Continued From Dium Part III To the west of the forum of Dium, across the previously mentioned small road running along the west side of the forum, is the Episcopal Basilica. Construction was begun on the basilica in the late 4th century CE, but was never finished due to destruction from an earthquake. A new…
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Continued From Dium Part II From the Sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos, the Sanctuary of Isis is tantalizingly close to the east, and despite a sign indicating access to the temple through this area, there is none. From here, the Sanctuary of Isis is across the modern course of the river. A bridge apparently used to…
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Continued From Dium Part I Continuing on and retracing back from Hellenistic Theater to the main path and then south for about 115 meters, to a point where the path curves, are a set of remains identified as part of a Roman-era bathing complex with two phases of construction. The large room in the northeast…
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Continued From Paestum – Part I Southern Sanctuary Heading toward the southernmost part of the city and the southern sanctuary are the other two major temples of Paestum. The northern most of these two temples is the Temple of Hera II, or the Second Temple of Hera. Built between 460 BCE and 440 BCE, the…
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Today located in the fertile region of modern Campania (but was in antiquity part of the region of Lucania), the city of Paestum was founded by Greek colonists as Poseidonia sometime in the middle to late 7th century BCE. Strabo claims that the colonists were Achaean settlers from Sybaris, a Greek colony on the toe…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 The forerunner to the current second largest city in France, Marseille, was the important ancient city of Massalia. Massalia was the oldest Greek colony in Gaul, founded in 600 BCE by Greeks from Phocaea. According to Thucydides, this was opposed by the Carthaginians, who were subsequently defeated in a naval…
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Continued From Glanum Part I Monumental Area Further on from the residential area of Glanum to the south is the monumental area, where many of the public buildings or the settlement were located. Immediately south of the bathing complex is what is described as being the curia, or some kind of town council or town…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 In most cases in Southern France, population centers continue to cluster around settlements that have existed since the Romans occupied the land, and in many cases, even before that. As such, Roman remains can often be found amongst the subsequent periods of occupation in modern cities and towns. Occasionally, though,…
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Most Recent Visit: June 2018 Over a thousand years before Avignon was the ‘City of Popes’, the focal point of a schism in the Roman Catholic church for which the city is most famous, it was the Roman town of Avennio (or Avenio). Avenio’s history, though, stretches back well before the Romans set their sights…
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Continued From Syracusae – Part I Just to the west of the park, though outside, are some rows of tiered seating associated with a possible viewing area, referred to as the ‘linear theater’. This may be the remains of a 5th century BCE, or earlier, theater that preceded the theater in the park. It has…
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