Closed, Enclosed or Closable Harbours? An Evidence-Based Redefinition of a Controversial Greek Expression

Abstract

Contemporary scholarship has frequently translated ‘λιμήνκλειστός’ –an expression occasionally appearing in ancient Greek written sources– in different ways while putting forward several suggestions for its interpretation. Although this topic has aroused theinterest of several scholars over the past decades, a thorough analysis aimed atunderstanding not only the term’s origin and use, but also its possible diachronic evolutionhas yet to be performed. Accordingly, this paper performs thefirst comprehensive analysison the term, providing a new definition that also explores the possible repercussions thatthe developments in naval sieges could have had on its meaning.