ABSTRACT
Knossos and Sparta are famous names among the ancient cities of Greece, wellknown to scholar and visitor alike. Yet on closer examination, how many can say that they were aware that Knossos was a ourishing Roman colonia and inuential late antique city? Or how many who have been to Sparta have been disappointed by the lack of architectural remains of any period, but particularly the Classical, and then turned to the nearby architecturally more impressive Byzantine Mystras? Both cities have suered from neglect of study of certain periods and cultural aspects largely due to creeping determinism, bias towards better attested periods of occupation, damning observations made by historical sources, and a certain loss of memory on a number of dierent levels.
