“Sit in the square in the fashionable Kolonaki district of Athens for an hour and count the number of V-8 Jeep Grand Cherokees that drive by. Do you know what the base sticker price for one of those is here? $125,000. Ridiculously expensive and completely useless, especially with gas prices at $5 a gallon. So why do so many Greeks buy them? [Silence from FSP group.] Because they’re cool.” With this explanation, today’s guest lecturer Prof. Steve Diamant of the American School right here in Athens illuminated a simple phenomenon we often lose sight of in our high-flown bloviation about this type of archaeological artifact or that historical occurrence: plenty of what the Greeks said, did, and made have little more reason behind them than that they were pretty darn cool. Put another way, there were many complicated cultural factors that determined why, say, the Greeks built the Parthenon or wrote so many tragedies, but you can be sure these things wouldn’t have been done if it had been considered uncool to do them.
Prof. Diamant’s Jeep-counting experiment was used specifically to shed light on why we have excavated Cycladic-style pottery in the Marathon area. The finds, in the Marathon Museum, are ever-so-slightly different than the pottery of actual Cycladic provenance and seem to have exemplified what Prof. Diamant told us is called the “Louis XIV Effect”: just as Europeans monarchs everywhere in the 17th and 18th centuries couldn’t get enough Louis XIV-style interior furnishing for their own palaces, Bronze Age Greeks, for a short while, were just crazy about Cycladic pottery. The imitation Cycladic ware here at Marathon affirms it: Cycladic was the new black.
So travel back into antiquity with me as I journey around Rhamnous and Marathon, armed with only a Blue Guide, the expertise of Prof. Diamant, and a devastatingly snarky wit, to determine who and what were “in,” “out,” and “sooo five minutes ago” in their own times.
Simple funerary stelae: five minutes ago.
You think that having a grave marker that measures less than three meters across is cool? What century are you living in, the 6th BC? Please. As the high society ladies and gents of Rhamnous will tell you, when it comes to funerary monuments, bigger is better. Take a walk along the road leading to the sacred enclosure where the temples of Nemesis and Themis are and you’ll see what’s hip nowadays: large-scale monuments to the (fashionable) deceased, with architectural flourishes, sophisticated sculpture, and inscriptions to let the world know that these certainly was not just the tombs of some nobodies.
Nemesis/Themis: in.
Who says the goddesses of righteous anger and of law and custom are minor? You wouldn’t know it from visiting Rhamnous, where there is a magnificent temple district honoring both of them. The 5th c. BC Doric temples in marble and limestone are fitting for two of the more unsung goddesses in the Greek pantheon, and it’s about time they’ve had their due. Nemesis especially, who brings down mortals who get a little too full of themselves, is an especially handy goddess to have around in the 5th c. BC, when egos are running amok during and after the Persian War.
Persians: out!
Ugh. Who would want to be seen hanging around with these Babylonian buzzkills? After the Attic support of the Ionian Greek rebellion against Persian rule in the late 6th c. BC and the Greek destruction of Persian temples at Sardis, the Persians sailed across the Aegean to try take revenge on the puny but scrappy Athenians in 492 BC. The first time they tried, those losers lost all their ships at sea. Two years later, they sailed over to Attica again and arrayed something like 24,000 men against 8 or 9,000 Athenians and Plataeans on the Marathon plain. After a few days of hesitancy on both sides, the Athenians charged and reached the Persian lines before their effete archers could even get arrows into their bows. The Persians then fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book of military strategy: they were lured into the weak center of the Athenian battle line, allowing the Athenian wings to descend on them from both sides and wreck their forces. Running away into the marshes, the Persians were made to look like complete pansies in front of the forces from two little Greek city-states. Final score? 6,400 Persian dead to 192 Greek. So much for the mightiest empire in the world! Hey Persia, maybe you should send even more armies to Greece and see how that works out! Time to rethink your cocky attitude, because as anyone who is anyone knows…
Hubris: five minutes ago.
…it isn’t even cool anymore to have unwarranted pride in your so-called abilities! The Persians were so confident of impending victory at Marathon that they actually quarried an enormous chunk of marble at
Paros on the way over, from which to make a victory monument. Oops! It made for a very convenient Athenian statue of Nemesis though. Perhaps the Persians would have benefited from a visit to the Temple of Nemesis at Rhamnous themselves. However, while we’ve all seen the folly of foolish pride here, you never know when hubris will be in again. The Athenians have been acting like pretty hot stuff in the wake of the battle.
Miltiades: so in!
Here’s a general whose star is really on the rise. Women want him, men want to be him (and probably want him as well—this is ancient Greece after all!). One of the ten generals of the Athenians, Miltiades succeeded in persuading Callimachos the polemarch to attack the Persians and then led the Greeks to victory. And the Ionic columnar monument in honor of the man’s victory? In the words of Prof. Diamant, “Themistocles, eat your heart out!”
So there you have it: the men and immortals to see and be seen with, the “what to do” and the “what not to do” of Classical Attica. Join us next time, when we give the scoop on Grecian gadfly Herodes Atticus and the tough guys of the Spartan army—where were they on the plains of Marathon?
Napping is today’s theme. After a long ISP week and little sleep, everyone is exhausted. Here Kelsey takes advantage of a 10 minute break at the site of Rhamnous, our first stop of the day, to nap on the steps of what is thought to be the ancient temple to the goddess Nemesis.
The site of Rhamnous offers breathtaking views, especially looking out across the water Of Aghia Marina to the island of Euboea nearby. Kinsey takes photographs of the water. Meanwhile, Chris studies the layout of the cut marble blocks that make up the 45m platform on which the remains of the temples of Nemesis and Themis stand. 
Ben, Chris and Johann sit on an ancient cistern, which supplied the whole sanctuary with water.
Kyle is all smiles as he helps our visiting lecturer Professor Diamond by holding up a map of the area for us all to see.
After our visit to the sanctuary we make our way to the site of the ancient town of Rhamnous. It is a ten minute walk down a rocky road from the sanctuary to the town.
As always I am fascinated by the plants and critters on-site. These white flowers are common at many of the sites we visited on the FSP. They remind me of giant snow flakes and host many different kinds of bugs. This silver and black bug is one I have not seen before.
The group walks back toward the bus after visiting the acropolis of Rhamnous. 
Johann lingers behind the group to take in the stunning views from the acropolis. He is looking toward Euboea. The Blue Guide describes Rhamnous as “one of the least spoilt sites in Attica.” We are all impressed by the beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, the whole site is not accessible to the general public, because there is a shortage of site guards.
On our way back to the bus, Professor Diamond calls our attention to the meticulous construction of retaining walls at Rhamnous. The great care taken in building these walls gives us an indication of how important and wealthy the ancient town must have been. Kinsey, Liz and Kelsey pose in front of one the retaining walls of the sanctuary.
Our next stop of the day is the Marathon Museum. Several people need a quick bathroom break before our tour of the museum. Everyone else waits on the front steps.
Inside, Professor Diamond points out the important topographical features of the area on a map, in preparation for our visit to the site of the Battle of Marathon.
As we pass by an exhibit devoted to the site of Marathon, Kyle pretends to be the god Pan. According to ancient sources Pan played a decisive role in the battle, which favored the Athenians. Nick steps into the frame to give us his signature wave.
Professor Diamond presents key aspects of the pottery assemblages in the museum’s collection.
Here, Professor Diamond explains the significance of a large ionic column fragment. This column would have held up the victory monument of the Athenians after the Battle of Marathon. It is likely that the victory monument was made up of the arms of fallen Persian soldiers.
Nick tells Kinsey what he knows about the Egyptian god Horace as they examine a representation of the god from the Egyptian sanctuary at Brexiza. The sanctuary was founded in Roman times on a small island at the centre of the Little Marsh, south of the plain of Marathon.
While we were in the museum, our bus driver went to repair the bus’ hydraulics. These repairs took a bit longer than expected. Several people took advantage of the down time to nap. Nick, Kyle and Ben nap on the stone wall of the museum compound.
Kinsey, Liz and Kelsey have the same idea as the men. But, they choose instead to nap in the shade.
Marathon! Our final site for the day is the location of the giant tumulus in which the fallen Athenians were buried after the battle. First, we sit in the shade while Professor Diamond shares his insight on the battle and the ancient sources who recorded it.
Respectful as ever, Kyle uses his treasured chunk of Parian marble to erect a victory monument to the Athenians. He also marks a moment of silence…
Stimulated by Professor Diamond’s talk about the Battle of Marathon, Nick, Josh, Chris and Mike continue the discussion of how the battle unfolded.
Final Comments:
Everyone is exhausted. Finally, the ISP has been completed and handed in to Professor Rutter for his evaluation. Throughout the day many people had difficulty staying focused, but Professor Diamond was very patient with us as our neurons crept along. Tomorrow is our last field trip of the term. Hopefully, after a full night’s rest we will all be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
