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COMMUNICATION AND THE ROLE OF THE MEDIEVAL TOWER IN GREECE: A RE-APPRAISAL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2022

Andrew Blackler
Andrew Blackler*
Affiliation:
Independent scholar
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

Little evidence has survived of the long-distance communication networks established by the Byzantines and Venetians in the medieval period. We know only of a chain of beacons established by Leo the Mathematician in the ninth century, an inscription found in the Peloponnese and a Venetian network in the central Aegean. This article reappraises the existing evidence and introduces new data following a study recently undertaken by the author of the topography of Negroponte (modern Euboea) and the medieval towers of Greece. Making extensive use of early cartographic sources, toponymic studies, and satellite imagery and telemetry, it identifies 142 tower and beacon sites on the island alone, and demonstrates, utilising archaeological evidence, how complex messages could be sent between towers. The research also uncovers a new term – the pyrgari, which appears to apply to a circular beacon tower. Combining this new evidence and the topographic study, the article then delineates, using GIS mapping, four Middle Byzantine and Venetian long-distance communication networks. The paper concludes by proposing a theoretical framework for the tower based on its role in communication and defence. Such work potentially helps us to understand in a more nuanced way the administrative and military organisation of the Byzantine themata and the Venetian Empire. The methodology also has potential for application in other regions: in essence it looks at the landscape not as a collection of nodes – bishoprics, cities and fortresses – but as a network of connections.

Επικοινωνία και ο ρόλος του μεσαιωνικού πύργου στην Ελλάδα: μία αναθεώρηση

Ελάχιστα στοιχεία έχουν διασωθεί από τα δίκτυα επικοινωνίας μεγάλων αποστάσεων που δημιούργησαν οι Βυζαντινοί και οι Ενετοί κατά τη μεσαιωνική περίοδο. Γνωρίζουμε μόνο μια αλυσίδα από ϕάρους που καθιέρωσε ο Λέων ο Μαθηματικός τον ένατο αιώνα, μια επιγραϕή που βρέθηκε στην Πελοπόννησο και ένα Ενετικό δίκτυο στο κεντρικό Αιγαίο. Αυτό το άρθρο επανεκτιμά τα υπάρχοντα στοιχεία και εισάγει νέα δεδομένα μετά από μελέτη της τοπογραϕίας του Νεγροπόντε (σύγχρονη Εύβοια) και των μεσαιωνικών πύργων της Ελλάδας που πραγματοποιήθηκε πρόσϕατα από τον συγγραϕέα. Κάνοντας εκτεταμένη χρήση πρώιμων χαρτογραϕικών πηγών, τοπωνυμικών μελετών και δορυϕορικών εικόνων και τηλεμετρίας, πιστοποιεί την ύπαρξη 142 θέσεων πύργων και ϕάρων στην Εύβοια, και αποδεικνύει χρησιμοποιώντας αρχαιολογικά στοιχεία, ότι θα μπορούσαν να σταλούν πολύπλοκα μηνύματα μεταξύ των πύργων. Η έρευνα αποκαλύπτει επίσης έναν νέο όρο - το «πυργάρι», που ϕαίνεται να χαρακτηρίζει έναν κυκλικό πύργο επικοινωνίας. Συνδυάζοντας αυτά τα νέα στοιχεία και την τοπογραϕική μελέτη, με την χρήση της χαρτογράϕησης GIS το άρθρο σκιαγραϕεί στη συνέχεια τέσσερα δίκτυα επικοινωνίας μεγάλων αποστάσεων της Μεσοβυζαντινής και της Ενετικής περιόδου. Η εργασία ολοκληρώνεται προτείνοντας ένα θεωρητικό πλαίσιο για τον πύργο σχετικά με τον ρόλο του στην επικοινωνία και την άμυνα. Μια τέτοια εργασία δυνητικά μας βοηθά να κατανοήσουμε καλύτερα τις πτυχές της διοικητικής και στρατιωτικής οργάνωσης των βυζαντινών «θεμάτων» και των περιοχών υπό Ενετική κυριαρχία. Η μεθοδολογία που υιοθετείται έχει επίσης δυνατότητες εϕαρμογής και σε άλλες περιοχές καθώς στην ουσία το τοπίο εξετάζεται όχι ως μια συλλογή σημείων - επισκοπές, πόλεις και οχυρώσεις - αλλά ως ένα δίκτυο συνδέσεων.

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Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 117 , December 2022 , pp. 393 - 414
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Council, British School at Athens

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