The excavation along the eastern side of the Asclepieion revealed a wide, north-south road approximately 80 m long. The street, 12 m wide, features a built drainage channel covered by massive limestone slabs; it is bounded on the east by the Asklepieion, and to the west by a new building block that has not yet been excavated. At its intersection with the east-west street, which runs between the north side of the Asclepieion and the south side of the Agora, a rectangular limestone base was uncovered in situ, 6.50 m from the northeast corner of the Ecclesiasterion, a rectangular limestone base with a circular notch in the center of its upper edge for the insertion of a column, which was found nearby and erected on the base. It is 1.358 m high, has a lower diameter of 0.48 m, and bears the following four-line inscription on its upper part:
Artemiti
Dionysios
of Dorias
, Dionysodoros.
A stone hekataios, 0.73 m high, depicting Artemis in three different forms around a small column, was found next to the inscribed column, on top of which it had apparently been mounted with the addition of a capital.
The Christian Settlement
to the northeast and east of the Asklepieion, along the road, a densely built residential complex came to light, which forms part of a settlement dating to the 5th–7th centuries CE, which extended into the Archive Hall of the Asclepieion. The settlement continues southward along the entire length of the eastern road, as well as northward into the Agora area, where, based on scattered architectural fragments, at least two early Christian basilicas must have stood. This settlement includes the more than forty Christian tombs that have been uncovered over time to the northwest and north of the Asclepieion, along with vases and bronze brooches characteristic of the period as grave goods. Scattered Christian tombs were also found among the buildings, where fragments of marble Christian tomb inscriptions were discovered. The walls of the Christian dwellings were roughly constructed with various types of stones, fragments of architectural elements (originating from the west wing of the Asclepieion and the surrounding Hellenistic structures), and fragments of inscriptions and sculptures. Among these, the limestone torsos of two female statues dating to the mid-2nd century B.C. stand out.
The Burial Enclosure
On the eastern edge of the street, opposite the Asclepieion, an elongated burial enclosure was identified, defined by a row of ten upright stones set on a three-tiered stepped base. Inside the enclosure, a series of box-shaped tombs with walls made of monolithic slabs was uncovered. Above the upright columns, a row of epistylia survives without their capitals, which are thought to have taken the form of cornices. The epistylia bear inscriptions on their facades listing the names of the deceased buried inside the monument, which was constructed in the first half of the 2nd century B.C. by the city of Messene in honor of twelve initially prominent deceased individuals, seven men and five women. Their names were inscribed simultaneously in a row with carefully crafted letters on the two central epistylia: “Neon, Thrasylocchus, Antisthenes, Polystratus, Polyander, Polycrates, Theba, Thelxippa, Gorgoi, Lysoi, Arestrata, Nicotelis.” Neon and Thrasylocchus were members of the well-known pro-Macedonian family of the Philiaids. Antisthenes and Polystratus are related to the family of the Messinian Olympic champion wrestler Antisthenes Polystratus of the 3rd/2nd century BC. The deceased, who were honored with the erection of a funerary monument within the city walls, in a prominent location across from the entrance to the Asclepieion, likely fell in battle against Demetrius Pharius, who attempted to capture Messene in 214 B.C.; women also participated in that battle. Alternatively, they may have fallen during the attempt by Navi of Sparta to capture Messene in 201 B.C. The names of later deceased individuals, both men and women, are inscribed in no particular order at various points on the monument’s façade.
The graves contained the skeletons of the interred, accompanied by quite rich grave goods: clay and glass vessels, metal objects, gold jewelry, and bone pins, some of which are shaped like theatrical masks, a lyre, and a pinecone. Three lead urns from the 1st century B.C. contained the cremated remains of the dead.
Hall with Marble Inlays
About 80 m east of the Asclepieion, two rooms of a large building from the late Roman period were uncovered; its northern wall, 0.90 m thick, was uncovered over a length of 20 m, while the eastern wall, 0.60 m thick, was uncovered over a length of 15 m. The interior walls are faced with marble. The floor of the northernmost hall is paved with large rectangular limestone slabs, which frame a marbles-inlaid floor (opus sectile) made of multicolored marbles and stones arranged in geometric patterns. The floor of the southernmost room is paved with multicolored mosaics from the 2nd/3rd century AD.
A thick layer of debris containing stones, lime mortar, bricks, roof tiles, marble fragments (many of which belong to shattered statues), hundreds of iron nails from the roof beams, charred pieces of wood, and ashes covered the floor of the northern hall. The coins date the building’s destruction to the last decades of the 4th century AD, shortly after 360 AD. A fallen marble statue of Artemis was found within the destruction layer, broken into ten related fragments lying around the torso. The absence of a pedestal and the circumstances of the statue’s fall, as well as the absence of any trace of a base on the floor and the great thickness of the northern wall, combined with the small dimensions of the work (height 1.34 m), lead to the conclusion that it was most likely set in a wall niche along with two other statues, one of Hermes and one depicting an emperor. The statue of Artemis is the most complete surviving copy of the Lafria type.
