Map 58 Peloponnesus Compiled by J
Map 58 Peloponnesus Compiled by J. McK. Camp II and G. Reger (islands), 1994 Introduction The Peloponnese has been the focus of considerable topographical research for a long time. Virtually every early European traveler to mainland Greece spent time visiting the sites there, and in the twentieth century it has been the subject of numerous excavations and survey projects. Laconia, Messenia, western Achaea, the area around Megalopolis, the southern Argolid, and the Nemea/Phleious valleys have all received notable attention in recent years. Other areas have been studied largely by individuals–among them, Phaklares, Pikoulas, Pritchett, Wiseman– rather than large teams. The resulting picture of occupation, and of numbers of ancient sites known from the various areas, is inevitably uneven. In addition, surface survey all too often cannot distinguish a site’s extent or nature. No sites known solely from survey are marked here, and likewise very few known only from excavation (their ancient names unattested in each instance). Rather, the map’s primary goal is to mark the location of the mass of places and features mentioned in the literary sources and inscriptions. Given the scale, this alone constitutes a major challenge. The thirteen most significant authors for the purpose (Diodorus Siculus, Herodotus, Livy, Pausanias, Pliny, Plutarch, Polybius, Ptolemy, Scylax, Stephanus, Strabo, Thucydides, Xenophon), together with relevant inscriptions, between them preserve over 1,000 Peloponnesian toponyms; about 450 of these are marked. Among the authors, Pausanias dominates; seven of his ten books are devoted to the Peloponnese, and he preserves some 650 toponyms. The commentary on Pausanias by Papachatzes (1974-81) is a vital starting-point for further information, though more recent work by Phaklares, Pikoulas and the British Laconia survey team (Cavanagh 1996) should also be consulted.
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