The Rural History of Ancient Greek City-States: The Oropos Survey Project

Rural landscapes constitute valuable records of our past, but given the silence of ancient Greek sources on rural life it is the archaeologists who have can provide the missing information. This volume studies the rural landscape of the ancient Greek city-state of Oropos in order to reach an understanding of the various processes that shaped its history. (The Oropia covered an area of roughly 100 sq km in the northeastern corner of modern Attica, some 50 km north of Athens, and included the important sanctuary of the hero Amphiaraos.) The monograph explores all evidence of occupation, from the third millennium to the decline of the famous sanctuary at the time of the expansion of Christianity. The rural history of the ancient Oropia can be viewed as a continuous struggle of a border area to adapt to the changing demands and policies of regional, national, and international powers. The final section of the book includes a detailed catalogue of findspots.