Ancient Messene

After the day in Mystras and Sparta, we stayed the night in Kalamata where I watched a beautiful sunset on the beach.

Harbor of Kalamata

Sunset in Kalamata

The next morning, Friday, my Ancient Sports class again separated from the other groups and traveled to the archeological site of Ancient Messene. Messene was an Ancient Greek polis that was enslaved by Sparta until the end of the Peloponnesian War. After Messene gained its independence from Sparta, it flourished during the Hellenistic Era and became a preeminent city in Greece during the Roman Empire, hosting multiple emperors including Nero, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. Due to the fact that Messene thrived until the Byzantine period, the archeological site boasts Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine architecture, making it a beautiful conglomeration of Greek Culture during Antiquity. My professor previously excavated in Messene, so we were able to interact with the ruins in a more in depth manner, going behind the ropes in order to see some of the ruins not currently on display to the general public.

We started our tour of Messene in the first of three theaters located within Messene, The marble seats of this theater have been reconstructed using only the original materials. The Messenians, when originally constructing their theater, numbered the stones in the quarry to allow for quick construction, which allowed for an accurate modern reconstruction. This theater demonstrates the engineering capabilities in the ancient world as it contained a trap door for special effects and could have been converted into an arena for gladiatorial combat.

Theater of Messene

We then walked through the agora of Messene which housed both a Temple to Artemis and a Temple of Asklepios the Politician. At the temple of Artemis we left monetary offerings, in the same vestibule that was used for offerings during the Hellenistic and Roman period!

Offerings to Artemis

Pretending to be the Statue of Artemis

After the Temple of Artemis we got to see a funerary monument to nine citizens of Messene who died in battle. These nine citizens included three women! THREE WOMEN!! And we even have their names. Not only were these women allowed to fight for their polis but they also have been memorialized in eternity for it. I do not know of any other monuments to warrior women in the Greek world, especially for women who are not leaders of their perspective states. This was absolutely fascinating to see and just made this amazing archeological site even better.

Funerary Monument

We also got to see the reconstruction of a mosaic that was found in a Roman home within the borders of Messene proper. First, the placement of this house is slightly problematic as houses typically were not build within the area of the agora, so the owner of this house may have been a significant member of the community during the Roman period, and may have adapted an established building for his home. The reconstruction of this mosaic is based solely on the tile pieces that were found at the site. These tiles were removed and then reconstructed off site before being placed back on the floor of the house. While the reconstructed mosaic is arbitrary in its design, it does reflect the iconography used in other mosaics of the same time and was carefully created based upon the ratio of different types of tiles. We do know however that the depictions of the pottery in the middle of the mosaic is part of the original design because some of those pieces were found in situ.

Reconstructed Mosaic

Then we went to the stadium of Messene which was absolutely spectacular, and I hate running. Because of the Messenians penchant for labeling their stone blocks, this stadium is one of the best reconstructed stadiums in the Greek world. While we were at the stadium, we were played two team sports phalininda and the Romanized version - harpastum. These two games are similar to a combination of rugby and handball, and although my team lost both games, it was really enjoyable to learn about and subsequently play these two sports in an actual stadium in which they would have been performed. 

Stadium of Messene

Due to the impressive reconstructions and the behind the scenes tour of the archeological site, Messene has been my favorite archaeological site in Greece to visit!