The Road Network of Ancient Delphi and the Myth of the Omphalos

The oracular sanctuary of Delphi, in Central Greece, attracted thousands of worshippers from the entire Greek world throughout Antiquity: private pilgrims, sacred embassies, athletes, merchants… According to a well¬ known myth, Delphi was believed to represent the centre of the world, where two eagles sent by Zeus from the opposite ends of the universe would meet. Strabo has rationalised this legend by reckoning the sanctuary was sitting in the middle of the Greek world, being thus easily reachable from any part of Hellas. This point of view is commonly accepted in modern historiography and the prestige of the oracle has sometimes been linked with its situation at a crossroad between long¬ reaching regional axes. But this apparent determinism must be challenged by investigating the materiality of the road¬ network around Delphi. Is the site of the oracle a nodal point in supra¬ regional itineraries? Was it served by significant roads? Was Delphi an important sanctuary because of this alleged road¬ network, or should we also consider the hypothesis that roads and circulations centred around Delphi due to its religious significance? This paper aims to reconsider the dynamics of circulations to and from ancient Delphi, by acknowledging the major contribution of recent works about ancient Greek roads.