly literature is leading up to the northern half, which is solid, filled a sobering indication of how dependent we remain with packing. The tower looks over the Copaic basin on the visual; clearly a picture is still worth a thousand to the north, Thespiai to the east, and Phokis and words. Helikon to the west. A similar tower stands at Mav- rovouni, above ancient Siphai."2 It too is square, ca. RHAKES AND BOIOTIAN "COMPARTMENT" 6.15 m on a side, with a doorway at the south. It also TOWERS is of trapezoidal masonry with quarry faces. Like the As noted, Dodwell's description of the Rhakes tower Askra tower, the southern part was hollow, with short with a wall "eight feet and a half" thick is not borne stairways leading up to the northern half, at least part out by the drawing, which shows walls the thickness of which was solid. The tower, which must lie roughly of a single block (fig. 1). There is no reason to doubt at the junction of the territories of Siphai, Thisbe, Dodwell's observation, however, and it seems likely and Thespiai, overlooks most of southwest Boiotia that lower down, within the tower, the wall was thicker. and up toward Phokis and Mount Helikon to the His description draws our attention to a feature of at north. Thus we have two, and possibly three, Boiotian least two other Boiotian towers (fig. 7). The first stands towers all built in the same characteristic "compart- at the west end of the Valley of the on top of ment" style. I know of only two other such towers, the conical hill identified as the of Askra.1" both on Mount Parnes, the identity of which should The tower measures 7.70 m on a side and was entered now be considered.

12 II G. Roux, "LeVal de Museset les museeschez les auteurs E.L. Schwandner, "Die b6otische Hafenstadt Siphai," anciens,"BCH 78 (1954) 45-48. AA 92 (1977) 518-19.

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0 0 ~ -- --- ~~------DL -

N 0 5m.

Fig. 7. Four Boiotian "compartment"towers

THE TSOUKRATI AND LIMIKO TOWERS13 ples that neither should build there, though both should have rights of pasture (5.42; trans. R. Warner).15 Nestled into the western outrunners of Mt. Parnes To the northeast of the on the hill known is a fairly large, fertile upland valley, known today as plain, as or Tsoukrati stands a Classical the Plain. It lies at ca. 500 masl, covering an Pyrgari (737 m) tower Some 7 further to the at area of ca. 40-45 km2 and supports five small settle- (figs. 6, 7). km east, ca. 790 stands its in an area known ments whose modern inhabitants engage in farming m, twin, as Limiko (figs. That the two towers were built as and herding. Above its southwest rim, the hill of 6, 7). a pair was Kavasala rises to a height of 714 m, its summit convincingly argued by Eugene Vanderpool (supra n. are both built of limestone crowned by the slight remains of an ancient fort. The 13). They square, blocks identification of the site as the Attic border fort of set in a trapezoidal style with their quarry faces left Panakton has recently been confirmed by the discov- except for occasional scoring. Inside they are divided into with half the ery of an inscribed ephebic list of the fourth century, compartments, tower left hollow as and half built indicating that the fort housed an Athenian garri- rooms, solid. Though most recent com- son.'14 mentators have taken these two towers to be Attic, their distinctive The plain itself was an ancient bone of contention form as compartment towers, as well between Athens and Boiotia, as we learn from Thu- as the use of trapezoidal masonry with quarry faces, cydides' account of events concerning Panakton in suggests that they are better understood as Boiotian.16 421 B.C.: On the other hand, of the dozens of towers known in Attica, I am aware of none of this specific type. In- Meanwhile, during these negotiations of the Argives, deed, the numerous examples of Attic watch/signal the Spartan representativesAndromedes, Phaedimus, towers show that they, too, have a distinctive form and Antimenidas were to receive from the supposed and construction: they are generally round and of Boeotians Panactumand the prisoners, and to restore polygonal or rubble construction, usually but not al- them to Athens. As for Panactum,they found the Boeo- tians had acted on their own account and had disman- ways solid in their lower parts. A partial list of towers of this and function would include the tled the fortress on the pretext that at some time in the type Velatouri, distant past, when there had been a dispute about the Dema tower, the Aigaleos tower, the Korydallos tower, place, oaths had been exchanged between the two peo- the Hymettos tower, Stavrochoraki above Marathon,

13 E. Vanderpool,"Roads and Forts in NorthwestAttica," 16 J. Ober,Fortress Attica (Leiden 1985) 147-48 and Van- CSCA2 (1978) 240-42. derpool (supra n. 13) are the most recent commentatorsto 14 For Kavasalaas Panakton, see Vanderpool (supra n. argue that the two towers are Attic. Since his original work 13) 233-34, and for the new ephebic inscriptionfound by in the area, M. Munn (Studies in the Territorial Defenses of M. Munn, see M. Munn and M. ZimmermanMunn, "The Fourth-CenturyAthens [Diss. Univ. of Pennsylvania 1983] StanfordSkourta Plain Project:The 1987 and 1988 Seasons 443-44) has changed his views and now regards the two of Survey on the Attic-BoiotianFrontier," AJA 93 (1989) towersas Boiotian for reasons similarto those argued here: 274. v I. 1 (Athens 'EEtrErig •g1 'ErtaltEia Botort1xZ MEAETrdv 15 Note also the reference to cattle raids in this area: Ar., 1988) 363-7 1. Kahrstedtalso opted for Limikoas a Boiotian Ach. 1022. tower: "Die LandgrenzenAthens," AM 57 (1932) 23.

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Eleu Fherai

E

SMazio ~Onoe~m on

0 .5 1km 0llllll I

Fig. 8. Detail of figure 6: the west end of the Mazi plain and the tower at Boudoron on Salamis." There may placement, Attic and Boiotian towers follow the same be chronological distinctions to be worked out but rules; their form and construction set them apart. basically it seems that Athenian watch/signal towers Placement, form, and construction all favor the iden- were round and of rubble or polygonal construction, tification of Limiko and Tsoukrati as Boiotian. whereas Boiotian towers were half-hollow, half-solid, THE MAZI TOWER, OINOE, AND ELEUTHERAI and of coursed trapezoidal construction. Once one admits the possibility that the towers are in Boiotia, West of and below the Skourta Plain a long valley the setting is of interest. Looking south from Limiko runs east-west, lying at 300 masl at the east and rising one looks up to the peaks of Parnes; to reach Dekeleia, gradually to 400 m at the west. In antiquity it carried nothernmost Attic in this vicinity, one must the ancient road from to Plataia and Boiotia. climb another 350 m to the shoulder of the mountain In this valley, roughly along the line of the road, are before descending 600 m to the southern foothills of three prominent ancient sites: Oinoe (Myoupolis), the Parnes. Turning north, one looks down on ridges and Mazi tower, and Eleutherai (Gyphtokastro) (figs. 6, eventually rolling hills over most of southern Boiotia 8)'s The identification of the forts of Oinoe and and especially . The Tsoukrati tower has a Eleutherai now seems clear, though Eleutherai needs similar view over Boiotia to the north, and overlooks further attention in view of a recent suggestion that the Skourta Plain to the south and west. Together the the well-preserved fort might be of Boiotian construc- towers watch the Boiotian side of Mount Parnes, the tion, perhaps dated to the time of .'9 common border with Attica, just as the Mavrovouni This goes against the views of almost all earlier com- and Askra towers keep similar watch on the Boiotian mentators and has recently been challenged;20 yet side of Mount Helikon, the common border with evidence from Eleutherai itself, as well as a consider- Phokis. They are all well sited and designed for sig- ation of Oinoe and the Mazi tower, suggests that the naling back into Boiotia. idea has considerable merit. It might be noted in passing that most of the Attic The ancient literary sources concerning Eleutherai watchtowers listed above are similarly situated: set indicate that at times it was Attic and at times Boiotian. well within the Attic frontier, overlooking Attic land, There can be little doubt that early on it was under placed high up in a good position for signaling. In Attic control. Herodotos (6.108) describes Athenian

17 For a list of Attic towers, see Munn (supra n. 16) 401- Eleutherai see L. Prandi, "Problemi del confine attico-beo- 43 and Ober (supra n. 16) ch. VII. tico. La zona d'Eleutere," Contributi dell'Instituto di storia 18 For the identification of Gyphtokastro as Eleutherai and antica 13 (1987) 50-79. Myoupolisas Oinoe, see Vanderpool (supra n. 13) 227-45. '9 F.A. Cooper, "Epaminondasand Greek Fortifications," For a description of Gyphtokastro (though identified as AJA 90 (1986) 195. Panakton rather than Eleutherai), see also L. Beschi, "La 20 J. Ober, "Early Artillery Towers: , Boiotia, fortezza ellenica di Gyphtokastro," Atti, VIII Congressoscien- Attica, Megarid," AJA 91 (1987) 601-603. I take no position tifico: Les fortifications depuis l'antiquite jusqu'au Moyen-Age on the fort at Aegosthena, usually thought of as Megarian, dans le monde miditerranden (Athens 1968) 1-19. For the which Cooper would ascribe to Thebes, while Ober argues most recent discussion of the literary evidence concerning for Athenian construction.

This content downloaded from 138.16.130.60 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:56:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 200 JOHN McKESSON CAMP II [AJA 95 possessionof Plataialate in the sixth century,and the presence at Eleutherai well into the fifth century. A Athenian victoryover the Boiotiansin 506 (Hdt. 5.77) collection of surface sherds found at Eleutherai has presumably consolidated Athenian control of the recently been published24 and it includes fragments area. This control did not, however, include incor- of 17 typical Boiotian kantharoi in a non-Attic, pre- poration of Eleutherai in the Athenian political sys- sumably Boiotian, fabric, dating to the middle of the tem, though an attempt at assimilation may be fifth century B.C.25 Also recently published from suggested by the introductionof the cult of Dionysos Eleutherai is an inscribed fragment of a Eleutherios to Athens.21 For the fifth century the carrying a dedication to in Boiotian dialect evidence is less clear. Semachides of Eleutherai ap- (hLaQog heQo~LxXog).26 pears at the end of an Athenian casualtylist dated in In short, there is nothing in the literary sources or the 440s (IG 12 943, 11.96-97), though that tells us the archaeological record to justify an assumption that little of the actual status of Eleutherai at that time.22 Eleutherai was Attic in the Classical period. On bal- Against this evidence must be set the fact that both ance, it would seem to have been under Athenian Herodotos (5.74) and (2.18) recognize control late in the sixth century and Boiotian for at Oinoe-and not Eleutherai-as the limit of Attica. least parts of the fifth. For the later periods we have Furthermore,Polemon (fr. 2 = Athenaeus XI, 486C) no information until the time of , who was refers to the sculptor as a member of the unable to assign the city to either Attica or Boiotia. It Boiotian genos from Eleutherai.We have no specific would appear that Eleutherai was Boiotian or, like the evidence for Eleutherai in the fourth century or the Oropia, may well have shifted between Attic and Boio- Hellenisticperiod, but later sourcesindicate that there tian control several times during the fifth and fourth was considerableconfusion over its identity.23Strabo centuries B.C.27 (9.2.31), writing late in the first century B.C., reports Leaving aside all preconceptions as to its identity, that opinion was divided in his time as to whether the we should consider briefly the evidence adduced by town was Attic or Boiotian. Pliny (HN 4.7.26), writing F.A. Cooper for his suggestion that the fortress on in the first century A.C., lists Eleutheraias a Boiotian the acropolis above Eleutherai is Theban work dating town and both Diodoros (4.2.6 and 4.3.1) and Apol- to the second quarter of the fourth century B.C. The lodoros (3.5.5) refer to it as Boiotian. Pausanias parallels cited, with the walls of Siphai and , (1.38.8-9), writingin the second centuryA.C., records seem reasonable. The large coursed trapezoidal - that it was Boiotian and then became Attic, with no sonry with quarry-faced blocks and the use of consoles indicationas to the date of the change. at the gates are found in all three forts, and if Siphai When one turns to the archaeologicalevidence it is and Messene are of Boiotian inspiration and construc- clear that at the very least there was a strong Boiotian tion then Eleutherai should be as well.28 On the other

21 Paus. 1.38.8 and 1.20.2. Perhaps this represents an dialect forms, see C.D. Buck, The GreekDialects (Chicago attempt similar to Athenian assimilationof Demeter from 1955) 152, nos. 217.6 and 218.2. Eleusisand Amphiaraosfrom Oropos. 27 For the complex of Oropos see the historical 22 Note, for instance, other fifth-century Athenian cas- summary in B. Petrakos,''QO Q• 6; xaL Tr6 tLE6vTOl ualty lists including foreigners: D. Bradeen, XVII: 'A4tiacgd6o0(Athens 1968) 22, 23; and G.D. Rocchi,Fron- The Funerary Monuments (Princeton 1974) no. 14, line 35; tiera e confininella Greciaantica (Milan 1988) 183-86: late no. 17, lines 25-29 and lines 5-8; no. 22, lines 152-55. For fifth century, Athenian (Lys., Polystratos5-6); 411 B.C., the date of IG II 9432, see W.K. Pritchett, The Greek State at Independent (Thuc. 8.95.1-4, Lys., vs. Philon 9); 402 B.C., War4 (Berkeley 1985) 183-84. Boiotian(Diod. Sic. 14.17ff.);387/6 B.C., Independent (Xen. 23 The fact that the road by Eleutherai was guarded by Hell. 5.1.33 and 36); 378/7 B.C., Athenian(Diod. Sic. 15.76); Athenian under Chabriasin 379/8 B.C. (Xen. Hell. ca. 367/6 B.C., Eretrian, then Boiotian (Schol. Aesch, vs. 5.4.14) describesthe militarysituation but does not, I think, Ktesiphon85, Diod. Sic. 15.76); mid-fourth century B.C., tell us about politicalcontrol of Eleutheraiitself at this time. Independent (ArchDelt21 [1966] 45-47: IG VII 4250 and 24 J. Ober,"Pottery and MiscellaneousArtifacts from For- 4251); 338 B.C., Athenian (Paus. 1.34.1); 322 B.C., Inde- tified Sites in Northern and Western Attica,"Hesperia 56 pendent (Diod. Sic. 18.56;AE 1952, 169);313 B.C., Boiotian (1987) 215-20. (Diod. Sic. 19.77); 304 B.C., Athenian (SEG III, 117); ca. 25 There is fair mixture of Attic pottery as well, though it 287, Boiotian(IG VII, 2724a). should be noted that ceramictrade betweenAttica and Boio- The Boiotian border was flexible to the north as well, tia is something of a one-way street. Massesof Attic pottery where the town of was Lokrian in the fourth have been found in the Boiotian cemeteries of Rhitsona, century (Paus. 9.23.7, SkylaxPeripl. 6) and Boiotian by ca. Tanagra,and Akraiphia,whereas almost no Boiotianpottery 230 (Polyb.20.5.7). found its way into Attica. 28 Note also the similarconstruction of the Askra, Mav- 26 W. Hornbostel, Jahrbuch des Museums fiir Kunst und rovouni,Tsoukrati, and Limikotowers to that at Eleutherai. GewerbeHamburg 3 (1984) 176-79 (SEG XXXV, 36); I am For Messene as a Boiotian work: Diod. Sic. 16.66.1 and indebted to R.S. Stroud for this reference. For the Boiotian 16.67.1 and Ober (supran. 20) 572-73, esp. n. 14.

This content downloaded from 138.16.130.60 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:56:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1991] NOTES ON THE TOWERS AND BORDERS OF CLASSICAL BOIOTIA 201

hand, coursed trapezoidal masonry of this type is not runs northeast into the valley from the south side, a feature of most of the indubitably Attic forts, such partially dividing the plain (fig. 8). If this ridge served as those at Oinoe, Panakton, Phyle, Rhamnous, Tho- as the boundary then we may well have an explanation rikos, or Sounion,29 nor are similar door consoles for the Mazi tower, which has long puzzled topogra- known in Attica. In short, Eleutherai as a Boiotian phers. The tower stands less than a kilometer east of settlement and border fort for much of the Classical the ridge, only 2 km west of Oinoe, and less than 5 period seems a distinct probability. Further argu- km from Eleutherai. Like Oinoe, it has a limestone ments may be adduced from a consideration of the socle with upper courses of ashlar in conglomerate. two other military installations in the plain, Oinoe and The tower lies in a peculiar position, remarkably low the Mazi tower. down and not well situated for general observation or The fort at Oinoe sits on a low ridge in the valley, signaling. This has led to the theory that it may simply just over 6 km from Eleutherai. A polygonal limestone be a farm tower of the sort known from elsewhere in socle surmounted by ashlar masonry in conglomerate Attica and the Greek world.33 Its construction, how- has led to the suggestion that the fort had at least two ever, militates against such an explanation. A hollow, periods. There is no doubt that Oinoe was Attic: it square tower measuring 8.80 m on a side, it stood at was a deme of the phyle Hippothontis, and sent four least five stories high: 32 courses are preserved today, representatives to the .30 It was a border deme, rising to a height of 14.10 m. Its immense size, as well the most northwesterly of all, according to both Thu- as the use of carefully cut ashlar blocks, suggests that cydides (2.18) and Herodotos (5.74). It was the first it was a public rather than private endeavor. None of Attic territory attacked by Archidamos during his first the farm towers of south Attica use anything like the invasion of Attica and, as Frazer noted long ago,3' costly style of construction of the Mazi tower nor do that alone suggests that Eleutherai was Boiotian at they match its great height, and we should probably least until late in the fifth century. Equally significant expect it to have served some military function, de- is the fact that Oinoe was fortified. This is a charac- spite its position.34 Furthermore, Ober has recently teristic feature of the border along the land shown that the top floor housed catapults, and he has frontier, Eleusis, Oinoe, Phyle, Dekeleia, Aphidna, suggested, rightly I think, that the tower guarded the and Rhamnous, as well as of three large coastal demes, road that ran through the valley.35 If Eleutherai is Piraeus, Thorikos, and Sounion. To the best of our identified as Attic, however, the tower is robbed of knowledge, the remaining 130 or so demes were un- virtually all significance. It is hard to see what function fortified at least until Hellenistic times.32 If a deme it could have served in such a low position between was not on the border, it was not fortified; Oinoe, and within 5 km of two friendly, heavily fortified sites. therefore, should represent the northwest limit of With Eleutherai Boiotian, however, the tower takes Attica. on considerable significance, guarding the road just If one accepts Eleutherai as Boiotian and Oinoe as on the Attic side of the border. This same explanation Attic, then the border between Attica and Boiotia ran will perhaps serve also for another Attic tower, at somewhere between the two. The logical line would Varnava in northeast Attica. Like the Mazi tower, its be the low along ridge, Rachi Stratonos (356 m), that construction seems too substantial to have been pri-

29 W. Wrede, Attische Mauern (Athens 1933) passim, with standing towers survives, for the cost of towers in circuit of the photos. Only part fourth-centurycircuit of Eleusis walls see F. Maier, Griechische Mauerbauinschriften (Heidel- matchesthe (pl. x) closely style of Eleutherai. berg 1961) II, 66-67, and Munn, Studies (supra n. 16) 77, 30 J. Traill, Demos and Trittys (Toronto 1986) 137. n. 99. It should be noted that there are several 31 surprisingly J.G. Frazer, Pausanias's Description of Greece (London large towers along Hammond's "road of towers" in the Me- 517. 1898) II, garid ("The Main Road from Boiotia to the 32 See J. McCredie, Fortified Military Camps in Attica, through the Northern Megarid," BSA 49 [1954] 103-22), (HesperiaSuppl. 11, Princeton 1966) 91-92. He takes Tri- some of which may be farm towers, but the Megarians were korynthos,Aphidna, and Dekeleia, all of which have some famous for the lavishness of their house construction in sort of as fortifications, very early. antiquity: Isoc. 8.117 and the Cynic, in Tert., Apol. 33 For farm towers see Munn 1983 n. (supra 16) 30-42 39.14. In addition, the towers are far from or any with earlier also R. bibliography; Osborne, Demos: The Dis- other convenient fort and so needed to be strongly built. Classical Attica covery of (Cambridge 1985) 190-91. For ter- Large towers are also a feature of several Aegean minology concerning towers: Avram and Nistor in Studii i (Siphnos, Kea, ). In any event, the known Attic farm di cercetdri istorie veche 33 (1982) 365-76 (SEG XXXII, 722). towers are not comparable to the Mazi tower in either scale 34 It would require the cutting and setting of something or constructiontechniques. close to 900 blocks. The cost of such a tower would building 35 Ober (supran. 20) 589-91 and Ober (supran. 16) 156- be considerable. While no direct evidence concerning free- 57.

This content downloaded from 138.16.130.60 on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:56:07 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 202 JOHN McKESSON CAMP II vate. Also like Mazi, it is set surprisingly low to have significant, for our purposes, the Thebans took Plataia served primarily as a watch/signal tower, and it lies at in 374/3 B.C. and expelled its entire population, the outer limit of Attic territory, beyond fortified thereby removing an Athenian ally and a potential demes (Rhamnous and Aphidna). Finally, it sits on threat from the vicinity.39 Theban policy in the Pelo- the downhill (Attic) side of a ridge that may well have ponnese was to hem in with a series of forts served as a border, in this instance between Attica and set just outside her borders: Messene, Megalopolis, Oropos.36 and Mantinea. The fort at Eleutherai may well have It has recently been argued by Ober that many of served the same Theban purpose -a-vis Athens. the installations discussed here (Limiko, Tsoukrati, In conclusion, I would suggest that an analysis of Mazi, Oinoe, and Eleutherai) were built by the Ath- the military installations along the Attic/Boiotian fron- enians as part of a defensive "system" of towers and tier permits us to consider the following typology of forts designed to protect Athenian territory in the towers: "compartment" towers in trapezoidal masonry fourth century B.C. In particular, Eleutherai and are Boiotian watch/signal towers, whereas round tow- Mazi are cited in a hypothetical reconstruction of how ers in rubble or polygonal masonry, often with a solid the system might have worked.37 As noted above, base, are Attic signal towers. At least two hollow however, if Eleutherai is Attic, then the Mazi tower is square towers in coursed masonry (Mazi and Varnava) essentially useless. Ober's suggestion is that it served were used to mark the Attic side of the border, along as a staging area for Athenian troops on their way to a road, and presumably housed a small garrison. Fur- relieve a besieged Eleutherai. Any relief troops, how- ther, from the position of these various towers and ever, could gather and organize as well (or better) at nearby forts it seems likely that the Attic/Boiotian the fort of Oinoe, only 2 km away over level ground. border ran through the Skourta Plain, a traditional Rather than suppose that the Mazi tower was built to no-man's-land, watched from Panakton on the Attic defend an Eleutherai that mightfall into enemy hands, side and from Tsoukrati on the Boiotian side. To the it is surely more likely that the Mazi tower was built west, the boundary ran between Oinoe and Eleuth- because Eleutherai was in enemy hands. erai, just north of the Mazi tower. Such an arrange- The historical context of the fort at Eleutherai is ment explains both the construction methods and the also worth considering briefly. All recent commenta- positions of all the various forts and towers and leads tors-Ober, Munn, Cooper, and Lawrence-have ac- to the conclusion that throughout much of the Clas- cepted a date in the second quarter of the fourth sical period Eleutherai was Boiotian. century B.C. for its construction. This corresponds to the period of aggressive Theban expansion, not just AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES against Sparta and Thessaly, but also against Athens 54 SOUIDIAS STREET and Athenian interests. Athens herself was threat- ATHENS106 76 ened, and Oropos was lost in 367/6 B.C.38 Even more GREECE

36 Note the placement of similar towers in comparable enemy's. positions elsewhere in Greece: at in Akarnania(W. 37 Ober (supran. 16). Although, for the reasonsoutlined Murray, The Coastal Sites of Western [Diss. Univ. here, I feel Limiko, Tsoukrati, and Eleutherai are better of Pennsylvania1982] 83-86); at Hysiaiin the Argolid (W.K. understood as Boiotian, it is not my intention to argue for Pritchett, Studies in Topography 4 [Berkeley or against Ober's basic thesis. For a contrary view, see P. 1989] 110); at Karakolithosin eastern Phokis(J. Fossey,The Harding, "AthenianDefensive Strategyin the Fourth Cen- Ancient Topography of Eastern Phokis [Amsterdam 1986] 59- tury,"Phoenix 42 (1988) 61-71, and Ober's reply: "Defense 61); and perhaps at least one of the towers overlookingthe of the Athenian Land Frontier 404-322 B.C.: A Reply," eastern approachesto the Megarid (Doskouri:Ober [supra Phoenix 43 (1989) 294-301. The hypothetical reconstruction n. 16] 176). Ancient inscriptions recording arbitrationsof is on p. 205. border disputes indicate that the generallyused the 38 Threats against Athens: Aesch. 2.105; Paus. 9.14.7; natural, obvious boundaries such as ravines and ridges to Plut. Mor. 193d-e; and Polyaenus, Strat. 3.9.20. For the loss delimit territory.Note that the towers under consideration of Oropos, see supra n. 27. here are set below whateverridges or peaks form the natural 39 Paus. 9.1.8. and Diod. Sic. 15.46. The Plataians were boundary.In such instancesit seems clear to me that a tower not able to return until after the Battle of Chaironeia in 338 is more likely to be built in one's own territory than the B.C.: Paus. 9.1.8 and 4.27.10.

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