Man arrested for tunnelling [Megara, west of Athens]

iAfrica ^ | Monday, July 14, 2008 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

A Greek man was arrested for digging tunnels from his home to protected archaeology sites in Megara, west of Athens, in a suspected case of antiquities trafficking, officials said on Saturday.

The 44-year-old man allegedly dug a well nearly four metres deep, as well as a tunnel seven metres long leading to three smaller tunnels in an archaeological zone, Athens police said in a statement.

The suspect was arrested on Friday and was to stand before an Athens court on Saturday for infringing laws protecting antiquities and national heritage.

The man is said to have destroyed some antiquities during his digging and artefacts -- including ceramic fragments and stones from an ancient wall -- were found in the tunnels and near the wells.

Police also discovered a tile fragment and a chunk from a grotto stalagmite in the man's home, as well as twenty large bags of earth in his secondary residence.

The objects were handed over to museums in Megara, where archaeologists regularly dig for artefacts from the ancient city.

[SunkenCiv]

Megara:

Google

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

couple of maps:

http://www.weather-forecast.com/locationmaps/Megara.jpg
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=megara&ie=UTF-8&output=html

[Fred Nerks]

According to Herodotus, the Athenians insist that their compatriots must send their fleets to Salamis, a small island just opposite the Athenian harbors. The Athenians act like this, because they do not trust the Spartans, who had promised to send an army to Boeotia to defend Athens, but were actually building a wall across the Corinthian isthmus and destroying the road leading to the isthmus, which is usually called Skiron's road (picture below).

LIVIUS LINK.

Skiron's road can be found a little west of Megara, a town between Athens and Corinth. At the moment, there are two roads, but one can easily imagine that this was a very narrow path in Antiquity. Remains of the wall across the Corinthian isthmus can still be seen a little south of the sanctuary of the Isthmian Poseidon. It is very likely that the Persian cavalry reached this wall, because Pausanias (a Greek author from the second century CE who had read many ancient texts) mentions that the Persians fired arrows at one of the Corinthian harbors, and archaeologists have discovered that the temple of Poseidon was destroyed by fire during the Persian Wars.

According to the inhabitants of Megara, Skiron was a friendly hero who built a road to Corinth through the steep rocks along the sea. The Athenians, who were often on bad terms with the Megarians, put the story upside down: in the legend of their hero Theseus, Skiron was an evil man who asked his guests to wash his feet, and when they were stooped down, kicked them from the cliffs into the sea, where a giant man-eating turtle finished the killing. According to the Athenian story, Theseus eventually killed Skiron.

[Cold Heart]

Beware of Greeks unburying gifts.

[SunkenCiv]

...or bearing grift.

[SunkenCiv]

the Spartans, who had promised to send an army to Boeotia to defend Athens, but were actually building a wall across the Corinthian isthmus and destroying the road leading to the isthmus, which is usually called Skiron's road

Wow, what a surprise. Thanks. They pulled the same thing before Marathon, making some lame excuse about moon phase, then showing up after the battle, as arranged, only to find their Persian allies defeated. Those big, brave, selfless fighting men of Sparta. Surprised they could scamper away from their catamites long enough to accomplish anything.