Conference Presentations by Adam Wiznura
29th Annual European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting, 2023
In 2015 a team at the University of Groningen engaged in studying agonistic religious festivals a... more In 2015 a team at the University of Groningen engaged in studying agonistic religious festivals as the base for some of the strongest networks across the Greek world. In order to more closely examine these networks, we developed a database with the aim of incorporating all of the known competitors at games in the post-classical world, largely drawn from epigraphic data. In 2016 we obtained a grant from the University of Groningen to further develop this as an online database, while another grant in 2021 allowed us to include a basic mapping functionality shows distributions and helps visualize the data. The result is http://connectedcontests.org. Essential data concern the , family, and origin of the competitor, the name of the festival and the city that hosted it, and a chronology, among other relevant data. With this information we can address questions such as: Where did athletes come from? Which cities did they compete in? How relevant were local festivals in a larger world of festivals? How does the image change over time?
The database connects where possible to other online databases, such as the Packhard Humanities epigraphy database, the prosopgraphic database Trismegistos, and the ancient gazetteer Pleidades. In 2018 Connected Contests led to a major grant awarded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Connecting the Greeks. Multi-scalar festival networks in the Hellenistic world, with two PhD projects and a postdoc position (https://connectingthegreeks.com). Although it has already led to fruitful studies, Connected Contests is still a work-in-progress with challenges ahead concerning long-term data completion, current web design, and general maintenance in the face of progressive technologies.
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Festivals of all types, including athletic and religious festivals, contribute to a sense of belo... more Festivals of all types, including athletic and religious festivals, contribute to a sense of belonging and identity at a local level and are a way of creating connectivity at a regional and trans-regional level. The Hellenistic period sees a spectacular rise of festival culture in the Greek world. In the region of Thessaly this involved the creation of new festivals and evidence for the involvement of more people competing from around the Mediterranean. Victor lists from the region, however, indicate that certain events are only won by Thessalians. Does this point to inequality for who could compete in these events, or does this indicate something else? This paper studies the victor lists from Thessaly to discuss these possible inequalities in the festivals and how this may have been an indication of identity formation among the people of Thessaly. I examine these various inscriptions, to determine familial ties and social status, as well as to perform network analysis where possible to determine if particular areas were represented more strongly at the games.
My analysis of victors in Thessaly demonstrates the complexities of equality at these games, and how identity formation in the region may have been impacted as a result. The victors in these games may have originated from a variety of locations, but the complexities of social status seem to indicate that not every victor was in fact equal and may indicate why only Thessalians were winning these equestrian events.
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Extra-urban sanctuaries are generally seen as sanctuaries located outside of the pol... more Extra-urban sanctuaries are generally seen as sanctuaries located outside of the polis, placed in a more ‘rural’ setting, but still connected with the civic centre. The term “extra-urban” though has been the subject of much discussion as we attempt to define the concept more clearly. De Polignac argues that extra-urban sanctuaries were not only places of ritual, but also helped define territorial boundaries and served to bring communities and families together. Thessalian sanctuaries provide an excellent case study to examine this problem of definition. The sanctuaries in Thessaly often described as “extra-urban” have complicating factors associated with them that create issues with interpretation, leading to changing views for what is and is not extra-urban, or if some other term better identifies them.
This paper will discuss sanctuaries from Thessaly that are often discussed as extra-urban sanctuaries but present interesting problems with interpretation, causing conflicting views of definition over time. I will discuss three specific case studies, the sanctuaries of Zeus Olympios, Zeus Akraios, and Athena Itonia, examining them in their geographical and political contexts to show how different factors play a part in our understanding of extra-urban sanctuaries.
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More than a place of worship: Complexity at sacred sites in the ancient world, 2022
The cult of Athena Itonia is generally thought of as one of the oldest and most important cults i... more The cult of Athena Itonia is generally thought of as one of the oldest and most important cults in Thessaly, with a trans-regional sanctuary existing that became important to the Thessalian League during the Hellenistic period. In this paper I will discuss the importance of the goddess Athena Itonia and her roots within the history of Thessaly, and how modern scholars have sought to understand her cult. I will also provide a chronology of the sanctuary located at modern Philia before discussing some of the complexities that arise during the study of the cult.
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Religious Networks in Antiquity: A topical workshop in The Connected Past series of events, 2022
Competitive festivals (agōnes) provided a stage for some of the most visible religious interactio... more Competitive festivals (agōnes) provided a stage for some of the most visible religious interactions in the ancient Greek world. Contestants, spectators, envoys, even monarchs - all mingled at major competitions, sometimes travelling great distances so as to be present in person. The quasi-hierarchical festival system underpinned social and political relationships, creating ties at the local, regional, and transregional scales. The Connecting the Greeks project has since 2018 been studying these ties through network representations of agōnes, drawing on an online database of the competitors themselves (http://connectedcontests.org/), as a means of investigating the increasingly organized connectivity observable across the Mediterranean in the Hellenistic era.
This paper examines our methodology in studying religious festivals as a channel of connectivity. We distinguish between using a network-theoretical approach – viewing evidence through the lens of imagined network representations – and formal network analysis. Studying festival ties at different levels requires different approaches. The Asklepieion of Pergamon shows how various media were instrumentally used to establish links with each other directly at the local level. At the regional level, Thessaly is used to showcase how networks represent not only collective identities of the people, but also give a sense of a regional identity. At the transregional scale, study of Antigonid festival sponsorship shows the potential of formal network analysis in understanding state formation. Creating whole-network representations is time-consuming and forces choices as to the parameters applied. The construction of the representation itself thus becomes a vital part of analysis.
In creating these representations, scarcity of data compels us to combine data sets to piece together a suitable network. We argue that doing so, and examining network ties on different scales, helps to interpret the complexities of agonistic connectivity. But this approach raises important methodological issues which warrant discussion as we fine-tune our approach for future use.
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Classical Association of Canada Annual Meeting/ Société Canadienne Des Études Classiques Congrès Annuel, 2022
A mid-3rd-century BC inscription details an Olympic festival conducted by the Thessalians which w... more A mid-3rd-century BC inscription details an Olympic festival conducted by the Thessalians which was probably celebrated on a peak of Mount Olympos according to a scholiast of Apollonios of Rhodes. The areas of Aiolis, Magnesia on the Maiander, and Kos were recognized in the inscription for sacrificing in honour of Zeus Olympios and Thessalos, for which act the Thessalians decreed the right of ateleia (tax exemption), epigamia (intermarriage), and politeia (citizenship). The site of the sanctuary described in the above inscription may be situated on the peak of Agios Antonios on Mount Olympos. Rescue excavations on the site revealed remains from a peak sanctuary (3rd c. BC-5th c. AD), centred around an ash altar which contained burnt organic remains, ceramics, coins, stelai, and statuary. Inscriptions from the site make it the undoubted location for a sanctuary of Zeus Olympios.
The placement of a new Thessalian festival in a border region shared by Thessaly and Macedon, presents an interesting case study in Thessaly’s foreign and domestic affairs. This paper seeks to answer the following questions:
1) What political conditions prompted the institution of this festival and the establishment of this sanctuary?
2) How did the newly instituted Thessalian Olympics provide a means for the Thessalians to expand/restrict their international relations?
3) What potential socio-political impacts did the creation of a Thessalian festival in a border region have on Thessaly’s inhabitants and neighbours?
4) What do the finds at the peak sanctuary at Agios Antonios indicate concerning Thessaly’s interrelations with foreign communities?
By situating the epigraphic, archaeological, and spatial data for the sanctuary and the festival in the context of Thessalian participation in pan-Hellenic affairs, we demonstrate that Thessaly at times displayed a certain resistance to particular expressions of pan-Hellenism, instead opting to assert their own definitions of what it meant to be Greek.
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The Connected Past: Artefactual Intelligence, 2021
In this paper we will present a joint project (NWO and OIKOS Anchoring
Innovation) that envisions... more In this paper we will present a joint project (NWO and OIKOS Anchoring
Innovation) that envisions the spectacular rise of festival culture in the Hellenistic and Roman period as a driving force constantly forging ties and linking the world of Greek communities together. We consider the development of this shared festival culture, embedded in Greek practices, as a key factor in the creation of an imagined community of cities within the Hellenistic world, paving the way for the Roman Empire. The object of analysis is the networks of interaction and ideas produced by agonistic festivals with a focus on the agency behind the networks. Artefactual data on the movements of athletes and the diffusion of prizes and festivals is provided through inscriptions and coinage and is subject to analysis using network-theoretic approaches in combination with agent-based modelling. This paper studies agonistic festivals from several angles, and comprises distinct but interrelated research projects conducted on different scales: At the regional level, festivals in Thessaly are examined using network theory in connection with regional identity processes. Following will be a discussion of Hellenistic kings as agents, using agonistic festivals to legitimize their authority. Lastly, we examine how festivals during the Roman period were anchored in pre-existing Greek practices, connecting the two worlds into a global empire centered on Rome.
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U4/Enlight Winter School: Nature and Culture in Antiquity, 2021
In the Classical and Hellenistic periods there existed a sanctuary of Chiron and Zeus Akraios on ... more In the Classical and Hellenistic periods there existed a sanctuary of Chiron and Zeus Akraios on Mount Pelion. The sanctuary was very isolated, at the top of Mount Pelion in the perioikos of Magnesia in Thessaly, and very difficult to travel to. A little known festival took place annually involving a procession of “noteable men” from the coastal cities of Magnesia who travelled up Mount Pelion to the sanctuary of Chiron and Zeus Akraios (FHG II, fr. 60.8, pg. 262). There exists only minimal mention of this festival in historic sources and there is much interpretation of the festival and sanctuary to be done.
Apostolos Arvanitopoulos conducted excavations at the summit of Pliassidi on Mount Pelion in the early 20th century, but the location of the site was forgotten so no further excavations were conducted. It was only after the initial excavations that the sanctuary of Zeus Akraios and Chiron were identified. Plutarch speaks of a cult of Chiron in Magnesia (Plu. Quaest. Conv. 647a) and other sources briefly mention this cult, but minimal archaeological evidence has been uncovered. This paper suggests that this festival was a means whereby the people of Magnesia were connected to the nature surrounding them and leads to the question: how did this festival create a connection between the “cultural” cities of Magnesia and the “nature” of Mount Pelion?
The case of this festival of Zeus Akraios and Chiron demonstrates observable identity formation processes resulting from the inclusion of multiple communities in Magnesia coming together in a singular procession. I intend to examine literary sources, epigraphic evidence, and the archaeological evidence to address the question. My analysis of this festival will address how the peoples of Magnesia were connected with nature and how this helped shaped the identity of the people in the region.
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Ancient Sport and Festivals: Current Research at Groningen and Mannheim, 2020
Festivals in the context of regions can help provide an indication of the formation of a regional... more Festivals in the context of regions can help provide an indication of the formation of a regional identity. Connectivity between people is present in Thessaly, however, it is more complex than other regions due to geographical separation and constant political struggles between the tetrads and perioiki. This complexity leads to the question of just how much of a “Thessalian identity” there was. My research seeks to understand the roles of festivals in identity formation processes during the Hellenistic period in Thessaly. How did festivals serve to connect communities within the region as well as to the wider Greek world? What was the role of festivals in establishing a cohesive sense of regional identity?
In this paper I will first discuss the region of Thessaly in terms of its political history to explain how the identifications of communities tended to shift in and out of a Thessalian affiliation throughout Thessaly’s history. I will then present a preliminary case study and discuss the evidence available to try to complete a network of athletes within the region. The case study is of the Eleutheria, with a focus on how it became a Pan-Hellenic festival connecting people not just within Thessaly, but around the Mediterranean. This will help to indicate not just how the people in Thessaly were identifying with one another, but how people around the Greek world perceived the people in Thessaly.
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OIKOS Cultural Interactions in the Ancient World Annual Meeting: Networking the Ancient World, 2020
The mainland Greek region of Thessaly was a multifaceted landscape of socio-political identity. T... more The mainland Greek region of Thessaly was a multifaceted landscape of socio-political identity. Thessaly was not ethnically homogenous, and the identifications of communities tended to shift in and out of a Thessalian affiliation throughout Thessaly’s history. Who was and was not Thessalian was at times restricted or extended making the identifier “Thessalian” a fluid descriptor during the constant power struggles of the Hellenistic Period. The dynamics of this “Thessalian” identity can be studied by analysing the festivals and how they connected the people. My research seeks to understand the roles of festivals in identity formation processes during the Hellenistic period in Thessaly.
In this paper I present a preliminary case study and discuss the evidence available to try to complete a network of athletes within a region such as Thessaly. The case study I present is of the Eleutheria focusing on how it became a Pan-Hellenic festival connecting people not just within Thessaly, but around the Mediterranean. I then discuss the types of evidence available such as epigraphic evidence, numismatic evidence, and archaeological evidence, and how the available sources can be utilized in network theory.
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Symposium on Culture and Identity in the Late Hellenistic and Roman East (December 12, 2019), 2019
This talk introduces the research project "Connecting the Greeks: Multi-scalar festival networks ... more This talk introduces the research project "Connecting the Greeks: Multi-scalar festival networks in the Hellenistic and Roman world". This is a collective project (NWO and OIKOS Anchoring Innovation) at the University of Groningen run by Prof. dr. Onno van Nijf and Dr. Christina Williamson, that envisions the spectacular rise of festival culture in the Hellenistic and Roman period as a driving force that constantly forges ties and links the world of Greek communities together. This project aims to shed new light on the development of a shared festival culture in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, anchored in existing Greek festival traditions. It proposes festivals formed a driving force that played a crucial and active role in the continuous and complex process of interconnectivity that arose between the Greek communities and the new powers: Hellenistic kingdoms and eventually the Roman empire.
This talk will introduce festivals and networks in a regional context, focussing on Thessaly, and will introduce festivals and networks being used in empire formation.
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Historicidagen, Groningen (August 22-24, 2019), 2019
This paper will seek to understand ways that festivals served to forge identities at the regional... more This paper will seek to understand ways that festivals served to forge identities at the regional level through the case of Pergamon. The Attalid kings built their power on the immediate surroundings of Pergamon, yet how were festivals used to bolster this sense of a (micro-)region? Links with the surrounding communities, such as Thyateira, Pitane and Aigai will be examined.
Focusing on Pergamon through the lens of network theory will highlight the rapidly-changing set of institutions key to our understanding of identity and communication in the Hellenistic Mediterranean - one that connected actors from across a diverse range of geographical, social and political backgrounds.
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AIA Annual Meeting, San Diego (January 3-6, 2019), 2019
In 294/3 BC Demetrios Poliorketes, the son of Antigonos Monopthalmos, a general of Alexander, asc... more In 294/3 BC Demetrios Poliorketes, the son of Antigonos Monopthalmos, a general of Alexander, ascended the Macedonian throne and synoecized many of the settlements in the northern Pagasetic Gulf to create an economically and militarily strategic port city called Demetrias. Macedonian patronage of the city allowed the city to flourish as a cosmopolis, attracting inhabitants from all over the Mediterranean, making it an interesting case study concerning the formation and negotiation of identities.
The excavations of Demetrias started in the early 20th century and continue to the present day in the form of rescue excavations. In addition to uncovering the city’s private and public sectors, excavations have also revealed abundant funerary material, including over a thousand graves, and a large collection of painted grave stelae which were built into the city’s fortifications. This paper presents the modes through which the inhabitants of Demetrias expressed affiliation to group identities through their burials.
The case of the burials at Demetrias demonstrates observable identity formation processes resulting from the integration of numerous group identities into a single population. In this paper, I demonstrate that the inhabitants of the city both maintained older identities, as well as forming new group identities. I first examine the changes in burial practices from the area of Demetrias pre- and post- synoikismos through changes in the grave goods and architecture, as well as shifts in the locations of cemeteries. Areas such as Soros were abandoned, whereas some burials continued despite the abandonment of the settlement. I also examine the grave stelae with respect to the iconography of the paintings and the inscriptions, as they allow us to determine the group identities with which the deceased individuals were affiliated. Many stelae mention areas from around the Mediterranean such as Egypt, Asia Minor, and Phoenicia. Some stelae even exhibit people maintaining old city identities generations after that city had been destroyed such as in the case of Histiaia. Despite the diversity of identifications present in the burials, however, we also see the beginnings of a “Demetrian” way of burying the dead.
My analysis of Demetrian burials demonstrates the clear complexity of identity formation processes. Although many chose to identify with a particular location, many more omitted any indication other than with the current polis. These identities with which inhabitants of Demetrias affiliated themselves were multi-layered, contradictory, and constantly changing.
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The Courts of Philip II and Alexander the Great: Monarchy and Power in Ancient Macedonia, Edmonton (May 2-4, 2018), 2018
In 293/4 BC Demetrios Poliorketes, the son of Antigonos the One Eyed, a general of Alexander the ... more In 293/4 BC Demetrios Poliorketes, the son of Antigonos the One Eyed, a general of Alexander the Great, ascended to the Macedonian throne and synoecized several towns in the northern Pagasetic Gulf to create an economically strategic port city called Demetrias, which played a significant military and political role as a Macedonian capital throughout the Hellenistic period. Over the course of its occupation, Demetrias became a multicultural polity inhabited by Thessalians, Macedonians, Egyptians, and numerous other populations which were buried in one of the city’s extramural necropoleis.
This paper analyzes the osteological and artefactual material from the Hellenistic graves at Demetrias in order to demonstrate that burials no longer solely reflected local burial forms, but ones that expressed a collective Demetrian identity as well as other identities, reflecting the paradoxic Hellenistic reality in Alexander’s former empire in which local identities negotiated increasingly global realities. I plan to analyze and compare burial patterns by examining potential variations in skeletal orientation, burial goods, tomb architecture, grave markers, and accompanying inscriptions. The potential variations will be assessed in the historical context of Demetrias as well as the broader context of funerary culture in Hellenistic Greece to identify expressions of social and political identities.
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Canadian Institute in Greece Biannual Graduate Student Conference: "Regional Identities in the Greek World", Edmonton (Jan 27-28, 2017), 2017
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Papers by Adam Wiznura
Journal of Greek Archaeology, 2022
The Ayios Vasileios Survey Project is part of the Ayios Vasileios Excavations Project. The broade... more The Ayios Vasileios Survey Project is part of the Ayios Vasileios Excavations Project. The broader project includes the excavations of the Mycenaean palace and the early Mycenaean North Cemetery. The survey project consists of a pedestrian survey and a geophysical exploration of the area, and is accompanied by an ethnographic survey. In this article we discuss the results of the pedestrian survey and offer a reconstruction of the habitation history of the site. In the following discussion, we first introduce the site of Ayios Vasileios and sketch a brief outline of the research carried out at the site thus far and its habitation history. Secondly, we present the pedestrian survey methodology. This is followed by an extensive discussion of the distribution and date of the collected surface material for the main periods attested at the site: the Bronze Age, the Classical-Hellenistic, the Roman, and the Medieval and Early Modern. The spatial and temporal patterns are contextualised and compared with data generated by the excavation and geophysical research already published. The integration of these different data allows us to provide a more detailed reconstruction of the extent and spatial development of the site through time.
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Pharos, 2021
This article investigates the triangular relationship between mountains, religion, and regional i... more This article investigates the triangular relationship between mountains, religion, and regional identity in the Graeco-Roman world. We focus on three different peak sanctuaries of Zeus to assess their role in shaping political landscapes and raising regional awareness: Zeus Lykaios on Mount Lykaion in Arkadia, Zeus Akraios on Mount Pelion in Thessaly, and Zeus Stratios on a plateau near Amaseia in the highlands of Pontos. The analysis examines the physical mountain, the narratives associated with it, the visuality through intervisibility and viewshed analyses, and the role of ritual and festival as the cult becomes absorbed by a nearby city. Through our analyses, incorporating material evidence such as epigraphy and numismatics, we show that visual prominence was not always the mountain’s main asset. Local myth and legend played a part in foregrounding these cults in the surrounding regions, helping the mountains to acquire a symbolic and political importance over time. We conclude by suggesting that these mountain sanctuaries of Zeus provide a locus of social memory – they were storied places that acquired significance in the political landscape and were claimed by nearby cities to both legitimise their own place in the landscape, thereby creating a sense of region.
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TMA – Tijdschrift voor Mediterrane Archeologie, 2019
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Research introductions by Adam Wiznura
TMA61, 2019
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Drafts by Adam Wiznura
We intend for this session to be a call for more systematic archaeological approaches to Roman Th... more We intend for this session to be a call for more systematic archaeological approaches to Roman Thessaly, to establish a discourse on directions for future research, and to contribute to the decentering of Roman archaeology.
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Conference Presentations by Adam Wiznura
The database connects where possible to other online databases, such as the Packhard Humanities epigraphy database, the prosopgraphic database Trismegistos, and the ancient gazetteer Pleidades. In 2018 Connected Contests led to a major grant awarded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Connecting the Greeks. Multi-scalar festival networks in the Hellenistic world, with two PhD projects and a postdoc position (https://connectingthegreeks.com). Although it has already led to fruitful studies, Connected Contests is still a work-in-progress with challenges ahead concerning long-term data completion, current web design, and general maintenance in the face of progressive technologies.
My analysis of victors in Thessaly demonstrates the complexities of equality at these games, and how identity formation in the region may have been impacted as a result. The victors in these games may have originated from a variety of locations, but the complexities of social status seem to indicate that not every victor was in fact equal and may indicate why only Thessalians were winning these equestrian events.
This paper will discuss sanctuaries from Thessaly that are often discussed as extra-urban sanctuaries but present interesting problems with interpretation, causing conflicting views of definition over time. I will discuss three specific case studies, the sanctuaries of Zeus Olympios, Zeus Akraios, and Athena Itonia, examining them in their geographical and political contexts to show how different factors play a part in our understanding of extra-urban sanctuaries.
This paper examines our methodology in studying religious festivals as a channel of connectivity. We distinguish between using a network-theoretical approach – viewing evidence through the lens of imagined network representations – and formal network analysis. Studying festival ties at different levels requires different approaches. The Asklepieion of Pergamon shows how various media were instrumentally used to establish links with each other directly at the local level. At the regional level, Thessaly is used to showcase how networks represent not only collective identities of the people, but also give a sense of a regional identity. At the transregional scale, study of Antigonid festival sponsorship shows the potential of formal network analysis in understanding state formation. Creating whole-network representations is time-consuming and forces choices as to the parameters applied. The construction of the representation itself thus becomes a vital part of analysis.
In creating these representations, scarcity of data compels us to combine data sets to piece together a suitable network. We argue that doing so, and examining network ties on different scales, helps to interpret the complexities of agonistic connectivity. But this approach raises important methodological issues which warrant discussion as we fine-tune our approach for future use.
The placement of a new Thessalian festival in a border region shared by Thessaly and Macedon, presents an interesting case study in Thessaly’s foreign and domestic affairs. This paper seeks to answer the following questions:
1) What political conditions prompted the institution of this festival and the establishment of this sanctuary?
2) How did the newly instituted Thessalian Olympics provide a means for the Thessalians to expand/restrict their international relations?
3) What potential socio-political impacts did the creation of a Thessalian festival in a border region have on Thessaly’s inhabitants and neighbours?
4) What do the finds at the peak sanctuary at Agios Antonios indicate concerning Thessaly’s interrelations with foreign communities?
By situating the epigraphic, archaeological, and spatial data for the sanctuary and the festival in the context of Thessalian participation in pan-Hellenic affairs, we demonstrate that Thessaly at times displayed a certain resistance to particular expressions of pan-Hellenism, instead opting to assert their own definitions of what it meant to be Greek.
Innovation) that envisions the spectacular rise of festival culture in the Hellenistic and Roman period as a driving force constantly forging ties and linking the world of Greek communities together. We consider the development of this shared festival culture, embedded in Greek practices, as a key factor in the creation of an imagined community of cities within the Hellenistic world, paving the way for the Roman Empire. The object of analysis is the networks of interaction and ideas produced by agonistic festivals with a focus on the agency behind the networks. Artefactual data on the movements of athletes and the diffusion of prizes and festivals is provided through inscriptions and coinage and is subject to analysis using network-theoretic approaches in combination with agent-based modelling. This paper studies agonistic festivals from several angles, and comprises distinct but interrelated research projects conducted on different scales: At the regional level, festivals in Thessaly are examined using network theory in connection with regional identity processes. Following will be a discussion of Hellenistic kings as agents, using agonistic festivals to legitimize their authority. Lastly, we examine how festivals during the Roman period were anchored in pre-existing Greek practices, connecting the two worlds into a global empire centered on Rome.
Apostolos Arvanitopoulos conducted excavations at the summit of Pliassidi on Mount Pelion in the early 20th century, but the location of the site was forgotten so no further excavations were conducted. It was only after the initial excavations that the sanctuary of Zeus Akraios and Chiron were identified. Plutarch speaks of a cult of Chiron in Magnesia (Plu. Quaest. Conv. 647a) and other sources briefly mention this cult, but minimal archaeological evidence has been uncovered. This paper suggests that this festival was a means whereby the people of Magnesia were connected to the nature surrounding them and leads to the question: how did this festival create a connection between the “cultural” cities of Magnesia and the “nature” of Mount Pelion?
The case of this festival of Zeus Akraios and Chiron demonstrates observable identity formation processes resulting from the inclusion of multiple communities in Magnesia coming together in a singular procession. I intend to examine literary sources, epigraphic evidence, and the archaeological evidence to address the question. My analysis of this festival will address how the peoples of Magnesia were connected with nature and how this helped shaped the identity of the people in the region.
In this paper I will first discuss the region of Thessaly in terms of its political history to explain how the identifications of communities tended to shift in and out of a Thessalian affiliation throughout Thessaly’s history. I will then present a preliminary case study and discuss the evidence available to try to complete a network of athletes within the region. The case study is of the Eleutheria, with a focus on how it became a Pan-Hellenic festival connecting people not just within Thessaly, but around the Mediterranean. This will help to indicate not just how the people in Thessaly were identifying with one another, but how people around the Greek world perceived the people in Thessaly.
In this paper I present a preliminary case study and discuss the evidence available to try to complete a network of athletes within a region such as Thessaly. The case study I present is of the Eleutheria focusing on how it became a Pan-Hellenic festival connecting people not just within Thessaly, but around the Mediterranean. I then discuss the types of evidence available such as epigraphic evidence, numismatic evidence, and archaeological evidence, and how the available sources can be utilized in network theory.
This talk will introduce festivals and networks in a regional context, focussing on Thessaly, and will introduce festivals and networks being used in empire formation.
Focusing on Pergamon through the lens of network theory will highlight the rapidly-changing set of institutions key to our understanding of identity and communication in the Hellenistic Mediterranean - one that connected actors from across a diverse range of geographical, social and political backgrounds.
The excavations of Demetrias started in the early 20th century and continue to the present day in the form of rescue excavations. In addition to uncovering the city’s private and public sectors, excavations have also revealed abundant funerary material, including over a thousand graves, and a large collection of painted grave stelae which were built into the city’s fortifications. This paper presents the modes through which the inhabitants of Demetrias expressed affiliation to group identities through their burials.
The case of the burials at Demetrias demonstrates observable identity formation processes resulting from the integration of numerous group identities into a single population. In this paper, I demonstrate that the inhabitants of the city both maintained older identities, as well as forming new group identities. I first examine the changes in burial practices from the area of Demetrias pre- and post- synoikismos through changes in the grave goods and architecture, as well as shifts in the locations of cemeteries. Areas such as Soros were abandoned, whereas some burials continued despite the abandonment of the settlement. I also examine the grave stelae with respect to the iconography of the paintings and the inscriptions, as they allow us to determine the group identities with which the deceased individuals were affiliated. Many stelae mention areas from around the Mediterranean such as Egypt, Asia Minor, and Phoenicia. Some stelae even exhibit people maintaining old city identities generations after that city had been destroyed such as in the case of Histiaia. Despite the diversity of identifications present in the burials, however, we also see the beginnings of a “Demetrian” way of burying the dead.
My analysis of Demetrian burials demonstrates the clear complexity of identity formation processes. Although many chose to identify with a particular location, many more omitted any indication other than with the current polis. These identities with which inhabitants of Demetrias affiliated themselves were multi-layered, contradictory, and constantly changing.
This paper analyzes the osteological and artefactual material from the Hellenistic graves at Demetrias in order to demonstrate that burials no longer solely reflected local burial forms, but ones that expressed a collective Demetrian identity as well as other identities, reflecting the paradoxic Hellenistic reality in Alexander’s former empire in which local identities negotiated increasingly global realities. I plan to analyze and compare burial patterns by examining potential variations in skeletal orientation, burial goods, tomb architecture, grave markers, and accompanying inscriptions. The potential variations will be assessed in the historical context of Demetrias as well as the broader context of funerary culture in Hellenistic Greece to identify expressions of social and political identities.
Papers by Adam Wiznura
Research introductions by Adam Wiznura
Drafts by Adam Wiznura
The database connects where possible to other online databases, such as the Packhard Humanities epigraphy database, the prosopgraphic database Trismegistos, and the ancient gazetteer Pleidades. In 2018 Connected Contests led to a major grant awarded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Connecting the Greeks. Multi-scalar festival networks in the Hellenistic world, with two PhD projects and a postdoc position (https://connectingthegreeks.com). Although it has already led to fruitful studies, Connected Contests is still a work-in-progress with challenges ahead concerning long-term data completion, current web design, and general maintenance in the face of progressive technologies.
My analysis of victors in Thessaly demonstrates the complexities of equality at these games, and how identity formation in the region may have been impacted as a result. The victors in these games may have originated from a variety of locations, but the complexities of social status seem to indicate that not every victor was in fact equal and may indicate why only Thessalians were winning these equestrian events.
This paper will discuss sanctuaries from Thessaly that are often discussed as extra-urban sanctuaries but present interesting problems with interpretation, causing conflicting views of definition over time. I will discuss three specific case studies, the sanctuaries of Zeus Olympios, Zeus Akraios, and Athena Itonia, examining them in their geographical and political contexts to show how different factors play a part in our understanding of extra-urban sanctuaries.
This paper examines our methodology in studying religious festivals as a channel of connectivity. We distinguish between using a network-theoretical approach – viewing evidence through the lens of imagined network representations – and formal network analysis. Studying festival ties at different levels requires different approaches. The Asklepieion of Pergamon shows how various media were instrumentally used to establish links with each other directly at the local level. At the regional level, Thessaly is used to showcase how networks represent not only collective identities of the people, but also give a sense of a regional identity. At the transregional scale, study of Antigonid festival sponsorship shows the potential of formal network analysis in understanding state formation. Creating whole-network representations is time-consuming and forces choices as to the parameters applied. The construction of the representation itself thus becomes a vital part of analysis.
In creating these representations, scarcity of data compels us to combine data sets to piece together a suitable network. We argue that doing so, and examining network ties on different scales, helps to interpret the complexities of agonistic connectivity. But this approach raises important methodological issues which warrant discussion as we fine-tune our approach for future use.
The placement of a new Thessalian festival in a border region shared by Thessaly and Macedon, presents an interesting case study in Thessaly’s foreign and domestic affairs. This paper seeks to answer the following questions:
1) What political conditions prompted the institution of this festival and the establishment of this sanctuary?
2) How did the newly instituted Thessalian Olympics provide a means for the Thessalians to expand/restrict their international relations?
3) What potential socio-political impacts did the creation of a Thessalian festival in a border region have on Thessaly’s inhabitants and neighbours?
4) What do the finds at the peak sanctuary at Agios Antonios indicate concerning Thessaly’s interrelations with foreign communities?
By situating the epigraphic, archaeological, and spatial data for the sanctuary and the festival in the context of Thessalian participation in pan-Hellenic affairs, we demonstrate that Thessaly at times displayed a certain resistance to particular expressions of pan-Hellenism, instead opting to assert their own definitions of what it meant to be Greek.
Innovation) that envisions the spectacular rise of festival culture in the Hellenistic and Roman period as a driving force constantly forging ties and linking the world of Greek communities together. We consider the development of this shared festival culture, embedded in Greek practices, as a key factor in the creation of an imagined community of cities within the Hellenistic world, paving the way for the Roman Empire. The object of analysis is the networks of interaction and ideas produced by agonistic festivals with a focus on the agency behind the networks. Artefactual data on the movements of athletes and the diffusion of prizes and festivals is provided through inscriptions and coinage and is subject to analysis using network-theoretic approaches in combination with agent-based modelling. This paper studies agonistic festivals from several angles, and comprises distinct but interrelated research projects conducted on different scales: At the regional level, festivals in Thessaly are examined using network theory in connection with regional identity processes. Following will be a discussion of Hellenistic kings as agents, using agonistic festivals to legitimize their authority. Lastly, we examine how festivals during the Roman period were anchored in pre-existing Greek practices, connecting the two worlds into a global empire centered on Rome.
Apostolos Arvanitopoulos conducted excavations at the summit of Pliassidi on Mount Pelion in the early 20th century, but the location of the site was forgotten so no further excavations were conducted. It was only after the initial excavations that the sanctuary of Zeus Akraios and Chiron were identified. Plutarch speaks of a cult of Chiron in Magnesia (Plu. Quaest. Conv. 647a) and other sources briefly mention this cult, but minimal archaeological evidence has been uncovered. This paper suggests that this festival was a means whereby the people of Magnesia were connected to the nature surrounding them and leads to the question: how did this festival create a connection between the “cultural” cities of Magnesia and the “nature” of Mount Pelion?
The case of this festival of Zeus Akraios and Chiron demonstrates observable identity formation processes resulting from the inclusion of multiple communities in Magnesia coming together in a singular procession. I intend to examine literary sources, epigraphic evidence, and the archaeological evidence to address the question. My analysis of this festival will address how the peoples of Magnesia were connected with nature and how this helped shaped the identity of the people in the region.
In this paper I will first discuss the region of Thessaly in terms of its political history to explain how the identifications of communities tended to shift in and out of a Thessalian affiliation throughout Thessaly’s history. I will then present a preliminary case study and discuss the evidence available to try to complete a network of athletes within the region. The case study is of the Eleutheria, with a focus on how it became a Pan-Hellenic festival connecting people not just within Thessaly, but around the Mediterranean. This will help to indicate not just how the people in Thessaly were identifying with one another, but how people around the Greek world perceived the people in Thessaly.
In this paper I present a preliminary case study and discuss the evidence available to try to complete a network of athletes within a region such as Thessaly. The case study I present is of the Eleutheria focusing on how it became a Pan-Hellenic festival connecting people not just within Thessaly, but around the Mediterranean. I then discuss the types of evidence available such as epigraphic evidence, numismatic evidence, and archaeological evidence, and how the available sources can be utilized in network theory.
This talk will introduce festivals and networks in a regional context, focussing on Thessaly, and will introduce festivals and networks being used in empire formation.
Focusing on Pergamon through the lens of network theory will highlight the rapidly-changing set of institutions key to our understanding of identity and communication in the Hellenistic Mediterranean - one that connected actors from across a diverse range of geographical, social and political backgrounds.
The excavations of Demetrias started in the early 20th century and continue to the present day in the form of rescue excavations. In addition to uncovering the city’s private and public sectors, excavations have also revealed abundant funerary material, including over a thousand graves, and a large collection of painted grave stelae which were built into the city’s fortifications. This paper presents the modes through which the inhabitants of Demetrias expressed affiliation to group identities through their burials.
The case of the burials at Demetrias demonstrates observable identity formation processes resulting from the integration of numerous group identities into a single population. In this paper, I demonstrate that the inhabitants of the city both maintained older identities, as well as forming new group identities. I first examine the changes in burial practices from the area of Demetrias pre- and post- synoikismos through changes in the grave goods and architecture, as well as shifts in the locations of cemeteries. Areas such as Soros were abandoned, whereas some burials continued despite the abandonment of the settlement. I also examine the grave stelae with respect to the iconography of the paintings and the inscriptions, as they allow us to determine the group identities with which the deceased individuals were affiliated. Many stelae mention areas from around the Mediterranean such as Egypt, Asia Minor, and Phoenicia. Some stelae even exhibit people maintaining old city identities generations after that city had been destroyed such as in the case of Histiaia. Despite the diversity of identifications present in the burials, however, we also see the beginnings of a “Demetrian” way of burying the dead.
My analysis of Demetrian burials demonstrates the clear complexity of identity formation processes. Although many chose to identify with a particular location, many more omitted any indication other than with the current polis. These identities with which inhabitants of Demetrias affiliated themselves were multi-layered, contradictory, and constantly changing.
This paper analyzes the osteological and artefactual material from the Hellenistic graves at Demetrias in order to demonstrate that burials no longer solely reflected local burial forms, but ones that expressed a collective Demetrian identity as well as other identities, reflecting the paradoxic Hellenistic reality in Alexander’s former empire in which local identities negotiated increasingly global realities. I plan to analyze and compare burial patterns by examining potential variations in skeletal orientation, burial goods, tomb architecture, grave markers, and accompanying inscriptions. The potential variations will be assessed in the historical context of Demetrias as well as the broader context of funerary culture in Hellenistic Greece to identify expressions of social and political identities.
Being “Thessalian”, as with any group identity, is a concept that was and is perpetually under construction, often influenced, moderated and/or reinforced by contact with “outsider” groups such as Macedonians, Romans, and Ottomans. In addition, the constant internal power struggles within and between the Thessalians and their surrounding perioikoi added several more layers of complications to these social dynamics. These conflicts are at the core of this panel as we seek to understand how both outer and internal influence shaped exactly what defined “Thessalian.” How exactly did the interplay between the foreign and the local shape and reshape what it meant to be Thessalian both at home and abroad? To what extent did foreign trends penetrate into this generally conservative region and what role did local agency play in accepting or rejecting these trends?
This panel and its questions are timely because in the last twenty years, archaeological interest in Thessaly has been increasing exponentially. In the last decade in particular, there has been an increase in synthetic studies of Thessaly, examining not just specific sites but looking at synchronic and diachronic trends throughout the whole region. This panel brings together international experts on the history, archaeology, landscape, epigraphy, cults and sanctuaries, border regions, and social networks of Thessaly from the Archaic period to the Early Medieval period to grapple with insider-outsider dynamics in Thessaly.
Ancient Thessaly proper comprised two broad plains in northern Greece, but the surrounding mountainous regions and their inhabitants (perioikoi) are often included as semi-independent parts of Thessaly. The Macedonians, and later the Romans, reorganized the Thessalian landscape through various land reforms, creating new settlements (not necessarily poleis), uprooting existing populations, and creating new political systems throughout the region. This persistent instability provided a fertile matrix for constant tensions between the local, the regional, and the global. These tensions and their articulations in the material, epigraphic, and historical evidence are the core of this panel. How exactly did the interplay between the foreign and the local shape and reshape what it meant to be Thessalian both at home and abroad? To what extent did foreign trends penetrate into this generally conservative region and what role did local agency play in accepting or rejecting these trends?
This panel and its questions are timely because in the last twenty years, archaeological interest in Thessaly has been increasing exponentially. In the last decade in particular, there has been an increase in synthetic studies of Thessaly, examining not just specific sites but looking at synchronic and diachronic trends throughout the whole region. This panel brings together experts on the state formation, social networks, infrastructure, numismatics, and religion in Thessaly and its perioikoi to grapple with the intersections between the foreign and the local in this region.