305-319

Topographical notes from Patras

Αρχαιολογικά χρονικά

• Παπαποστόλου, Ι. Α.

During the course of recent rescue excavations in Patras, the remains of two Roman paved streets came to light. One ( 1 ) * had an estimated width of about five meters and was orientated ESE-WNW (N 115°- 120° E to N 65° - 60° W ) (figs. 1-2, plan 1 ). The wheel ruts are preserved (fig. 3 ) and the characteristic Stationen of the substructure, but not the layer of gravel concrete on which* The numbers in parenthesis correspond to the numbers on the city plan ( S. here, p 1 a n 2 on p. 308 ).elsewhere the slabs were commonly laid. Beneath the substructure were layers of packed earth belonging to the earlier phases ( Hellenistic period ) of the road. In the same place traces were found of an earlier structure, which was probably part of a fortification. Lack of evidence makes close dating difficult, so that we cannot certainly connect it with the long walls built in 419 B.C. by the citizens of Patras at the suggestion of Alcibiades ( Thucydides V 52, 2; Plutarch, Aik. 15, 6 ). Hellenistic remains in the lower levels at other points ( Gounari Str., Psilâ Alonia ), show that even in that period the city had started to spread sporadically down to the sea.The other street ( 8 ) had an estimated width of over six metres and was orientated NNE - SSW ( N 35° - 40° E to N 145° -140° W ) and was not built for wheel traffic. A sidewalk was found and the wall of a house with its entrance (figs. 5 - 6 ).The orientations were taken with a simple instrument and may not be absolutely accurate. Nevertheless they are all consistent and are found repeated in other structural remains. Thus it appears that the streets on the seaward side of the town in the Roman period had a unified orientation, crossing each other, however, not at right angles but obliquely. Evidently with the founding by Augustus in 14 B.C. of the Roman colony at Patras, the enlarged city was expanded systematically towards the sea, and was laid out on a plan approximating the Hippodamian system.The Northern and Southern boundariesof this part of the city are not known. The evidence of graves found at the point ( 3 ), implies that the first street ( 1 ) was one of the most Northerly.We have a different orientation of the streets ( N 15° E to N 65° E ), with probably perpendicular crossings, in the quarter of the Agora and Odeion ( 19 ).It appears that surfacing with paving slabs was not confined to the main axial streets, but was used on other streets as well.Some streets probably extended to the shore, while others led to the higher part of the city by means of steps, as the upward turn of the Psilâ Alonia terrace wall shows (13) (fig. 7 ). The formation of the terrain as well as the remains ( 16, 17 ) indicate that there were at least two other terrace walls in that part of the city between the shore and the heights.The NNE - SSW orientation of the streets was dictated by the practical need to align the city with the contours of the terrain.

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