Ανασκαφική έρευνα στην αρχαία Κασσάνδρεια
Part of : Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη ; Vol.22, No.1, 2008, pages 411-418
Issue:
Pages:
411-418
Parallel Title:
Excavation in Ancient Kassandreia
Abstract:
In the southern section of the modern town of Nea Potidaea the largest part of a monumental Roman building was discovered during a rescue excavation. The building covers a total area over 400 m and it has the form of an urban villa with an atrium and an impluvium. Four rectangular stone plinths, one at each corner of the impluvium, apparently constitute the bases of the columns which carry the weight of the roof. The impluvium is decorated with a mosaic floor, which consists of small asymmetric marble pieces of white and grey color arranged in five zones, two of which form two pairs of lozenges. The impluvium is surrounded by a portico and several rooms. In one of the south rooms (I) there is a rectangular fountain. In a room of the west part of the house, which might be an andron, a floor is preserved consisting of stone slabs. The entrance to the building is on the east side and the long entrance passage, flanked on either side by rooms, leads to the portico. Drains that lie under the walls and the floors of the building carry the water outside it to the southeast.Thick layers of debris with significant findings (vases, stamped amphora handles, coins,) are associated with the last use of the building and are dated to the mid- third century. A.D. or shortly afterwards, that is to the period of the great upheaval caused in Macedonia by the invasion of the Goths. The Roman phase of the building seems to belong to the first century. B.C.or the first century A.D. In that period the impluvium and its mosaic floor must have been made. However, the earliest Hellenistic pottery from the area, found mainly in deeper layers, as well as the construction details of the impluvium, leads to the likely possibility that the original construction of the building can be dated to the Hellenistic era. It is probable that in the Early Roman period the alteration of the peristyle court into a tank (impluvium) took place.Among the finds of the excavation, two sculptures are the most important: a statue of Artemis and a marble plaque depicting a reclining Heracles which can be dated to the first half of the third century. AD, It is likely that both of them come from the room of private worship.The influence of Italian architecture on the urban villa of ancient Cassandria can be attributed to the fact that in the first century. BC the city acquired the status of colonia militum and subsequently of colonia civium romanum. For this reason, many Roman colonists arrived and settled in it. Within this historical context the addition of Roman architectural elements to the large mansions of the Hellenistic period is justified as that initially served the needs of senior officials of the Roman administration and later perhaps of the Romanized Greek bourgeoisie.
Subject:
Subject (LC):
Keywords:
Χαλκιδική, συνέδρια
Notes:
Περιέχει εικόνες
