as a commercial port, while also serving as a naval station of the Roman navy – probably as an auxiliary to the naval station at Patara, Lycia. Undoubtedly, the importance of the island had waned in a Mediterranean that constituted a “Roman lake”. The island’s history reflects its important geographical position and the economic and strategic significance of the entire region. Its prominent position as an important possession of Rhodes was followed by centuries of obscurity during which it practically vanished from the sources. There are large periods that are characterized by the complete absence of monuments and data. So far, evidence reveals the island flourished as a naval base primarily during periods when some central authority needed organized control over the sea passages.
The Ancient Monuments The Port and the Castle The cove west of Kavos, horseshoe-shaped, deep and well-protected from the elements, was the main port, while the smaller and shallower eastern port at Mandraki26, probable Fig. 2: Kavos: the Castle and the “Lycian Tomb” (MCA photo archive).
functioned as a ship repair station in antiquity, just as in the 19th century. However, the primary role of the double port of Megisti was to provision the war and commercial ships and probably, also participate in regional trade. In antiquity, the port of Megisti was already protected by an ancient fortification, on the site of the castle of the Knights (figs. 2, 3). The pyramidal base of the surviving tower (fig. 3) dates to the second half of the 4th cent. BC27, as revealed by the carved band on both faces of the sloping edge of the cornerstones, known as the orthogonal corner guide. Obviously, the unusual - for the site - construction served to give additional height to the rectangular tower, which dominated the two ports and controlled the maritime expanse of the channel with its scattered islands. The votive inscription of the Rhodian military commander Sosikles, son of Nikagoras, to Hermes Propylaios (fig. 4), dating to the 2nd cent. BC is carved on the rock that serves as the foundation for the tower of the Kastro (castle): Σωσικλῆς Nικαγόρα /Ἂμιος ἐπιστατήσας /
Fig. 3: Kastro (the Castle): the pyramidal base of the tower from the SE. (22nd EPCA photo archive).
ἒν τε Kαστάβῳ καὶ ἐπὶ /τοῦ πύργου τοῦ ἐν Mε /γίστᾳ Ἑρμᾷ Προπυ /λαίῳ χαριστήριον28. The votive inscription of the epistates Sosikles definitely postdates the construction of the tower, and is accompanied by mortises to support a votive offering, possibly a Herm. The entire north side of the tower has collapsed, along with the foundation rock, possibly because of an earthquake or after one of the many bombardments the monument suffered in modern times. The north wall of the tower, built right on the edge of the cliff, is vertical and obviously latter-day.
Fig. 4: The votive inscription of the Rhodian military commander Sosikles (MCA photo archive).
26. In antiquity, the level of the sea was considerably lower; see Pirazzoli 1987. 27. A similar construction is also located in the Argolis region. The pyramidal base of a rectangular tower on a rectangular platform is at Kefalari Ellinikou at Argos (Pikoulas 1996-97; Lord 1938; Scranton 1938). Based on the finds, it dates to the second half of the 4th cent. BC, and functioned as an outpost to control the Argos-Kenchreai road. See Pikoulas 1995. 28. SGDI, 4332.
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