Architectural Networks in the North Aegean
Thasos, Samothrace, and the Formation of Hellenistic Design

William Aylward (Edited by), Jacques des Courtils (Edited by), Bonna D. Wescoat (Edited by)

9780299350109

Hardback, published 30 September 2025

320 pages, 101 b&w illustrations, 3 tables
25.4 x 20.3 x 2.2 cm, 0.454 kg

“A wealth of excellent scholarship. This is the first significant study of both ancient North Aegean architecture and its network of interconnections. Every chapter is indispensable, presenting an essential contribution to our understanding of Greek architecture in the region.” - John R. Senseny, author of The Art of Building in the Classical World

“These studies reveal a world of signature buildings set in dramatic landscapes. We learn how ancient architects managed essential challenges — moving stone, managing water — and how they put ideas into practice to monumentalize and beautify place.” - Andrea M. Berlin, Boston University

During the Hellenistic period, the North Aegean Sea was a dynamic and diverse area, linked by robust trading networks and sometimes precarious political allegiances. The islands of Thasos, Samothrace, and Lesbos in particular played crucial roles in their position between Anatolia, Macedonia, Thrace, and Greece. Migration, trade, and politics—not to mention the specifics of sites and climate—shaped the development of architecture, which pioneered many innovations that subsequently spread across the Mediterranean.

Employing the idea of networks to effectively describe the interconnectedness of design, materials, technology, religion, and politics, the contributors to this volume establish the need to understand this important region holistically and on its own terms. Taking a close look at major buildings and monuments—while considering technique, design, and decoration as elements of a vigorous web—this volume offers important insights about the area’s significance in the history of Hellenistic architecture, including lasting innovations in architectural illusion, Ionic entablature, and groundbreaking uses of marble and plaster. From the North Aegean, such principles and tactics were transmitted to the rest of the Hellenistic world, influencing Roman architecture and, from there, Western architectural history.

• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Introduction: Thasos, Samothrace, and Macedonia in the Formation of Hellenistic and Roman Design
• Part 1. Sanctuaries and Monuments
• 1. Commemorating the Sea in the Hellenistic North Aegean - Philip Katz
• 2. The Messon Temple on the Island of Lesbos: The Pseudo-dipteral Ionic Temple of Hera, Zeus, and Dionysus - Yannis Kourtzellis
• 3. The Ancient Theater of Aigai at Vergina: Previous Excavations and New Observations - Stella Drougou
• 4. The Ancient Theater at Maroneia in Thrace - Chryssa Karadima, Costas Zambas, Nikos Chatzidakis, Gerasimos Thomas, and Eirini Doudoumi
• 5. Sanctuaries of Athena in the Northern Aegean - Alice Ognier
• Part 2. Technique and Design
• 6. Putting the Marble Back in the Quarry: Visualizing the Thasian-Samothracian Network That Built the Propylon of Ptolemy II - Samuel Holzman
• 7. Particularities of the Northwest Stoa in the Agora of Thasos - Tony Kož
  elj and Manuela Wurch-Kož
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• 8. Water Management and Monumentality on Thasos and Samothrace - Andrew Farinholt Ward and Vincent Baillet
• 9. The Window in Northern Aegean Architecture: Integration of Openings in Thasian and Samothracian Buildings - Marietta Dromain
• 10. Technical Innovation and Building Policy in the North Aegean - Jacques des Courtils
• Part 3. Ornament
• 11. Architecture and Ornamentation in the North Aegean: Specificities, Connections, Interactions - Laurence Cavalier
• 12. The Lesbian Kyma in Northern Greece - Vincent Baillet
• 13. The Gorgon in the Architectural Decoration of the North Aegean - Madeleine Glennon
• 14 . Bucrania: The Samothracian Origins of a Significant Hellenistic Ornament - Cassandre Mbonyo-Kiefer
  
• References
• Contributors
• Index