Athens Alexandria
Between Athens & Alexandria
2022-2024
Principal Investigator: Irini-Fotini Viltanioti
Start date: 1 January 2022, End date: 31 December 2024
Hosted by: Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece
The study of the ancient and medieval worlds at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies dates already to its foundation, with the pioneering research of Grigoris Sifakis in classical philology conducted during the 1980s. Building on this legacy, and supplementing its research strengths in fields like Ottoman history, Mediterranean history and urban history, the IMS has decided to enhance the study of antiquity and Byzantium by inviting a number of collaborating faculty members and postdoctoral researchers to pursue their research projects at the IMS. As a result of this initiative, the Department of the Ancient and Byzantine World was founded in 2019. Despite its recent foundation, the Department has developed prodigiously to cover five major fields: ancient history, ancient literature, ancient philosophy, prehistoric archaeology and Byzantine archaeology.
During its short history, the Department has already attracted four funded research projects, and one international research collaboration:
- Amorium urban archaeology project
- NAYS: Promotion and material and technical documentation of the Greek shipbuilding tradition and naval history - the battles of Navarino and Salamis
- Byzantine agricultural landscape across the Aegean: historical analysis of the landscapes of Messene in the Peloponnese and Amorium in Asia Minor
- Leaders and crisis management in ancient Greek literature
- Between Athens and Alexandria: Platonism, 3rd-7th century CE
The Department has also organised two international conferences and multiple workshops and other activities. It is also hosting the research group Neolithic Meetings, which aims to foster dialogue and collaboration among scholars working on issues of current archaeological research, methodology and theory about Neolithic Period in Greece
- The members of the Department share a common interest in the renovation of their respective fields through the pursuit of novel theoretical and methodological approaches and the pursuit of interdisciplinarity. The research activities of the Department have included the employment of novel conceptual tools, like social network theory, and its application to ancient and medieval studies; the interdisciplinary collaboration between classical philology, modern leadership studies, political theory and Digital Humanities; and the entanglement between Geographical Information Systems, medieval rural archaeology and Byzantine history. This is further enhanced through the close collaboration with other departments within IMS, like the Laboratory of Geophysical-Satellite Remote Sensing and Archaeo-Εnvironment and the Centre of Maritime History.
- Furthermore, the Department aims to advance research in the ancient and Byzantine worlds by focusing on issues/themes that have been neglected in the research of Greek academia, while also fostering international collaboration with existing foreign institutes that have cultivated these issues intensively. Among our current research, this includes the history of ancient slavery and the study of ancient Neoplatonist philosophy. Our members are pioneers in current research in these fields, and aim to use their research outputs and knowhow and their participation in international research communities and networks in order to create within the Department global clusters of excellence and collaboration in their respective fields.
- Finally, the Department has accorded major importance to its educational and outreach activities. A number of graduate students have been trained and have worked or are currently working in the research projects hosted by the Department, while we have also been keen to use the international collaborations and exchange agreements between IMS and various foreign institutions in order to attract graduate students to conduct part of their research at the facilities of the IMS and under the supervision of members of the Department. This also includes a series of international summer schools on the history and archaeology of ancient Crete addressed to undergraduate and graduate students from across the globe, as well as a series of events (movie projections with discussion) on Cinema and History.
People
Melina Tamiolaki
Associate Professor in Ancient Greek Literature
University of Crete
Curriculum vitae 
Irini-Fotini Viltanioti
Αssociate Professor of Ancient Philosophy
University of Crete
Curriculum vitae 
Alumni
Research Projects
LACRIMALit
Leaders and Crisis Management in Ancient Greek Literature
2022-2025
Principal Investigator: Melina Tamiolaki, Dept. of Philology UoC
Host Institution: IMS/FORTH
Collaborating Institution: University of Crete
BALAA
Byzantine Agricultural Landscape Across the Aegean: Historical Analysis of the Landscapes of Messene in the Peloponnese (GR) and Amorium in Asia Minor (TR)
2021-2023
Principal Investigator: Nikos Tsivikis
Collaborating Institutions: Anadolu University, Eskişehir and Society for Messenian Archaeological Studies
NAYS
Promotion and material and technical documentation of Greek shipbuilding and naval history – the naval battles of Salamis and Navarino
2018-2021
The aim of this project is to highlight Greek maritime heritage with the creation of three exhiibtions in Eugenidis Foundation in Athens.
AMORIUM
Amorium Urban Archaeology Project
2013
Amorium Urban Archaeology Project is a multi-disciplinary archaeological project focused on understanding the evolution of the urban settlement and the social relationships through the study of built space in Byzantine Amorium.
- Historical Change in the Ancient Aegean
A conference in honour of John K. Davies
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx-uPIngdVWGa22WG8Uc09zTaBGZwhiju -
Διεθνές συνέδριο
Η Κύρου Ανάβασις του Ξενοφώντα και η πρόσληψή της από την αρχαιότητα έως τους νεώτερους χρόνους
19-21 Οκτωβρίου 2018, Επιμελητήριο Ηρακλείου (Αίθουσα Καστελλάκη)«Θάλαττα! Θάλαττα!», αναφώνησαν οι Έλληνες μισθοφόροι, όταν, επιστρέφοντας από τα βάθη της Περσικής αυτοκρατορίας, αντίκρισαν τη θάλασσα από τις παρυφές του όρους Θήχη. Είχαν ακολουθήσει τον Κύρο τον Νεώτερο στην εκστρατεία του εναντίον του αδελφού του, βασιλιά Αρταξέρξη· όμως ο Κύρος σκοτώθηκε στη μάχη στα Κούναξα, και έτσι οι Έλληνες βρέθηκαν να περιπλανιούνται στο εχθρικό έδαφος της Περσικής αυτοκρατορίας, μέχρι να κατορθώσουν, μετά από πολλές δυσκολίες, να επιστρέψουν στην πατρίδα τους. Ανάμεσα στους μισθοφόρους που ακολούθησαν τον Κύρο ήταν και ο Αθηναίος ιστορικός Ξενοφών, ο οποίος, στο έργο του Κύρου Ανάβασις, αφηγήθηκε με γλαφυρότητα τις περιπέτειες των Ελλήνων και το ταξίδι της επιστροφής τους.
Από την αρχαιότητα έως τους νεώτερους χρόνους η Κύρου Ανάβασις γοητεύει τους αναγνώστες της: ως λογοτεχνικό αριστούργημα (όπως το χαρακτήρισε ο Γίβων), ως πολιτική και ιδεολογική πρόταση, ως ιστορική συμβολή, ως ένα πρώτο δείγμα στρατιωτικής αυτοβιογραφίας. Το διεθνές συνέδριο με τίτλο Anabases in Antiquity and Beyond. Xenophon’s Anabasis and its Legacy έχει στόχο να αναδείξει τις ποικίλες ερμηνευτικές προσεγγίσεις που γεννά η Κύρου Ανάβασις, καθώς και να διερευνήσει την επιρροή που άσκησε στη μεταγενέστερη λογοτεχνία, πολιτική σκέψη, εικονογραφία, ακόμα και στον κινηματογράφο. Το συνέδριο θα πραγματοποιηθεί στο Επιμελητήριο Ηρακλείου. Θα ξεκινήσει στις 19 Οκτωβρίου, ώρα 3.30 μ.μ. και θα διαρκέσει έως τις 21 Οκτωβρίου το απόγευμα. Θα συμμετάσχουν 22 επιστήμονες από την Ελλάδα και το εξωτερικό. Γλώσσα των εργασιών θα είναι η αγγλική.
Η εκδήλωση υποστηρίζεται από τον Ειδικό Λογαριασμό Κονδυλίων Έρευνας (ΕΛΚΕ) του Πανεπιστημίου Κρήτης και από την Περιφέρεια Κρήτης. Για το πρόγραμμα του συνεδρίου, μπορείτε να δείτε τον παρακάτω σύνδεσμο:
http://www.philology.uoc.gr/conferences/Xenophons_Anabasis_&_its_Legacy_2018/Programme.pdf
‘Neolithic Meetings’ is a reading group focusing in the promotion of Neolithic Archaeology in Greece. Its main focus is the dialogue, working thought and feedback on issues of current archaeological research, methodology and theory about Neolithic Period in Greece. The discussions of the group aim at a critical understanding of new theories and methodologies applied in Neolithic case or synthetic studies, in order to establish an approach framework for past societies utilizing up-to-date research tools from theoretic and scientific backgrounds. During the meetings, the group members touch upon issues of archaeological theory application through specific methodologies in order to deeply understand the currently produced archaeological knowledge regarding the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean regions. Thematic circles under discussion include: landscape archaeology, archaeology of the household, gender archaeology, neolithisation processes, daily life, economy, natural environment, production circulation or mobility networks etc.
The Neolithic Meetings are held by an interdisciplinary group of Postdoctoral Researchers, specialising in varied fields, such as landscape archaeology, geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology, organic remains, material culture studies like pottery, figurines, architectural remains and tool typologies. The affiliations of the group members include: the University of Crete, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Cyprus, as well as the Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the Cyprus Institute, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. The group is supported by the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS/FORTH) at Rethymno, which provides the digital platform for the meetings (ZOOM). The meetings are held once per month and focus on chosen archaeological papers respective of the thematic circles. In the future, the group aims at holding an open lecture at the end of each thematic circle given by invited international researchers, who work on relevant domains, thus establishing a series of annual lectures about the Neolithic period and the various theoretic or scientific tools for its approach.
- Summer School 2020 (Postponed)
The Lost World of Ancient Crete
- Summer School 2019
The Lost World of Ancient Crete