Ancient lines of defence

Athens News ^ | Sunday, December 25, 2011 | John Leonard

[SunkenCiv]

Rhamnous and Sounion became especially important in the late 5th century BC, when the Spartans followed the advice of the traitorous Athenian Alcibiades and seized the strategic hill of Dekeleia, north of Athens, in 412BC. Having thus cut off the city's major food supply, the Spartans forced the Athenians to seek alternative routes for their vital shipments of Evia grain and other foodstuffs. Rhamnous' twin harbours replaced the more northerly port of Oropos and served as a naval base from which Athenian warships could safeguard the newly crucial shipping lanes that extended around Cape Sounion to Piraeus...

Visible at Rhamnous today are the foundations of a mid-century marble temple of Nemesis, attributed by specialists to the unknown architect who also built the temple of Poseidon at Sounion and the temples of Hephaestus and Ares in the Athenian agora. Lining the main street to Rhamnous are grave monuments that commemorate the town's prominent families and recall similar 4th century BC monuments in the Kerameikos of Athens. The fortress itself consists of a multi-towered wall that encloses the town and a high, equally fortified acropolis.

The garrison-fortresses of Attica were valued Athenian strongholds, but, if captured, could also be used against Athens...

Signalling posts were established around Attica at Sounion, and smaller, more lightly fortified sites, including Atene and Vari-Anagyrous on the west coast. The guards at these stations could quickly pass on to Piraeus warnings of approaching enemy forces.

Two walled military camps, on Patroclus Island about 3km west of Sounion and at peninsular Koroni beside Porto Rafti, on the eastern Attica seaboard, were established during the Chremonidean War around 267-261BC.

[SunkenCiv]

Rhamnous

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Here's an interesting one, alas, I don't think it can be posted on FR: The new gold rush: Amid austerity, Greeks with shovels follow myths of long-lost treasure Associated Press, December 22, 2011 To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[RedStateRocker]

Alcibiades- brave, brilliant, treacherous, scheming, one of the most interesting characters in history. If he hadn’t existed and someone created him in fiction *NO ONE* would believe it, no one.

[JRandomFreeper]

Amazing how quickly those ground advantages go away when you have the high ground of the air.

On the other hand... it sucks to think how most air generals have no clue of ground movement and what is important.

Thanks for pointing up the INTEGRATED land/sea/air view of things.

Sorry. Just had to put a plug in here for my personal theory of warfare.

It is good ground for land guys. Or bad, really bad, depending on which side you are on.

/johnny

[SunkenCiv]

And eventually he was bumped off by Agesilaus, one of ancient history’s top foot-shooters.

[fella]

For a long time I've associated Bubba with Alcibiades.

[SunkenCiv]