The principal sanctuaries of Attica outside the asty were situated in strategically important positions at the territorial limits of Athens. It will be argued that the sanctuaries placed on the frontiers of Attica were important nodes in the social construction, expression and implementation of Athenian territoriality. Sanctuaries which accommodated polis-level cults outside the urban centre provided the Athenians with a highly visible means of demarcating and communicating the extent of their territorial sovereignty. These religious sites developed in a visually conspicuous manner at a time when the territorial and social boundaries between the Athenians and neighbouring communities were crystallising. From an early stage in the development of the sanctuary sites of Attica, they played an instrumental role in defining the extent of Athenian territory, a space imbued with meaning in terms of claims of sovereignty and membership within the Athenian community. During the Archaic period, the border sanctuaries of Attica and the cults which they accommodated were elaborated, augmenting Athenian claims to contested borderlands and enhancing the prestige of the polis. The relative ranking and status of Athens in her interpolis relations was thereby enhanced, allowing the Athenians to reduce the threat of invasion of the chora. Following the Persian Wars, the sanctuaries continued to disseminate messages of the power and status of Athens, now hegemon of the Delian League. The structures and rites of the border sanctuaries reified the hegemonic power of Athens. When, during the long and bitter conflict of the Peloponnesian War, it became necessary to control the points of access into Athenian territory along the coastline, Rhamnous and Sounion were fortified. In the Late Classical period, the military role of a number of these sanctuaries was institutionalised. Fortification walls were augmented and refurbished and ephebic involvement in rites and festivals attested the close connection between religious and military activity.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/254205 |
| Creators | Rashna Taraporewalla |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
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