Byzantine Kastra in the Dark Ages: the case of Oria Kastro on Kythnos

Christianna Veloudaki
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Abstract

During the first three centuries after the founding of the Eastern Empire, the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea knew a period of relative calm and prosperity, acting as supply stations for vessels following the sea routes to and from Constantinople. Most of them had flourishing maritime market towns that functioned as processing and exporting centres. From the 7th century onwards, however, it can be observed that many of these ancient coastal cities either shrank dramatically in size or were gradually abandoned and the so-called kastra, i.e. fortified settlements built on top of remote hilltops, took their place. Little is known about this transitional period (7th-9th century AD) in the Aegean world as there are barely any written sources and most of the ancient cities and the Byzantine kastra in the Cyclades remain undocumented. Consequently, the beginning of the transition process and the exact causes behind it remain unclear. Pirate raids and the Arab threat after the 640s are the reasons traditionally put forward by Greek and foreign scholars, however, recent studies suggest that the Arab fleets are unlikely to have been a serious threat to the islands before the occupation of Crete by the Andalus Muslims in AD 827.
黑暗时代的拜占庭卡斯特罗:基思诺斯岛上的奥里亚·卡斯特罗
在东罗马帝国建立后的前三个世纪,爱琴海上的基克拉迪群岛经历了一段相对平静和繁荣的时期,为来往君士坦丁堡的海上船只提供补给。其中大多数都有繁荣的海上集镇,作为加工和出口中心。然而,从7世纪开始,我们可以观察到,许多古老的沿海城市要么规模急剧缩小,要么逐渐被遗弃,取而代之的是所谓的“卡斯特拉”,即建立在偏远山顶上的强化定居点。人们对爱琴海世界的这个过渡时期(公元7 -9世纪)知之甚少,因为几乎没有任何书面资料,而且基克拉迪群岛上的大多数古代城市和拜占庭城堡都没有记录在案。因此,过渡进程的开始及其背后的确切原因仍然不清楚。海盗袭击和阿拉伯人的威胁是希腊和外国学者传统上提出的原因,然而,最近的研究表明,在公元827年安达卢斯穆斯林占领克里特岛之前,阿拉伯舰队不太可能对这些岛屿构成严重威胁。
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