The Gymnasium of Agrigento: Development, Urban Context, and Socio-Cultural Significance

• Applicants: Dr. Thomas Lappi; Professorin Dr. Monika Trümper
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 515617422

The gymnasium was central to culture and identity of Greek poleis. The earliest archaeological evidence of gymnasia was found in eastern Greek poleis and sanctuaries of the 4 c. BC. These gymnasia included a palestra, a building with a courtyard and rooms for athletic and intellectual activities and bathing, and usually also space and structures for running. In the Hellenistic period, built gymnasia became standard in cities all over the Mediterranean, including Sicily. Hieron II of Syracuse was supposedly very attentive to furnishing gymnasia in cities of his realm. While literary and epigraphic sources relating to Sicilian gymnasia have recently received attention, the archaeological evidence has barely been studied. Currently, only two securely identified examples are known in Agrigento and Solunto, and possible examples have been recognized in four other cities. None of the six examples has been fully excavated and published, and consequently, this building type does not play a significant role in current discourses on the urban development and culture of Hellenistic-Roman Sicily. The planned three-year project aims to fill this gap by investigating the gymnasium of Agrigento, which is the most important example in Sicily because of its size, design, findings, and history. Excavations carried out between the 1950s and 2005 revealed a pool as well as parts of a race-track section with a stoa, hydraulic complex, altar, exedra-shaped structure, possible tribune, and inscribed seats. Since the excavations have only been published in short reports that do not include the stratigraphy and finds, crucial questions remain open: the extension, design, and function of the gymnasium, esp. the presence and location of a palestra, as well as the significance of the features in the race-track section; activities carried out in the complex; the history, including the debated construction date (late 2nd c BC or Augustan period), number and date of remodeling phases, and abandonment (c. AD 200–250?); and the urban context as well as the socio-cultural significance of the gymnasium in Agrigento and beyond. The project intends to answer these questions by studying the stratigraphy and finds of earlier excavations in the storerooms and archives of the Parco Archeologico, and by carrying out new excavations in the area of the gymnasium. Based on a geophysical survey from 2020, areas have been identified that may provide insights regarding the design and urban context of the gymnasium. Depending on the findings, fieldwork will include archaeobotanical and archeozoological investigations to reconstruct the human activities carried out here. Published in an English monograph, the project aims to contribute to current discourses on Hellenistic-Roman Agrigento, and Sicily in the Late Hellenistic/Republican and esp. Roman Imperial period, which is still the most neglected period of Sicily’s history, particularly from an archaeological point of view.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants