Pausanias_Travel_Writing_in_Ancient Greece [Maria_Pretzler]

10. Discovering Greece with Pausanias
its landscape had great potential as the subject of antiquarian exploration
because it contained so many places that played a major role in the
classical historical texts and the most prominent mythical cycles. It takes
more than a passing reference in an ancient text, however, to make a place
really meaningful to later visitors: very little was known about most sites,
not least because the preserved ancient literature puts an overwhelming
emphasis on Athens. In spite of the shortcomings of his directions and
landscape descriptions Pausanias offers more geographical information
than Strabo or any other ancient writer, and he often provides enough
topographical details to challenge an inquisitive traveller to look for a
particular location. Strabo’s Geography never became completely obsolete
as a source of additional information about Greece because it offered a
more comprehensive geographical overview than the Periegesis, and in
some places Strabo provides an alternative perspective, such as his description
of Corinth or the extensive discussion of Homeric geography in
some regions. 29
Pausanias, however, does not just provide the most detailed
topographical information, he also gives a special significance to
countless places in Greece. In the areas covered by the Periegesis, travellers
no longer had to seek out a few places with historical associations;
rather, they could expect that, as they moved along one of Pausanias’
routes, every few miles would afford them an opportunity to search for
ancient remains or at least some notable topographical feature.
With Pausanias as a guide even a first-time visitor could feel that he
was not entering a completely unfamiliar landscape. Foreign travellers
therefore approached regions and sites with clearly defined expectations,
and many were determined to make the contemporary landscape match
Pausanias’ ancient topography.
Pausanias … mentions so many temples and curiosities at Phlious, that we
were particularly anxious to discover its situation, and I know not by what
fatality we missed it, as we must have been within a very short distance of
it; but I suspect that our guides and agogiates were as anxious to arrive at
Argos as we were to discover ruins of ancient cities. (Dodwell (1819) 212)
The combined efforts of travellers and topographers looking for Pausanias’
sites slowly produced a map of central and southern Greece that is full of
exactly located ancient sites. Research that focuses on topographical
features mentioned in ancient texts continues to this day. 30
Few other
landscapes can boast such a high concentration of known ancient place
names. The early travellers were aware that this abundance of identified
sites was unusual, and as soon as they knew themselves outside
‘Pausanias country’ they readjusted their expectations:
We observed some ancient traces and large blocks of stone; and a little
farther on, several foundations on a hill, probably the Acropolis of the small
city which was in the plain. It is useless to conjecture its ancient name: there
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