ABSTRACT
In hindsight, it is clear that I wasn’t alone-the matter of Pausanias’ silence along with a host of other related issues was at that very moment attracting a great deal of scholarly attention. Indeed, the last two decades have seen the publication of a variety of books and articles offering a more critical examination of this ancient author and his influence on our modern archaeological exploration of ancient Greece. At the same time, however, our growing awareness concerning the uncritical use of Pausanias’ Description of Greece has not been matched by an equally clear understanding of the ways in which more recent eyewitness accounts continue to shape our research goals. In particular, the authoritative position held by the 19thcentury explorer and writer Colonel William Martin Leake among contemporary and subsequent Classical archaeologists and topographers serves as the best example. For while it is clear that omissions in Pausanias’ account have essentially erased a number of settlements and sites from our modern map of ancient Greece, the part that Colonel Leake played in this virtual “depopulation” of ancient Greece has gone largely unexamined.
