From the Athenian Agora to Thermopylae to Demetrias and Lamia, this past week has been filled with archaeological expertise and information. The Agora in Athens was an incredible start to the week and was not a site that I was aware existed, let alone knew the context for before this past week. Before our visit, when we discussed the various significant archaeological sites around Greece, I found it intriguing that the American School of Classics ran a site in the middle of Athens. While we have yet to discuss the other sites that are run by other countries, the Agora is an interesting one to begin with. I appreciated that, although the site is run by an American entity, our guide and the director of excavations at the Agora, John Papadopoulos, acknowledge some of the underlying issues relating to the current and past colonial perspectives in archaeology and at the Agora.
The site itself was of particular interest to me; as a political science major with an interest in democracy, hearing about how ancient Athens conducted their political practices was incredibly interesting. Papadopoulos tied some of the Agora’s significance as the center of ancient Athenian civic and political life into his comments on the colonial aspect of American control of the site. The US is the world’s most recognized democracy, so the nation’s interest in uncovering information about the “first” democracy makes sense. However, some of what Papadopoulos revealed raised some questions for me about how excavations, research, and curation at the Agora actually happens. He mentioned raising money to buy the last few buildings on the Agora site for future excavations, but also that the buildings were finally owned by the Greek State and could be prepared for archaeological research. If the American School of Classics does not own the site, what is its official position? What kind of bureaucracy must be gone through for decisions to be made? Does the American School receive any of the proceeds from admission, the museum, etc.?
Beyond these logistical questions, the site and museum themselves were quite magnificent. The Hephaesteion was incredibly well preserved, and it was insightful to see how the buildings of that style would have looked completed. The remains of the various statues and locations, along with the described purposes was also very interesting. I enjoyed being able to put the artifacts presented in the museum into the context of their locations in the museum. For example, the statues of the ten Athenian tribes and the voting stone that would have randomly selected officials from each tribe. The entire discussion on how the Athenian democracy was incredibly engaging. I enjoyed being able to learn more about how trials and votes were carried out over two thousand years ago. By learning more about how their democracy worked, it raises questions for me, both about their political structures and about ours. Was there any kind of appeal system in the courts? What were the actual laws, and which crimes would have justified a full trial? Were the generals the main executive leaders? Was that even an official position, and if so, was it also chosen by lot?
The Agora was engaging in part because of its archaeological significance and in part because of my own interest in its original function. The trip to Volos and our stops along the way were significant in another way. Our stop at Thermopylae helped me to put some of the content of our classroom discussions into context. I was really interested in hearing about how significantly the shoreline had changed. Geography plays more of a role in politics, international relations, and conflict than most people assume, so I appreciated learning about how those dynamics were affected by the topography of the ancient world.
Similarly, the stop at Lamia was engaging because of its relation to my own interest area of politics. Because of its geography and location, Lamia changed hands numerous times. The processes through which it changed hands were of particular interest to me, especially when it was traded as part of a dowry. It raised several questions for me, such as: was rulership of Lamia traded, or just the palace? How did the people of the town respond to these transfers of power? If Lamia was traded as part of a dowry, was there a corresponding bride price, and if so, what?
Perhaps it was because our other classes have now started, but I really enjoyed this past week’s sites in part because they related to my own interest area. While I love learning about any kind of history, historical political science is the topic that got me interested in the field and I really enjoyed learning more about how ancient Greece’s politics played out in different areas and times periods.