Hi there!
Apologies if this sounds like quite a dumb question, but my Google-Fu is failing me something hardcore here. I've been at it for hours and I'm getting a little overwhelmed, lol.
I am researching for a novel set in about 420 BC, and there are some characters whom I hope will travel from Athens to Gytheio (Gythio?).
I understand roads were rare and expensive back then, so many preferred boat travel - I'm not very knowledgeable of Ancient Greek geography, and as I say I can't seem to find any detailed maps showing any huge rivers that may have led down that kind of route.
If anyone has any ideas on what to look for, then I would be very grateful. The main bulk of my novel is set in Sparta (one character is going to travel there after reaching Gytheio), so I am looking for them to travel from Athens to any prevalent (so wealthy, powerful and/or affluent) city/state as close to Spartan land without actually being part of it.
Edit: Again sorry if this all sounds a bit silly. I'm not an aficionado of Ancient Greece, and I am attempting to research what I need to know in order to write my novel properly. I hope this is okay.
Thanks in advance!(Cross-posted from /r/History)
I don't mean to sound patronising, but have you tried googling a map of Ancient Greece? There are tons, and many of them have enough detail to include Gytheion (the ancient name for modern Gytheio). Wikipedia itself has this one showing Gytheion (here given its latinised name 'Gythium') in the Peloponnese. Athens is not far north of Aigina, the island in the top right corner.
The quickest way for your traveller to get to Gytheion would be by sea from Peiraieus, the harbour of Athens. Since ancient ships would hug the coast as much as possible, they would likely call first at Aigina, then round the Argolid peninsula, then dash across the Gulf of Argolis to the coast on the foot of the Parnon mountain range. They would then round Cape Malea, a treacherous rocky spur, before reaching the Gulf of Lakonia with Gytheion on its far side. The most likely stopping point on the way, besides Aigina, would be Hermione (modern Ermioni) in the Argolid. If your characters are hitching a ride on a merchant, he might also stop at Nauplia (modern Nafplio), the harbour of the major city-state of Argos.
Roads were neither rare nor expensive in Ancient Greece, and if your characters are travelling by themselves without much baggage, they might also go on foot. In that case, there is a fairly obvious route for them to follow, going Athens-Eleusis-Megara-Corinth-Phleious-Mantineia-Tegea-Sparta. The alternative route would be Athens-Eleusis-Megara-Corinth-Argos-Tegea-Sparta. The main obstacle in such a journey would not be rivers, but mountains; the inland of the Peloponnese is very mountainous and your characters would have to follow fairly narrowly defined routes to get from one state to another. Obviously you will also have to take into account the political situation in the Peloponnese in 420 BC, which was extremely unstable, with hostilities brewing and alliances shifting radically; not every city might be happy to accomodate people travelling to Sparta.
