MEGALOPOLIS
Arkadia, Greece.
Founded
after the battle of Leuktra and before Mantinea by
Epaminondas as part of his Sparta-containing policy, and
by the Arkadians of small villages which had heretofore
been defenseless against Spartan attack. It took part in
the battle of Mantinea (
Xen. Hell. 7.5.5), but subsequently suffered from Spartan hostility (353-352, 331), the tendency of its inhabitants to return to their villages, and the jealousy of other Arkadian cities. Megalopolis
during the 4th c. moved closer to Philip, was attacked
unsuccessfully by Agis of Sparta (331) and in 318 by
Polyperchon, at which time there were but 15,000 male
inhabitants, free and slave, in the city. The 3d c. saw the
tyrannies of Aristodemos and Lydiadas, the latter of
whom joined Megalopolis to the Achaian League, of
which it remained a member until 146 (Polyb. 2.44.5).
Kleomenes caused great destruction there in 223 (Polyb.
2.55), but under Philopoimen (fl.223–184-183), the “last
of the Greeks,” the city was again powerful. After 146
and until his death in 117-116 Polybios mitigated the
wrath of the Romans against his native city, and indeed
saw to it that needed repairs were made. In Augustan
times a bridge was built (
IG V 2.456), and under Domitian a stoa was constructed (
IG v 2.457). In the time of
Pausanias (
8.27.1-16, 30.2-33) Megalopolis lay mostly in
ruins.
The ancient city lies ca. 1.6 km N of the modern town
of the same name on the road to Andritsena. The walls,
visible only sporadically, have been calculated by excavators, both from extant remains and from general considerations of terrain, to have been ca. 8.8 km in extent. They were formed of two parallel lines of stone with
rubble in between, and were probably carried up in
mudbrick. The town proper is divided by the Helisson
river into two sections. To the N lay the agora, described
by Pausanias, whose description has been in large part
confirmed by excavation. The Sanctuary of Zeus Soter
lies in the SE corner near the river, and has in part been
washed away by the river. It consists of a rectangle
(originally 47 x 53.5 m) with a square open court in the
middle surrounded by a double colonnade. The temple
was on the W, and cut through the colonnade. In the
center of the court there stood a large base, identified by
some as the base of the statue group mentioned by
Pausanias (
8.30.10): it is more likely, though massive,
to have been an altar. The N side of the agora was enclosed by the massive Philippian Colonnade (155.5 m long x 20 m deep), with wings projecting on the E and W ends. The building should date from the end of the
4th c. (
Paus. 8.30.3), but the style of architecture points
to a later date (Frazer w. 322). The E side of the market
place was marked off by a long stoa of mid 3d c. date
identified usually with Myropolis (
Paus. 8.30.7). Other
insignificant remains include the council house (?), a
gymnasium (?), and the government offices. All of the
above buildings are in a ruinous state, barely discernible,
and are of more archaeological and historical than aesthetic interest.
The business of the Arkadian League took place to the
S of the river, where are to be found the remains of a
theater, the largest in Greece (
Paus. 8.32.1), and the
Thersileion, the council house of the 10,000. Of the theater there are preserved the lowest bench for dignitaries (with inscriptions) and the first several rows of seats. For the most part the theater utilizes the natural contours of the hill, but since the hill proved too small, there are
retaining walls to E and W, and it is likely enough that
the cavea was carried up higher than the present top of
the hill. Estimates of capacity vary between 17,000 and
21,000 spectators. The ruins of the extant stage are of
Roman date, and are built over the remains of an earlier
foundation with sockets and grooves which originally
supported either scenery or a stage, more likely scenery.
There are no traces of a permanent 4th c. stage or scene
building. Scenery and props were stored in the skanotheka
just to the W under the W retaining wall of the theater.
The thersileion, of which only foundations and footings for columns remain, was a large rectangular hypostyle hall, constructed in the interior in the form of a theater. The speaker's platform, though in the center on
the N-S axis, was closer to the S wall, and was lower
than both a platform behind it and the seats for spectators which rose gradually to the exterior walls on all
sides but the S. The columns supporting the roof were
so arranged that they radiated out from the center of the
speaker's platform, thus affording the spectators an unimpeded view of the platform. It is unclear how the roof
was constructed and the building lighted, but the assumption of a clerestory over the speaker's platform is reasonable. At some point the roof seems to have collapsed, for there is evidence of repair to the building and the
addition of extra columns at the point of greatest stress,
the third row of columns counting from the center.
There is no evidence for a stone floor, but scholars have
assumed a wooden one. The portico to the S facing the
theater is almost exactly the length of the width of the
orchestra, and was probably used as a backdrop for dramatic performances. At some point three additional lower steps were added in order to adjust the level of the portico to that of the orchestra. The building was destroyed by Kleomenes and never rebuilt.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
E. A. Gardner et al.,
Excavations at
Megalopolis 1890-1891 (1892)
MPI; E. Benson & A.
Bather in
JHS 13 (1892-93) 319-37 (thersilion)
P, 356-58 (theater); J. G. Frazer,
Paus. Des. Gr. (1898) IV
317-49;
RE v (1931) 127-40; O. Walter in
AA (1942)
148-49 (Zeus sanctuary); O. Dilke in
BSA 45 (1950)
47-48, with references (theater); R. Martin,
Recherches
sur l'agora grecque (1951) passim (see index, s.v.). F. E.
Winter,
Greek Fortifications (1971) passim (see index,
s.v.).
W. F. WYATT JR
