Pausanias_Travel_Writing_in_Ancient Greece [Maria_Pretzler]

10. Discovering Greece with Pausanias
Ancient texts stressed the decline of Greece under Roman rule, and
their approach essentially defined western reactions to Ottoman Greece.
If conquest by the Romans, who appreciated the superiority of Greek
culture, had such a devastating impact on Greece, it was likely that the
Ottomans, who were perceived as ignorant of the classical tradition, would
cause an even more severe degradation. Travellers often came expecting
the worst and they duly produced drastic reports of an ignorant, povertystricken
people. Ancient writers, including Pausanias, left no doubt that
the freedom of Greece was essential to her greatness. In the eighteenth
century the idea of political freedom gained momentum, and with it the
assumption that in Greece, more than in any other place, freedom was a
crucial precondition for cultural achievement. At the same time, many also
felt a nostalgic attachment and gratitude to Greece as the font of western
civilisation. All these sentiments fuelled the western philhellenism which
played an important role in the creation of the Greek state. 58
The Greeks themselves, however, also relied on the ancient texts to
define their identity, partly in reaction to western philhellenism. 59 Since
1821 Pausanias has served as a crucial link between modern Greece and
its ancient heritage. This is particularly evident in the development of
place names, where ancient toponyms have now largely replaced the old
names of Slavonic, Turkish, Albanian or Italian origin that had come to
dominate the landscape. Lolling documents just such a change in the
1870s:
There is no doubt that the ancient city of Amphissa was situated in the same
spot as modern Salona; in official language the new city is always referred
to by the ancient name. (Lolling (1989) 245; manuscript written in 1876/7)
It is not clear whether he is aware that the ancient name was in fact
completely forgotten when Spon and Wheler visited Salona two hundred
years earlier. At that point some thought that Salona was ancient Delphi,
and Spon and Wheler may have been the first westerners who identified
the site correctly after discovering an inscription that mentioned Amphissa.
60
Place names were a particularly emotional issue, and some
western visitors were reluctant to contemplate the possibility that the
Greeks themselves no longer used or even knew the ancient toponyms.
Many places in Greece, that are still known to the inhabitants only by their
ancient appellations, are barbarously misnamed by foreign sailors. In these
instances the Author has deemed it most expedient to retain those names
which are at present in use in the country, which was the object of this tour.
(Dodwell (1819) v)
Once Greece had become independent, the ancient Greek heritage became
an important means of consolidating national identity. 61 The restoration of
ancient place names is a particularly visible sign of a re-appropriation of
147