While completing a study of an unusual group of Roman Corinthian capitals from Athens, I was led to reconsider the current attribution of two members of the group, an anta and a full capital, to an Augustan propylon said to have been built in the Asklepieion. The capitals shared the same source of design and traits of technique as the series made for Hadrian's Arch and for the interior of the Olympieion. It was difficult to accept their association with an inscribed epistyle block, indubitably Augustan in date, that was said to form part of the Asklepieion propylon. Furthermore, the epistyle was too narrow (0·41 m.) to fit over the bedding surfaces of the capitals (0·70 × 0·70 m.), and there was no indication that a backing block had been used.

The recently published ‘Stele from the Harbour’ of Thasos provides important new evidence for the topography of the ancient city. Some streets and other topographical features are named or described. There are many problems, however, in locating these features on the ground. These problems are fully discussed and some new solutions are proposed. At the same time, the new evidence bears on several difficult and unresolved topographical questions, which have long engaged the attention of students of Thasos. These questions are, therefore, reconsidered here. Finally, the important evidence for the topography of the city, which is found in the Hippocratean Epidemics, is fully set out for the first time, and discussed in relation to the archaeological evidence.

The small Ionic temple that once stood on the banks of the Ilissus has now all but disappeared. Converted into a Christian church during the Turkish occupation, it was completely dismantled in 1778 to provide material for the new fortification walls of Athens. Fortunately, before its final destruction the temple was visited by the English travellers J. Stuart and N. Revett and its appearance, plan (Fig. 1), and dimensions have been preserved by their careful drawings.

Scholars were immediately reminded of these drawings when, in 1834, the remains of the Temple of Nike on the Acropolis were discovered (Fig. 2). The close relationship between the two temples and the likelihood that both were the products of the same architect, Callicrates, have since then been generally acknowledged, and a detailed study of the points of similarity has been made more recently by I. M. Shear.

The construction date of the Tomb of Clytemnestra at Mycenae is disputed, opinion being divided over whether the tomb was erected at the end of Late Helladic IIIA or towards the end of Late Helladic IIIB. The article attempts to resolve this debate by examining all of the dating evidence for the tomb. It stresses that the most valuable clues to the date of the tomb come from the excavations that were carried out in 1952 and 1953 on either side of the Great Poros Wall, the retaining wall that supported the eastern side of the earthen mound above the tomb. Several trenches of these excavations are discussed in detail, specifically V and M, both of which were sunk into the earthen mound behind the wall, and L, P, III and IV, all of which were located immediately in front of the wall. The information on these trenches is drawn not only from the published reports, but also from the original excavation notebooks. The pottery from them is used to determine the date of the tomb. What emerges is that the Tomb of Clytemnestra was, in fact, built at the beginning of Late Helladic IIIB.

Attention was first drawn to this subject when Mr. Dawkins published in the Journal of Hellenic Studies in 1906, a full account of the masquerade performed by Greeks in the district of Viza in Eastern Thrace. Both he and Mr. Lawson had previously described the Skyros Carnival, and Polites had recorded several instances from Northern Greece. In 1908, Katsarov drew attention to the fact that such mumming was also known among the Bulgarians both near Adrianople and in Bulgaria proper. In 1910, I published in the sixteenth volume of this Annual an account of the Epiphany and Mayday masquerades that Mr. M. S. Thompson and I witnessed in Thessaly. Since then others have noted similar masquerades elsewhere and the evidence of these mumming plays has been used by writers on the origin of Greek tragedy and comedy. The most striking point brought out by recent study of the subject is that such plays are not confined to Greeks alone, they are performed by Bulgarians, Vlachs, Albanians and apparently, even by Gipsies. While travelling in Thessaly and Macedonia during the years 1910–1912, Mr. Thompson and I noted the existence of many similar masquerades.

During the course of agricultural operations on the vineyard of one Kosti Psilakis, south of the Temple Tomb and on the opposite side of the Herakleion-Arkhanes road, three vases in stone and two in pottery were uncovered by the cultivator and were appropriated by the Herakleion Museum.

On 24 April 1940 Miss Vronwy Fisher (now Mrs. Hankey) and I excavated the site on behalf of the British School at Athens and uncovered a very small chamber tomb, of which most of the chamber walls and all of the dromos walls had been cut away. One or possibly two L.M. III burials had suffered severely, but the earliest burial on the inmost or western side of the chamber seems to have remained undisturbed until 1940, when Psilakis began to lay out a vineyard here.

The Palace at Mycenae was first found and excavated by Tsountas in 1886, although Schliemann had previously in 1874 dug one or two trial pits on the summit of the Acropolis here. His shafts are shewn on Steffen's excellent plan. Tsountas published a full report of his excavations in the Πρακτικά, and in succeeding campaigns cleared more of the ruins of the Palace, and also laid bare the foundations of the Doric temple which was built over the ruins of the Palace in later times. Unfortunately, no full account or plan of these supplementary excavations has ever been published, so that our knowledge of the Palace at Mycenae was incomplete. In 1914 Dr. Rodenwaldt re-examined the painted stucco floors in the Court and in the Megaron, and at the same time republished, together with important new fragments which he was lucky enough to find, all the known pieces of wall-painting from the Megaron. We began work on the Palace in 1920, and continued our re-investigation of the ruins during the three following campaigns, of which that of 1923 was very short. The results of our observations and the few new points discovered by us are here set out. We have to thank Dr. Leicester Holland for the splendid plan published here (Plate II.). In it all the foundation walls of the Doric temple are omitted and most of the Hellenistic and other late walls, so as not to confuse the plan of the Mycenaean Palace.

The oldest domestic structures at Mallia are three houses lying at the southern border of the later palace. Among them is a building which clearly was not domestic, but may have been a tower. Certain indications in the architecture of Houses A and B suggest that there was a broad road flanked by a tower which crossed the southern limit of the later palace at a slight angle in the direction, but east of, the western block of palace magazines where traces of much older structures have been found. This paper tries to show the reasons for this assumption.

The historiography of Venetian Greece has paid little attention to the colonial experience of Ithaca. While historians are served by extensive published documentary evidence for the administrations of the larger possessions in the region, the uncatalogued Venetian records at the state archive of Ithaca remain unstudied. The recent reopening of this archive has finally made it possible to survey its large Venetian collection and to provide an account of the role of the governors of Ithaca under Venetian rule. The seat of the governor was filled by Cephalonian nobles rather than by Venetian appointees in the manner of the larger Ionian islands. Here for the first time is presented a comprehensive list of Ithacan governors compiled from the Ithacan documents, together with further aid from research in the archives of Cephalonia and Venice. The account of the Ithacan governorship offered here aims to promote interest in the Ithacan archive of the Venetian administration and serve as a guide for future research into this neglected corner of the empire.

Early in 1915 during a short journey in Macedonia I took the opportunity of exploring the site and neighbourhood of Olynthus (Fig. 1), because it is hoped that the British School at Athens will before long be able to begin excavations there. I spent two days in the territory of Olynthus examining sites at Hagios Mamas, Myriophyton and Molivopyrgos as well as the ruins at Pizla, Magazudia and Palaioportes, all near Polygyros, which are those of mediaeval or modern villages. Although somewhat impeded by a heavy fall of snow I had the satisfaction of seeing for myself the comparative warmth of the climate of Olynthus even in winter. All about the reputed site of Olynthus the snow soon melted, whereas to the west beyond the village of Portaria towards the Kara Burun promontory, the snow remained for several days. The biting north-west Vardar wind which freezes the western end of Chalkidike in winter is kept off from Olynthus by the range of hills behind Polygyros, some of which are over three thousand feet high. Along the coast from Hagios Mamas to Molivopyrgos the territory of Olynthus is warm, faces south and is fertile, producing oil, corn, wine and silk. The low ground towards the coast is covered with olive groves, while the hills to the north are clothed with oak woods which were undoubtedly finer in antiquity than they are to-day. In most of the houses in Polygyros the doors and floors are of oak instead of the usual pine. These circumstances, coupled with the good anchorage at Molivopyrgos (the ancient Mekyberna), make it easy to understand the wealth and commercial importance of Olynthus. In addition to its other advantages, from Polygyros there runs the best road northwards into the upper country. Iron is said to be found in the hills and to-day mines of chrome and magnesite are worked along the coast.

The Greeks used certain words for workmen's tools, apparently without any distinction as to whether they were employed by wood- or stone-carvers, stonemasons, metal-workers, jewellers, shoemakers, &c. It was sufficient for them that the words used described something that carved or chipped (σμίλη), something that bored (τρύπανον), something that hit (σφῦρα), or something that rounded off (τόρνος). There may, indeed, have been some distinction as regards the word κολαπτήρ, which is believed to have meant a stonemason's chisel (refs. in LSJ9 s.v.). But σμίλη seems to have been used also for a knife. For instance, σμίλης ὁλκοί is believed to mean ‘chiselled furrows cut into a wooden surface' (Aristophanes, Thesm. 779), as well as a sculptor's chisel (Anth. Pal. vii. 429), though perhaps too much reliance should not be placed on poetical usage. The word τρύπανον seems to have been originally applied to a bow-drill worked by a thong twisted round it, as in the Polyphemus story (Od. ix. 385), but later appears to have been used for any instrument that turned (τρέπειν). στάθμη was evidently a carpenter's rule (Od. v. 245, et al.), and κανών was also a rule used for making straight lines (Plato, Phil. 56b). σφῦρα was a mallet or hammer, whether smith's (Od. iii. 434, Hdt. i. 68), carpenter's, or mason's. These are the main tools used, we may presume, for the engraving of stone inscriptions. Of particular interest from the point of view of technique are the words apparently used for tools that rounded off, or perhaps carved circularly. In Homer men ‘rounded off the tomb’ (τορνώσαντο σῆμα) (Il. xxiii. 255), or a ship's hull (Od. v. 249). Compare another early allusion, in Herodotus' Scythian section (iv. 36): ‘they describe the ocean flowing round the earth which is made circular as if by a lathe’ (κυκλοτέρης ὡς ἀπὸ τόρνου).

What was the nature of the revolution in the manner of laying out a new town associated with the name of Hippodamos of Miletus? Aristotle suggests that it was simply a matter of regularity. The old way was to build irregularly, the new way to build regularly after the manner invented by Hippodamos. If this is true, how came it that the regular manner was adopted, presumably, in the first half of the fifth century? What movement of ideas brought it into favour? To what special circumstances did it constitute a response? Why had it not developed earlier as an obvious consequence, for instance, of the founding of new cities in the great age of Greek colonisation? And if the new colonial cities of the eighth, seventh and sixth centuries were not planned in a regular fashion, how were they planned?

In 1892 Tsountas in the course of exploration on the top of the ridge between the ‘Tomb of Clytemnestra’ and the Lion Gate found a painted circular cap of poros (o·61 m. in diameter), which from the cuttings in it clearly seems to have been connected with some form of installation for water (Plate 14, b). It bears an inscription which as restored refers to Perseus. This inscribed cap Tsountas says he found among later ruins, but he did not specify the exact position. In 1922 therefore we investigated the ruins of apparently Hellenistic date which lie directly to the south of the modern carriage road on the top of the ridge to the north of the ‘Tomb of Clytemnestra’. A long terrace wall of ashlar work in poros was found running in an east-west direction along the south side of the modern road. In front of it, against its north side, lie two cement-lined basins (Plate 14, a). When these were first found and partially examined in 1922 it was suggested that they might be part of a gymnasium of Hellenistic date. At the same time a trial trench XIa by side of the steps was dug down about 0·25 m. into the soft rock below. In 1939 further trials were made behind (to the south of) the western part of the main terrace wall. Trench VII, which was dug to rock, was part of this work. At the same time the curved wall was exposed and part of the ‘votive deposit’ was excavated. The pottery then found, which was lost in the Nauplia Museum during the war, was of the same character as that found in 1952 and described below. In 1952, as part of the programme of exploration on the top and sides of the ridge which runs westward from the Lion Gate, it was decided to clear these ruins completely and study and plan them afresh.

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.

Two museums in the city of Liverpool have material from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, Sparta: the Garstang Museum of Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, and World Museum, part of National Museums Liverpool.

The artefacts from the Artemis Orthia sanctuary which are now in the collections in Liverpool represent all periods of the use of the sanctuary, between the eighth century bc and the third century ad. They comprise lead figurines and miniature vessels, both characteristic of Laconian sites, as well as other types of pottery and terracotta figurines. Large and more extravagant offerings, such as items made from ivory or bronze, are not represented. However, the range of artefacts, particularly lead figurines, is impressive, and complements the material from the sanctuary which has already been published, primarily in the volume edited by Dawkins and published in 1929. In addition, the collections include a few objects of exceptional interest, mentioned in the article with further details in the Appendix. A full listing of votive offerings from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia in Liverpool collections complements the article.

In honour of Professor Alan Wace, who has spent some fifty fruitful years in Greco-Roman archæology, I dedicate this paper. During that epoch his efforts in this sphere have been widespread. He has unearthed many finds and various archæological data of the utmost importance in Greece, particularly at Mycenae, and in Egypt both in Alexandria and Hermopolis Magna. By his discoveries and contributions, which have been recognised as worthy of highest esteem, he has shed much interesting light on various aspects of life in the Graeco-Roman world. As an ex-colleague in the Faculty of Arts, Farouk I University, I have been in close touch with him during the last seven years and he has always shown himself to be an indispensable source of information and a scholar of wide learning.

These differing conclusions, regarding early Euboean trade at Al Mina, from leading Students of the School may seem to contain the seeds of another internecine, Lelantine War. So, since the author has a homely interest in the Plain, and counts the two contestants among his friends, he thought he might intervene, though with no pretence to the same expert knowledge of the period in question and with a strong vested interest in Euboean enterprise.

The point at issue is the source of a distinctive group of sherds from Al Mina, probably the earliest Greek pottery found on that site; they belong to rather shallow skyphoi, or cups, decorated on each side with two groups of compass-drawn semicircles pendent from the lip and usually overlapping.

Death may be the great leveller, but some families can mark the event more spectacularly than others. In an attempt to set the royal burials at Vergina into some form of mortuary context, the cremated remains from three rich, non-royal 4th-century Macedonian tombs – Nea Mihaniona II and III and Derveni Beta – were studied with an eye on both biology and mortuary practices. This investigation showed that: (i) a neonate cremated and buried with its mother can survive both events remarkably well, with important consequences for the Vergina debate; (ii) the Derveni crater contained two individuals; (iii) the Nea Mihaniona, Derveni Beta, Vergina II antechamber, Vergina III and Phoinikas (report in preparation) cremations form a homogeneous group in terms of fragment size and weight. This sets them midway between (a) their far less substantial Dark Age forebears and (b) the unique whole cremated skeleton from the main chamber of Vergina Tomb II.

After we had spent several days in preparations, including the purchase and despatch of timber and other stores, Miss Lamb left Athens for Mycenae on May 11th, and began work the next day with six men. Dr. Boethius arrived on May 12th and the Director on May 13th. The other members of the party, Miss Lorimer, Mr. Heurtley, Mr. Hutchinson and Dr. Smith, arrived on May 16th and 17th. The number of men employed gradually rose to fifty-five, and then towards the end of the excavations was reduced by degrees to thirty, and finally to four when work closed on August 15th. The headquarters were again established in the Metrovgenes house, and accommodation was reserved at the ‘Fair Helen’ Hotel for the women members of the party.

The principal results of the work of the first two seasons on the Acropolis were described in the Annual two years ago (xxvi. pp. 240–76), and it remains to complete the account for the two following years (1926–27). The task is fairly simple, since the main features of the stratification of the area which yielded finds of predominantly Hellenic date have been already described, and the results obtained from the other parts of the Acropolis which we explored are of much less interest and importance, and can be dismissed briefly. The Byzantine church on the eastern spur of the main summit must be reserved for a separate report.