Fact or fake? Constructions and functions of lost cities in Hellenistic-Roman Arkadia (Greece)

Ancient authors often describe the inland region of Arkadia is often described by ancient authors as a landscape dominated by nature, whose past grandeur seems to be reflected in ruined cities. The image of a de-urbanised, unspoilt idyll, however, is called into question by the material record.

The project ‘Fact or Fake’ investigates this contradiction in an interdisciplinary collaboration between archaeology, ancient history, numismatics and philology, weighing literary tradition against reality.

In case studies, various archaeological methods are used to verify the actual abandonment of a city and investigate a possible cult of ruins. The analysis of finds, coins, and architectural structures will reveal discrepancies between narrative and reality and create the basis for a multifaceted examination of the coding and instrumentalisation of Arkadian lost cities. The description of the culture of interpretation, knowledge and perception of ancient authors and readers promises fundamental insights into the effect of the literary construction of abandonment, a topic which is highly relevant to this day.

The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Staatliche Münzsammlung München (D. Weidgenannt) and the University of Arizona (M.E. Voyatzis).