Misplaced Pages

#649350

112-421: The most famous examples of Cyclopean masonry are found in the walls of Mycenae and Tiryns , and the style is characteristic of Mycenaean fortifications. Similar styles of stonework are found in other cultures and the term has come to be used to describe typical stonework of this sort, such as the old city walls of Rajgir . The term comes from the belief of classical Greeks that only the mythical Cyclopes had

224-424: A 𐀐𐀫𐀯𐀊 , ke-ro-si-ja , (later γερουσία gerousia ), but Palmer believes that it was an organization of "bronze smiths". The land was held by the wanax, by the damos, and by individual land owners. It seems that people lived in small family groups or clans around the main citadel. Occupying a lower rung of the social ladder were the slaves, do-e-ro , ( cf. δοῦλος , doúlos ). These are recorded in

336-589: A capital city on the level of Thebes and Knossos. During LHIIIB, Mycenae's political, military and economic influence likely extended as far as Crete , Pylos in the western Peloponnese, and to Athens and Thebes . Mycenae was among the numerous Aegean sites destroyed as part of the Bronze Age Collapse around 1200 BC. The causes of these destructions are unknown, but proposed explanations include enemy attack, internal strife, and natural disasters such as earthquakes. Unlike many other sites, Mycenae

448-526: A major power during LHI (c. 1550 – c. 1450 BC) and is believed to have become the main centre of Aegean civilisation through the fifteenth century to the extent that the two hundred years from c. 1400 BC to c. 1200 BC (encompassing LHIIIA and LHIIIB) are known as the Mycenaean Age. The Minoan hegemony ended c. 1450 and there is evidence that Knossos was occupied by Mycenaeans until it too was destroyed c. 1370 BC. From then on, Mycenaean expansion throughout

560-432: A member of Mycenae's ruling dynasty. Certain archaeological features in the palatial centers like the architectural uniformity, the uniformity of the administrative system, the uniformity in pottery, the imperial language and some large scale projects (drainage systems, harbours, roads etc.) indicate that large parts of Greece may have fallen under the sway of a single king, with various degrees of control over local vassals:

672-503: A number of palaces and fortifications appear to be part of a wider kingdom. For instance, Gla , located in the region of Boeotia, belonged to the state of nearby Orchomenos. The palace of Mycenae probably ruled over a territory two to three times the size of the other palatial states in Bronze Age Greece. Its territory would have also included adjacent centers, including Tiryns and Nauplion , which could plausibly be ruled by

784-416: A partly marshy and partly mountainous region. The latter saw the creation of numerous Roman and Latin colonies: small Roman colonies were created along the coast, while the inland areas were colonized by Latins and Romans without citizenship. The name Latium was thus also extended to this area south of Rome ( Latium adiectum ), up to the ancient Oscan city of Casinum , defined by Strabo as "the last city of

896-459: A place was called in Italy "height" ( capitolium , the mountain-top), or "stronghold" ( arx , from arcere ); it was not a town at first, but it became the nucleus of one, as houses naturally gathered around the stronghold and were afterwards surrounded with the "ring" ( urbs , connected with urvus and curvus ). The isolated Alban range, that natural stronghold of Latium, which offered to settlers

1008-528: A provincial official. (Homer mentions many basilees in Ithaca ). The land possessed by the king is usually called 𐀳𐀕𐀜 , te-me-no ( τέμενος , " témenos "), a word that survived in classical Greece (the temenos placed by Hephaestus on the shield of Achilles is called "royal"). In classical times the word has a religious connotation . Other important landowners were the 𐀨𐀷𐀐𐀲 , ra-wa-ke-ta ("lāwāgetas"), literally translated as "the leader of

1120-507: A secure position, would doubtless be first occupied by the newcomers. Here, along the narrow plateau above Palazzuola between the Alban lake ( Lagiod di Castello ) and the Alban mount ( Monte Cavo ), extended the town of Alba Longa , which was regarded as the primitive seat of the Latin stock, and the mother city of Rome as well as of all the other Old Latin communities; here on the slopes lay

1232-598: A single geo-political entity, Italia , dividing it into eleven regions. Latium – together with the present region of Campagna immediately to the southeast of Latium and the seat of Naples – became Region I. After the Gothic War (535–554) A.D. and the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) conquest, this region regained its freedom, because the "Roman Duchy" became the property of the Eastern Emperor. However

SECTION 10

#1732765020650

1344-505: A situation not dissimilar from the contemporary Hittite world, although the archaeological evidence remains ambiguous. A loose confederacy of city-states under the king of Mycenae, Agamemnon , is mentioned by Homer in Iliad . Much of the Mycenaean religion survived into classical Greece in their pantheon of Greek deities , but it is not known to what extent Greek religious belief

1456-715: A social space, or forum , was built by c.  620 BC . The influence of the Etruscans played an important role, and migrants came from Etruscan towns. Soon (according to tradition) it was followed by the rule of Etruscan kings, the Tarquins (traditionally, 616-509 BC). While Rome may have acquired considerable territory (some 350 sq. miles) in Latium, Roman kings never exercised absolute power over Latium. The Latin cities did, however, look to Rome for protection, for Rome had more manpower than any other city in Latium. This

1568-454: A society led by influential clans ( gentes ). These clans were a sign of their tribal origin, which continued in Rome as the thirty curiae which organized Roman society. However, as a social unit the gens was replaced by the family which was headed by the paterfamilias - the oldest male who held supreme authority over the family. A fixed local center seemed necessary as the center of

1680-737: Is Mycenaean, nor how much is a product of the Greek Dark Ages or later. Moses I. Finley detected only few authentic Mycenaean beliefs in the 8th-century Homeric world, but Nilsson suggested that the Mycenaean religion was the mother of the Greek religion . From the history traced by Nilsson and Guthrie , the Mycenaean pantheon consisted of Minoan deities, but also of gods and goddesses who appear under different names with similar functions in East and West. Many of these names appearing in

1792-546: Is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis , north-eastern Peloponnese , Greece . It is located about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south-west of Athens ; 11 kilometres (7 miles) north of Argos ; and 48 kilometres (30 miles) south of Corinth . The site is 19 kilometres (12 miles) inland from the Saronic Gulf and built upon a hill rising 900 feet (274 metres) above sea level. In the second millennium BC, Mycenae

1904-618: Is believed they were never able to hold substantial roles of power in the civilizations. The particular positions held and responsibilities performed within Mycenae's social structure are not well understood. According to the traditional view, Mycenae or any other palatial center of mainland Greece was not an empire, and the mainland consisted of independent city-states. This view has in recent years, however, been challenged by various specialists, such as Jorrit Kelder and, most recently, Birgitta Eder and Reinhard Jung . Kelder pointed out that

2016-406: Is currently in charge of the site. In 1999, a scientific committee for Mycenae was created and numerous projects for the preservation, improvement, and stabilization of both archaeological sites have been completed by this scientific body. The committee also sought to improve visitor access to the monuments at the locations by laying out walkways and establishing information stations. It appears that

2128-579: Is referred to as ashlar and is not considered cyclopean. There is a more detailed description of the Cyclopean styles at the Perseus Project . Pausanias described the Cyclopean walls of Mycenae and Tiryns : There still remain, however, parts of the city wall [of Mycenae], including the gate, upon which stand lions. These, too, are said to be the work of the Cyclopes, who made for Proetus

2240-612: Is that Lazio comes from the Latin word "latus", meaning "wide", expressing the idea of "flat land" meaning the Roman Campagna . The region that would become Latium had been home to settled agricultural populations since the early Bronze Age and was known to the Ancient Greeks and even earlier to the Mycenaean Greeks . The name is most likely derived from the Latin word " latus ", meaning "wide", expressing

2352-639: Is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire . Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium ) on which resided the tribe of the Latins or Latians. It was located on the left bank (east and south) of the River Tiber , extending northward to the River Anio (a left-bank tributary of

SECTION 20

#1732765020650

2464-518: The Circle B graves , which were found at a later date, although Circle B are the earlier graves, dated c. 1650 BC to c. 1550 BC and entirely within MHIII. Circle A is dated to the sixteenth century BC, including the transition from Middle to Late Helladic IA (LHIA; c. 1550 – c. 1500 BC). The contents of Circle B are less wealthy than those of Circle A. Pottery material spanning the entire Early Helladic

2576-626: The Early Helladic (EH, c. 3200–c. 2000 BC) and Middle Helladic (MH, c. 2000–c. 1550 BC) periods. EN Rainbow Ware constitutes the earliest ceramic evidence discovered so far. The population had grown considerably by the Middle Helladic. As elsewhere, a dominant Cretan influence prevailed from c. 1600 BC, the first evidence of this coming from the shaft graves discovered in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann . Schliemann's shaft graves came to be known as Circle A to distinguish them from

2688-747: The Hindus , this sky-deity becomes " Dyaus Pita ". In Latin he becomes "Deus Pater" or Jupiter ; we still encounter this word in the etymologies of the words "deity" and "divine". Later in some cults, Zeus is united with the Aegean Great Goddess , who is represented by Hera , in a "holy wedding" ( hieros gamos ). At some point in their cultural history, the Mycenaeans adopted some Minoan goddesses like Aphaea , Britomartis , Diktynna and associated them with their sky-god. Many of them were absorbed by more powerful divinities, and some like

2800-474: The Homeric epics. The earliest examples of the Greek language are also visible at Mycenae and Tiryn, preserved on Linear B tablets. A stringent legal framework was established to safeguard the integrity of the Mycenae and Tiryns sites against vandalism and other forms of damage and disturbance to the remains. The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports monitors the two archaeological sites. To maintain

2912-593: The Kition archaeological site in present-day Larnaca , has revealed cyclopean walls. Additionally, Nitovikla , Enkomi and Maa Paleokastro use Cyclopean masonry. In Italy , polygonal masonry is particularly indicative of the region of Latium ; scholars including Giuseppe Lugli have carried out studies of the technique. Some notable sites that have fortification walls built in this technique include Norba , Signia , Alatri , Boiano , Circeo , Cosa , Alba Fucens , Palestrina , Terracina and Santa Severa . One of

3024-505: The Linear B inscriptions can be found later in classical Greece, like Zeus , Hera , Poseidon , Athena , Hermes , Eileithyia and Dionysos , but the etymology is the only evidence of the cults. There are several reasonable guesses that can be made, however. It seems that originally the Mycenaeans, like many Indo-Europeans , considered divine any object that inherited an internal power ( anima ). Certain religious beliefs were mixed with

3136-480: The Mycenaean Hagia Triada sarcophagus (1400 BC), which combines features of Minoan civilization and Mycenaean style. It seems that the blood of a bull was used for the regeneration of the reappearing dead. Probably most of these cults existed in the Mycenaean period and survived by immemorial practice. A secondary level of importance was the cult of the heroes, which seems to have started in

3248-586: The Old Latin language, ancestor of Latin and the Romance languages . Latium has played an important role in history owing to its status as the host of the capital city of Rome , at one time the cultural and political center of the Roman Empire . Consequently, Latium is home to celebrated works of art and architecture . The earliest known Latium was the country of the Latini , a tribe whose recognised center

3360-611: The Roman period in Greece its ruins had become a tourist attraction. The ancient travel writer Pausanias , for example, visited the site and briefly described the prominent fortifications and the Lion Gate, still visible in his time, the second century AD. Pausanias also describes being led to the site by shepherds, showing that the surrounding area was never completely abandoned. The Ministry of Culture, Education, and Religious Affairs

3472-461: The Tomb of Aegisthus – are dated to LHIIA. Burial in tholoi is seen as replacing burial in shaft graves. The care taken to preserve the shaft graves testifies that they were by then part of the royal heritage, the tombs of the ancestral heroes. Being more visible, all the tholoi had been plundered either in antiquity or in later historic times. At a conventional date of 1350 BC, the fortifications on

Cyclopean masonry - Misplaced Pages Continue

3584-432: The chthonic deities, or deities of the earth. Walter Burkert warns: "To what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and Mycenaean religion is a question which has not yet found a conclusive answer." He suggests that useful parallels will be found in the relations between Hellenistic and Archaic Greek culture and religion, or between Roman and Etruscan culture. The pantheon also included deities representing

3696-561: The vegetation goddesses Ariadne and Helen survived in Greek folklore together with the cult of the "divine child", who was probably the precursor of Dionysos . Athena and Hera survived and were tutelary goddesses, the guardians of the palaces and the cities. In general, later Greek religion distinguishes between two types of deities: the Olympian , or sky, deities (including Zeus), who are now commonly known in some form or another; and

3808-505: The Aegean was unhindered until the massive disruption of society in the first half of the twelfth century (LHIIIC), which ended Mycenaean civilisation and culminated in the destruction of Mycenae itself c. 1150 BC. Outside the partial circuit wall, Grave Circle B , named for its enclosing wall, contained ten cist graves in Middle Helladic style and several shaft graves, sunk more deeply, with interments resting in cists. Richer grave goods mark

3920-583: The Archaic Period. A Mycenaean contingent fought at Thermopylae and Plataea during the Persian Wars . In 468 BC, however, troops from Argos captured Mycenae, expelled the inhabitants and razed the fortifications. Mycenae was briefly reoccupied in the Hellenistic period, when it could boast a theatre (located over the Tomb of Clytemnestra ). The site was subsequently abandoned, and by

4032-526: The Lake of Ariccia. So, by virtue of her proximity to the sanctuary of Jupiter, the village of Alba Longa held a position of religious primacy among the Latin villages. Originally, thirty villages were entitled to participate in the league, known as the Alban colonies. Only a few of the individual names of these villages are recorded. The ritual of this league was the "Latin festival" ( feriae Latinae ), at which, on

4144-536: The Latin peoples. By the mid-7th century BC, Rome had secured itself as a maritime power and secured its salt supply; the Via Salaria (lit. "salt road") was paved from Rome down to Ostia on the northern bank of the river Tiber - the closest salt-field in Western Italy. At the same time, archaeologists detect, there was an urban transformation of the area. Roman huts were being replaced by houses, and

4256-574: The Latins". The modern descendant, the Italian Regione of Lazio , also called Latium in Latin , and occasionally in modern English , is somewhat larger still, though less than twice the size of Latium vetus et adiectum, including a large area of ancient Southern Etruria and Sabina. The ancient language of the Latins, the tribespeople who occupied Latium, was the immediate predecessor of

4368-462: The Latins. Although Alba Longa enjoyed a position of religious primacy, the Alban presidency never held any significant political power over Latium, e.g. it was never the capital of a Latin state. It is probable that the extent of the Latin League's jurisdiction was somewhat unsettled and thus fluctuated; yet it remained for its existence not an accidental aggregate of various communities, but

4480-570: The Mount of Alba, upon a day annually appointed by the chief magistrate for the purpose, an ox was sacrificed by the assembled Latin stock to the "Latin god" ( Jupiter Latiaris ). Each community taking part in the ceremony had to contribute to the sacrificial feast. However; the sacred grove of Aricia, the Nemus Dianae , on the Lake of Aricia , was always among the most popular place of pilgrimage for

4592-423: The Mycenaean civilization. Mycenae and Tiryns, which stand as the pinnacle of the early phases of Greek civilisation, provided unique witness to political, social and economic growth during the Mycenaean civilization. The accomplishments of the Mycenaean civilisation in art , architecture and technology, which inspired European cultures, are also on display at both locations. These sites are strongly connected to

Cyclopean masonry - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-485: The Mycenaean era. These were great men of the past who were exalted to honor after death, because of what they had done. According to an old Minoan belief, beyond the sea there was an island called Elysion , where the departed could have a different but happier existence. Later, the Greeks believed that there could live in human form only heroes and the beloved of the gods. The souls of the rest would drift unconsciously in

4816-457: The Mycenaean state was ruled by kings identified by the title 𐀷𐀙𐀏 , wa-na-ka ("wanax") in the Linear B inscriptions at Knossos and Pylos . The wanax had the supreme authority and was represented by a number of officials. In the Homeric poems, the word form is anax ( ἄναξ ), often translated in English as "lord". Some inscriptions with a list of offerings indicate that the king

4928-629: The Romans subsequently held religious and state ceremonies. The last pagan temple to be built stood until the Middle Ages when its stone and location were reused for various monasteries and finally a hotel. During World War II , the Wehrmacht turned it into a radio station, which was captured after an infantry battle by American troops in 1944, and it currently is a controversial telecommunications station surrounded by antennae considered unsightly by

5040-572: The Telestas are religious officials while others believe they were given land in return for services. Under the Telestas is believed to be the Hequetia, who are believed to be either military workers or warriors or companions of the king. Under the Hequetia are the general laborers which includes artisans, farmers, fisherman, and more. At the bottom of the social hierarchy slaves, which are commonly believed to be women. Even when women were not slaves it

5152-744: The Tiber) and southeastward to the Pomptina Palus ( Pontine Marshes , now the Pontine Fields) as far south as the Circeian promontory . The right bank of the Tiber was occupied by the Etruscan city of Veii , and the other borders were occupied by Italic tribes. Subsequently, Rome defeated Veii and then its Italic neighbours, expanding its dominions over Southern Etruria and to the south, in

5264-482: The acropolis and other surrounding hills were rebuilt in a style known as Cyclopean because the blocks of stone used were so massive that they were thought in later ages to be the work of the one-eyed giants known as the Cyclopes . Within these walls, much of which can still be seen, successive monumental palaces were built. The final palace, remains of which are currently visible on the acropolis of Mycenae, dates to

5376-435: The beliefs of the local populations as it appears in the old cults of isolated Arcadia , which survived up to classical Greece . In these cults, Poseidon appears usually as a horse, representing the river spirit of the underworld, as usually happens in northern European folklore. The precursor goddesses of Demeter and Persephone are closely related with springs and animals, and especially with Poseidon and Artemis , who

5488-594: The blue rectangle), and the ashlar masonry of the Lion G The entrance of a Mycenaean citadel in the Bronze Age, Lion Gate , demonstrated the monumentalizing occurring in Greece and showed the power of the citadel. Apart from the Tirynthian and Mycenaean walls, other Cyclopean structures include some beehive tombs in Greece and the fortifications of a number of Mycenean sites, most famously at Gla . In Cyprus ,

5600-627: The burials as possibly regal. Mounds over the top contained broken drinking vessels and bones from a repast, testifying to a more than ordinary farewell. Stelae surmounted the mounds. A walled enclosure, Grave Circle A , included six more shaft graves, with nine female, eight male, and two juvenile interments. Grave goods were more costly than in Circle B. The presence of engraved and inlaid swords and daggers , with spear points and arrowheads, leaves little doubt that warrior chieftains and their families were buried here. Some art objects obtained from

5712-417: The center of a wall to the side of the hearth, allowing an unobstructed view of the ruler from the entrance. Frescos adorned the plaster walls and floor. The room was accessed from a courtyard with a columned portico. A grand staircase led from a terrace below to the courtyard on the acropolis. In the temple built within the citadel, a scarab of Queen Tiye of Egypt , who was married to Amenhotep III ,

SECTION 50

#1732765020650

5824-518: The center of the Mycenaean civilization, its outstanding architecture and its testimony to the development of Ancient Greek civilization . The Lion Gate, the Treasury of Atreus and the walls of Mycenae and Tiryns are examples of the noteworthy architecture found in Mycenae and Tiryns. The structures and layouts of these discoveries exemplify the creative talent of the time. Greek architecture and urban planning have been significantly influenced by

5936-526: The coast, were all more or less ancient centers of Latin colonization, not to speak of many other less famous and in some cases almost forgotten. All these villages were politically sovereign, and each of them was self-governing. The closeness of descent and their common language not only pervaded all of them, but manifested itself in an important religious and political institution—the Latin League. The Latins were tied together by religious associations, including worship of Venus, Jupiter Latiaris, and of Diana at

6048-559: The corpses were lightly exposed to fire in order to preserve them. Mycenaean religion certainly involved offerings and sacrifices to the deities, and some have speculated that their ceremonies involved human sacrifice based on textual evidence and bones found outside tombs. In the Homeric poems, there seems to be a lingering cultural memory of human sacrifice in King Agamemnon 's sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia ; several of

6160-638: The ecclesiastical power. However, between 1353 and 1367, the papacy regained control of Latium and the rest of the Papal States . From the middle of the 16th century, the papacy politically unified Latium with the Papal States , so that these territories became provincial administrations of St. Peter's estate; governors in Viterbo , in Marittima and Campagna , and in Frosinone administered them for

6272-505: The end of LHIIIB around 1200 BC, another, final extension to the citadel was undertaken. The wall was extended again on the northeast, with a sally port and also a secret passage through and under the wall, of corbelled construction, leading downwards by some 99 steps to a cistern carved out of rock 15 m below the surface. It was fed by a tunnel from a spring on more distant higher ground. Already in LHIIIA:1, Egypt knew *Mukana by name as

6384-406: The end of the second millennium BC, when the Mycenaean palaces collapsed, it seems that Greek thought was gradually released from the idea that each man was a servant to the gods, and sought a "moral purpose". It is possible that this procedure started before the end of the Mycenaean age, but the idea is almost absent or vague in the Homeric poems, where the interference of the gods is not related to

6496-493: The fall of the Mycenaean civilization and the end of the Greek Dark Ages, the original Mycenaean religion persisted and adapted until it finally emerged in the stories of human devotion, apostasy, and divine capriciousness that exists in the two great epic poems of Homer . Classical Greek myths assert that Mycenae was founded by Perseus , grandson of king Acrisius of Argos , son of Acrisius's daughter, Danaë and

6608-420: The foremost families were compelled to move to Rome: Alba Longa, the mother city, was dissolved into Rome, the daughter. According to Livy , Alba Longa was razed to the ground - spare the temples - by King Tullus of Rome. The Latin festival would still be held on the Alban mount, but by Roman magistrates. Having destroyed Alba Longa, Rome was in command of the Latin festival and thus held presidency over

6720-537: The gloomy space of Hades . Gods and men had common origins, but there was an enormous gap between the immortal gods and mortal men. However, certain elements indicate that the Mycenaeans probably believed in a future existence. Two well-preserved bodies were found in Shaft Grave VI, and Wolfgang Helbig believed that an embalming preceded the burial. In the shaft graves discovered by Heinrich Schliemann ,

6832-401: The god Zeus . Having killed his grandfather by accident, Perseus could not, or would not, inherit the throne of Argos. Instead he arranged an exchange of realms with his cousin, Megapenthes , and became king of Tiryns , Megapenthes taking Argos. After that, he founded Mycenae and ruled the kingdoms jointly from there. Perseus married Andromeda and had many sons. His son, Electryon , became

SECTION 60

#1732765020650

6944-412: The gods were conceived as animals and birds, in a surrounding of animal-headed daemons . Later the gods were revealed in human forms with an animal as a companion or symbol. Some of the old gods survived in the cult of Dionysos ( Satyrs ) and Pan (the goat-god). The Mycenaeans adopted probably from the east a priest-king system and the belief of a ruling deity in the hands of a theocratic society. At

7056-637: The graves are the Silver Siege Rhyton , the Mask of Agamemnon , the Cup of Nestor and weapons both votive and practical. The chemical compositions of the silver objects indicate that the silver was sourced from several locations. Alan Wace divided the nine tholos tombs of Mycenae into three groups of three, each based on architecture. His earliest – the Cyclopean Tomb, Epano Phournos, and

7168-451: The idea of "flat land" (in contrast to the local Sabine high country). The Etruscans , from their home region of Etruria , exerted a strong cultural and political influence on Latium from about the 8th century BC onward. However, they were unable to assert political hegemony over the region, which was controlled by small, autonomous city-states in a manner roughly analogous to the state of affairs that prevailed in Ancient Greece . Indeed,

7280-399: The interstices. The exterior faces of the large boulders may be roughly hammer-dressed, but the boulders themselves are never carefully cut blocks. Very large boulders are typical of the Mycenaean walls at Mycenae , Tiryns , Argos , Krisa (in Phocis ), and the Acropolis of Athens . Somewhat smaller boulders occur in the walls of Midea , whereas large limestone slabs are characteristic of

7392-526: The island. The Nuraghe of Bronze Age Sardinia also are described as being constructed in cyclopean masonry, as are some of the constructions of the Talaiot culture abounding on Menorca and present to a lesser extent on Mallorca . In the ancient city of Rājagṛha (now Rajgir , Bihar, India), cyclopean walls can be seen. Mycenae Mycenae ( / m aɪ ˈ s iː n iː / my- SEE -nee ; Mycenaean Greek : 𐀘𐀏𐀙𐀂 ; Ancient Greek : Μυκῆναι or Μυκήνη , Mykē̂nai or Mykḗnē )

7504-400: The king was the Lawagetas, believed to be the leader of the army, based on Homer's works. The Lawagetas are thought to have gotten their power by owning the most land. Other opinions think Lawagetas were a sort of prince, having no military power. Under the Lawagetas are numerous craftsmen employed by the Lawagetas. Other groups commonly mentioned in landholding texts are the Telestas. Some think

7616-405: The large blocks firmly together. (2.25.8) Modern archaeologists use "Cyclopean" in a more restricted sense than the description by Pausanias; while Pausanias attributes all of the fortifications of Tiryns and Mycenae, including the Lion Gate, to the Cyclopes, only parts of these walls are built in Cyclopean masonry. The accompanying photograph shows the difference between Cyclopean masonry (shown in

7728-404: The largest and least known is the "acropolis" in Alatri , an hour south of Rome. It also seems to have a portal through which the summer solstice sun shines and some think it is also has a number of other astronomical significant points to it. It is thought to be the second largest in Europe, after Athens. In Sicily , there are many Cyclopean structures especially in Erice , in the western part of

7840-436: The long wars against the barbarian Longobards weakened the region, which was seized by the Roman Bishop who already had several properties in those territories. The strengthening of the religious and ecclesiastical aristocracy led to continuous power struggles between lords and the Roman bishop until the middle of the 16th century. Innocent III tried to strengthen his own territorial power, wishing to assert his authority in

7952-414: The lord or spouse of the Earth goddess . Athena whose task was to protect the olive-trees is a civic Artemis. The powers of animal nature fostered a belief in nymphs whose existence was bound to the trees and the waters, and in gods with human forms and the heads or tails of animals who stood for primitive bodily instincts. In Arcadia were depicted animal-headed gods, indicating that in the remote past

8064-592: The name of the city is spelled Mykḗnē (Μυκήνη). The later form, Mykē̂nai (Μυκῆναι), was the result of a well-known sound change in Attic - Ionic , which shifted some instances of ā to ē . Mycenae, an acropolis site, was built on a hill 900 feet (274 metres) above sea level, some 19 kilometres (12 miles) inland from the Gulf of Argolis. Situated in the north-east corner of the Argive plain, it easily overlooked

8176-680: The north wall. One of the few groups of excavated houses in the city outside the walls lies beyond Grave Circle B and belongs to the same period. The House of Shields, the House of the Oil Merchant, the House of the Sphinxes, and the West House. These may have been both residences and workshops. The largest stones including the lintels and gate jambs weighed well over 20 tonnes; some may have been close to 100 tonnes. Somewhat later, toward

8288-454: The officials. Leonard Robert Palmer suggests that the "telestai were the men of telos- the fief holders". The 𐀁𐀤𐀲 , e-qe-ta ( ekwetai , "companions" or "followers") were a group of nobles (aristocrats), who followed the king in peace and war. It seems that they were representatives of the king among military groups and religious personnel. There is also at least one instance of a person, Enkhelyawon at Pylos, who appears titleless in

8400-613: The papacy. After the short-lived Roman Republic (18th century) , the region's annexation to France by Napoleon Bonaparte in February 1798, Latium became again part of the Papal States in October, 1799. On 20 September 1870, the capture of Rome , during the reign of Pope Pius IX , and France's defeat at Sedan , completed Italian unification , and Latium was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy . Latium, often referred to by

8512-407: The people", and sometimes interpreted as a given kingdom's military leader, though this is not confirmed by the inscriptions. Alternatively, he may have been the crown prince or, if one follows the argument of a single Mycenaean state, a local king who was a vassal to the overarching wanax / Great King. Below these two elevated persons, Linear B texts situate the 𐀳𐀩𐀲 , te-re-ta ("telestai"),

8624-475: The population within view. The selection of Jupiter as a state god and the descent of the name Latini to the name of the Latin language are sufficient to identify the Latins as a tribe of Indo-European descent. Virgil , a major poet of the early Roman Empire , under Augustus , derived Latium from the word for "hidden" (English latent) because in a myth Saturn , ruler of the golden age in Latium, hid (latuisset) from Jupiter there. A major modern etymology

8736-479: The positive expression of the relationship of the Latin stock. The Latin League may not have at all times included all Latin communities, but it never granted the privilege of membership to any that were not Latin. Very early in its existence, Rome acquired the presidency of the league, and Alba Longa appeared as a rival for which it was destroyed in the mid-7th century BC; the league, as it was, had been dissolved and

8848-586: The powers of nature and wildlife, who appear with similar functions in the Mediterranean region. The "Mistress of the Animals" ( Potnia Theron ), later called Artemis , may be identified as the Minoan goddess Britomartis /Dictynna. Poseidon is the lord of the sea, and therefore of storms and earthquakes, (the "Earth shaker" in Linear B tablets). He may have functioned as a pre-Hellenic chthonic Zeus,

8960-709: The provincial administrations of Tuscia, Campagna and Marittima through the Church's representatives, in order to reduce the power of the Colonna family . Other popes tried to do the same. During the period when the papacy resided in Avignon, France (1309–1377), the feudal lords' power increased due to the absence of the Pope from Rome. Small communes, and Rome above all, opposed the lords' increasing power, and with Cola di Rienzo , they tried to present themselves as antagonists of

9072-487: The quality and conditions of the Mycenaean and Tiryn sites, archaeological study is conducted methodically and systematically. The Greek Antiquities Law No 3028/2002, on the ‘Conservation of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in General’, governs the preservation and protection of the sites. Ministerial Decree No 2160 of 1964 created and safeguarded the limits of Mycenae in addition to the sites themselves. The acropolis and

9184-402: The region cannot have been one of the villages, but must have been a place of common assembly, containing the seat of justice and the common sanctuary of the district, where members of the clans met for purposes of administration and amusement, and where they obtained a safer shelter for themselves in case of war: in ordinary circumstances such a place was not at all or but scantily inhabited. Such

9296-447: The region's cultural and geographic proximity to the cities of Magna Graecia had a strong impact upon its early history. By the 10th century BC, archaeology records a slow development in agriculture from the entire area of Latium with the establishment of numerous villages. The Latins cultivated grains (spelt and barley), grapes ( Vitis vinifera ), olives, apples, and fig trees. The various Latini populi (lit. "Latin peoples") lived in

9408-473: The rightness or wrongness of men's actions. Later, Hesiod uses a lot of eastern material in his cosmology and in the genealogical trees of the gods, and he introduces the idea of the existence of something else behind the gods, which was more powerful than they. The Olympian Pantheon is an ordered system. The Greek divinities live with Zeus at the helm and each is concerned with a recognizable sphere. However, certain elements in some Greek cults indicate

9520-727: The scarab here. Wace's second group of tholoi are dated between LHIIA and LHIIIB: Kato Phournos, Panagia Tholos, and the Lion Tomb. The final group, Group III: the Treasury of Atreus , the Tomb of Clytemnestra and the Tomb of the Genii, are dated to LHIIIB by a sherd under the threshold of the Treasury of Atreus, the largest of the nine tombs. Like the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenus the tomb had been looted of its contents and its nature as funerary monument had been forgotten. The structure bore

9632-477: The second of the dynasty, but the succession was disputed by the Taphians under Pterelaos , another Perseid, who assaulted Mycenae, lost, and retreated with the cattle. The cattle were recovered by Amphitryon , a grandson of Perseus, but he killed his uncle by accident with a club in an unruly cattle incident and had to go into exile. The throne went to Sthenelus , third in the dynasty, a son of Perseus. He set

9744-701: The stage for future greatness by marrying Nicippe , a daughter of King Pelops of Elis , the most powerful state of the region and the times. With her he had a son, Eurystheus , the fourth and last of the Perseid dynasty. When a son of Heracles , Hyllus , killed Sthenelus, Eurystheus became noted for his enmity to Heracles and for his ruthless persecution of the Heracleidae , the descendants of Heracles. Latium Latium ( / ˈ l eɪ ʃ i ə m / LAY -shee-əm , US also /- ʃ ə m / -⁠shəm ; Latin: [ˈɫati.ũː] )

9856-414: The start of LHIIIA:2. Earlier palaces must have existed but they had been cleared away or built over. The construction of palaces at that time with a similar architecture was general throughout southern Greece. They all featured a megaron , or throne room, with a raised central hearth under an opening in the roof, which was supported by four columns in a square around the hearth. A throne was placed against

9968-401: The stories of Trojan heroes involve tragic human sacrifice. In the far past, even human beings might be offered to placate inscrutable gods, especially in times of guilty fear. Later sacrifice became a feast at which oxen were slaughtered. Men kept the meat, and gave the gods the bones wrapped in fat. Beyond this speculation we can go no further. Somewhere in the shades of the centuries between

10080-618: The strength to move the enormous boulders that made up the walls of Mycenae and Tiryns. Pliny's Natural History reported the tradition, attributed to Aristotle , that the Cyclopes were the inventors of masonry towers, giving rise to the designation "Cyclopean". The walls are usually founded in extremely shallow beddings carved out of the bedrock. "Cyclopean", the term normally applied to the masonry style characteristic of Mycenaean fortification systems, describes walls built of huge, unworked limestone boulders which are roughly fitted together. Between these boulders, smaller chunks of limestone fill

10192-434: The survival of some older cults from a less rationalized world: old cults of the dead, agrarian magic, exorcism of evil spirits, peculiar sacrifices, and animal-headed gods. In the Homeric poems, the avenging Fate was probably originally a daemon acting in parallel with the gods. Later, the cult of Dionysos Zagreus indicates that life-blood of animals was needed to renew that of men. A similar belief may be guessed from

10304-494: The texts as working either for the palace or for specific deities. Archaeological evidence supports the idea that the social hierarchy of Mycenae was a monarchy. The difference in the grave goods shows how the society was clearly separated by class. The king or the wanax was at the top of the hierarchy, who lived in the palaces and made laws for the people. It is believed that the kings came into power not because of great leadership duties, but because of hereditary succession. Below

10416-457: The traditional name of "Treasury". The pottery phases on which the relative dating scheme is based (EH, MH, LH, etc.) do not allow very precise dating, even augmented by the few existing C-14 dates due to the tolerance inherent in these. The sequence of further construction at Mycenae is approximately as follows. In the middle of LHIIIB, around 1250 BC or so, the Cyclopean wall was extended on

10528-420: The very ancient Latin districts of Lanuvium, Aricia, and Tusculum. Here too are found some primitive works of masonry, which usually mark the beginnings of civilization. The district-strongholds there later gave rise to the considerable towns of Tibur and Praeneste . Labici too, Gabii , Nomentum in the plain between the Alban and Sabine hills and the Tiber, Rome on the Tiber, Laurentum and Lavinium on

10640-406: The wall at Tiryns . (2.16.5) Going on from here and turning to the right, you come to the ruins of Tiryns. ... The wall, which is the only part of the ruins still remaining, is a work of the Cyclopes made of unwrought stones, each stone being so big that a pair of mules could not move the smallest from its place to the slightest degree. Long ago small stones were so inserted that each of them binds

10752-404: The walls at Gla . Cut stone masonry is used only in and around gateways, conglomerate at Mycenae and Tiryns and perhaps both conglomerate and limestone at Argos. Harry Thurston Peck , writing in 1898, divided Cyclopean masonry into four categories or styles: While Peck's first and possibly second and third styles conform to what archaeologists today would classify as cyclopean, the fourth now

10864-411: The west slope of the acropolis, which was at least partially enclosed by the earliest circuit wall . In the absence of documents and objects that can be precisely dated, events at Mycenae can be dated only relatively within the constraints of Helladic chronology , which relies on categorisation of stratified material objects, mainly pottery, within an agreed historical framework. Mycenae developed into

10976-462: The west slope to include Grave Circle A. The main entrance through the circuit wall was made grand by the best known feature of Mycenae, the Lion Gate , through which passed a stepped ramp leading past circle A and up to the palace. The Lion Gate was constructed in the form of a "Relieving Triangle" in order to support the weight of the stones. An undecorated postern gate also was constructed through

11088-523: The whole area and was ideally positioned to be a centre of power, especially as it commanded all easy routes to the Isthmus of Corinth . Besides its strong defensive and strategic position, it had good farmland and an adequate water supply. There are only faint traces of Neolithic settlement on the site although it was continuously occupied from the Early Neolithic (EN, c. 5000–c. 4000 BC) through

11200-453: The wider surroundings are also covered by the extension of protection conferred by this ministerial decree. Ministerial Decrees No 102098/4753 of 1956 and 12613/696 of 1991 both provide protection for the Tiryns archaeological site. The name Mukanai is thought not to be Greek but rather one of the many pre-Greek place names inherited by later Greek speakers. Legend has it that the name

11312-417: The written record but whom modern scholars regard as being probably a king. From the existing evidence, it seems that the kingdom was further subdivided into sixteen districts. The 𐀒𐀩𐀮 , ko-re-te was the "governor of the district" and the 𐀡𐀫𐀒𐀩𐀮 , po-ro-ko-re-te was the "deputy". It is possible that these represent koreter and prokoreter . The 𐀅𐀗𐀒𐀫 , da-mo-ko-ro ( damokoros )

11424-566: Was a large, dormant volcano, Mons Albanus ("the Alban Mount", today's Colli Albani ), 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the southeast of Rome, 64 kilometres (40 mi) in circumference. In its center is a crater lake, Lacus Albanus ( Lago Albano ), oval in shape, a few km long and wide. At the top of the second-highest peak ( Monte Cavo ) was a temple to Jupiter Latiaris, where the Latini held state functions before their subjection to Rome, and

11536-400: Was an official appointment but his duties are not very clear. The communal land was held at the hands of 𐀅𐀗 , da-mo (literally, "people", cf. Attic δῆμος , dễmos ), or "plot holders". It seems that the da-mo was a collective body of men, representing the local district and that it had certain power in public affairs. It is suggested that qa-si-re-u had a council of elders,

11648-402: Was connected to the Greek word mykēs (μύκης, "mushroom"). Thus Pausanias ascribes the name to the legendary founder, Perseus , who was said to have named it either after the cap ( mykēs ) of the sheath of his sword or after a mushroom he had plucked on the site. Homer connected the name to the nymph Mycene, the daughter of the river god Inachos of Argos ( Odyssey 2.120). In the Iliad

11760-575: Was discovered 1877 by Panagiotis Stamatakis at a low depth in the sixth shaft grave in Circle A. Further EH and MH material was found beneath the walls and floors of the palace, on the summit of the acropolis and outside the Lion Gate in the area of the ancient cemetery. An EH–MH settlement was discovered near a fresh-water well on top of the Kalkani hill south-west of the acropolis. The first burials in pits or cist graves manifest in MHII (c. 1800 BC) on

11872-400: Was due, in part, to Rome's generous policy of asylum: Roman kindness was unique in its readiness to grant citizenship to outsiders, citizenship was even granted to former slaves. The children of freedmen provided an important source for Roman armies, and given Rome a definite edge in manpower over other cities of the time. The emperor Augustus officially united all of present-day Italy into

11984-698: Was in 1700, during a survey conducted by the Venetian engineer Francesco Vandeyk on behalf of Francesco Grimani, the Provveditore Generale of the Kingdom of the Morea . Vandeyk used Pausanias 's description of the Lion Gate to identify the ruins of Mycenae. In 1999 the archeological site of Mycenae was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List , along with the nearby site of Tiryns , because of its historical importance as

12096-530: Was one of the major centres of Greek civilisation, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece, Crete , the Cyclades and parts of southwest Anatolia . The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares (79 acres). The first correct identification of Mycenae in modern literature

12208-461: Was partly rebuilt after this destruction, though it was no longer the centre of a centralised literate bureacuracy. Pottery finds suggest that Postpalatial Mycenae eventually regained some of its wealth, before burning once again. After this period, the site remained sparsely populated until the Hellenistic era. A temple dedicated to Hera was built on the summit of the Mycenaean citadel during

12320-544: Was placed in the Room of the Idols alongside at least one statue of either LHIIIA:2 or B:1 type. Amenhotep III's relations with m-w-k-i-n-u , *Mukana, have corroboration from the inscription at Kom al-Hetan - but Amenhotep's reign is thought to align with late LHIIIA:1. It is likely that Amenhotep's herald presented the scarab to an earlier generation, which then found the resources to rebuild the citadel as Cyclopean and then, to move

12432-421: Was probably divine, but the term "for the king" is usually accompanied by another name. It is possible that a priest-king system was adopted from the East and the title probably indicates that his right to rule was given by the god. The term 𐀣𐀯𐀩𐀄 , qa-si-re-u ( cf. βασιλεύς , " basileús "), which was later used in Greece for "king", was apparently used for the "chief" of any group of people, or for

12544-467: Was the first nymph . Mycenaean religion was almost certainly polytheistic, and the Mycenaeans were actively syncretistic, adding foreign deities to their pantheon of deities with ease. The Mycenaeans probably entered Greece with a pantheon of deities headed by some ruling sky-deity, which linguists speculate might have been called *Dyeus in early Indo-European . In Greek, this deity would become Zeus (pronounced Zeus or Dias in ancient Greek ). Among

#649350