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II.—Excavations at Sparta, 1906: § 2.—The City Wall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2013

A.J.B. Wace
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Extract

From the 3rd till the 26th of May a series of trial excavations was made along the river bank, north of the precinct of Artemis Orthia. These resulted in the discovery of the Greek wall of the city and of traces of an, at present, nameless Heroön close to it. The following description begins from the south. (General Plan, Pl. VII.)

The part of the wall found south-east of the Artemisium is, as far as it has at present been uncovered, of a normal type (Plate VII.). It is three metres thick, built of hewn limestone blocks laid in courses with irregular jointing. Not more than two courses are preserved, and they rest on a foundation of small stones and rough blocks. Most remarkable is the deep drain running out through the wall, which here comes obliquely from the cliff to the south, between the Roman building and the river. Where the Eurotas has eaten into the bank and destroyed part of the Roman arena, the wall also has been carried away. On the cliff (General Plan, O 16) a few trial pits produced one tile-stamp (of type 17, see p. 348), and revealed a long block of hewn rock, but the line of the fortification has still to be found here.

Type
Laconia
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 12 , November 1906 , pp. 284 - 288
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1906

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References

page 286 note 1 For the type cf. B.C.H. 1885, p. 183, Fig. 4: the discovery of such vases at Myrina shews that they are of the Hellenistic period.

page 287 note 1 Of similar construction were the earlier walls of Athens, and those of Megalopolis and Mantineia, Judeich, v., Topographie v. Athen, p. 123Google Scholar; Gardner-Loring, , Megalopolis, p. 115Google Scholar; Fougères, , Mantinée, p. 145.Google Scholar

page 287 note 2 For the authorities see Frazer, , Pausanias, vol. iii. 324.Google Scholar

page 287 note 3 Justinus says (xiv. 5, 7) that the wall was begun in 317 B.C., during the war between Cassander and Polyperchon. This is in direct contradiction to Pausanias' statement that this first took place in the attack of Demetrius in 293 B.C.