BSA Course Day 12 - Marathon, Rhamnous & Sounion

Weather: 36 degrees & sunny

Step count: 13476

We started our day myth-busting in Marathon, site of the famous battle which took place there in 490 BC.

It is said that Greek messenger Pheidippides ran back to Athens to inform the city of the allied Athenian victory over the Persians, which inspired the modern race of the same name. Tutor Michael explained instead that sources describe the messenger's journeys from Marathon to Sparta and back, then on to Sounion, which were amalgamated into the traditional story that is told today. The marathon race formed part of the first modern Olympics created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1896, and the story was used at a time when the Greek state was still in its infancy after the revolution, looking back at the glorious victories of the ancient past to help construct and focus Greek identity.

The landscape still shows the natural defences of hill and marshland leading down to an enclosed bay, which assisted the allied army and denied victory to the Persians.

It also bears evidence of much earlier - and later - occupation as we've seen so many times before on this course. Alongside the battle site lies a group of 'tumulae', Bronze Age burial mounds, each containing several graves dating back to around 2000-1500 BC. But one burial was much later, dated to the 5th century AD, prompting the question of whether it was a coincidence, or a deliberate intention to interact with the past.

The centre of the small archaeological museum at the site is dedicated to the battle of Marathon, with grave gifts from the 'polyandreion', the mass grave of the Athenian war dead, displayed alongside those from the adjacent grave of their Plataean allies.

An ionic column, the remains of the victory statue dedicated by the Athenians after the battle, dominates the room.

We saw pottery from the Bronze Age cemetery at nearby Tsepi, including Cycladic 'frying pans', and some beautiful vessels from the Geometric period (900-800 BC), which got its name from the style used to decorate the ceramics.

It was a real surprise to turn the corner into a room full of Egyptian statues which came from the nearby sanctuary dedicated by the Romans in the 2nd century AD, which highlighted once again that places have history long before and after the events with which they are typically associated.

Moving to the site of Rhamnous, we headed to the sanctuary of Nemesis, goddess of retribution who maintained balance and punished hubris, the inflated pride of men which showed arrogance to the gods. The site was her main centre of worship in Greece and was used through Roman times until the decree of emperor Arcadius ordered its destruction in 382 AD.

Tutor Rossana then led us on a long walk in the midday heat, over pathways still strewn with pottery fragments, to reach another unexpected surprise that the course had in store - the remains of the fortified acropolis and military base of Rhamnous.

The strategic importance of the site became clear as we looked east towards the island of Evia, with just the narrow Euboean strait between the two, as the city controlled the sea routes and import of grain to Athens during the Peloponnesian War.

We had this remote site to ourselves, and enjoyed some time exploring the houses, theatre and other buildings that we identified using our slowly developing archaeological skills.

Our final stop was the maritime sanctuary at Cape Sounion and the magnificent Temple of Poseidon, built in the mid 5th-century BC (around the same time as the Parthenon) on the site of an earlier Archaic temple.

Tutor Michael encouraged us to think about the multitude of reasons that made maritime sanctuaries so important, starting with its location perched high above the sea which allowed visibility of the wide expanse of the surrounding waters.

It could also be seen from ships passing by and those approaching the coast, acting as a landmark and a beacon of safety. This put into context the enormous kouros statue from the temple that we had seen on our visit National Archaeological Museum, deliberately designed with larger-than-life proportions to make it visible from both land and sea.

It was interesting to learn that as the site was positioned in a liminal space, at a transitional point between the earth and the water, it was seen as a natural place for religious worship. As sea travel was notoriously hazardous, maritime sanctuaries provided the opportunity to make offerings in supplication for protection on a journey, and thanks for a safe return. Items from across the Mediterranean and beyond found around the site showed that it was used by travellers from many different areas to make dedications to particular deities, not just to Poseidon.

Maritime sanctuaries served other practical purposes too, offering goods and services to those about to embark upon, or arriving from, sea journeys, in a similar way to those located around modern ports and travel hubs today.

Its picturesque location drew visitors from across Europe from the 16th century, whose travel writings, like those of Pausanias, provide a useful means of understanding what the temple looked like throughout the ages. Even philhellene Lord Byron left his signature on one of the columns, but we couldn't quite make it out from the other centuries-old graffiti which covered the marble.

Just a little way down from the temple we saw some remains of houses leading down to the coast, and enjoyed spotting thresholds, storage spaces and even some pithoi still sunk into the ground where they were placed for storage.

It was bliss to have a few moments of quiet standing in the ancient street which divided the houses, imagining their previous occupants gazing out, as we were, across the sea, before driving back along the coast road to Athens.