Hexamilion (building)

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Isthmus of Corinth, site plan

The Hexamilion ( Greek Εξαμίλιον τείχος , six-mile wall ') was a fortification that was built across the isthmus of Corinth ( Isthmus of Corinth ) to protect the Peloponnese against attacks from the north.

Surname

The name Hexamilion, which indicates that the wall was about six miles long, first appears in 15th century Byzantine literature. How the wall was previously called and since when it was called Hexamilion is unknown. There have been attempts to connect the name of Georgios Hexamilites, who lived in the 11th century, with the Hexamilion. However, his family had the name because they came from Lysimacheia , which was also called Hexamilion.

Older isthmus walls

The Hexamilion came at the end of a long series of attempts to fortify the isthmus, possibly dating back to Mycenaean times . Oscar Broneer identified a Cyclopean wall that ran from the Saronic Gulf to the Mytikas Hill south of the younger stadium of Isthmia and that he built around the 12th century BC. Dated. Today, however, it is assumed that this wall is the retaining wall of a post-Mycenaean street.

As Xerxes 480 BC BC invaded Greece, many cities in the Peloponnese wanted to retreat behind the palisades on the isthmus instead of defending Thermopylae . The question of fortification arose again before the Battle of Salamis . Although the concept of a fortress in the Peloponnese was repeatedly considered, fortifying the isthmus without having the necessary means to exercise control over the sea, as Herodotus wrote , was useless . Nevertheless, it was built in 479 BC. A wall made of stones, bricks, wood and sand, which even had a parapet . James R. Wiseman identified a 1700 m long part of this wall with eleven rectangular towers on the ridge of Agios Dimitrios - about 2 km south of the Hexamilion. This wall was apparently built in 279 BC. Restored by Antigonus II Gonatas . At that time the wall led to Kenchreai in the east and can now be traced to Kato Examilia in the west.

history

As Zosimos reported, there were first plans to build the isthmus wall under the rule of the Roman emperor Valerian as early as the 3rd century . The Hexamilion was built between 408 and 450 AD under the rule of Theodosius II to protect the Peloponnese against the invasions of the Visigoths from the north. The attack of Alaric I on Greece in 396 AD or the conquest of Rome in 410 AD by the Visigoths will have contributed to the decision to build the enormous complex of towers, sea bastions and at least one fortress. One well-known fortress had two gates, a north and a south. The northern gate was the gateway to the Peloponnese. The wall consisted of large stone blocks on both sides; the space between was filled with mortar and rubble.

Many structures in the region were used as quarries for this huge project to extract building materials. Some of the stones were used directly to build the wall - like the blocks from the Temple of Poseidon in Isthmia - or lime was burned from them, such as from the material from Heraion of Perachora or that of ancient statues from Corinth . It is unknown how long it took to build the fortifications.

Under Justinian's rule , the Hexamilion was reinforced with additional towers. However, it turned out to be ineffective against the Slavs' conquest of the Balkans , not least because the Slavs landed on their dugout canoes on the coasts and thus bypassed the fortifications. Since the 8th century the strategic importance of the fortification has decreased. In the 11th century, the wall was increasingly built over with residential buildings.

The Byzantine Emperor Manuel II himself directed the repair work on the Hexamilion in 1415. Thousands of workers began on April 8, 1415 to build a huge wall with deep trenches, two large forts and 153 strong towers. In a letter dated June 26, 1415, Manuel sent his ally, the Venetian Doge Tommaso Mocenigo , the news of the completion of the building; the Venetians complimented him.

Sultan Murad II resumed his ancestors' policy of expansion in 1422. In May 1423 the Ottomans invaded the Morea under Turahan Bey . They stormed the isthmus wall and withdrew from the peninsula after they had obliged Theodorus II , the despot of the Morea , to pay tribute to the sultan.

The last emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI. , restored the Hexamilion again in 1444. But on December 14, 1446, Turkish troops under Murad II again took the fortifications. They destroyed the defensive walls with concentrated gunfire. The Turkish historian Aschikpaschazade mentioned that the cannon barrels were only cast on site.

When the Venetian general Bartoldo II. D'Este was seriously wounded in the battle for Corinth in 1463 , the Hexamilion had to be evacuated. The Morea fell into the hands of the Turks. Throughout the fort's entire history, it never performed the function it was designed to do unless it was used as a deterrent. From 1715 onwards, the Turks retained control of the land and the fortifications fell into disrepair. Parts of the wall have been preserved south of Corinth and at the Temple of Poseidon in Isthmia.

Images of the Hexamilion

literature

  • James R. Wiseman: A Trans-Isthmian Fortification Wall . In: Hesperia 32, 1963, pp. 248-275.
  • Timothy E. Gregory: The Hexamilion and the Fortress. (= Isthmia Vol. 5) American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Princeton 1993, ISBN 0876619359 .

Web links

Commons : Hexamilion (Bauwerk)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Timothy E. Gregory: The Hexamilion and the Fortress. (= Isthmia Vol. 5) American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Princeton 1993, ISBN 0876619359 , pp. 145-146
  2. Oscar Broneer: Cyclopean Wall on the Isthmus of Corinth and Its Bearing on Late Bronze Age Chronology . In: Hesperia 35, 1966.
  3. Konstantinos Kissas: Ancient Corinthia. Athens 2013, ISBN 978-960-6849-37-4 , pp. 24-25
  4. Herodotus , Historien 7, 207.
  5. Herodotus 8:40 , 49, 56.
  6. Herodotus 7:138.
  7. Herodotus 8:71.
  8. Timothy E. Gregory: The Hexamilion and the Fortress. (= Isthmia Vol. 5) American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Princeton 1993, ISBN 0876619359 , p. 5
  9. ^ Zosimos: New History , 1, 29
  10. Gregory used numismatic evidence to date the construction to AD 400-420.
  11. Gregory describes the north gate as a Roman arch from the first century.
  12. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius : History of the City of Athens in the Middle Ages ; George T. Dennis (Ed.): The letters of Manuel II Palaeologus . Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, Washington 1977.
  13. ^ Manfred Pittioni: The Ottoman army in the 15th and 16th centuries. Organization, tactics and equipment . Unpublished diploma thesis Vienna 2000, p.?.

Coordinates: 37 ° 55 ′ 11.6 ″  N , 22 ° 58 ′ 55.6 ″  E