Demi della Mesogea antica: insediamenti, culti e percorsi nell'Attica interna dall'età arcaica all'età romana

This work aims to analyse the topography and religious layout of a group of Attic demes attributed to the Ancient Mesogeia, i.e. the territories between the sea and the city, which constituted the rural and agricultural basis of Athens. The thirteen chapters are dedicated to the demes of Acharnai, Eupyridai, Kropidai, Pelekes, Cholargos, Sypalettos, Pergase, Kephissia, Athmonon, Phlya, Pallene, Gargettos, Teithras, Erchia, Paiania, Sphettos. Most of them are localized in the plan of Athens and the modern Mesogeia plan. This selection allowed us to analyse a group of demes which is coherent in terms of geography and settlement. Every chapter is split into two parts. The first part deals with the historical, and topographical problems, the second one is dedicated to the gods and sanctuaries of each deme. In numerous cases, the evidence for a cult is isolated or scattered: an epigraph, a single phrase in a source, a sculptural element; in other cases, such as for the cults of Ares at Acharnai, of Athena Pallenis at Pallene and Artemis at Athmonos, it was possible to delineate the history of the cult, its position in the civic religion and aspects related to the community of believers. It was possible to focus on different contexts, which are not directly linked, to understand the relationship between cults, local administration, citizens and the city of Athens. Nonetheless, the investigation of several demes permitted to enucleate the common religious background of rural cults, such as the importance of Demeter, Dionysos and natural deities in demotic religion. We also analysed the spatial patterns in the distribution of cults inside the deme territory, starting from archaeological and environmental data. However, reading the epigraphic evidence through the lens of spatial and topographical problems, such as in the case of Erchia, was substantial. The research explores the opportunity to talk about local pantheons and to define them as a crucial part of the demotic life: religion, within the deity’s systems and cult practices, clearly permits to focus on the local identities, in terms of micro-history, allowing the chance to have a better understanding of the dynamics between the Polis as a state and its local communities.