Sanctuary of Titane BSA PDF

The Sanctuary of Titane and the City of Sikyon
Author(s): Yannis A. Lolos

Source: The Annual of the British School at Athens, Vol. 100, Centennial Volume (2005), pp.
275-298
Published by: British School at Athens
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30073229 .
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THE SANCTUARYOF TITANEAND THE CITY OF SIKYON'

(PLATES
1-2)
is located to the south of the Corinthiangulf, between Corinthto the east and
SIKYON
Achaiato the west. The city was originallyfoundedin the plain stretchingfrom the hill of
the modernvillage of Vasilikoto the harbourand prosperedthere throughoutthe Archaic
and Classicalperiods (PLATE1 a). In 303 BCit was destroyedby Demetrios Poliorketes,
who then refoundedit on the prominenttriangularplateauwhich rises to the south of the
plain between the Asopos and Helisson rivers (FIG. 1). Archaeologicalwork in Sikyon
began in the late nineteenth century with the excavation of the theatre by members of the
AmericanSchool of ClassicalStudies,and was continuedin the 193os and the 1950osby

A. Orlandos, on behalf of the Greek ArchaeologicalSociety.' Orlandos's excavations
broughtto light majormonumentsof the agora of the ancient city, includinga temple, a
bouleuterion,a palaistracomplex and a long portico,and helped to define the area of the
Hellenistic and Roman agora. Subsequentarchaeologicalwork on the site in the 1970s
and 1980s focused on the Archaic/Hellenistictemple, but the results were never fully
published.Judgingfrom the descriptionof Sikyonby Pausaniasand the reportsof the few
rescue excavationsconductedon the plateauby the GreekMinistryof Culture,we realize
that the remainsseen on the site today representonly a tiny portionof the monumentsof
the city and that the majorityof them are still to be found.3
Titane was describedby Pausaniasas a 'summitof a mountain'-off the road to the
Arkadian city of Phlious. It took its name from Titan, the brother of Helios, who first
inhabited the place.4 That it was part of Sikyonia is clear from its foundation story told in
Pausanias:when Alexanor,son of Machaon,son of Asklepios,cameto Sikyonia,he founded
' The following abbreviations are used:

Curtius = E. Curtius, Peloponnesos: Eine historischgeographischeBeschreibungder Halbinsel (Gotha, 1851), ii.
Graf = F. Graf, 'Heiligtum und Ritual: Das Beispiel der
griechisch-r6mischen Asklepieia', in A. Schachter (ed.),
Le Sanctuaire Grec(Geneva, 1992), 159-99.
Lolos, Land= Y. Lolos, HesperiaSupplement 39 on the
Land of Sikyon (forthcoming).
Meyer 1939 = E. Meyer, PeloponnesischeWanderungen
(Zurich, 1939)Nilsson = M. P. Nilsson, GriechischeFeste von religiiiser
derattischen(Berlin,1906).
mitAusschlufi
Bedeutung
Papachatzis = N. Papachatzis, Havaaviov
HeptIoyq~uig
KoeivOiaxd (Athens, 1976).
EAA`dSoq
= M.
Rangab6
Rangab6, Souvenirs d'une excursion
d'Athinesen Arcadie(M6moires pr6sentes a l'Academie des
Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, le s6rie, 5; Paris, 1857).
Ross = L. Ross, 'Les Forteresses de la Sicyonie et le
temple d'Asklepios A Titane', B. d. I.
Roux = G. Roux, Pausanias en Corinthie(Paris, 1958).
On the theatre see A. Fossum, 'The Theatre at
Sikyon', AJA 9 (1905), 263-76 and W. Fiechter, Das
Theater in Sikyon (Stuttgart 1931). For the excavation

reports of the Archaeological Society see the PAE for
1932 to 1939, 1941, 1951 to 1954, 1984, and 1987 to
1988. See also the selective bibliography in http://
extras.ha.uth.gr/sikyon.
of Thessaly in
3 To this end, the University
collaboration with the Institute of Mediterranean Studies
and the 37th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical
Antiquities have begun in 2004 a geophysical survey of
the ancient agora as part of an intensive survey of the
entire urban area; see our webpage at http://
extras.ha.uth.gr/sikyon.
q rnv 66dv 8&aflda re at91uirov
4 dvaa"Ovipau i~
'Aoodv xai `g xoqucp)v govg ijCaiv, Evragia Ayovoav

oi e~ruooItoiTtzdvaoixiaat ,rQlTrovdvat 8' dSeApo1v
rdoXwoov(Paus.
xAqOrijva
'HAovxai crd roTo1-o
Trdavqlv
ii. 11. 5). The derivation of Titane from Titan has been
disputed by scholars, and the place-name instead
associated with the noun ricavog, meaning white, chalky
earth, on the grounds of the nature of the terrain: RE s.v.
(1937) col. 1492 [Wiust].

276
YANNIS
A. LOLOS
FIG.1. Aerial photographof the Sikyonianplateau(source:HellenicArmy GeographicalService).
the Asklepieion at Titane. In a different context, Pausaniasrefers to Titane of the Sikyonians,

presumably as opposed to a Titane in Thessaly.5 The site was long sought by travellers in
the early nineteenth century, until it was positively located by Ludwig Ross in 1839 on
the eastern slopes of the Vesiza range, by the village of Voivohda, now renamed Titane
(FIG.2).6 The low hill, immediately to the north-east of the village, where the church of
Agios Tryphon stands (elev. 592 masl), is precipitous towards the east and the south sides
and indeed resembles the summit of a mountain to someone coming from the Asopos
(FIG.3). This was one of the arguments used by Ross for the identification of the site,
together with the impressive fortifications of the hill, and its distance from both Sikyon
5 Paus. vii. 23. 8: irei xa'i v Travq ri~ tlxovwvioev

Trd
adr- dyalpa Tyeiav -re dVOlEaOatz; a Thessalian Titane
is mentioned by Eust. (II. 1. 519, 11.13-15).
6 Ross, 26-8. W. Gell
(Itineraryof the Morea (London,
1817), 17) had placed it on the hill of Profitis Elias of
Paradeisi, while W. M. Leake (Travels in the Morea
(London, 1830), iii. 376) thought that the summit of
Vesiza was Mount Titane. Both travellers were probably
confused by Pausanias' description of the site, as a

xoqevcpv Qouvg.As M. Langdon has pointed out in
'Mountains in Greek religion', CW 93 (2000), 461-70,
oeo1 in ancient Greek does not necessarily designate what
we should call a 'mountain' today, but rather a prominent
height, and the hill of Agios Tryphon is definitely
prominent from the east (i.e. the Asopos valley).

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE
AND THE CITY OF SIKYON
277
Settlements(of very small

or unknownsize)
Settlements(per size in sq. m
392-1000
1001- 5000
5001- 10000
10001 -30000
30001 -150000
Cities
Boundaries
Contours(100 m)
Rivers
Streams
j 1,//
5000
5000
10000
15000
20000 Meters
Y.A.Lolos
FIG.2. Map of ancient Sikyonia with settlement sites (source: author).
and Phlious, which agrees more or less with the distances given by Pausanias.7A dedicatory
inscription to Asklepios, built into the church of Agios Tryphon, confirms the identification
of the site where no systematic excavations have so far been conducted (PLATE 1 b).8
I examined the site of Titane and its surroundingarea during my extensive archaeological
survey of the land of Sikyon, which was carried out between 1996 and 2002 in order to
locate and study settlements, communication routes, defensive installations, and traces of
religious and economic activities.9 Many significant observations for the history of the
area were made in the course of this survey, but two are particularly important for the
purpose of this article: Titane's proximity to the southern borders of the city-state and the
7 I offer a
lengthy discussion of the distances and the
roads from Titane to Phlious and to Sikyon in the third
chapter of Lolos, Land.
8 J. Martha, 'Inscriptions du P1loponnese' BCH 3
(1879), 192-3; IG iv. 436. I date the inscription to the
Roman period on the basis of the lettering and the
abbreviated postscript.
9 The results of this survey are presented in Lolos,

Land. I first surveyed the site of Titane in the summer
and autumn of 1997 with the assistance of three students
of topography, Dimitris Karakaxas, Vasilis Marras, and
Kostas Botos, and then in the summer of 2002 with the
assistance of two young archaeologists, Myrsine Gouma
and Aristotelis Koskinas.

278
YANNIS A. LOLOS
FIG.3. Hill of Agios Tryphon from the east (source: author).
strong presence of early Iron Age material on the site. Given the recent extensive
scholarship on the importance of sanctuaries located far from urban centres during the
early periods of the Greek polis, I aimed to explore the relations of Titane with Sikyon,
both in time and space. In the following sections I proceed by discussing first the identity
of Titane, then the topography of the sanctuary, its location within the city-state, the
roads connecting Sikyon to Titane, and finally the chronological relation between the city
and the sanctuary, concluding with an appraisal of the importance of Titane for the
Sikyonian state.
IDENTITY OF TITANE
If the location of Titane has been successfully established, its identity is still a matter of
debate. What is not clear is the status of the site. The majority, if not all, of the scholars
who have referred to Titane, from L. Ross in 1840 to E. Meyer in 1939 to G. Roux in
1958, M. Jost in 1985, and finally to F. Graf in 1990, treat Titane as a city or even a city-
state. However, an exception is Audrey Griffin in 1982, who treats Titane as a sanctuary,
not a city. Accordingly, the fortified hill of Agios Tryphon is usually referred to as an

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE
279
'acropolis',and a lower wall along the northernedge of the terracebelow the hill as a
Pausanias,however,followedby Herodianand Eustathios,callsTitanesimply
'city-wall'.1o
a mweiov
and focuses on the Asklepieionwhich stood there, addingthat more people live
around it, most of whom are servantsof the god: ewQloltxooim
xai rd
piuvo5)xai
tAAol
aeoi (ii. 11. 6)." The term weQiovoccurs in the Periegesis173 times, in
rCotAoixeral
tro50
the majorityof
casesreferringto specificplacesin the countryside,most of them associated
with religious or mythological traditions."I have found no instances where the word
is used interchangeably with 7r6Air,r&llapia, or x1opw,the Greek words for city,
mwQiov
town, and village respectively.Quite the opposite,Pausanias,who refers48 times to xuypat
and 64 times to rolliopara, clearly distinguishesthese from the Xweia. Accordingly,I
would argue that Titane was neither a rcd62opanor a x6)pqbut simply a sacredplace in
Sikyoniawith a settlementaroundit. The existence of fortificationsaroundthe hill and
the lower wall can be explained by the topographyof Titane and its location within the
territoryof Sikyon, to which I will now turn.
TOPOGRAPHY
OF THE SANCTUARY
Our chief source on the topographyof the sanctuaryis Pausanias,who afterreachingthe

'summitof the mountain'describedthe Asklepieionat length.The peribolos
of the sanctuary,
planted with cypress trees, contained a temple and a stoa, and was filled with statues
including a xoanon of Koronis, the mother of Asklepios. This goddess did not have a
temple in the peribolos,but people would worshipher in the sanctuaryof Athena (ii. 11.
5-8). This, accordingto Pausanias,was built on a hill, while an altar of the winds was
situatedon a terracebelow it. A processionwould involve the carryingof the wooden
statueof Koronisfrom the Asklepieionup to the shrine of Athena.'
The preciselocationof the above sanctuariesand of the altarhas yet to be ascertained.'4
The sanctuaryof Asklepios has variouslybeen sought on the hill of Agios Tryphon,the
terraceimmediatelyto the west and south of it, as well as on the terracesto the north-east,
towardsthe Asopos.'5If we accept that Pausanias'sdescriptionof the site, beginningwith
the Asklepieionand moving on to the temple of Athena,and last to the altarof the winds,
follows a topographicalsequence,as Meyer had first suggested,then we should place the
Asklepieionon the flat terraceto the south-westof the hill of Agios Tryphon(FIG.4). The
o0Ross 28; Curtius 501; Martha op. cit., 192; IG iv. 436;
Meyer 1939, 14; Roux 158; N. Pharaklas, Sikyonia(Ancient
GreekCities8; Athens, 1971), Epimetron II, 35-6; M.Jost,
Culteset sanctuairesd'Arcadie(Paris, 1985), 1oo. Graf 1723, commenting on the annual ceremony of dvaycoyi, goes
so far as to suggest that Asklepios in Titane stood in
opposition to the city-goddess Athena. For a contrasting
view see A. Griffin, Sikyon(Oxford, 1982), 36-8.
" Herodian, KaOoktxi1HQoaoboiaiii. 1, ed. A. Lentz
(Leipzig, 1967), 383; Ileni 'Oeoyegacpiaqiii. 2, ibid., 592;
Eust. on i.ii. 735 ed. M. A. Van der Valk (Leiden, 1971), i.
519.
" I offer an extended discussion of the use of this term
by Pausanias in Lolos, Land, ch. 6.
ieov
'3 'Ev 86 Ttrdvij xa"i 'AO9qvdq
GTIV, g T0 rqV
... 9x rodrov -rot6Tdov
Kowoviga
dvayovaiv"
xarafpal v--ixo6dpulrail yato ri A6qd Tr6 iegov--pw06g

(ii. 12. 1).
Uartlv
dvi1wv
14 As
of 2004, a new intensive survey of Titane has been
begun by the Belgian Archaeological School, under the
direction of Christiane Tytgat. We hope that this project,
which includes detailed mapping and geophysical survey,
will contribute to a better and fuller understanding of the
monuments and topography of this important site.
15 Meyer, RE, s.v. 'Titane', col. 1490; Roux 16o, for
example, suggests that the sanctuary of Asklepios 'doit 1tre
cherch6 soit hors des murs, sur l'une des terracesqui s'6tagent
au-dessus de l'Asopos, soit dans le perimietre de la ville';
Rangab6 409, places the Asklepieion on the site of Agios
Tryphon; Curtius 503 tentatively places the Asklepieion on
one of the lower terraces near the Asopos; Ross 28 vaguely
places it on the platform to the west of the hill.

280
YANNIS A. LOLOS
FIG.4. The western terrace from the hill of Agios Tryphon (source: author).
FIG.5. The retaining wall of the western terrace (source: author).

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE
281
terraceis supportedto the northby a wall of ashlarblocks,almost19 m long and preserved

today to an average height of 2 m (FIG.5); in antiquityit must have stood higher since
blocks from it can be seen lying north and east of the wall. This is the wall that Rangabe,
Meyer, and Roux interpretedas part of the fortificationof the city. Moreover,Rangab6
observedand drew anotherspurof it at the southernside of the terrace(marked-h- in his
drawingreproducedin FIG. 6). Today, there are no remains of the southernpart of an
enclosure wall, and Rangabe'sdescriptionis so vague that it is not certain whether it
belonged to the same date as the stretchto the north or not.'6Whateverthe case may be,
I would suggest that the extant northernstretchis part not of any city wall but of the
peribolos of the sanctuaryof Asklepiosmentionedby Pausanias.
J~ort
pr
ae
:l
FIG.6. Plan of Titane (source: Rangabe, pl. 14)-
Within the peribolos and at the western side of the hill of Agios Tryphon,KrystalliVotsi has excavated a Roman bath complex, a building commonly found in healing
sanctuaries (FIG. 7).'7 We mapped two more in situ structures in this western terrace; a
cistern, 1.3 x 0.92 m, cut into the bedrock, and the remains of a rubble and mortar
'6 Meyer 1939, 14-15 was also unable to find traces

of whathe called 'Verlaufder Stadtmauer',but he accepts
the description in Rangab6 407.

'7
The bath was excavated in the Karmoyannislot:
A.Delt. 30 (1975) Chr., 59; cf. Papachatzis, pl. 104. p.
111. The site is markedtoday by a hollow in the ground

and a stretchof thick rubble,brickand mortarwall.

282
YANNIS
A. LOLOS
FIG.7. The excavated bath (source: Papachatzis, 104).
building, 7.62 x 5.2 m, to the south-west and north-west of the hill respectively (FIG. 8). In
addition, we recorded fragments of opus testaceum(not in situ) at the western edge of this
plateau. On the hill of Agios Tryphon, in and around the church, Ross and Rangab6
described blocks from a temple including two column fragments, one of them fluted, and
triglyphs and metopes which they assigned to the temple of Athena.'8 The temple fragments
have since disappeared and only one ashlar block can be seen outside the rebuilt church
today, bearing T-shaped clamp cuttings on its short sides (FIG.9).19 I believe, together with
Meyer, that there should be little doubt about identifying this hill with what Pausanias
calls the ld0poqof the sanctuary of Athena, since from the terrace to the west it indeed
looks like a Adopoo,and no other formation in the surrounding area can be described as
such.2oAccordingly, the ceremony of 6vaywyr1of the statue of Koronis from the sanctuary
of Asklepios to the sanctuary of Athena would have involved the short distance from the
western terrace up to the hill (FIG. 1o). Finally, if we accept that the hill of Agios Tryphon
18 The reported height of the triglyphs is 0.4 m, and

the width of the metopes 0.33 m: Ross 27; Rangab6 407.
19 Meyer 1939, 14 could not find them either; it should
be noted that the surface of this hill has been severely
disturbed by the presence of the village cemetery. Only
recently has the Archaeological Service ordered the
removal of the cemetery from the hill.
20 See Ross 28: 'Cette colline c'est la
petite acropole:
le sanctuaire de Minerve a &t6remplac6 par la chapelle
de st. Tryphon, et les fragmens d'ordre dorique et des
que j'ai d6crits plus haut,
petites dimensions,
appartenaient a ce sanctuaire'. Curtius 502, C. Bursian

(Geographievon Griechenland(Leipzig, 1872), ii. 31) and
Martha (n. 8, 193) accept the hill of Agios Tryphon as
the site of the sanctuary of Athena, and the lower terrace
to the north-east of it as the most plausible area for the
location of the altar of the winds. See also Meyer, RE,
s.v. 'Titane', col. 1490: 'Letzteres [i.e. the AOpoqo]weist
ziemlich sicher darauf hin, das es auf dem Tryphonhiigel
gestanden hat, dann kann man die oben erwiihnten
kleinen dorischen Gebalkstiicke auf den Athenatempel
beziehen'.

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE AND THE CITY OF SIKYON
FIG.8. Rock-cut cistern on the western terrace of Titane (source: author).
FIG.9. Ashlar block outside the church of Agios Tryphon (source: author).

283
A. LOLOS
YANNIS
284
0,
PlanvonTitane
1:2000
61,
,DO
~1w
50
100
150
200 mn
Contourlines:5 m interval
't
N
01SR
eribolos
of
-e
at
Iskl0
Friedhof j
~t~f~P
Terrace of
th1, altar of
-14he'Winds ?
Shna\
'2
)WMfeA
-oo*,mL
rWq1
Te-mpie
_s~e
ac~
4w
--L"-
Volvfd (Ti t-ane

Lagendes
x'rui,,
antkkeMauer
antlkes Fundament neue Mauer
noue Mauer
moderne Statzrnauer
FIG. 10o:Plan of Titane after Meyer (n. i) adapted by author.
is the Adopogof the shrine of Athena, then it is on the lower terrace to the east of the hill
that the altar of the winds must be sought, although no conclusive evidence has been
recovered so far. This eastern terrace shows remains of a rectangular building, 18.1 x
7 m, built of ashlars and preserved to a height of 1.5 m (FIG. 1 1). Meyer labels this
building a 'temple', and distinguishes a cross-wall separating the naos from the pronaos."
I was unable to locate these divisions now, perhaps owing to the prickly oaks which have
grown up within and around the building. On the other hand, no columns or temple
fragments have been reported or are today visible in the vicinity. In addition, the pottery
that we have recovered from this eastern terrace is mainly coarse ware of Roman, Late
Roman, and Middle Byzantine date. This is to say, without excavation it is not possible to
date accurately this building or to rule on its function.
21
Meyer 1939, 15-16.

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE
285
FIG.1 1. Part of the southern side of the building on the eastern terrace of Titane (source: author).
LOCATION
OF THE SANCTUARY
WITHIN
THE CITY-STATE
Now I should like to turn to the location of the sanctuary within its broader area and the
territory of the city-state. On the eastern slopes of Vesiza, within a radius of c. 2 km from
the sanctuary, we recorded seventeen settlement sites of varying character, size and date
(FIG.12).22 Of the eleven sites which yielded material remains of the pre-Roman period,
HS nos. 59 and 6o, c. 20,000 and 28,000 m2 in size, showed clear traces of habitation in
the Mycenaean, Geometric, and Archaic eras which continued well into the Late Roman
and Byzantine periods. The remaining sites are generally small, with less than o0,000 m2
of artefact scatter, and only three of them (HS nos. 72, 73, 75) showed pottery which
could be safely assigned to the Archaic and Classical periods. These latter sites most
For a description of these habitation sites (HS) see the corresponding entries in Appendix I (Register of Sites),
Lolos, Land.

286
YANNIS
A. LOLOS
line
sites
m.)
m)
sq.
available)
150000
(in
purpose
10000
-30000
-5000
not 1000
-
boundary
(100
Forts
Towers
10001
(size 3921001
5001
30001
Settlements
Special
'Roads
'Rivers
SStreams
'Southern
'Contours
Settlements
Meters
author).
4000
63i
77`78 85
-62-
76
74a
0i
(source:
304000
vicinity
its
and
72
.61
1
4
Titan
73r
Titane
of
'M,
1,
2000
7!9>
12.
FIG.
le14
1000
f---\
J68
/26
to
.'
Map
1o
.;T
1000

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE
287
likely represent small hamlets and farmsteads, a common feature of the Classical Sikyonian
countryside. It is worth noting that both large multi-period sites (HS nos. 59 and 6o) are
located north of Titane, that is further inland than Titane with regard to the southern
boundaries of the city-state.
The boundaries of Sikyonia to the east and west are mentioned in the sources, and can
be placed with confidence along the Nemea and Xylokastro rivers respectively (FIG.2).
With regard to the southern frontiers, the ancient testimonia do not provide explicit
information. They do say, however, that Thyamia was at the Sikyonian border toward
Phlious, and that Titane was located within Sikyonia.23 Thyamia is the peak of the
Trikaranon range, across the Asopos river from Titane. To the west of Titane, and within
visual range from the site, stands a fort (F3) which I interpret as a border fort looking
toward Phlious to the south-east and Stymphalos to the south-west (FIG. 13). The fort
crowns the middle hill of Kokkinovrachos and consists of a lower wall with six towers
and a tower on the summit (FIG.14). It is connected to Titane not only visually, but also
physically through a road suitable to wheeled traffic (R8). Consequently, I believe that
the location of Titane near the southern borders of the state toward Phlious dictated the
fortification of the hill of Athena (F2) in the late Classical or early Hellenistic period. In
other words, the fort of Titane is part of the defensive system of Sikyonia, and would both
provide safety for the people living around the sanctuary and serve as the connecting link
between the fort of Kokkinovrachos to the west, another fort (of Liopesi-Gonoussa) to the
north (F4), the tower of Profitis Elias (T2) and the city of Sikyon itself. The fortification
wall of Titane, built in trapezoidal masonry, is preserved to a length of c. 73 m and a
maximum height of 4.25 m (FIGS. 15-16). It has two towers built at the corners, and
comprises an area of c. 2,000 m' (FIG.17).24The coexistence of a sacred space and a fort
here is by no means unique in ancient Greece, Sounion in Attika being probably the bestknown example.'5
Perhaps we could now go a little further and speculate on the choice of the site for the
foundation of the sanctuary.Was it there to mark the extent of the territory of the city-state
or did other considerations come into play? It is obvious that any attempt to answer such
a question must be tentative at best. As far as the location of healing centres go, Vitruvius
and Plutarch opted for healthy regions abundant in springs."6Water in particular was a
prime consideration. Indeed, there are springs all along the eastern slope of the Vesiza
range, although the one below the hill of Titane is not the most copious, at least today.27
23 On the eastern and western

Sikyonian boundaries
see Strabo viii. 382, Livy xxxiii. 15. 1, Pausanias vii. 27.
12. Our ancient authority for Thyamia being at the
border of Sikyon and Phlious is Xen. Hell. vii. 2. 20. See
the lengthly treatment of the Sikyonian borders in Lolos,
Land,ch. 1.
24
I offer a full description of the fortifications of Sikyonia
including those of Titane in Lolos, Land, ch. 4. The plan of
the fortreproduced here is based on 146 measurementstaken
with a laser theodolite in December
199725 At
Sounion, the sanctuary of Poseidon is included
within the wall of one of the most important border forts
of Attica. Closer to Sikyon, in the western part of the
Stymphalian basin, the hill of Agios Konstantinos was
surrounded by a polygonal fortification wall and topped

by a Doric temple: see W. K. Pritchett, Studies in Ancient
vi (Amsterdam, 1989), 15GreekTopography,
26 Vitruvius i. 2.
7: 'saluberrimae regiones; aquarum
fontes...ideonei'; On the location of Asklepieia, see Graf
168-70 and S. Guettel Cole, 'The use of water in Greek
sanctuaries', in R. Hiigg, N. Marinatos, C. C. Nordquist
(eds), Early GreekCult Practice.Proceedings

of the Fifth
at the SwedishInstituteat Athens:
International
Symposium
26-9 June 1986 (G6teborg, 1988), 16327 A much more

copious spring can be found some
1500 m to the north of Titane, by the neighbouring
village of Liopesi (modern Gonoussa).

288
YANNIS
A. LOLOS
m)
Lolos
(100
Meters
Y.A.
Roads
Forts
Cities
Boundaries
Rivers
Streams
Towers
'Contours
200006
Y:k*
author).
15000
(source:
ry
~tirm
towers
and
10000
~'1J~
1Tl
1fpj
FA421
forts,
roads,
/4,
with
Sikyonia
5000
ancient
of
J1~
Map
13.
FIG.
5000

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE
289
4196550
4196500
4196450
.1
=4-
4196400
p
h
cnp
a,
Inf
oo
ca
FIG. 14. Plan of the fort of Kokkinovrachos near the village of Bozika (scale i: looo; source: author).
That local sources did not satisfy the water need of the sanctuaryin antiquityis demonstrated
by the fact that additional water was brought to the site from two springs, one located near
the summit of Vesiza, by the monastery of Lechova, and the other at Anavara above the
neighbouring village of Bozika. The clay pipes of the underground aqueduct have been
unearthed (and destroyed) in many places between Lechova and Titane during cultivation
of the fields. Thus the natural water resources of the area could not have been the
determining factor in choosing the site, but merely a contributing one. As we have
mentioned above, besides Asklepios and his retinue, other cults were worshipped at Titane,
notably Athena and the Winds, perhaps predating the foundation of the Asklepieion, while
the place in the minds of Pausanias's contemporaries was connected with Titan, of the
race of the predecessors to the Olympian gods.'s In addition, the sacrifices to the winds
28 The identity of Titan and his relation to the Titans
is not clear: RE s.v. (1937) cols. 1484-5 [Wiist].

290
YANNIS
A.
LOLOS
FIG. 15. The western side of Titane's fortifications (source: author).
FIG. 16. The south-western tower (source: author).

THE SANCTUARY
291
fi
&f1b
;/
SI
fi
_m
author).
hn
r
-A-
source:
Looo;
1:
(scale
Ca
Titane
of
fort
the
of
Plan
17.
FIG.
4197700
4197650
4197600
4197550

4197500
292
YANNIS
A.
LOLOS
and the other secret rituals(cdroeeora),which accordingto Pausaniaswere performedto
appease their wildness, echo nature-worship and nature-magic practices of prehistoric
communities.29Religious and mythological traditionsassociatedwith these cults could

have been the principalfactors in the choice of the site, although we have no way to
prove or disprove such a claim. Hope-Simpson and Dickinson reported a few EH II
sherdsand one LH III A2 or LH III B kylix stem from the hill of Agios Tryphon.3sIn our
survey, we recovered LH II-III red burnished ware, and fragments of LH III bowls,
mugs, kraters, and goblets in the terraces to the west and south of the hill of Agios Tryphon.
We did not find any artefact betraying an undisputed sacred activity on this site in
Mycenaeantimes. Yet the simple presence of earlier remains may have influenced the
choice of this hill for the foundation of the cult in historical times.3' On the other hand,
prehistoric evidence is by no means limited to Titane, the nearby large site of Gourkioni
(HS no. 59) also showing a Mycenaeanphase. Alternatively,or perhapsin addition,the

politicalboundariesof the statecould accountfor the erectionof the sanctuaryhere. F. de
Polignac emphasizedthe fact that importantextra-urbansanctuaries,by virtue of their
location, acted as a means of markingthe bordersof the state,or at least of the cultivated
territory, thus securing the land between them and the city centres. Prime examples of
this interaction are the Argive sanctuaryof Hera at Prosymna and the Corinthian sanctuaries
of Hera at Perachora and of Poseidon at Isthmia.32 In a similar way, the sanctuary of
Titane, perhaps the most important sanctuary of Sikyonia outside the city proper, would
have 'legitimized' Sikyonian ownership of the land between the city on the coast and the
Phliasian borders to the south. The foundation myth of the sanctuary had the same goal,
i.e. to claim that the sanctuary was always Sikyonian since it went back to Titan and the
pre-Olympic pantheon.
ROADS
TO TITANE
The importance of the sanctuary of Titane is reflected in the roads approaching it from
different areas of the state. At least four roads, two of which were certainly suitable for
wheeled traffic, led to the sanctuary (FIG. 13). One originated from the eastern districts of
the state and followed the western slope of Trikaranon (R5a) before descending to the
valley of Asopos and the ascent towards Titane. In my reconstruction of the route of
Pausanias, I suggested that this is the one which the traveller called a 'road unsuitable for
29 As
argued by L. R. Farnell, The Cultsofthe GreekStates
(Oxford, 1909), v. 415-17. A Priestess of the Winds is
already found in Mycenaean Knossos: see W. Burkert,
GreekReligion:Archaicand Classical,trans. J. Raffan
(Oxford, 1985), 175. Nilsson 444-5 notes that a prayer to

an Olympian god for appeasing the winds is strikingly
missing at Titane; cf. Papachatzis 114. On the cult of the
winds as chthonic powers see: P. Stengel, 'Die Opfer der
Hellenen an die Winde', Hermes,16 (1881), 346-50; id.,
'Der Kult der Winde', Hermes, 35 (19oo), 627-35; S.
Scullion, 'Olympian and Chthonian', ClassicalAntiquity,13
(1994), 75-119, esp. 111 (referring to Titane).
30 The fragments were recovered by R. Hope Simpson
in 1959: A Gazetteerand Atlas ofMycenaeanSites (London,
1965), 36; also R. Hope Simpson and 0. T. P. K.
Dickinson,A Gazetteer
of AegeanCivilizationin theBronze
Age, i: TheMainland and Islands (G6teborg, 1979), 68.

of Geometric/Archaic
of foundation
3' Cases
sanctuaries near or on top of prehistoric sites include the
Argive Heraion (Prosymna), the Spartan Menelaion
(Therapne), and the sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas at
Epidauros among numerous others: see C. M.
Antonaccio, 'Placing the past: the Bronze Age in the
cultic topography of early Greece' in S. E. Alcock and
andSacred
R. Osborne (eds), Placingthe Gods;Sanctuaries
Space in Ancient Greece(Oxford, 1994), 79-104the objections of I. Malkin below
32 See, however,
(n.41).

THE SANCTUARY
OF TITANE
293
Lolos
Velo
Y.A.
-n*.'s,
Krinai
Meters
"
author).
10000
(source:
Pasio
46ki
villages
chorkh
8000
4"kyoj
modern
to
Elll
6000 relation
i'Sdm~-~Sj
in
LaR~i
4000
U
so
~M~a4tiE
on
Pausanias
of
41We-r
route
2000
reconstructed
the
itj
with
Map
18.
FIG.
2000

294
YANNIS
A. LOLOS
carts' (FIG.18).33The second route followed the 'direct road' to Phlious along the Asopos
river (R3) before branching off towards Titane. The nature of the terrain here, mainly
marls, is unfavourable to the preservation of wheel-ruts, and it is therefore not known
whether this stretch could have accommodated wagons or not. We are on safer ground
regarding the two other roads to Titane. One originated from the Sikyonian plateau and
followed the high ridge between the Helisson and the Asopos river valleys to Titane (R7).
Traces of the road, including deeply cut wheel-ruts and low terracing walls, can be seen
below the hill of Agios Tryphon and at Xerokastelli to the south-west of the Sikyonian
plateau (FIGS.19-20). Finally, a fourth route to Titane deviated from the road to Stymphalos
FIG. 19. Segment of the ancient road (R7) at Sesi (source: author).
World
33 In recent centuriesand up until the Second
War,this path was used by the residentsof the areas to
the east of the Asopos in order to reach Titane and the
plain of Kaisari. See the extended discussion of these

roads in Lolos, Land.

THE SANCTUARY
295
FIG.20. Wheel-ruts of the ancient road below the hill of Agios Tryphon (source: author).
at Thekriza to the west of Sikyon (Rio). I found wheel-ruts and rock cuttings for the
bedding of the road in several places between Thekriza and Titane, and again the depth
of the ruts indicates the frequent use of this road in antiquity (FIG.21). The number and
nature of these roads, then, suggest that the sanctuary of Titane was indeed the chief
landmark of the Xow6aof the Sikyonians and a rallying point for its population.
CHRONOLOGICAL
RELATION
BETWEEN
SIKYON
AND TITANE
This observation brings me to the last point that I want to raise, namely the relationship
between the rise of the Sikyonian state and the foundation of the sanctuary at Titane. I
noted at the outset the paucity of published archaeological data from Sikyon; this is even
more true for Titane, where the single excavation (of the bath complex), conducted on
the site in the 1960s, has so far produced no report. The establishment of the chronology
of the formation of the city and of the sanctuary is at the heart of the issue. We do not

296
YANNIS
A. LOLOS
FIG. 21. Wheel-ruts of the ancient road (Rio) at Melisiklias (source: author).
know how far back in time the foundation of the polis goes, but it existed at least since the
early seventh century, before the rise of the tyranny.34The temple in the agora of the
Hellenistic city, perhaps of Apollo, has an Archaic phase, while Archaic pottery has been
retrieved from the necropolis of Sikyon, which extends to the north-east of the plateau
towards the harbour.35We have very few remains from the Geometric period, perhaps
because most of the coastal plain has never been systematically excavated and the precise
location of the pre-Hellenistic city remains unknown.36
If we now return to Titane, the terrace west of the hill and the hill itself yielded a high
percentage of fine pottery ranging in date from the LH to the Middle Byzantine periods.37
Of particular significance for our purpose here is the strong presence of Geometric and
34 See M. B. Sakellariou, ThePolis-State:

Definitionand
Origin (Athens, 1989), 405, and M. H. Hansen and
T. H. Nielsen (eds), An Inventoryof Archaicand Classical
Poleis (Oxford, 2004), 469. Prior to its existence as an

independent city-state, Sikyon appears in the Iliad
among the dependencies of Mycenae (2. 572); cf. Hesiod,
Theog.536. Traces of MH and particularly LH occupation
have been found on the round hillock projecting to the
south-east of the Sikyonian plateau and, most recently,
on the coastal plain to the north-east; see Hope Simpson
and Dickinson (n. 30), 69, and the discussion in Lolos,
Land, ch. 5.
35On the archaicphase of the temple see K. Krystalli-
Votsi, 'Avacxacp-l txuidvog', PAE 1984 (1988), 241-2;

PAE 1987 (1991), 66-8. The
id.,
'Ava1xao1i EtxuW'vog',
pottery from the cemetery remains largely unpublished;
see the relevant sections in Lolos, Land, chs. 5-6.
36 The ongoing excavations on the coastal plain for the
new railway connecting Athens to Kiato have most
recently (April 2005) recovered pottery of the Geometric
period (pers. comm. from the excavator Vassilis
Papathanassiou).
37 Meyer 1939, 15-16 reported mainly Hellenistic and
Roman pottery from the site.

THE SANCTUARY
297
FIG.22. A LH III and a LG krater rims from the hill (a) and the western terrace (b) of Titane
(scale 1: 2; source: author).
Archaic sherds, including skyphos, krater, and cup fragments (FIG. 22, PLATE 2 a-b). In
addition, we recovered a marble fragment from the right arm of an under-lifesize statue.
The cult of Asklepios at Titane cannot predate the fifth century, since nowhere in Greece
can the worship of Asklepios be safely traced back to earlier centuries.38Yet the Geometric
and Archaic pottery found on the site points to earlier activity and the worship of deities
other than Asklepios at that time. It has been argued, for example, that Alexanor and
Euamerion, whose statues stood inside the peribolos of Asklepios, were healing deities
who predated and were later superseded by Asklepios.39Similarly, the xoanon of Koronis
and the cdeXa'iov 6oavovof Athena mentioned by Pausanias also suggest a pre-Classical
cult activity on this site. Nilsson argued that the annual ritual of the cdvaycwyq
of the xoanon
of Koronis from the Asklepieion up to the sanctuary of Athena signifies that her xoanon
was originally placed in the sanctuary of Athena and that this is why she continued to be
worshipped there even though she was normally housed in the Asklepieion. Furthermore,
the different sacrifice made in her honour is another sign of the antiquity of her cult.4oIn
short, there are indications that sacred activity at Titane goes back to the Geometric and
Archaic periods, when Sikyon was one of the leading powers in Greece. Polignac has
38
See E. and L. Edelstein, Asclepius:A Collectionand
410; cf. P. Odelberg, Sacra Corinthia,Sicyonia,Phliasia
Edelstein and Edelstein (n. 38), 87 n. 44; Nilsson
(Uppsala, 1896), 101-2.

40 Nilsson 410-11.
Interpretationof the Testimonies(Baltimore, 1945), ii. 98.

39

298
YANNIS
A.
LOLOS
suggestedthatthe establishmentof sanctuariesalong the bordersof some city-statesin the

early Archaicperiod encouragedsocial cohesion, thus contributingto the formationand
development of the city itself, and points again to examples such as Corinth with its
sanctuariesof Hera and Poseidon.4'A similar process may have occurred in Sikyonia,
between the city and the sanctuaryof Titane, as our survey data and the geographical
location of the sanctuarysuggest.
CONCLUSION
In short,I have arguedthat Titanewas not a city 'withan unclearrelationshipto Sikyon',

as Graf recently wrote, but the seat of an important,perhapsthe most important,extramuralsanctuaryof Sikyonia.42This is stronglysuggestednot only by the attentionpaid to
it by Pausanias,but also by the roads leading to it in antiquityand the materialremains
recovered in our survey.The descriptionof Pausaniasalso offers clues to understanding
the topographyof the sanctuaryand interpretingits remains.Thus, the low wall which
runs along the northernside of what I believe to be the terraceof the Asklepieionis not a
city-wall,but the peribolos of the sanctuary.The location of Titane near the borders of
the state explains the fortificationsof the hill of Athena, which is not the acropolisof an
imaginarycity but a fort of the fourthcenturyBCand part of the southerndefences of the
city-state.Finally,I commentedon the role of the sanctuaryin the territorialdefinitionof
the state. Foundedwhere it was, it constituteda permanentmarkerof the southernextent
of Sikyon throughoutantiquity.
andSocial
Department
of History,Archaeology
Anthropology,
University
of Thessaly
4' F. de
and the Originsof the
Polignac, Cults,Territory,
Greek State, trans. J. Lloyd, (Chicago, 1995); the thesis
permeates all chapters of Polignac's study but is mainly
addressed in his second chapter (32-88). I. Malkin
('Territorial domination and the Greek sanctuary', in P.
Hellstr6m and B. Alroth (eds), Religion and Power in the
AncientGreekWorld,(Uppsala, 1996), 75-81) has seriously
challenged his thesis on the grounds that many of his
extra-urban sanctuaries were founded where they were
for reasons other than delimiting the state's territory. If
some of them eventually came to denote territorial
sovereignty, they did so centuries after their foundation.
A prime reason behind the choice of the setting for extraurban sanctuaries was, according to Malkin, the original
distribution of land during which certain deities acquired
land in remote and dangerous places. This argument,
however, does not answer the question of why sanctuaries
YANNISA. LOLOS
were founded in remote, border areas. In mainland

Greece, political boundaries between city-states were well
in place by the Archaic period, and the establishment of
sanctuaries nearby may have had a symbolic as much as
a practical value in demarcating them. The fact that
sanctuaries often appear in boundary disputes is quite
suggestive (on which see D. Rousset, 'Les frontieres des
cit6s grecques. Premieres reflexions a partir du recueil
des documents 6pigraphiques', Cahiersde CentreG. Glotz,
5 (1994), 119-21). This can hardly be the case in
colonies, which, as Malkin rightly points out, 'had
frontiers, not borders'. In other words, there can be no
universal rules or principles explaining the location of
extra-urban sanctuaries, but these should be sought only
on a case-by-case basis.
42 Graf 170.

PLATE 1
(a)
1
(b)
LOLOS
THE SANCTUARY OF TITANE AND THE CITY OF SIKYON
(a) Plain of Asopia looking north-east (source: author). (b) The dedicatory inscription built into the church of
Agios Tryphon (source: author).

PLATE2
67
hill
(a)
67
west
(b)
LOLOS
THE SANCTUARYOF TITANEAND THE CITY OF SIKYON
(a-b)Potteryfromthe hill and the westernterraceof Titane(source:author).


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The Sanctuary of Titane and the City of Sikyon

Author(s): Yannis A. Lolos

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

THE SANCTUARYOF TITANEAND THE CITY OF SIKYON'

AmericanSchool of ClassicalStudies,and was continuedin the 193os and the 1950osby

Pausanias:when Alexanor,son of Machaon,son of Asklepios,cameto Sikyonia,he founded

' The following abbreviations are used:

Theater in Sikyon (Stuttgart 1931). For the excavation

'Aoodv xai `g xoqucp)v govg ijCaiv, Evragia Ayovoav

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

FIG.1. Aerial photographof the Sikyonianplateau(source:HellenicArmy GeographicalService).

the Asklepieion at Titane. In a different context, Pausaniasrefers to Titane of the Sikyonians,

5 Paus. vii. 23. 8: irei xa'i v Travq ri~ tlxovwvioev

confused by Pausanias' description of the site, as a

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AND THE CITY OF SIKYON

Settlements(of very small

FIG.2. Map of ancient Sikyonia with settlement sites (source: author).

9 The results of this survey are presented in Lolos,

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

FIG.3. Hill of Agios Tryphon from the east (source: author).

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

AND THE CITY OF SIKYON

Our chief source on the topographyof the sanctuaryis Pausanias,who afterreachingthe

xarafpal v--ixo6dpulrail yato ri A6qd Tr6 iegov--pw06g

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FIG.5. The retaining wall of the western terrace (source: author).

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

AND THE CITY OF SIKYON

terraceis supportedto the northby a wall of ashlarblocks,almost19 m long and preserved

FIG.6. Plan of Titane (source: Rangabe, pl. 14)-

'6 Meyer 1939, 14-15 was also unable to find traces

the description in Rangab6 407.

The bath was excavated in the Karmoyannislot:

A.Delt. 30 (1975) Chr., 59; cf. Papachatzis, pl. 104. p.

111. The site is markedtoday by a hollow in the ground

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FIG.7. The excavated bath (source: Papachatzis, 104).

18 The reported height of the triglyphs is 0.4 m, and

appartenaient a ce sanctuaire'. Curtius 502, C. Bursian

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OF TITANE AND THE CITY OF SIKYON

FIG.8. Rock-cut cistern on the western terrace of Titane (source: author).

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

Volvfd (Ti t-ane

FIG. 10o:Plan of Titane after Meyer (n. i) adapted by author.

Meyer 1939, 15-16.

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AND THE CITY OF SIKYON

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

AND THE CITY OF SIKYON

23 On the eastern and western

surrounded by a polygonal fortification wall and topped

(eds), Early GreekCult Practice.Proceedings

26-9 June 1986 (G6teborg, 1988), 16327 A much more

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

AND THE CITY OF SIKYON

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM

FIG. 15. The western side of Titane's fortifications (source: author).

FIG. 16. The south-western tower (source: author).

This content downloaded from 83.212.248.207 on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:54:58 AM