The Road-Network of Ancient Megaris : State of the Art and Perspectives
Résumé
This paper will study the ancient road-network of the Megarian territory. Megaris lays at a remarkable position accross the Isthmus of Corinth, with access to the shores of the Corinthian and Saronic Gulfs, along terrestrial axis linking its two powerful neighbours, Athens and Corinth. But the Megarian road-network is not fully known and was hardly apprehended in its globality by the historiography. The borderland between Megaris and Attica has been investigated by several scholars, such as S. Van de Maele and S. Fachard, and revealed some remains of ancient roads. The Western part of the territory is currently under the scrutiny of the WEMALP Project directed by P. Avgerinou and E. Farinetti. The circulations in the central part of Megaris and the coast of the Corinthian Gulf hand are not precisely known. However, the Megarian road-network presents several archaeological and historical problems. • How did the local and supra-regional circulations articulated and how did they shape the road network ? • How did roads connect the urban center and the harbours on the two coasts, and in which extent did they make Megaris a maritime crossroad as well, in a multimodal perspective ? • How was the circulation network transformed by the changes of status of the coastal localities of Aigosthena and Pagai ? While we will not be able to provide definitive answers to those problematics, this communication intends to draw a state of the art about ancient Megarian roads, reliying on written and archaeological evidence, and to assess the archaeological and historical perspectives that would be opened by a more thorough knowledge of Megarian roads.