A Method of Affixing Fortification Walls to Steep Gradients

A late Roman foundation technique employed in the construction of rubble-and-mortar fortification walls that ascend steep gradients is described. Precipitously climbing walls of Classical and Hellenistic date are commonplace to the mountainous topography of central Greece and this late Roman foundation method outwardly mimics that tradition. However, being constrained by the resources of the late Antique period, an ingenious foundation technique was used that produced durable climbing walls which were far more simply, economically and rapidly constructed. The rugged topographical conditions of central Greece have always presented the military architect with design challenges that demanded durability and ingenuity. By late Roman times, the challenge to military engineering was burdened with the additional requirements of rapid, yet economical construction. This latter trend in architectural design and construction was observed in a freestanding, rubble-andmortar fortification wall that ascended a steep gradient.' Unlike the dry-masonry fortification walls which are characteristic of central Greece during the Hellenistic period and that required extensive preparations for the foundation,2 this example utilized construction techniques that required little if any such foundation preparation, while its rapidly built upper courses proved to be remarkably durable under extreme conditions. The fortification wall under discussion ascends the steep eastern slope of the Nisi area of Mt. Oite in north central Greece. It constitutes the northwest section of a formidable late Roman/early Byzantine military complex that once fortified the critically strategic Dhema Pass.3 As part of a two-stage system of overlapping barrier walls, this section of wall would have effectively hindered any flanking maneuver against the pass from the steep slope of Mt. Oite, while funnelling all approaching traffic toward the main gateway of the pass. This wall and its other associated structures were so well integrated into their physical environment that one veteran topographer was prompted to remark: "The fort is in the most formidable location of any that I have seen in Greece."4 The construction of this wall section can be described as a rubble-and-mortar technique consisting of irregularly shaped facing stones of roughly uniform size (ca. 0.65 m. long x 0.20 m. wide x 0.20 m. high) bonded together with a whitish to gun-powder gray lime mortar, and a core composed of rubble, some ceramic material, and mortar. Frequently, a smoothed plaster layer that covered the facing stones is preserved. Such wall construction is typical of this region during the late antique period, and the example at Dhema may have chronological implications for similarly constructed defensive structures found throughout the Malian region.5 1 The investigation of the defensive architecture within the Dhema Pass was conducted between 1976 and 1980 by the Loyola University of Chicago Phokis-Doris Expedition in Central Greece under the direction of Professor Edward W. Kase, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Loyola University of Chicago. Without the cooperation of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Science, Dr. P.G. Themelis, Ephor of Delphi, and Mrs. Fanouria Dakoronia of the Ephorate of Lamia, this research could not have been undertaken. Appreciation is also due to Professors Robert Sutton and Paul Wallace who read an earlier version of this note, and Dr. Charles K. Wolfe, Jr., for his encouragement and assistance in the field. 2 As found at Lilaea, Chaeronea and Tithorea. Typically, the foundations of ascending walls at these sites rest upon a series of consecutively cut, step-like notchings in the bedrock into which the facing blocks of the foundation are inserted. See A.W. Lawrence, Greek Aims in Fortification (Oxford 1979) pls. 20-21, 75. 3 Concerning these defenses, see W.J. Cherf, The Dhema Pass and Its Early Byzantine Fortifications (Diss. Loyola University of Chicago 1983) ch. 2. Concerning the strategic implications of this pass, see E.W. Kase, G.J. Szemler, "Xerxes' March through Phokis (Her. 8.31-35)," Klio 64 (1982) 361-62 and W.K. Pritchett, Studies in Ancient Greek Topography, Part IV (Passes) (Berkeley 1982) 225-27 and pl. 136. 4 Pritchett (supra n. 3) 228. Although Pritchett visited the Dhema Pass, he failed to mention the barrier wall under discussion. J. Koder and F. Hild, Hellas und Thessalia (Vienna 1976) s.v. Dio Vouna, did record the wall. s For descriptions of similarly constructed barrier walls in the region, see P.A. MacKay, "Procopius' De Aedificiis and the Topography of Thermopylai," AJA 67 (1963) 241-55. Recently, by means of a lime mortar carbon-14 procedure (R.L. Folk and S. Valastro, "Successful Technique for Dating of Lime Mortar by Carbon-14," JFA 3 [1976] 203-208), the construction of this wall at Dhema has been dated to the fifth century A.C.; see W.J. Cherf, "Procopius, Lime Mortar C14 and the Late Roman Fortifications of Thermopylai," AJA 88 (1984) 594-98. 87 American Journal of Archaeology 90 (1986) This content downloaded from 157.55.39.198 on Fri, 17 Jun 2016 06:22:43 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 88 W.J. CHERF [AJA 90 Dhema Wall Section 'B' I SCALE 1:40