Approaching ancient Greek coastal and inland poleis

The FWF-funded volume Approaching ancient Greek coastal and inland poleis in the northern Peloponnese focuses on new research results achieved in recent years at Sikyon, Aigeira and Lousoi. Given their geographical location on the southern coast of the Corinthian Gulf and in the mountainous hinterland, respectively, the three ancient sites offer insights into neighbouring micro-regions with very different environmental conditions and economic potential. The Archaic-Classical Sikyon is situated in a fertile, extensive coastal plain and had direct access to the sea. During the early Hellenistic re-foundation, strategic considerations obviously prevailed; therefore the settlement was relocated to a well-secured promontory. Aigeira, founded on a protected, but at the same time coastal hilltop, has always faced its inhabitants with special challenges due to the sometimes steep terrain and the lack of local water sources. Conditions were completely different, but no less challenging, in ancient Lousoi in the largest and very water-rich karst plain of the northern Arcadian high mountains. Despite all the differences, the new research shows that the small regions and their significant settlements were connected throughout antiquity by closely meshed cultural, economic and political exchange networks in which they played specific roles. The 14 contributions in the volume discuss issues related to the emergence of new political communities in the region from the 9th and 8th centuries BC and their further development into the Roman period. Topics discussed include the spatial configuration of settlements, the different factors of urban growth, site-specific shifts in settlement dynamics, changes in patterns of consumption and production as well as economic and religious practices, and the shaping of group identities at different cultural levels. The volume "Approaching ancient Greek coastal and inland poleis" expands the current state of knowledge by presenting new primary sources from the perspective of different disciplines. Beyond the local history of the three micro-regions, the results presented here enrich our knowledge of the still too little known relations between the coastal regions and the mountainous hinterland in the northern Peloponnese.