Charles Williams and the Corinth Roman Painting Project
In the second – and final – part of his interview, Richard Hodges talks to Charles K Williams about the remarkable Roman frescoes he discovered in Corinth.
Greece
Corinth’s greatest treasure
In the first of a two-part piece, Richard Hodges visits Corinth for a conversation with its legendary excavator Charles K Williams.
Pylos: From princes to a palace in Messenia
Over the last century, Messenia in Greece has produced an extraordinary range of archaeological riches. Together, these finds showcase sumptuous burials and flourishing settlements, and shed vivid light on life during a pivotal period for the Mycenaean world. To find out more, Matthew Symonds spoke to Claire Lyons, Jack Davis, and Sharon Stocker.
Kea: Settlement and sculpture on a Cycladic island
A visit to Kea allows Martin J P Davies to dip into the archaeology of a charming island.
The longue durée at Dion
On 1 August 1960, I visited Mycenae for the first time. In my diary I described it as a terribly moving experience, seeing the shaft graves and the famed treasuries of Atreus and Clytemnestra. Looking back, what I recall most clearly was the romance of it all.
Exploring the wreck of HMHS Britannic
Investigations have been carried out at the wreck site of the RMS Titanic’s sister-ship, which was sunk during the First World War. HMHS Britannic was the last of three ‘Olympic-class’ ocean liners built for the White Star Line at Harland…
Recreating a Mycenaean battle
An innovative study has brought to life Late Bronze Age warfare to test the utility of a 3,500-year-old suit of armour.
Wreck of Second World War bomber discovered off Greek coast
A Second World War bomber which lay at the bottom of the Aegean Sea for more than 80 years has been rediscovered. The wreck was found last year by specialist divers off the Greek island of Antikythera, more than 60…
Master of Actium
Richard Hodges introduces the Emperor Augustus’ city of victory at Actium and interviews its renowned excavator, Kostas Zachos.
Ancient theatre of Aptera
This theatre is part of the archaeological site of Aptera, near present-day Chania, in western Crete. The ancient coastal city-state was once one of Crete’s most important commercial centres, at its peak in the Hellenistic period (late 4th-3rd centuries BC).…
Long-lost British submarine found in the Aegean
Alost British submarine has been found in the Aegean Sea. HMS Trooper struck a mine on 7 October 1943, causing what has been described as an ‘immediate and rapid sinking.’ All 64 men and officers on board lost their lives,…
Alexander at the end of the world: the forgotten final years of Alexander the Great
REVIEW BY MARC DESANTIS Alexander of Macedonia is known as the Western world’s greatest conqueror. Not for nothing has he been given, since antiquity, the appellation ‘the Great’. In just 11 years, he drove his army of superb cavalry and…
Counting cities
Archaeologists, like most people, have an urge to grasp the world through something tangible or, even better, countable. There can be a great comfort in numbers, and numbers also convince; many have been the attempts to define cities by countable characteristics: an area of at least 10ha, 10,000 inhabitants, a certain number of public meeting places, a particular thickness of city walls in metres.
Pilgrims in Place, Pilgrims in Motion: Sacred Travel in the Ancient Mediterranean
REVIEW BY GEORGIA FRANK This rich collection of essays explores the behaviour, experiences, and memories of travellers who visited shrines and sacred centres around the Mediterranean in antiquity. Looking beyond literate travellers’ descriptions of sacred places, these essays also attend…
World news in brief: From Bronze Age fossil collecting to 16th-century trumpets
Bronze Age fossil collecting An object discovered in an ancient basement storeroom at Mycenae during excavations in the 1970s has just been identified as the fossilised astragalus (ankle bone) of an extinct genus of rhinoceros, thanks to recent analysis by…
Sunken First World War troopship that carried Titanic passenger identified off Greek coast
A British troopship sunk during the First World War has been located off the coast of Greece. Nearly 300 men were lost after SS Arcadian was torpedoed by a U-boat in spring 1917, although one former Titanic passenger who was…
Purple dye factory in Greece
A purple dye workshop dating back some 3,600 years has been discovered on the Greek island of Aegina. Tyrian purple, a natural pigment produced by sea snails, was a highly valued commodity across the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. Recent excavations…
Research finds that ancient Greek armour may have been used in battle after all
New research has found that an ancient suit of armour may have been used in battle, and not just for ceremonial purposes as was previously thought. The 3,500-year-old Mycenaean armour is one of the best and most complete examples of…
The Cities of the Plain: Urbanism in Ancient Western Thessaly
REVIEW BY JOHN BINTLIFF This is a rather frustrating volume, although we need to know more about ancient Thessaly, a land of fertile plains in north-central Greece. The book focuses on 22 ancient cities in western Thessaly, typical for the…
War Classics – Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War
Graham Goodlad recalls one of the great works of military history.
The Folds of Olympus: Mountains in Ancient Greek and Roman culture
REVIEW BY GERALD LALONDE Activity of the Earth’s tectonic plates affects geography, and geography affects the activity of humans. Sliding of the Africa–Arabia plate under the Eurasia plate in the Miocene and Oligocene ages raised mountains from the Pyrenees in…
War Classics – Thermopylae: The Battle for the West
Fred Chiaventone recalls one of the great works of military history
Science Notes: Determining the textures and colours of the Parthenon Sculptures
When you envisage Greek statues and friezes, you probably picture pure white marble sculptures, pockmarked with age – that is, after all, how they appear today. But that was not how they appeared to the ancient Greeks who made them,…
Volos: Archaeology and myth in Thessaly
Looking for somewhere off the beaten track to explore in Greece? Martin Davies is our guide to the rich prehistoric heritage of Volos.
The Ptolemies: Rise of a Dynasty – Ptolemaic Egypt in 330-246 BC
REVIEW BY SG This is the first of three planned books on the last of Egypt’s dynasties, written not by an Egyptologist, but by a specialist in Classical and Hellenistic Greek history. This initial volume, covering the reigns of the…
Forum: Comments and conundrums
Your observations, your objections, and your opinions on CWA.
St George’s Hill, Damoulianata, Kefalonia
Last summer, one day stands out. While on holiday on the Ionian island of Kefalonia, I persuaded three friends to spend a morning investigating a castle that has intrigued me. Situated on a high hill, the ruins command breathtaking views…
Location of long-lost British submarine identified off Greek coast
The British submarine HMS Triumph was lost in mysterious circumstances off the coast of Greece in 1942. Now she has been located, after a search lasting more than 25 years. The submarine, which was involved in various special operations during…
The Cambridge Companion to Thucydides
Review by Diana Bentley Nearly two and a half millennia after it was written, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War not only remains vibrantly alive and regularly referred to in discussions of modern conflict and politics, but is a rich…
Eleusinian Mysteries
Eleusis – modern Elefsina – is in the spotlight as European Capital of Culture. Dalu Jones visits its ancient remains to enter the realm of the Eleusinian Mysteries, secret rites honouring the renewal of life.
Current research in Egyptology 2021: Proceedings of the 21st annual symposium, University of the Aegean, 9-16 May 2021
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW The 21st annual Current Research in Egyptology (CRE) conference was held online by the Department of Mediterranean Studies of the University of the Aegean (Rhodes, Greece) in May 2021, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the…
The Young Alexander: the making of Alexander the Great
Review by Matthew Symonds When we think of Alexander the Great, it is his exploits as an adult that spring to mind. He is the audacious leader who landed an army in Asia at the age of 21 in a…
Western Macedonia: forgotten highlands of Greece
The archaeological gems on show in a neglected region of Greece help to shed light on the success of Alexander the Great, as Alex Rowson reveals.
Cape Matapan, 27-29 March 1941
Graham Goodlad analyses Cunningham’s masterpiece, the battle which broke the power of fascist Italy in the Mediterranean.
Cunningham & Cape Matapan: taking on Mussolini’s battle fleet
For our special this issue, Graham Goodlad analyses the achievements of Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham, universally known to his peers as ‘ABC’. In this first part, he looks at Cunningham’s life and career, while in the second he offers a detailed commentary on the battle that is widely regarded as his masterpiece.
Minerva Magazine 200
• The artists behind Maya masterpieces
• Art and identity in the Mediterranean
• Unravelling the myths and archaeology of Minoan Knossos (available on The Past 23 February)
• Exploring palatial pleasures in Parma
• Touring the ancient theatres of Epirus