| : ... Can you hear me? Good evening, children. I want you to know, those of you who are listening to us for the first time, in the lessons we have been doing for 11 years, this year we are in the 12th teaching period, we say, children, hello children. Hello children. The lessons are being conducted normally, they do not have a participatory or instructive nature, not even commonalities and typicalities, but they are essential. But I want, today, I do not know if there is any other mayor here, is there anyone else? I would like to mention two friends of mine, who were creative mayors, with a nature that values politics. Michalis Dodakopoulos at Siderokastro, and without underestimating Michalis, Petros Petridis, who was mayor of Amfipoli, when the area became a capital of Capodistria, and left his creations there. I want to tell you that today is the third lesson. We do not do it for a figure, because Amfipoli is a business class, but because this year we started the lessons with the historical Thucydides, who in beautiful texts, because he lived up here, the family had in Pangea, with the herds in Scaptia Ilia, and he describes in detail the human geography of Macedonia, the foundation and the role of Amfipoli, and the conflict of Athenians and Lacedaemonians, to control the area. Because one of those who have been wiped out by their evil, because the memorial was found here, by a man of mine, who is not in the elite of universities and of the false culture, which they claim is progressive, and he says, a bunch of fools, we made the text of Thucydides, and I suggest you see it, it is not difficult, he says clearly how Amfipoli became and the role of Amfipoli. In the next lesson, which we do in front of Maxime, we will continue these texts of Thucydides, where Brasidas fought the Peloponnesians and Cleon from the Athenians, and he himself fought like a warrior and opened the way for peace. I would like to say, before I give the floor to Ariadne, I would like to thank Mr. Bazdani, the president of the library, and I would like to thank the Board of Directors, because there is a problem with Maxime, they kindly gave us this room, and we have continued the cooperation and they help us wherever they can. I would also like to say that these lessons do not have the character of moral teaching, neither to make people better nor worse. They are lessons of knowledge and contact with the thoughts in ancient Greece. The thoughts in ancient Greece are the thoughts and the products of these thoughts, be it religion, philosophy, history, or dramatic works, comedies, etc. They characterize the culture of humanity, only we put it in a false patriotism, in a false patriotism and prejudice. The ancients were progenitors, and we are ungrateful. Plato has a very nice poem, in which he says that for a man who thinks he is something, and there are positions in front of him, it is nothing more terrible than being able to honor, not because he deserves it, but because glory precedes the foundation. But here in Greece, we sold this foundation, the value of our cultural heritage, in a false patriotism, in a false patriotism, while the Greek culture is the culture of humanism, as well as the essential principles of Christian culture, and not anything else. It is an unbiased thought. It does not tell you what is right and what is wrong, it tells you to search, and whoever does not search remains stationary. Plato, in a great dialogue, said that whoever thinks he knows everything is very intelligent, or he is God, or he is a fool. Forgive me for the word. Think now, how many of us are very intelligent. This is a continuous research. That is why the Greek thought progressed, and that is why the culture of humanity progressed. When and where dogmatism existed, either politically or religiously, there were obstacles in thought, the poison of the spirit, there was treason, and we had millions of human victims, either politically or on another level. Think of fascism, think of the consequences, etc. That is why do not wait for a court, but it is right, but it is not, we are approaching it. I will continue in the next lesson, again about the amphipole. Now, about the amphipole, I told Ariadne here, who has a personal connection with the archaeologists there, if things move forward a little, we will not suggest a typical celebration, but essentially, we will invite Mrs. Peristeri, or one of her co-workers, I will suggest to the mayor, to the district mayor, etc., to come and honor her, because it is a very big event, because, as Ariadne says, this event rewrites history. Now, you know Ariadne, right? Because the area of public media has a great exposure, Ariadne is an honor for us, which expresses a very rare sound in this difficult area. She watched the excavations closely, she knows a lot of things, but she is ashamed to tell us today. She is the first journalist in Greece and worldwide who published the first report on this excavation, which was highly praised by the public, and it is one of the greatest excavations that have been made. And we do not know what else we will find. A friend of mine told me, you know, if Ariadne wants, she will tell us, something amazing. Look for the head of the Sphinx with other characters and so on, if it reminds you of anything. Ariadne, excuse me, I took a little time. You have the floor, and we will have the time to talk. I would like to thank you for the invitation, especially of course the inspiration of the lectures and the excellent teacher and very good mayor, Zisto Mitlianga, who insisted on making this presentation today, as well as my husband, Andronidou Theologi, who is up and running today and is in debt. My presentation is essentially a journalistic recording that was made through the professional joy that I had to cover for a period of about two and a half years. An excavation that eventually turned into a national discussion, but also a global struggle as to what it would give us in the end. My presentation today is essentially a chronicle of the excavation, from the moment it began, in 2011, until the moment when the large entrance with the Sphinx was discovered. In 2014, that is. During my presentation, I will focus on the first two years, that is, from the identification of the environment and the identification of the excavation within and outside the country, until the moment I told you, that is, when the entrance with the Sphinx was discovered. The presentation will be done mainly through photos and anecdotes from my personal archive. That is why I warn you that you will see my face many times, because these photos were not taken to... Yes, but the face is incredible, isn't it? But in order to be kept in the family archive, necessarily, today, with the presentation, some will be left unattended. Of course, I will use photos from the ones announced by the Ministry of Culture, with reference to the progress of the newer excavations, because from some point on, the public is informed exclusively through the Ministry of Culture. The truth is that all that comes to light allows us, every day, to solve riddles. Historical riddles, which make us rarer, make us better listeners, better readers, better citizens. They are riddles, just like those that emerged after last night's news about the discovery of the head of one of the two Sphinxes that are located at the entrance of the monument. Here, I think we can see the relevant photos that I have prepared. So, let's see the Sphinxes. It is an impressive work of art, and this is what the experts say, of perfect plasticity. In fact, contrary to the form we expected the Sphinxes to have, because, mythologically, they are demonic beings that usually guard souls. So, here, the sweet and harmonious lines of the person, their characteristics, as the mayor said earlier, some people see in them the form of Alexander the Great, the cuteness, all of these are more in line, rather in lines, rather than in demonic beings, and we do not observe any absolute threat to their expression. Sphinxes that do not have to do only with these things, but also the reason that this head was found 15 meters away from her body, in the so-called Red Sea, which separates it from the rest, that is, the one we admired earlier, the capture of Persephone and Karyatidon, which is further ahead. So, it separates it from the rest, this place where the head was found, this grand, heavy, marble door, the classic one we see in the Macedonian tombs. It was also found there, in Amfipoli, only here, this door was found broken, with its pieces being found, half of them, in the hall with the and the others where the head was found, in the Red Hall. In the middle, since it was covered with layers of rusted sand. The archaeologists said from the beginning that this monument was buried, that is, it was filled with sand, from the moment those who were buried were buried there, one or more. And this is because the soil check showed that it is rusted sand, and according to the rules, in the 23 centuries that this monument exists, it fell from some of the rubble and filled the space. And I want you to think how much soil is buried in a hall, like this last one, the so-called red one, after I tell you its dimensions. It is a hall, compare it with something you know, for example, your living room. It is six and a half meters high. So, after the archaeologists emptied five and a half meters of soil, they found the head. I say this because there is a big debate about whether this monument, this tomb, was visited by the North in the ancient years or by the archaeologists in the newer ones. I note that the announcement of the Ministry of Culture, when the archaeologists entered the red hall for the first time, the last one we are talking about, the first thing they announced was that the surface of the soil did not have any signs of violation or visit, in other words, to someone in the past or in the later past or in the recent past. Of course, for this tomb, because I started the subject, as I told you before, but I started with the timing to have a connection with what is happening now. For this particular tomb, the archaeologists' prediction is that it is a deposit, that is, it is not only the six and a half meters that the floor of the previous tombs has been removed from the center of the tomb, but it can go two meters further. The Ministry of Culture, of course, to close this unit that is introductory and current, and it is also a short report that I am doing here now, did not give us for once more the general images of the tomb that was excavated, that of the famous red one, and did not inform us yet if in these red walls, which, when they were first created, should have been impressive, we have porphyry, the porphyry color, with all the pompoms and embellishments it can do. So it did not inform us yet if performances were found, for example, in the walls, or what is happening with the one opposite the marble door, the broken wall, where, according to the announcement of the Ministry, a gate was expected, a gate with centers, not exactly opposite the marble one, a gate that would have a much smaller opening, 90 centimeters, about one and a half meters is the marble opening. In conclusion, what remains to be found in each part of this excavation is a great one, which reveals unknown historical elements about Macedonia during the Hellenistic period, about the stafic habits, and probably about the royal family itself. And here I close the quote of the Epykerotita. I would like, first of all, to orientate ourselves. So let us see where this hill is located. This is the Kastas hill. Here we see the Omoserone hill. In the south, down here, is the Anfipoli hill. And somewhere here is the hill we are talking about. Here we have a more general geomorphological image. We see the geomorphology of the area. I have highlighted all the well-known points that you can see. There is the Kastas hill. You can see its shape, as you can see from the gorge. Here is a special hill. It is hill 133. Lazaridis excavated it and found quite significant findings, Macedonian tombs, I mean. I call it unique because it has a strange shape. It is approximately square in its base. It could have been a pyramid at that time. It is carved, of course, because this hill is natural. It is not artificial, like the Kastas hill. Here they carried soil and made the hill. This one is natural. Here we have the road that takes us to the sea, the Anfipoli, of course, and the Trimona river. So we have roughly identified the hill we are talking about. I would like to tell you that for the general public, everything started on the 5th of October, 2012. On the 4th of October, the Delteo News Agency broadcasted a report, with the indication that it was exclusive. We will watch it. The remains of the Kastas hill in Anfipoli, Serres, will be caught by the thread of Macedonian history and the findings will reveal hidden wounds of the family and the environment of Alexander the Great. The discovery of a circular radius of half a kilometer from Marmarothasos, signifies great discoveries. We are in a time in the last quarter of the 4th century BC, that is, after the death of Alexander the Great, and the time that comes here after his death, the husband of Alexander the Great, Alexander the Great. The dimensions and the size of the environment that is being discovered make the famous archaeologist appreciate that we are in front of significant archaeological discoveries. At this moment, it is justified, first of all, Mrs. Peristeri, that we believed in what she told us, and we see that things are happening that are probably much greater than what we initially imagined and imagined. From Anfipoli and the expulsions of the tribes, Alexander the Great began his expedition to Asia Minor. In Anfipoli, he exported Cassander, Roxana and the little Alexander. There they were murdered. The need to continue the excavations to be funded is meant by everyone. For the area and for Greece in general, it will be an important discovery, a breath of optimism. It will boost tourism to a very high level. The Ministry of Culture and the Regional Unit of Serres are making efforts to secure European or national resources so that the researches can be completed and the secrets of the hill can be revealed further clarifying the history of Macedonia. Well, this report that we watched, which was the first transmission that something is happening here, was leaked by a user of the internet who, obviously, when he watched it, realized that something serious was happening in Anfipoli and uploaded it that day to YouTube, wherever I got it. And I say leaked because the archive of ERD... There are positions in front of you. Come here. The archive of ERD, with the transmissions of documentaries and shows, is known to have disappeared from the internet when it was closed. It was closed, but this is another story of state illegality that may be in some other conversation. So, with this report, people in Greece and abroad learned that here in Serres, in Anfipoli, a non-archaeologist found something so impressive and unique in the world. An environment, three meters high, which, based on the simplicity it presented, calculated from then on, when the first 25-30 meters had just been discovered, that the total length would be half a kilometer. You would have heard in the report that we watched, that it was transmitted from all the international networks, from CNN, from Al Jazeera. Pictures were taken from here, and were printed in all the big newspapers of the world, from India, Australia, China and Skopje, of course. You would have heard that the archaeologist Katerina Peristeri, since then, since October 2012, has been timelineing this environment and placing it at the end of the 4th century B.C. That is, around the time of Alexander the Great's death, who died in Babylon in 323 B.C. I say this because since the 12th century B.C., and until recently, we had academic scientists who placed it in the Roman era, creating a debate and a tussle in the Greek society, but also abroad, which completely focused on the essence of excavations and the importance of findings. Of course, now no one doubts the timeline, which originated from what is found every day. So, Mrs. Peristeri had no doubt when this burial monument was built. Since then. But how? You will ask, as I did. And before I tell you, I want to point out that there is no greater torture for a journalist to know the news and not, as we say, sit down and pass it on. Because I went through this in the case of the excavation, in Lofokasta. My acquaintance with Mrs. Peristeri, the archaeologist of this excavation, already from the date the report was made, she had been counting for about eight years. Because I was watching her, and she covered every excavation success since she first came to Eres as the first resident of the Archaeological Museum, that is, around 2004. And she had many successes, I must say. She discovered and excavated the ancient Verghia outside the Neoskopos, with very rich and valuable excavations from the Necropolis, a huge Necropolis, which she discovered there. These findings, the gold ones, were also exhibited here in the Archaeological Museum with the contribution of 100 years from the liberation of the city. She also discovered St. Apollo and the statue of Pan in the Black Rock in the area of the Iron Curtain. And of course she was preparing to proceed with the excavation and the excavation of the ancient theater of Amphipolis. The ancient theater of Amphipolis has not been excavated and has not been discovered. These were her plans back then, in September 2012, so suddenly, for her own reasons, she changed her mind and decided to search the Kasta hill, an excavation which finally made her pass from then on, Katerina Peristeri, into history. And I want to go back to 2010, that is, two years before this report was made. It was then that the archaeologist asked for technical help for the first time, that is, basically machines, bulldozers, trucks, but also financial support from the then mayor of Eron, Stefano Fotiadi, to start the excavation of the Kasta hill. Her idea, we must say, was immediately supported, I remember a written report I had done back then, and I recalled it in order to remember all this. It had a great impact. She liked the idea of all the service providers who could help her. She was supported by other people, the service providers, such as the head of the civil society, Vassilis Vafiadis, and others outside the Ministry of Finance, Stavros Benos, from the Diaspora. And so, suddenly, the first 20,000 euros were collected, with which she began to dig up the hill, but by digging up the civil society, with approval from the Ministry of Civilization. She began to dig up the hill from below and she began to dig up tons of soil. She began from the base of the hill, and I emphasize this, in contrast to the late Dimitris Lazaridis, who was also a collaborator, and to whom we must say, since we mention him, that we owe him the excavation of the ancient city of Amphipolis, with its wall, the ancient gymnasium, the pavilions, the Macedonian tombs, despite the great difficulties of Dimitris Lazaridis, and because there were no state structures in the 60s and 70s for the protection of our archaeological wealth, but also because there were political persecutions due to frictions of that period. In the end, however, a great excavation work, and we owe it to him as a lawmaker and as a country, a great gratitude for what he discovered in Amphipolis. So, Dimitris Lazaridis also tried to dig up the hill in 1971. He, however, started from the top. He tried to go from top to bottom. And then, while digging up, he reached some archaic tombs, and then he stopped, because it was not what he was looking for. He wanted to find something Macedonian. So, he left the hill, and went to hill 133, the one with the strange shape that I showed you, where he really dived and showed up many great Macedonian tombs, which unfortunately, even to this day, and I'm saying this about how much we use, both touristically, because not all that we have, but these tombs are not yet a popular destination for the public, some are even abandoned. So, Katerina, 40 years after Lazaridis, approached the tomb again, heretically, and she struck a balance. This antisympathetic idea of digging up, making columns parallel to the ground, that is, horizontal and not vertical, was finally justified. And the work was proceeding slowly, and stealthily. In 2011, the archaeologist is dedicated, it is the year that is dedicated exclusively to the excavation of the Kastas. The vice-principal then, the vice-principal was Giannis Moisiadis, he insures her the next 80,000 euros, the 20 have already been completed, and the effort, of course, since there is money, is being accelerated, new workers are being hired, machines are being built, we have money at our disposal, says the archaeologist, and it really proceeds, so we reach August 2012, and then, talking with her about the course of her work at the Kastas hill, I was a journalist, I asked her to show me what they were doing there. She accepted, of course, and we went together, taking the family, that is, unofficially and friendly. That is why you see the photograph, we are all together. Was it impressive? The first part of the environment had already been discovered, the northern part. The entrance, I tell you, is on the southern side. It had started from there, the northern part had been discovered. With the two lowest rows of buildings, well-worked marble, maintained strength, and as soon as they had left it in the hands of the artists, the size of the cauldron. We were counting with the marble slabs, to understand the analogies. More than half a ton each, amazing, and I want to tell you that you cannot describe what a person feels when he touches a work that has been buried for 23 centuries, which as soon as he saw the light of the sun. And for once again, I think, how lucky are these archaeologists, that they can have such a job that brings them close to all these treasures. And here are some other blueprints. Here, now, my daughter, this is her hand, shows the blueprints from the Ovidians, which, the archaeologist had said at some point, the western side of the environment is completely destroyed, and this because, on the other side, there is open access, there were the soldiers, mainly Bulgarians, who made test shots and hit the hill, of course, they didn't know what was below, but they caused damage, and even on the walls of the wall, there were the blueprints. However, nothing foresaw at this stage what would happen next. A few months later, of course, it would come to light, this part of the tomb, three meters high, a find that was nowhere to be found. And then Mrs. Peristeri told me, it is a grave, and it is very important. The next question is, what was it that I did? What grave is this? She had told me then that she was expecting a lot, that the elements showed her incredible things, a Macedonian kingdom. So then was the period when Roxani was entering into the unofficial problems, while she began to hide in the conversations and an indescribable hope for something greater, with no capital, such an environment, nowhere else. And then Mrs. Peristeri says to me, I remind you that the tomb of Philip in the Aegean did not have an environment. Unfortunately, it does not exist, neither in Macedonia nor in the Balkans. It is unique in dimensions, in the detail of construction, this tomb, the environment. The tomb is 23 meters high, with a diameter, the diameter is the straight line that passes from the center of the circle and joins and ends up on the periphery, 160 meters close. Basically it is 158.4 meters, let me round it up to make it shorter, it is 160 meters. And the environment, 3 meters marble, carved, with marble bases, with orthostates, with constructions, with beliefs, as archaeologists call them, that is, the entire construction, made of white carved marble, which in fact, it seems here, is kept in its place, here in front of the carved marble, from an opposite, that is, a transparent wall of porcelain, and in total, the thickness of this construction, if it comes to one meter and 30 centimeters, you understand why we are talking about size and what construction. It was, of course, as I told you about the timing, and in this were helped mobile inventions, very important, ceramics, and others, which we do not legalize to mention, but we imagine that they will be a part of a comprehensive scientific announcement, when it will judge the time. So, everything was confirmed that this monument was Macedonian, and in fact, the year I mentioned before, around the death of Alexander the Great, that is, from 325 to 300 B.C. But also the technical processing of the marble, the peritoneum, the tools used by the artists, the way they carved the marble, here peritoneum, let me tell you, is this film, around, that is, from the carved piece, the central part of the marble, so everything showed a very specific period, a great Macedonian kingdom, glory, and the question. I was there to ask questions. Who can order all this? Who paid for all this? And of course, for whom did all this happen? At that time, Katerina Peristeri was very calm, and not at all violent in her assessments, she did not talk much about what she was doing there, I mean publicly, she proceeded very steadily with her team, she did not force things. All of her attitude gave me the impression of someone with an attitude, who, with methodical scientific movements and nifflessness, makes the right moves, so that a child can come to the world safely. And what she was particularly concerned with, was to ensure the continuation of the project, that is, to find money, so that it does not stop. So then, in a conversation we had, I told her, let's give him publicity, I will publish it as an issue on the internet, on TV. But I may have problems with the Ministry, she told me. And at that moment, I was wondering if I should publish this great invention immediately, without my participation, or if it would be better if I tried to include it, to have it in my statements, in my issue, and obviously the second one was the best for me, because it would strengthen the value and the seriousness of my report. My conversations with her, with all modesty and consistency, and if she spoke, did not leave me any doubt that what was found there was great. We talked for hours. It was a lesson in history for me, and I will tell you that throughout this conversation, a young Indiana Jones, I felt him wanting to wake up in me, because it is very easy to collage archaeology, that is for sure. But I have the impression that at that moment, not even the Ministry had understood what was happening in Antipolis. Where, in other words, was this environment leading? Now, there were other significant excavations at the same time, in Epikratia, we say now. So, Mrs. Peristeri had her guard up for the public, the Ministry did not give any point, things stuck, whether to speak or not to speak, in the report was the archaeologist, I, of course, did not hold back, and a Wednesday morning of October 2012, after three weeks of conversation, the decision was made. So, I take my camera, we call on everyone who could get involved in this report, apart from Mrs. Peristeri, and I go on site, and the report is made, which we saw at the beginning. I want to tell you a little about how I was at that time. What I remember is that I did two hours to write my speech. Speech in the TV language is this text which is written by the journalist, and then he recites it, to guide the story, what we hear in the report. I paid attention to every word. I tried to find such words that describe, that underline, but not to be exaggerated, and not to give the public confidence, because there was no confidence then, or to wrong estimates, not to expose the work of the archaeologist, but not even the public television. I had the feeling that what I would say, would be heard by experts everywhere, not only in Greece, but also abroad. I counted every word and I was confused. Two hours. I must tell you that I always write my texts in the car. As soon as I finish with the interview and the necessary optical material, my screenwriter takes a little fresh air out of the car, and when I am ready, I call on him and we pass the sound to the camera. That day I remember that the man, our collaborator and colleague, had been waiting outside the car, in the middle of a desert, and with the background of the hill 133 on one side, and the hill Kastá on the other, but how many hours to see them, how beautiful they were. Those were two hours. So when I took my head off the map, my eyes hurt, but the report was completed, and I left for Thessaloniki. That night I played in the desert of Delft with a live connection that we did, and that is how the whole discussion about Amfipoli began. From then on, more and more followed, day after day, live connections, transport transmissions. The aim was to keep the topic warm. Then they entered the space and the other information, which of course after an investigation, and very occasionally, but I think that what had to be done, was done. The good publicity began to show in the case of this excavation. The local producers were all on the side, the suburbs, the municipality of Amfipoli. Very important support, invisible, but continuous. Money, machinery, whatever was needed. Here now, in this photo, it is an opportunity to show you some of the co-workers of Mrs. Peristeri. Here is Alekos Kohliaridis. Alekos, what would have happened without him, as far as protection is concerned? He worked 24 hours a day. Kostas Kalogiannis, meter, meter in the auxiliary constructions of the excavations. And Lakis Altsidis, here, who I remember telling me, I will enter first, and from the smallest hole that we will find, I will enter first. Co-worker, co-captain of the co-op. Worthy and very good people, tireless, as well as others who are in the small team of Katerina Peristeri, from the beginning, and who are not visible in this photo. So, after that, the local visits began. The government officials, local authorities, ministers. Here, the first visit was made by the Minister of Macedonia, Strakis. Theodoros Karaouglou. In a short time, the Minister of Culture came then, Kostas Tjavaras. The Minister of Macedonia, Strakis, estimated 50,000 euros. The Minister of Culture, then, 90,000 euros for the continuation of the excavation. The interest began to be warm, and to have good results. They also visited the Museum of Anfipoli. They were informed about the discovery. They were surrounded in the area. Katerina Peristeri, with her scientific power, managed to make everyone understand that something important is going on there, of historical and national importance, of global interest, something big, and Anfipoli began to discuss. Because you know, if something, in the modern times, is not shown by the media, it does not exist. The excavation at Lofokasta came to the fore because it was presented. Because its value appeared, we spoke about it. It became a fact, it is already there, and for those who were not close to Peristeri, they would be able to know something. The finding of the entrance to the burial monument, and what is shocking today, was still far from what we are describing now. Some even questioned the fact that there was an entrance. They spoke about a crematorium, others spoke about a grave, others said that it could be the treasure chest of Anfipoli, naturally buried, or even anything. A grave, however, is difficult. From that period, I personally keep the nefariousness of the archaeologist in her excavation. She was absolutely convinced that she would find what we see today, since then. Six months passed from the period we are referring to, and somewhere in the middle of 2013, a new person appears. He is the architect of the Ministry of Culture, and a very experienced archaeologist, Michalis Olefantzis. He became the youngest member of the small team of Katerina Peristeri, a team that was very valuable. Michalis Olefantzis makes the first announcement of surprise. Leon of Anfipoli was at the top of the hill that Katerina Peristeri excavated. Disgrace. Disgrace for those of us who knew, or probably didn't know until then, about Leon of Anfipoli. The official presentation, and the proof of this achievement, takes place at the annual conference of archaeology, which took place in Thessaloniki. The room is in the middle, it is very interesting, and then it is mentioned for the first time, apart from what I mentioned to you, it is mentioned for the first time that Perivolos and the lion is a work of Dino Kratis. Dino Kratis? Who? Who is he again? A new name falls on the table. Dino Kratis, Rodios, a personal architect, a builder, and a co-warrior of Alexander the Great. A huge architect of the Hellenistic era. And here I want to make a small paraphrase, referring to the way in which Dino Kratis came to Alexander and won his friendship and equal cooperation. This story, which I will tell you shortly, is mentioned by Plutarch in the book about Alexander the Great, but also by Vitruvius, a Roman writer, architect, and engineer, who was born much later, in 80 BC, about 220-230 years after Dino Kratis, in a book about architecture that he had written. According to the sources, Dino Kratis' plans were so great that the income of a great state would be difficult to carry out. Plutarch says, after he went to Alexander, he accused his painterly images and his marble-paintings of being the work of and humble artists. He said to him, I have thought, King, to entrust the uniformity of your body to a man who has eternal foundation and unmovable weight. That is, the mountain Athos, where it has its greatest peak and rises proudly and has symmetrical height and width and a rock of dimensions and adjustments and spaces in some form, this Athos, therefore, is capable of being processed with art and to be transformed into what is called the man of Alexander. And to be a true man, who will touch the sea with his feet, with one hand he will embrace and will guarantee the city the ability to accommodate 10,000 inhabitants, with the other hand, holding a flute, he will make a whole river flow from these peaks in the name of God, which will flow continuously and will flow into the sea. Let us leave, Alexander, the golden and velvet and elephant and the wood and the colored works, all the small and merchant images that steal them. Alexander, fascinated with the idea, continues, Vitruvius asked him if this city will be surrounded by land able to supply its population with the necessary grain to survive and if the water, of course, so as not to have a shortage. The realization, therefore, that neither the necessary land was around the river Nathos nor the supply of this famous river could be made only from the sea, made Alexander say, Dynocrates, I am pleased with the grandeur and the beauty of your plan, but I think that the creation of an abode in this place is not good. Because like a child cannot grow up without milk, but so a city cannot be maintained and develop without a large part of the population to have enough fields and enough food. So while the prototype of your plan has my approval, I reject the position that you have chosen for its execution. But I want, he said, to stay with me because I will need your services. And so began the common course of the two worlds. I want to tell you that to Dynocrates Alexander placed the design and the construction of Alexandria, which even today is considered a construction prototype. To this he also placed the construction and the design of the mortal tomb of Hephaestus. Hephaestus died a month before Alexander. According to the sources, the construction of this tomb cost 10,000 talents to Alexander. It is a huge amount. It could have been a state budget. Nothing was saved from this construction, but it belonged to Dynocrates. And also, according to the sources, he had also placed the restoration of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus. I remind you that this temple was one of the seven wonders of the world. And in fact, this temple was destroyed by Herod, who was a simple citizen, but he wanted to remain in history, to be written in the newspapers. That is why this temple was burned. And this energy was generated on the day that Alexander was born. The historians managed to find the dates and they succeeded. Alexander, perhaps, didn't even know what to say. Anyway, he left it to Dynocrates to restore it. I told this story because Dynocrates is a very important person in all these things that we admire today in Amfipoli. I will tell you more about this later, through the presentation that Michalis Olefantzis gave, because I will now return to the excavation. The architect is working with mathematical accuracy on the connection of the lion and the eagle. And in this announcement at the Archaeological Conference in Thessaloniki, he presents shocking facts and analogies, testimonies of his work. Based on what Michalis Olefantzis and Katerina Peristeri announced, the thoughts of what could be hidden in the eagle of Amfipoli, since then, have reawakened someone who wanted to think about this thing. And I have to tell you that the discovery of the whole environment had not yet been completed. The last 50-60 meters had remained, although it was not presented anywhere until then. And then winter came and everything stopped. And then I asked her, do you believe that there is real income? She answered with certainty, of course, and that's where we stopped. Of course, there is also the new technology, which had already entered the service of the archaeologist. Now, I say this so that you can understand why she was so sure that there is real income, that there is a historical monument. And the new technology, I am talking about the geoscanning, because Katrina Peristeri had the contribution of the geoprocessing professors of Tei Seron, who with the work they did gave them valuable information about the secrets of the hill. Here, of course, we see prints of the Tivou Casta, not with the technology used by Tei Seron for Peristeri's accounting, but it is a material, a print, with seismic tomographies. This had been published by Haido Kukuli, the archaeologist who was also responsible for the transport of Kavala for many years, in 2004. Since then, with methods, with seismographs, what you see here are the points where the machines were placed, the waves were sent, the print was made. You will think of it as an actinography. And it is very important that you see here that there are signs of structures in the subsoil of the hill. In the lower picture, you see here a big gap. Here, the waves, you see that they could not pass, as they pass through the soil. So here you see, apparently, a big mudslide. Since then, since 2004, Ms. Kukuli made this announcement. There were these elements, with the methods of that time, but they were never examined, they were never repaired, since the excavation was never done until Katerina Peristeri found it. Now I will present to you some very interesting points of Lefadzi's announcement at the conference. They were first published there. I did the report then, I kept these photos that we will see together. Here you see the room of the old philosophy at the Aristotle University, where the conference took place. It is at a point of the break. It was an intermediate room. There were a lot of people, maybe some of you who are here today, to be there as well. There were a lot of people who were waiting anxiously for this moment. Here, Mr. Lefadzi, first published, his announcements were about the mathematical secrets of the hill, but also the way the researcher appreciated how the marble environment was built, for which we have already made a detailed reference, but also how Leon was placed at the top of this hill. This interface of Mr. Lefadzi, whom we see here, made a reference in this room, in this position, because the first openings for the final announcement were made here first. This is indicative of how the Peristeri team works. I am glad that, as scientists, they give priority to the place where these rubies are born and they keep up to date, and since then they had contact with the heretics and they talked about what they found. This interface is important, and I want to tell you that Lefadzi himself described the hill as a mathematical maze. It shows us the existence of a Macedonian embankment. I know that it is a bit Chinese, but I will tell you that the embankment is a conventional size used by Macedonians, mathematicians and architects to draw the analogy of a harmonic construction. If you understand what I am trying to say, here, as a unit, the height of the lion was used. The height of the lion. The lion, as Mr. Lefadzi tells us, is placed two times on the base on which it was placed. If you multiply the height of the lion by five, then you will find... Wait a minute, I can't see from here. You will find the height of the lion by five. That is, the lion is placed five times on the base. And if you multiply it by 30, you will find the diameter of the circular environment. The diameter. Am I amazing? Of course. Of course. In the next presentation, we will see it, he made a graphic and presented the way of placing the marble on the circular environment with the old people of the time, with the marbles that were placed and changed after they were placed. That is, the workers worked on the spot. The ships brought with floating platforms thousands of marble from the port of Thassos. They came to Amfipoli, which at that time was a port, of course with a floating steering wheel. In the next presentation, Mr. Lefadzi gives us an image of the way of placing the lion on the top of the dome. And how the marble of the base was changed. Can you see the chandeliers? Let me tell you that the research of Mr. Lefadzi in collaboration with Mrs. Peristeri resulted in finding 400 more marbled marble, architectural marble, around the statue in the place where it is now, but also the chandelier on the lake, along the entire length of the river, which belong to the circumference of the dome. No one has collected them yet. If you go to the chandelier, the locals will show you the place where they have been placed since then. Probably since the time of... Yes. The war. The second one. In 1935, the lake was dried up and became a chandelier. And here we have a closer picture of the same works. You can see that he brought detailed representations with shields and chandeliers. Here, below, we see in the next picture the completed lion on his dome, noting that in this view, the architect ended up after studying the marble that he found not only in the chandelier, but also in the chandelier in general. And here, in this picture, the depiction helps us to understand the size of the monument, in the next one, because the comparison is made with the person below. Here. This monument was huge. I also told you that the dome itself has a height of 23 meters and covers a total area of 20 slopes. It was estimated that for the construction of the environment only, 2,500 cubic meters of marble were used, which were transferred from Thasos, from the village of Aliki. Those of you who have been there for tourism will know the famous beach, which is dreamlike, and until today, no one knew... It is obvious that it is a quarry, but no one knew how to explain where these marbles went, whether they were removed in the Roman era, earlier or later. So, this mystery was solved. Michalis Olefantzis said in his announcement in Thessaloniki, this environment, as I have noted, is a perfect circle, built with absolute geometric accuracy, by an architect who had high knowledge of geometry. As for the lion, if its height, as we said, if we multiply it by 10, it gives us the length of the diameter of the trunk. Sorry, by 30, you are right. But now, if the height of the lion... No, I said it correctly, by 10, because the height of the lion, together with its trunk, that is, three lions, if multiplied by 10, it gives us the diameter. Now, we take this as a measure, the lion, together with its trunk. If we multiply it by 1000, says Michalis Olefantzis, do you know what we find? The perimeter of the walls of Alexandria in Egypt. 15, I have the numbers on top, 15 kilometers, 840 meters. In other words, the perimeter of the castle of Casta is a microcosm of the beloved city of the Macedonian king, in a 1% climate, a city, which was designed and built by the Dynocrates. Coincidentally. The truth is that it doesn't seem very coincidental, and this is what Mr. Olefantzis tells us, that all this shows that the designer of the castle of Casta had absolute knowledge of the building sizes of Alexandria. So, five months after these important announcements in this archaeological conference, we have the beginning of what we live today. Katerina Peristeri, in the beginning of August, located the entrance of the tomb complex in the south of the environment, in the castle of Casta. The first finding was this huge cave with the sphinxes, which was also the beginning of a burial passage, 4.5 meters wide and 6.5 meters high. And I told you earlier, to think about how much this is, because it will take us a long time until the visit is done and we can have a clear idea, if we compare it with something that we already know, to understand what this is. Of course, the visit of the Prime Minister to the castle of Casta followed, the sphinxes, the unknown back then, the whole planet suddenly began to talk about Greece, not about its debt, and not about our stature, but about our history. And after the sphinxes, came the caryatids, the marble doors, the pyramids, along with the archaeological relics. The shocking scenarios, Alexander the Great, who is present in the hope and in the discussions, Eglise of Macedonia of the Hellenistic era, a legend in general, which could, with the wealth of material that has been gathered from then until today, really become a content of another lesson, to your lessons, Mr. Mayor. Here, alone, let me show you a three-dimensional depiction of the rubble that has been cleared up to now, including the findings that have been announced by the archaeologist and the Ministry. You will see there that they have added the gravestone, as here earlier. Of course, things are missing, they are not all, but we have an image. It is known, of course, that there are mobile findings, because until now only statues and so on have been announced, and that the photographs, of course, that are given in public, I said it in the beginning, are minimal, they only give us a minimal image of the overall surface of the area that is being discovered. And here, in this painting, we get a taste of the length of the excavation, in relation to the total size of the tomb. Only the first 25 meters have been examined, of the 80 meters in total, which is the distance of the environment from the center of the tomb. And, of course, nothing is missing, on the contrary, it is unexpected, that there are other pathways and other tunnels in other parts of the tomb, just like in the tomb of Verghina, which was excavated in 1977 by Manolis Andronikos, and until now three large tombs have been found. And here we have finished. Finally, I want to tell you that this archaeological discovery, which I am sure will elevate our country on a multilevel and global level, made us, as citizens, a great good. It was an opportunity to think again about our history, to become small researchers, to research, to compare and evaluate sources, and to learn things that unfortunately we never learned in our schools. And this, the good, is also, in many ways, beneficial. You all know it very well, since you participate in these classes, where every Thursday you transfer knowledge, very valuable, and they have an important purpose. What happened, therefore, has evolved us as citizens and has elevated our thinking and our critical ability, which is very useful. Thank you very much. I want to kiss it, even if the theologian is jealous. If you could turn on the light for a while. I would like to point out a few things. Do we have light in the room? Good. We will continue in the next lesson, again with the city of Anfipoli, but with the texts of Thucydides. And we will probably have Ariadne again, for the younger ones, because it possesses and is the passion of life at this time. The next lesson will be by Alexandra Paira, the Persians of Aeschylus. I would like to emphasize that the word tymbos remained in the New Hellenic languages, but remained as tumba. The Y, the ancient Greek, was pronounced U, and the V was pronounced B. Tymbos and tumba are the same thing. The connection of the New Hellenic language with our tradition is also the word. Now, because I did not watch anything more interesting, in a little while, anyone who wants to leave, but if anyone has any questions, but soon, because we will continue, and with our honor and joy, we will do, as lessons of classical education, a written invitation to Mrs. Peristeri to come, this room does not fit, we will do it on the stars, to open our hearts to her, because the city received her with love. And of course, I do not think there will be resistance, to honor her as a human being, and I will propose it at the beginning. Now I say it, because I have the responsibility, at least until now, of this effort. I want to say, we do not need students. The room every day, every time we do it, is full. But those of you who want to know what Greek culture means, come and watch us. And you will feel, on the one hand, pride and pride, and on the other, melancholy, for the cowardice and cowardice of some, who are only interested in publicity. Because Greece has a lot, a lot of essentially great things, but it also has a lot of negative things, as we did in other lessons, from Thucydides, how bad was the coagulation and the coagulation in civil war. And unfortunately, this civil war climate meant that those who did not agree with the traitors were paid very dearly by our country. Do you want minor destructions? Do you want civil wars? Do you want deforestation and loss of Cyprus? And many, many things. We do not say to put a mind. We hope that this thing that will come out will show that we deserve to care about the big things. And here the responsibility of the local political leadership will also appear. Let the celebrations of St. Anzules and let them all sit together to make a great overall and developmental plan of the area, because our area is a treasure in priorities and it is a paradise in organization. Forgive me, I also want to make a little figure, but Ariadne ate me today, by far. Well, I hear... Grigori says... I want to express a question. To make such great works as this one, and Alexander Rokon, how much time does it take? How many years did the bureaucrat live? Today, to make a piece of Rokon, it takes a lot of time. Something that we will not say in the next lessons, is that it is the capital for the Roman Empire, the connection of the eastern and western empires, the connection, because from there passed the Egnatian Road, the old Egnatian Road, which still passes today. Now, the Egnatian Road was recently built. The assessment... I will say only about Timvo. The assessment of the archaeologists and engineers that participate in this scientific group, which is now engaged in excavation, is that the construction must take about two years. It is a very short period of time for the size of the project. But I will remind you that at that time, we did not have democracy. Not even with bribes. And of course, the slaves, let's say, from the occupied areas, who could easily be transported by ships, and work without a schedule, of course, and in secret. That is, if someone wanted to make a construction, without being bribed by anyone, they could, for example, bring slaves from the depths of the East, where the current Macedonian kingdom was. They did not speak Greek at all. They would go and offer them jobs, of course, hard jobs, because this burial site, with whatever is inside, this burial site comes from workshops, from artistic workshops, which at that time in Macedonia were being built. It is very famous, for example, the artistic workshop of Parian sculptors, the sculptor is with an omega, the sculptors, who made great, great works. Many archaeologists connect this workshop and the technique with some of the findings here. There were also the and this technique flourished during the Hellenistic period, which coincided with this one here. Then we had the and in fact the blue that we admire is lacquer lacquer, that is, it is azurite, maybe some are metallurgists and can understand, and in fact it is, I did a report recently, and it was transmitted two or three days ago, and this is something important for us, that there was this dye, which has a divine blue color, it was found in the quarries of Alistratia, that is, 20 kilometers from the place where the grave is built. It was not necessary to bring it from Persia, where the great excavations of this quarry are located, and which the ancients used only for the construction of chlidis. I would not say simply glorious or simply rich, but chlidis was a very expensive material, which came from far away, it was like gold. Here, the veins of the azurite grew in parallel with the veins of gold, in the already extinct quarries of Alistratia. Of course, I will remind you that the whole quarry was given gold, it has not been researched, there may have been another azurite. I want to say, because I just started, that this chlidis may be expensive, it may show chlidis, but the truth is that especially in Macedonia, in the Aegean, we have found much nicer, from the point of view of movement, and from the point of view of expressiveness, but also of perspective. There is an excellent chlidis, which is in a quarry in the Aegean, Andronikos has excavated it, it exists, but it is not visitable, because the area where they have been working for 20 years, supposedly, and they have not finished yet, is in the quarry of Arpagis of Helenia, they named it that way because they found a similar production, and it is a chlidis, it is not, of course, with very expensive veins, it is white-black and with some alterations, but it is a chlidis, which shows the scene of a quarry, a chlidis, two men, two teenagers, because they are wearing a cap and a scarf, they tie a chlidis there, maybe I should bring it, I don't know if it will be such a question, but I want to say that there were workshops in Macedonia, and the artists here and these workshops were thriving at that time. It was the period when Macedonia wanted, it was a royal kingdom, with a soldier who had conquered all the known people at that time, Athenian workshops had been moved here, artists, sculptors from the islands, and they are obvious for the archaeologists, who I am following, what I am telling you, is not only due to my own research, so to speak, and knowledge, but also due to what the archaeologists and engineers say, it is obvious that these workshops and these so-called artists contributed their services to the monument, the tomb of Amphipolis. But these are things that the researchers will deal with over time. I imagine that now the priority is to do the excavation, to see what is there, where is the tomb, who is inside, what will we find? And we will deal with many aspects, do not rush. Without wanting to make any exclusions or publicizations, first of all, and in a broader sense, I would like to thank the Association of Archaeologists, which, together with its president, Mrs. Zeta Silia, supports us, helps us and elevates us. Secondly, we have a friend with us, an essential and invisible worker of culture. We know, says Thucydides, those we know and are close to us, we respect them. Come on, they are alive, like us every day. If they are far away and we do not know them, and many times they are one of the best workers of culture in our region. Vassilis, thank you and I am glad to see you. The gentleman has the floor, then Vassilis Faviadis, although he was made to blush now, only that I do not see. Guys, the issue is very interesting. We will say many things, not only now. If anyone is tired, I am exhausted. And he did not want to, he resisted. Have you repented? Yes, he did not want to. I consider myself an essential worker, which I think I gave a great opportunity to 200 people, this great work that is being done, but which is being watched with great passion. And do not be jealous of theology. Tell me, my friend, but briefly. Let us not go to a political level. Ariadne said, re-write history. Macedonia, with this monument and the work that is being done, becomes the center of creation and development of Hellenism. Everything else is a hoax. Philippos, Alexandros, Evmenis. What are these names? Do you know a little? Who is Philippos? The one who loves horses. Do you know what Alexandros means? You do not know. It is from Alex, from the cruel Alex Kerafno, the brave fighter, the warrior. Vassilis. I think that this is a great effort, not only for the church and the economy, but also for the people. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say a few words to the audience, and to the members of the community, and to all those who are here today, that we will have a great day. The second thing I would like to say is that I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words and to describe the first steps of the young man who was sitting on the stage. It was a large-scale exhibition, and this is how he created the sculpture, he placed it in the middle of the building and he made the sculpture. In this way, in the spring, he started to create the sculpture in the middle of the building, and in the fall, he made it in the middle of the building, and in the fall, he made it in the middle of the building, and in the fall, he made it in the middle of the building. This is how he created the sculpture. Very nice news. One last question, I do not know who to give it to. One last question, I do not know who to give it to. I would like to ask you, what is the reason for the demolition of the floor? When and how could this thing be done? At what point, until now, do we see that with the difficulties we can demolish one meter of the floor? What do you have to tell us? We are not the experts. Based on the announcements made by the Ministry itself and based on what the archaeologists say, the first thing is that this grave was demolished, that is, it was filled with soil, if it was blocked. That is, those who were buried inside, one or more, were buried, and the collection for its protection was provided. The soil tones, which is not random, that is, those who blocked it, studied what they would seal it with, how far the soil would go, and how this construction could withstand the trends and pressures that this soil would create over the years. It is covered with sand, I mentioned it in my speech, which means that they did not go by chance and took the soil from where they found it. So, those who closed it, closed it in such a way, putting a double seal, in my opinion. One seal was with them in science, that is, how they would manage what they did and closed to stay in the centuries of the centuries. And a second seal was put on the tombstones. It was as if they told them that you will never enter here. Because the entrances had a height of 5.5 meters and something more in some tombs, the original ones. For example, behind the Sphinxes, the first tomb, which leads to the Caryatids, was up to the top, there was no gap. They were very concerned about the bifurcating walls. That is, the first bifurcating person is the one who has the Sphinxes, the second is the one who has the Caryatids, the third is the one who has the marble door that I showed you here. They have some structures on top. There are some openings, 40 by 50, 40 by 60. And it was many of those who said that these were done by the Norsemen, to find a passage and pass into the depths. The archaeologists, as time passes, and they see what they find first, and those who announce it, they have passed through 50 tombs before they say it, because they don't want to put their scientific knowledge in danger, nor their honor, of course. Therefore, I have no reason to question them personally. They conclude that these openings were made by the builder, precisely so that we don't have the positions, so that they can be absorbed. You can see that when we make the train tracks, the wires are not glued, they have a gap. These openings play this role, according to the archaeologists, until now. And also, those who find them, up to 25 meters, as we said, where they reached the beginning of the circumference, they don't have signs of sinking, until now. The pieces they found are buried below, and here I want to say, Mr. Mayor, only one proposal, if you allow me. Wait a moment. The pieces they found were buried, and there is a possibility, of course, I will convey it with caution, that they are statues made by the builders themselves, or their relatives buried inside, as part of a strange burial ceremony. If you read Plato, there are many things that refer to how the human soul, from the moment it is born imperfectly, it can manage to reach deification, in the sense that it goes to God, and it is also many who see in these statues, which are gradually being discovered, this process of the soul, from its birth to its completion. But we will see all this, because for now, we can only have discussions. In all of our lessons, again I, I am enjoying the architecture of the spirit, it is top-notch. In the next lessons, Mr. Praskaleris will do it. Yes, Mr. Praskaleris will do it. First of all, we had a question. One more question, and the ladies over there, if you can combine them. First of all, we had an environment that included an area of 20 slopes, and I think I mentioned that in a much smaller tomb, Andronikos found three graves. It is unknown. This will come out with completion. This is suspected, either out of jealousy of someone, or out of other motives, they want to distance it from the essence of Macedonian culture. Stelios, in the Museum of Amphipolis, there is a larnaca with the bones of Brasida, so it was found. Yes. Personally, I have not discussed anything like this with her. Last question. I have not discussed it with her. Go ahead, my lady. My lady, at one point, didn't you see in many of the interlocutors, without going to see anything, didn't you see anger and jealousy? Do you know what a great and distinguished man said? Let the dead rest in peace, that there will be punishment. In which part of the world are there no excavations? How do you judge this? I am talking about Mr. Tsoklis, this great painter. Yes. And about Mrs. Palania, did she come to see? She is an archaeologist. Who forbids her? Yes. But they had to respect, Ilya, in the other question, they had to respect that scientificity is done with appropriate research, which they did not agree to do. They did not agree to do it. Thank you and we will continue. Let me tell you something, Mrs. Archeologist. I will agree with you, that there are excesses and crimes from the media, I will absolutely agree. I will also agree that the truth comes out from the dialogue and the opposite views. And obviously these should exist. Where I will disagree and I have to make the only note, is that when a scientist, when a scientist has no idea about something, it is better to avoid certainties. Unfortunately, in this public discussion, which opened for the findings of the amphipole, from people with academic identity, certainties were expressed, without knowing where the amphipole is. This is the critical point, and not the opposite view, which I agree with you, which turns the dialogue. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. |
