Paestum — Poseidonia

Paestum — Ποσειδωνία — Poseidonia

The population of Greece outgrew the country's agricultural system, and so in the 8th century BCE Greece began establishing colonies all around the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Most of the coast of the Italian peninsula from Napoli south, plus the entire island of Sicily, was settled by colonists from Greece beginning in the eighth century BCE. It was "Greater Greece", Μεγάλη Ελλάδα or Megáli Elláda, and Poseidonia or Ποσειδωνία was one of its major cities.

The Romans later called the area of Greek settlements Magna Graecia, and they renamed Poseidonia as Paestum.

Now you can visit and see three Greek temples from about 550–450 BCE in excellent condition. Plus, the ancient city's broad grid of streets with ruins of homes, baths, and public buildings.

Paestum is south of Salerno, easily visited on a day trip from there. Or, with a little more public transport at the beginning and end of the day, from the Amalfitani coast or from Napoli.

Greek settlers began to colonize Sicily and the Italian peninsula in the 8th century BCE. Late in that century, in 720 BCE, Greek colonists founded Sybaris near the southern tip of Italy. Sybaris was a raging success, its name is the origin of sybaritic, sybarite, and similar terms about pleasure and wretched excess.

Portion of a map of Greek and Phoenecian settlements from the 1911 Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin. Pink is Ionian Greeks, blue is Dorian Greeks, grey is other Greeks, light purple faded to a lighter grey (e.g., African coast) is Phoenician.

The nearby rich farmland and the busy port let Sybaris grow. It then founded colonies of its own, including Poseidonia around 600 BCE.

Poseidonia flourished for two centuries, then fell to the Oscan-speaking Lucanian tribal people in 400 BCE. Just as at Pompeii, the Greek and Oscan cultures thrived together. The Lucanians renamed the city Paistos.

Rome took control of the city and surrounding territory in 273 BCE, establishing a colony and re-naming the city Paestum. It remained a prosperous Roman city for centuries, but declined throughout the fourth through seventh centuries CE. Drainage had changed and the river had silted up, leading to swampy conditions and malaria. The city was finally abandoned after being sacked by Arab raiders in 871 CE, and soon was mostly forgotten.

Pompeii and Herculaneum were rediscovered in the 1700s, bringing historians' attention to this area. Paestum was rediscovered. It was in unusually good condition because it had been totally abandoned and used only a limited amount as a quarry for cut stone. The site is renowned for its three Doric style temples still in excellent shape.

Reaching Paestum

There's a train in each direction roughly every hour between Salerno and the Paestum station. Several trains per hour pass rapidly through the Paestum station without slowing down.

From the station it's a short walk to the entrance to the site. It's not quite 700 meters, less than a ten-minute walk.

Entering Paestum

I entered the site close to the First Temple of Hera, at left, and the more complete Second Temple of Hera, at right. One group of school children is lined up and entering the second temple, another group is seated on the ruins of the altar of the second temple, just left of center.

Yes, the altar is well outside of the temple, to its east, in front of the temple. Greek temple architecture shared many features with other cultures around the Mediterranean, east through Mesopotamia, and elsewhere.

Temples had their front toward the east, facing out over the altar toward the rising Sun. A temple contained a nested structure within it, a sanctuary which served as the deity's dwelling place.

The deity could look out from their dwelling, out through the surrounding temple structure, and see the rising Sun and the sacrifices made on the altar to honor or appease or otherwise worship the deity.

Here's the view from close to the left front corner of the Second Temple of Hera. Notice the sanctuary structure built on the temple's floor within the rectangle formed by the outer columns.

Notice that the inner structure is built on its own raised floor. In a Greek temple this inner sanctuary is called the ναός or naós.

This temple, the Second Temple of Hera, was probably built around 460 BCE and is the best-preserved temple at Paestum. Some writers have described it as the best-preserved Greek temple overall.

Temple Design

The outer temple contains a more sacred sanctuary within it. Many cultures have built temples using this design.

Below is a plan of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the Jewish First Temple, believed to have existed from the 10th century BCE until it was destroyed by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II's siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. King Solomon is thought to have ruled 970–931 BCE over a unified Kingdom of Israel and Judah, although scholars debate his domain's actual extent and influence and opulence. The Hebrew Bible has a detailed description of his Temple's design and dimensions. It was built to store the Ark of the Covenant, holding the original tablets of the Ten Commandments and providing a dwelling place for the one Hebrew God. North is up on this map. The temple opens to the east, overlooking the Altar of Burnt Offerings within the inner Temple Court.

Plan of Soloman's Temple of 10th to 6th century BCE from John Henry Wright's A History of All Nations From the Earliest Times; Being a Universal Historical Library, 1905, via Wikipedia.

Just the temple and the two surrounding courts. Notice the large altar out in front of the temple, and the three chambers within the temple's sanctuary:
Innermost with "T",
Central with "EMPL", and
Outermost with "E".
The inner sanctuary is surrounded by small storage rooms.

You reached the temple by passing through two layers of surrounding walls. Each passage through a gateway was a transition into an increasingly holy space, the same as in any other religious architecture.

The temple had an outer rectangle of walls supporting a roof, and within that, a windowless rectangular structure. Its only opening was a doorway at the front.

The deity's dwelling place was within the innermost chamber of that structure, from which there was a view out through the temple to the altar, and the rising Sun beyond.

Starting to move inward through the temple's inner structure, the ulam or porch of the Jewish First Temple had two bronze pillars named Jachin and Boaz.

The porch led to the largest chamber, the heikal, the sanctuary. At its far end a wooden door guarded by two cherubim led to the Holy of Holies.

The Kodesh HaKodashim or the Holy of Holies, the "Inner House", had roughly 20 metric tons of gold on the floor and walls. It contained two cherubim carved from olive wood, with wings spread out to touch the walls and touch each other's at the room's center.

The Ark of the Covenant, containing the original tablets of the Ten Commandments, was below the touching cherubim wings at the center of the Holy of Holies. The Ark had a lid made of pure gold, called the "mercy seat". This was the space for the Shekhinah, the dwelling-place of God. 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles describe how Solomon brought the Ark to the Temple and had the priests place it inside the Holy of Holies.

Once the Ark was placed there, only the High Priest of Israel could enter the Holy of Holies, and only on Yom Kippur, and only while carrying the blood of a sacrificial lamb and burning incense.

Under later rulers, other deities began to also be worshiped at the Temple — Ba'al, Hadad, El and his consort Asherah, Dagon, and others. The Hebrew people practiced monolatry or henotheism, in which many gods exist but they worship primarily or only one of them. As one of the Ten Commandments says, "You shall have no other gods before me", not simply "no other gods" at all.

Josiah took the throne in 643 BCE when he was just eight years old. The Hebrew Bible records that in the eighth year of his reign, 635 BCE, he "began to seek the God of his father [meaning ancestor] David." In the twelfth year of his reign, 631 BCE, he began a program of destroying "high place" altars and other objects associated with worship of all deities other than Yahweh.

In ancient Greece, the inner temple was the ναός or naós, and the outer porch or antechamber was the πρόναος or prónaos, or possibly the νάρθηξ or nárthex. The Holy of Holies in a Greek temple was the ἅδῠτον or ádyton. It would house the cult image of the deity, and it was a space restricted to the oracles, priestesses, priests, and acolytes.

The Romans changed many terms into Latin, and then terminology evolved further in western Christian architecture.

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Shintō shrines in Japan have an analogous nested architecture. The honden or main hall is the most sacred structure, typically at the rear of the shrine, dedicated to use by the enshrined kami or spirit. The go-shintai, a temporary repository or carrier of the enshrined kami, is kept there. The doors to the honden are usually kept closed. Shintō priests may carry out a rite to open those doors and enter the honden to perform a ritual.

The haiden or oratory is at the front of the shrine, visible to visitors who may sometimes enter it for a ritual.

The haiden and honden are often connected by a heiden or hall of offerings.

The Second Temple of Hera

Back to Paestum and its Greek temples.

Here is a view back through the sanctuary within the Second Temple of Hera. Ἥρα or Hera, goddess of women, marriage, and family, was the sister and wife of Zeus. She was in a nearly constant state of rage over Zeus's many shenanigans.

Archaeology is often a work in progress for years or decades. This temple was thought to be dedicated to Poseidon, god of the sea, storms, and earthquakes, a reasonable hypothesis given that the city was named for that deity. The Romans renamed Poseidon as Neptune, and so you will see references to this as the "Temple of Poseidon" and the "Temple of Neptune," names dating back to before the discovery of its dedication to Hera. Then when systematic archaeology improved, the large number of votive figures of Hera found around this temple and its altar revealed that it had been dedicated to her.

Plan of the Second Temple of Hera, from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, via Wikipedia.

Above is a plan of the Second Temple of Hera. The inner structure has the full three-chamber design: prónaos, naós, and ádyton. Notice that the inner structure is centered along the front-to-rear axis. Roman temples usually moved the inner structure toward or all the way to the rear of the overall structure.

The plan shows that the inner sanctuary had solid side walls which are now missing, and rows of columns inside those walls. The two layers of colonnade topped by architraves and entablatures were within the sanctuary's solid walls.

This is the reverse view down the side of the naós. This is looking toward the east, this temple is built with the deity's view down the length of the sanctuary and out over the altar toward the rising Sun.

The Allies began the invasion of the Italian peninsula on 9 September 1943 with Operation Avalanche, landings on the beaches from Paestum to Salerno. Some medical units set up within the three large temples, hoping that the Nazi defenders wouldn't shell ancient temples. They were joined by some communication and other headquarters units.

Department of the Army photo via Wikipedia showing a communications unit set up within the temple in 1943. On the right side, seated by the columns, front to back: Sgts. James Shellman, Gilbert A. Terry, John W. Phoenix, Curtis A. Richardson, and Leslie B. Wood. On the left, standing, front to back: T/Sgt. Gordon A. Scott, M/Sgt. Walter C. Jackson, Sgt. David D. Jones, and WO Carlyle M. Tucker.

The altar is in front of the temple, aligned with the line down the center of the naós. An animal would be slaughtered on the altar, and a portion carried inside to be placed on a much smaller altar within the naós.

The First Temple of Hera

The First Temple of Hera is less complete. It stops at the architrave directly on the column tops. It was built in the 6th century BCE, probably around 550 BCE.

This temple was called "The Basilica" when it was initially thought to be a public building with aisles formed by internal rows of columns. Then it was recognized as a temple but misattributed to Poseidon, later called Neptune.

Here is the First Temple of Hera with the Second Temple in the background. Both are of the Doric order. So is the Parthenon, built 447–438 BCE in Athens.

Sei qui is Italian for "You are here", and this sign and the reader stand close to the front right corner of the temple. Front to back, right to left here, are the prónaos, naós (called cella here), and ádyton. Notice the row of columns down the center of the naós. This temple also faces east, with a large altar about 30 meters in front of it.

This is the view from the extreme rear of the temple, just inside the outer perimeter of columns. The broad stones below are the base of the rear wall of the ádyton. Just beyond that, the rectangle of grass is the chamber of the ádyton. Toward the far end, the front, we're looking straight down the row of columns along the centerline of the naós.

This was the ádyton, the limited-access space where a statue or other cult image or symbol of the deity was kept. Hera might be symbolized by a representation of a pomegranate, or possibly a cow, cuckoo, or peacock.

Stepping to the left, to the rear corner of the ádyton, we see the columns down the center of the naós, and how that row aligns with a column at the front of the prónaos and also one of the outer surrounding columns.

This arrangement blocks the deity's clear line of sight, out through the naós and prónaos and over the altar. This is a relatively archaic temple design. In the following classical period, there were no obstructing columns on the central axis.

The City of Poseidonia

The ancient city of Poseidonia and then Paestum covered an area of about 120 hectares. Only 25 hectares that contain the three main temples, the forum, and other main buildings is within the park area and has been excavated. The remaining 95 hectares are outside the site and on privately owned land.

Bricks are a sign that this is a relatively newer structure, a Roman bath house.

It includes a Latin mosaic.

Homes With Swimming Pools

A palatial home had a large swimming pool.

Another home has a smaller swimming pool, with a mosaic of many fish.

The Sanctuary of Venus Verticordia

This structure is unusual. The most commonly accepted explanation is that it's a Roman sanctuary where rituals centered on Venus Verticordia, "The Turner of Hearts". That goddess was originally one of the many epithets of the Greek Aphrodite or Αφροδίτη — Aphrodite Apostrophia, "Aphrodite of Turning Away".

The Romans believed that Venus Verticordia could redirect either virgins or sexually active women away from libido or dissolute desire toward pudicitia or sexual virtue. This redirection was not intended to suppress sexual desire, but to encourage its positive expression within marriage.

The pool would have been filled with water. Then this stone structure with 73 pilasters would have provided an almost-awash base for temporary wooden structures used while performing rituals for Venus Verticordia. The celebrations were part of Verneralia, celebrated at the first of April, continuing through the month. Participants would carry a statue of the goddess in a procession, then immerse it in this pool to wash it. Once washed, the statue would be wrapped in precious clothing and decorated with flowers and jewelry.

Then the women would remove their clothes and bathe repeatedly. The married women would give hints and tips and advice to the young virgins.

Or, according to a less popular hypothesis, maybe this was a grain storage facility.

The Heroön

A heroön is a shrine dedicated to a hero, commemorating the hero and possibly used in cult worship of the hero. It could be the hero's tomb, or it could be a cenotaph, an empty tomb, like this one.

The hero still lived, in a way, he was imagined to share in the feasts in his honor. Offerings and worship for the hero could allow living cult members to tap into his power lingering in this place.

The heroön here was for an unknown figure, possibly the city's founder. It's a low stone structure with a gable roof, and it was built and buried in a tumulus or earthen mound around 510 BCE. The construction — a stone structure within a conical earth mound — along with the mystery as to who it commemorates made me think of the kofun megalithic tombs of Japan.

Its burial and the rapid abandonment of the site protected the heroön. It wasn't looted, and its contents are now in the local museum.

Temple of Athena

The Temple of Athena was completed around 500 BCE. It's on a small natural rise that they enlarged with a terrace of stones. It's dedicated to Ἀθηνᾶ or Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, symbolized by an owl or an olive tree.

Early scholars also misattributed this temple, initially believing it to be dedicated to Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility known as Ceres to the Romans.

This is the first known temple to blend elements of the Doric and Ionic architectural orders.

The Temple of Athena is the smallest of the three well-preserved temples at Paestum, and of a simpler overall design. It is 33×15 meters, versus the 60×25 meters of the Second Temple of Hera.

The structure was used as a church in the eighth century CE. The sanctuary structure was removed, and short wall segments built between the outer columns to form solid walls. The ambulatory formed along the south side was used for burials.

All those modifications were undone during excavations immediately after World War II.

Its large altar stands well out in front of the temple.

Bouleterion or Ekklesiasterion?

A democratic Greek city-state had an ekklesia, a popular assembly, and its meeting place was the ἐακλησιαστήριον or ekklesiasterion.

It would also have a smaller βουλή or boulē, a council of citizens, meeting in a βουλευτήριον or bouleutērion.

Given the limited size of this structure compared to the estimated population of Poseidonia, this is probably a bouleutērion and not an ekklesiasterion. There are seats for 1,100 to 1,700 people, but it was built in 480–470 BCE, when the population is estimated to have been 15–20,000 people.

1943 Landing Beaches — Nothing to See

It's a walk of only about 1.5 kilometers to the beach where the Allies, specifically the U.S. 36th Infantry Division, landed in September 1943.

However, this landing beach is nothing at all like the ones in Normandy, there are no historic remnants to see.