| The‘ lively’ streets of classical Olynthos |
Figure 2. Left: the axial analysis; Right: visibility graph( both created with Depthmap)
avenues. This suggests that the movement of people in north-south direction might have exceeded movement in other directions on the North Hill. The visibility graph, then, demonstrates that, although the range of colours on the map is not far apart and there are only a few highly visible areas, Avenue B probably had the highest visible importance compared to the other streets.
Movement through the city In his book on Olynthian household and city organisation Nicholas Cahill claims that‘ One can easily imagine this avenue [ Avenue B ] as a lively, bustling thoroughfare with significant interaction between the household and the public streets, with the shops acting as intermediary spaces, accessible both to the stranger from without and to the household from within the house. This avenue thus formed an important commercial artery of the city, a sort of economic axis through the town, similar to the‘‘ Westtorstraße’’ at Priene.’( Cahill 2002, 274). This statement is based on evidence from Robinson’ s excavations in 1928-1938, which excludes Avenue C, as only a little part of it has been excavated( fig. 1). The axial analysis, however, demonstrates that
Avenue C would have had more natural movement opportunities than Avenue B and could therefore have been an even livelier thoroughfare. Future excavations in and around this avenue could provide remarkable information as this avenue probably carried the bulk of movement flows. Subsequently, it turns out that the avenues in general were more prone to movement flows than the streets. This could suggest a good connection between the earlier settlement on the South Hill and the newer constructed residential area on the North Hill.
The visibility graph reveals that the city’ s grid does not seem to give a specifically high rate of visibility to one place over another. This could suggest an ideal of equality( isonomia) in the area’ s organisation and, thus, perhaps between its inhabitants. Archaeologists Hoepfner and Schwandner recognised a form of equality in the adoption of the so-called‘ pastas’ house type( Hoepfner and Schwandner 1994, 73). This seems, however, contradicted by the housing prices in Olynthos, known from inscriptions. These indicate significant differences between the house values( Nevett 2000, esp. 338-339; Cahill 2002, 276-281). Westgate argues
2016 | INTER-SECTION | VOL II | p. 39