The Urban Scheme of Plataiai in Boiotia: Report on the Geophysical Survey, 2005-2009

by Andreas L. Konecny, Michael J. Boyd, Ronald T. Marchese, and Vassilis Aravantinos

Hesperia, Volume 81, Issue 1
Page(s): 93-140
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.81.1.0093
Year: 2012
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ABSTRACT:

A geophysical survey conducted between 2005 and 2009 at Plataiai in Boiotia has provided valuable information about the plan of the town as a whole, as well as many of its public and private buildings. Important elements of the urban center have been located, including the agora, sanctuaries, a theater, a gymnasium, a water conduit, and possibly a bath. Impressive town houses together with less pretentious dwellings reflect social stratification within the Hellenistic and Roman community. Only about half of the area within the circuit wall appears to have been built up, which suggests that the Hellenistic town was planned to accommodate a population much larger than the one that eventually settled there.