Εμφανίζονται 100 (επί συνόλου 185) τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ Νομός ΕΛΛΑΔΑ" .
ΑΜΠΕΛΑΚΙΩΤΙΣΣΑ (Χωριό) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
Η Αμπελακιώτισσα (Κοζίτσα) είναι ένα απ' τα αρχαιότερα χωριά της βορειοανατολικής
Ναυπακτίας. Αρχικά ήταν στη θέση Παληοχώρι αλλά έφυγαν από εκεί το 1455 όταν ανευρέθη
η Αγία Εικόνα της Θεοτόκου. Είναι χτισμένη σε μια απ' τις πλαγιές του βουνού Αη-Λιά
κι απέναντι της υψώνονται οι ψηλοί όγκοι των βουνών Τσεκούρας και Παναγιάς, ένα
σύμπλεγμα πολυδαίδαλο, τραχύ από στεγνούς βράχους και δασωμένες ρεματίες, πριονωτές
ράχες, κυματερά κορφοβούνια, πλαγιές πληγμένες στο έλατο, τον κέρδο και το πλατάνι.
Η Αμπελακιώτισσα είναι ένα από τα χωριά των Κραβάρων. Πολλοί ταυτίζουν τη Ναυπακτία
με τα Κράβαρα. Το χωριό είναι ιδιαίτερα γνωστό από την ύπαρξη της Ι.Μ. Αμπελακιώτισσας
και του σημαντικού τουριστικού ρεύματος που διαθέτει. Είναι από τα μεγαλύτερα
χωριά με πληθυσμό 231 κατοίκους (απογραφή 2001).
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Σεπτέμβριο 2002 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα του Δήμου Αποδοτιάς
ΑΠΟΔΟΤΟΙ (Αρχαία φυλή) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
Ο Δήμος Αποδοτίας πήρε το όνομά του από τον αρχαίο λαό των Αποδοτών οι οποίοι κατοικούσαν την Δυτική και Ανατολική πλαγιά της νοτιοδυτικής συνέχειας του όρους Κόρακος, την κοιλάδα του Μόρνου πλησίον των Οζωλών, Λοκρών. Πόλεις αναφέρονται η Ποτιδάνεια, το Κροκύλειον, το Τείχιον, η Απολλωνία και η πρωτεύουσα Αιγίτιον, του οποίου η θέση δεν εξακριβώθηκε. "Το Αιγίτιον απείχε της θαλάσσης 80 σταδίους περι τις τρεις ώρες μάλιστα εφ? υψηλών χωρίων υπερ της πόλεως έκειντο λόφοι (Θουκ. Γ.97)". Αλλοι μεν διατυπώνουν ότι βρίσκονταν όπου η θέση Παληοχώρι της Τερψιθέας, άλλοι δε κοντά στο χωριό Λιμνίτσα, στην δεξιά όχθη του χειμάρρου Τερψιθέας. Η πρώτη και η μοναδική φορά που αναφέρεται το Αιγίτιο από ιστορική πηγή είναι στο κεφάλαιο 97 της "Θουκιδίδου Ξυγγραφής" (Ιστορικό βιβλίο Γ). Σ' αυτό το κεφάλαιο ο Ιστορικός του Πελοπονησιακού πολέμου περιγράφει την εκστρατεία των Αθηναίων με επικεφαλή το στρατηγό Δημοσθένη, εναντίον των Αιτωλών.
Το έτος 426 π.Χ. το Δημοσθένη ακολούθησαν εκτός από τους Μεσσηνίους, οι Κεφαλλήνες και οι Ζακύνθιοι, που μαζί με τους 300 Αθηναίους ναύτες έφτασαν από τη θάλασσα στον Οινεώνα της Λοκρίδας. Εκεί ενώθηκαν με τον αθηναϊκό στρατό και οι Οζόλες Λοκροί, που ήταν γείτονες των Αιτωλών και γνώριζαν πολύ καλά την περιοχή. Ενόμιζε ότι δε θα ήταν δύσκολο να υποτάξει το Αιγίτιο προτού να λάβει βοήθεια. Είχε σκοπό πρώτα να επιτεθεί κατά των Αποδωτών, έπειτα κατά των Οφιονών και τέλος κατά των Ευρυτάνων. Ο ενιαίος Αθηναϊκός και συμμαχικός στρατός κατασκήνωσε στο ιερό του Νεμείου Διός όπου κατά την παράδοση είχε δολοφονηθεί ο ποιητής Ησίοδος. Από εκεί ξεκίνησαν και προχωρώντας Βόρεια προς το εσωτερικό της Αιτωλίας κατέβαλαν την πρώτη ημέρα των επιχειρήσεων τις Αιτωλικές πόλεις Ποτιδάνεια, Κροκύλειον και Τείχιον. Εν τω μεταξύ οι διάφορες Αιτωλικές φυλές μπροστά στον κοινό κίνδυνο που τις απειλούσε ενώθηκαν και προετοιμάζονταν πυρετωδώς για να αντιμετωπίσουν τον εχθρό. Οι Μεσσήνιοι όμως βλέποντας την αποφασιστικότητα του Δημοσθένη να προχωρήσει ακόμα βαθύτερα στα σπλάχνα της Αιτωλίας γιατί περίμενε βοήθεια από του ψηλούς ακοντιστές των Λοκρών κατορθώνουν να τον πείσουν να βαδίσει χωρίς εκείνους για να κυριεύσει και τις άλλες αιτωλικές πόλεις. Έτσι ο Αθηναίος στρατηγός κατευθύνθηκε προς το Αιγίτιον, το οποίο και κατέλαβε αμέσως σχεδόν χωρίς μάχη. Οι Αιτωλοί, αφού εγκατέλειψαν την πόλη τους, ανασύνταξαν τις δυνάμεις τους και συγκεντρώθηκαν στους γύρω λόφους. Κατόπιν επιτέθηκαν με τους ακοντιστές τους κατά των Αθηναίων και των συμμάχων τους. Η αποφασιστική αυτή ενέργεια αιφνιδίασε τους Αθηναίους οι οποίοι και δεν μπόρεσαν να αντιμετωπίσουν τα ακόντια των Αιτωλών, αφότου μάλιστα σκοτώθηκε ο αρχηγός του σώματος των τοξοτών, που ήταν άλλωστε και οι μόνοι ικανοί να πολεμήσουν τους ακοντιστές. Έτσι μετά το θάνατο του τοξάρχου Χόρμωνος του Μεσσηνίου η άμυνα των Αθηναίων αποδυναμώθηκε και οι στρατιώτες τους διασκορπίσθηκαν και παγιδευμένοι σε χαράδρες και ορεινούς δύσβατους δρόμους καταστράφηκαν. Ανάμεσα στους νεκρούς ήταν και ο συστρατηγός Πραιλής. Όσοι διέφυγαν το θάνατο στη φοβερή αυτή αναμέτρηση κατέφυγαν στη Ναύπακτο και από εκεί πλεύσαν για την Αθήνα εκτός του Δημοσθένη που παρέμεινε στη Ναύπακτο φοβούμενος την οργή της πολιτείας για την έκβαση της άτυχης εκστρατείας.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Σεπτέμβριο 2002 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα του Δήμου Αποδοτιάς
ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ (Νομός) ΕΛΛΑΔΑ
ΑΓΡΙΝΙΟ (Πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Το Αγρίνιο είναι μια γεμάτη ζωντάνια πόλη, στην καρδιά του κάμπου
της Αιτωλοακαρνανίας, στο
γεωγραφικό κέντρο του νομού. Η ιερά πόλη του Μεσολογγίου
είναι, για λόγους ιστορικούς, η πρωτεύουσα του νομού, αλλά το Αγρίνιο είναι, εκ
των πραγμάτων, το οικονομικό, πολιτιστικό, πνευματικό κέντρο της Αιτωλοακαρνανίας,
του μεγαλύτερου νομού της Ελλάδας.
Από οικονομικής πλευράς, το παλιό κέντρο του καπνού (πανελληνίως γνωστά
τα καπνά Αγρινίου) έχει σήμερα μετεξελιχθεί σε μείζον κέντρο της Δυτικής Στερεάς,
με δεκάδες μεγάλες επιχειρήσεις, τράπεζες, χρηματιστηριακές, αντιπροσωπείες αυτοκινήτων,
αλυσίδες υπεραγορών, και λίγες αλλά σπουδαίες βιομηχανικές μονάδες. Η οικονομική
ευρωστία της πόλης οφείλεται και στο γεγονός ότι εξυπηρετεί εμπορικά την "ενδοχώρα"
του κάμπου, δηλαδή τους δήμους της Τριχωνίδας
(Μακρυνείας, Αρακύνθου,
Παραβόλας, Θεστιέων)
και του Αχελώου (δήμοι Νεάπολης,
Αγγελοκάστρου, Στράτου,
Φυτειών).
Το Αγρίνιο είναι και εκπαιδευτικό κέντρο. Εκτός από περίπου 25 δημόσια
δημοτικά, 7 γυμνάσια, 8 Λύκεια, αρκετά νηπιαγωγεία και παιδικούς σταθμούς, εκτός
από την Πανεπιστημιακή Σχολή του Αγρινίου που με επιτυχία λειτουργεί υπό την επίβλεψη
του Πανεπιστημίου Ιωαννίνων, βρίσκει κανείς στο Αγρίνιο δεκάδες ιδιωτικά φροντιστήρια,
ιδιωτικά νηπιαγωγεία και παιδικούς σταθμούς υψηλής ποιότητας, καθώς και ιδιωτικό
δημοτικό και ιδιωτικό γυμνάσιο και λύκειο με αξιοσημείωτες επιδόσεις.
Η καθημερινή ζωή των Αγρινιωτών διανθίζεται από πλήθος κοινωνικών
και πολιτιστικών εκδηλώσεων. Με φόβο ακούσιας παράλειψης κάποιων εξ αυτών, να
αναφέρουμε τα προγράμματα εκδηλώσεων του Πνευματικού Κέντρου του Δήμου, της Γυμναστικής
Εταιρίας, του Συλλόγου Γυναικών, τις εκθέσεις της Παπαστράτειας Αίθουσας Τέχνης,
τις παραστάσεις του Δημοτικού Περιφερειακού Θεάτρου, και άλλα πολλά.
Τέλος, το Αγρίνιο είναι φημισμένο για τους μεζέδες του και τη νυχτερινή
του ζωή. Ουζερί, ταβέρνες, ψησταριές, εστιατόρια έχουν συνεχώς πελάτες, στους
οποίους χαρίζουν εξαιρετικές γεύσεις. Πλήθος καφενεία και καφετέριες καλύπτουν
όλα τα γούστα και τις ηλικίες, ενώ bar, club, και άλλα νυχτερινά κέντρα δίνουν
τον τόνο της νυχτερινής ζωής.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΑΙΤΩΛΙΚΟ (Πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Μια πόλη κατάμεσα στη λιμνοθάλασσα, αγκαλιά με το υγρό στοιχείο, που
γεννάει ζωή. Γι' αυτό η ζωή βουίζει ολόγυρά της, ψάρια, πουλιά και άνθρωποι απλοί
του «δος ημίν σήμερον». Σπιτάκια χαμηλά και στενοσόκακα γεμάτα καλημέρες. Φουφούδες
που καπνίζουν δω κι εκεί, και κυράδες μεσόκοπες που σκύβουν πάνω τους "μ'
ευλάβεια". Ηλιοκαμένα πρόσωπα που πάνε κι έρχονται αλλάζοντας απλοϊκά αστεία,
σε μια χαριτωμένη γλώσσα με λέξεις μονοσύλλαβες. Μια πόλη-κόμβος, κατά τ' άλλα,
που με δυο πέτρινα μεγάλα μπράτσα ενώνει δυο στεριές, δυο χερσονήσους, δυο κόσμους.
Κι όλα αυτά εκεί, σ' ένα νησόπουλο της μεγάλης κι ένδοξης λιμνοθάλασσας, που το
διάλεξε ο Θεός να στήσει μια κοινωνία. Μια κοινωνία, που σιγά σιγά έχτισε μια
πόλη περίεργη, μια λιμνοθαλασσούπολη. Ναι, αυτή είναι η ταυτότητα του Αιτωλικού,
η λιμνοθαλασσούπολη της Ελλάδας.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ (Νομός) ΕΛΛΑΔΑ
Η Αιτωλοακαρνανία καταλαμβάνει το δυτικό τμήμα της Στερεάς Ελλάδας
και είναι ο μεγαλύτερος σε έκταση νομός της χώρας, με πληθυσμό που φτάνει τους
288.000 κατοίκους. Διοικητικά χωρίζεται σε πέντε επαρχίες (Μεσολογγίου,
Τριχωνίδας, Ναυπακτίας,
Βόνιτσας και Ξηρομερίου) με
κυριότερες πόλεις το Μεσολόγγι (πρωτεύουσα νομού) το Αγρίνιο,
την Αμφιλοχία και τη Ναύπακτο.
Η Αιτωλοακαρνανία διαθέτει ποικιλία τοπίων που σπάνια τα συναντά κάποιος
συγκεντρωμένα στα πλαίσια ενός νομού. Τρία ορεινά συγκροτήματα καταλαμβάνουν το
βορειοδυτικό και νότιο τμήμα του νομού και ταυτόχρονα διατρέχονται από τρεις μεγάλους
ποταμούς (τον Αχελώο, τον
Εύηνο και τον Μόρνο)
προσφέροντας στον επισκέπτη τη δυνατότητα να θαυμάσει ένα απέραντο φυσικό μεγαλείο.
Φύση
Η Αιτωλοακαρνανία με την ποικιλία και την απέραντη ομορφιά των τοπίων
της έχει διαπλάσει τον δικό της μοναδικό χαρακτήρα και έχει καταστεί απαραίτητος
προορισμός γα τους λάτρεις της φύσης, επισκέψιμος και γοητευτικός όλες τις εποχές
του χρόνου.
Ανάμεσα στις φυσικές ομορφιές της ξεχωρίζει ο Αμβρακικός κόλπος, που
είναι το μεγαλύτερο και πιο ποικιλόμορφο οικολογικό σύμπλεγμα της Ελλάδας με την
κλειστή θάλασσα, το καταπράσινο τοπίο και τα κατάφυτα νησάκια του. Οι γραφικοί
ψαράδες του μπορούν να σας πάνε με τις χαρακτηριστικές ψαρόβαρκες στα μικρά ερημονήσια
του και στα παραλιακά χωριά, όπου θα δοκιμάστε υπέροχο φρέσκο ψάρι. Δυτικά του
ποταμού Αχελώου βρίσκεται το μαγευτικό παραποτάμιο δάσος του Φράξου, ενώ ανάμεσα
στις εκβολές των ποταμών Εύηνου και Αχελώου σχηματίζονται μικρές λίμνες, λιμνοθάλασσες,
βάλτοι και η μεγαλύτερη λίμνη της Ελλάδας, η Τριχωνίδα. Στις όχθες τους υπάρχουν
πανέμορφα δάση από πλατάνια, λεύκες, ιτιές και πικροδάφνες. Πέρα από την φυσική
της ομορφιά, η περιοχή διαθέτει και μεγάλη βιοποικιλία, καθώς έχουν παρατηρηθεί
περισσότερα από 200 είδη πουλιών από τα οποία τα 50 θεωρούνται σπάνια. Ξεχωριστή
γοητεία διαθέτει η λιμνοθάλασσα του Μεσολογγίου Αιτωλικού, όπου ζουν χιλιάδες
πάπιες και πουλιά.
Γύρω από τις λίμνες δεσπόζουν ατάραχα τα βουνά της Αιτωλοακαρνανίας.
Στο Παναιτωλικό η ανάβαση
γίνεται από την Αγία Παρασκευή
από ένα μονοπάτι που έχει σηματοδοτηθεί από τον ΕΟΣ Αγρινίου για να σας οδηγήσει
εκεί σε 4,5 ώρες (η θέα είναι καταπληκτική και νομίζει κανείς ότι αγγίζει τον
ουρανό). Στην περιοχή της ορεινής Ναυπακτίας μπορείτε να πραγματοποιήσετε μια
ακόμα υπέροχη διαδρομή ανάμεσα σε γραφικά χωριά και πυκνά ελατοδάση και να φτάσετε
στο παραδοσιακό χωριό Ανω Χώρα,
που το περιτριγυρίζει ένα δίκτυο μονοπατιών ειδικό για περιπάτους αναψυχής. Τέλος,
ιδιαίτερο ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει και ο ορεινός όγκος της Βαράσοβας με τις ονομαστές
ορθοπλαγιές που αποτελούν το πιο γνωστό αναρριχητικό πεδίο της Ελλάδας.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΑΜΒΡΑΚΙΑ (Λίμνη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Η λίμνη Αμβρακία (Λιμναία, Λίμνη Στάνου ή Βάλτος) βρίσκεται περίπου 1.000 μ. βορειοδυτικά
της λίμνης Οζερού
και σχηματίζεται στη θέση που χωρίζεται η τάφρος του Αγρινίου.
Καλύπτει επιφάνεια 1.420 εκτάρια, έχει περίμετρο 3 χλμ., μέγιστο μήκος 13,8 χλμ.,
μέγιστο πλάτος 3,8 χλμ.και μέγιστο βάθος 40 μ. Τροφοδοτείται με νερό από λεκάνη
απορροής έκτασης περίπου 112 τ.χλμ. Παρουσιάζει μεγάλες διακυμάνσεις στη στάθμη
του νερού, που οφείλονται στον έντονο καρστικό χαρακτήρα όλης της περιοχής καθώς
επίσης και στον υψηλό βαθμό εξάτμισης κατά τη διάρκεια του καλοκαιριού. Τα μορφολογικά
χαρακτηριστικά έχουν αλλάξει σημαντικά κατά τα τελευταία χρόνια, λόγω της αποξήρανσης
του βόρειου ρηχού τμήματος, εξαιτίας της ανομβρίας και της άρδευσης των γύρω περιοχών.
Ένα αξιοσημείωτο γεγονός είναι ότι, αν και θεωρείται ολιγοτροφική, ωστόσο έχει
τραχειόφυτα, που απαντούν συνήθως σε εύτροφες ή μεσότροφες λίμνες. Η Αμβρακία
είναι θερμή μονομικτική λίμνη και ανήκει στον θειικό τύπο.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΑΣΤΑΚΟΣ (Κωμόπολη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Όμορφη κωμόπολη του νομού
Αιτωλοακαρνανίας, χτισμένη σε υψόμετρο 10 μέτρων στο μυχό του ομώνυμου κόλπου.
Το όνομά της διατηρήθηκε ανέπαφο από την αρχαιότητα και το οφείλει στα γνωστά
οστρακόδερμα που αφθονούσαν στον κόλπο του. Δεν είναι σωστή η υποστήριξη του Μελετίου
ότι έλαβε το όνομα της από τον γιο του Ποσειδώνα και της Νύμφης Ολβίας. Ίσως αυτός
να αναφέρεται στον Αστακό
της Βιθυνίας (αποικίας των Μεγαρέων) ο οποίος μετονομάστηκε σε Ολβία και αργότερα
σε Νικομήδεια.
Η θέση της σημερινής πόλης δεν είναι η ίδια με εκείνη της παλαιάς.
Υπάρχουν πολλές θεωρίες για την ακριβή τοποθεσία (Μελετίου, Leake, Heuzey, Ρωμαίου).
Η θεωρία που δεν αμφισβητήθηκε και επικράτησε είναι του Κ.Α. Ρωμαίου. Τη δική
του άποψη τη στήριξε σ' ένα κομμάτι κεραμίδι που βρήκε στο αρχαίο κάστρο με την
επιγραφή ΑΚΩΝΩΝ και την ταύτισε με τη λέξη "Αστακών" (Κ.Α.Ρωμαίου, "Ανά
την Ακαρνανία").
Η πρώτη κατοίκηση του Αστακού δεν μας είναι γνωστή. Από την αναφορά
του Σκύλακα του Καρυανδέα, ο οποίος έζησε τον 6ο αιώνα, οδηγούμαστε στο συμπέρασμα
ότι η κατοίκηση θα έγινε σε πολύ παλαιότερους χρόνους.
Ίσως να ήταν Κεφαλλήνες άποικοι, όπως μας πληροφορεί ο Όμηρος, γιατί
η Ακαρνανία ήταν στα χέρια του Λαέρτη και αργότερα του γιου του, του πολυθρύλητου
βασιλιά της Ιθάκης Οδυσσέα. Εκτός της αναφοράς του Ομήρου σημάδια προϊστορικής
κατοίκησης του Αστακού έχουμε από τα παρακάτω ευρήματα:
1. Από τα κυκλώπεια τείχη του κάστρου του Αστακού.
2. Από τα κεραμικά κυκλαδικής επιρροής που βρέθηκαν στη σπηλιά του Αγίου Νικολάου.
3. Από όστρακο της μυκηναϊκής εποχής.
4. Από αγγεία νεολιθικής εποχής επίσης του Αγίου Νικολάου.
Η νεότερη πόλη κατοικήθηκε μετά το 1821. Στην αρχή το λιμάνι του Αστακού
λειτουργούσε ως αγκυροβόλιο, "σκάλωμα" όπως το έλεγαν οι ντόπιοι. Έπειτα,
όπως γίνεται σε κάθε λιμάνι, άρχισαν να χτίζονται καφενεία, παντοπωλεία και αποθήκες
για τις ανάγκες των ναυτικών.
Το 1826 ο Αστακός είχε σχηματισθεί σε συνοικισμό και στη συνέχεια,
το1862 μ.Χ, Βαυαροί αρχιτέκτονες του έδωσαν το σημερινό σχέδιο.
Η οικονομική κατάστασή του ήταν πάρα πολύ καλή λόγω της εκμετάλλευσης
των βελανιδιών, που ήταν η πρώτη ύλη για την βυρσοδεψία και το θαλάσσιο εμπόριο.
Την ανθηρή του κατάσταση μαρτυρούν και τα πολλά αρχοντικά που σώζονται. Οι σημερινοί
κάτοικοί του ασχολούνται με τη γεωργία, την κτηνοτροφία, την αλιεία και τον τουρισμό.
Με την κατασκευή του λιμανιού του Πλατυγιαλιού και τη λειτουργία του
ως εμπορικού λιμανιού, ίσως έχουμε άνοδο του οικονομικού επιπέδου της πόλης και
ίσως η πόλη ξαναβρεί την παλιά της αίγλη.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφία, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΑΧΕΛΩΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
O υγροβιότοπος του Mεσολογγίου-Aιτωλικού,
μαζί με το Δέλτα του Aχελώου και του Eύηνου
(Φίδαρη), είναι ένας απ' τους μεγαλύτερους της Mεσογείου. Bρίσκεται στο δυτικότερο
άκρο της Στερεάς Eλλάδας,
στο Nομό Aιτωλοακαρνανίας.
Έχει έκταση 250.000 στρέμματα και έχει δημιουργηθεί, με την πάροδο του χρόνου,
απ' τις φερτές ύλες των δύο ποταμών.
O Aχελώος ή Aσπροπόταμος είναι ο δεύτερος, ως προς το μήκος, ποταμός
της Eλλάδας (220 χλμ.). Oνομάζεται Aσπροπόταμος, γιατί τα νερά του έχουν ένα λευκό,
θολό χρώμα, που προέρχεται από την άργιλο, που μεταφέρει. Πηγάζει από τις νότιες
πλαγιές του όρους Περιστέρι ή Λάκμος,
στη Nότια Πίνδο.
Στα όρια των Nομών Aιτωλοακαρνανίας και Eυρυτανίας
ο Aχελώος ενώνεται με τα ποτάμια Tαυρωπό
και Aγραφιώτη. Στην περιοχή
αυτή σχηματίζονται οι τεχνητές λίμνες Kρεμαστών
και Kαστρακίου ενώ χαμηλότερα
(κοντά στο Aγρίνιο) υπάρχει το νέο φράγμα της Στράτου.
H παροχή του ποταμού εξαρτάται σήμερα από τη λειτουργία των υδροηλεκτρικών
έργων. O Eύηνος πηγάζει απ' τα Bαρδούσια
όρη και εκβάλλει στον Πατραϊκό
κόλπο νοτιότερα από τον Aχελώο.
Έχει μήκος 110 χιλμ.
Tα δύο ποτάμια, με την πάροδο των αιώνων, σχημάτισαν ένα ιδιαίτερα
εκτεταμένο σύστημα αβαθών νερών. Oι λιμνοθάλασσες της περιοχές δεν ξεπερνούν σε
βάθος τα 2 μέτρα αλλά καταλαμβάνουν πολύ μεγάλη έκταση.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΒΟΥΛΚΑΡΙΑ, ΛΙΜΝΗ (Λίμνη) ΒΟΝΙΤΣΑ
Η λίμνη Βουλκαριά βρίσκεται στο κέντρο της χερσονήσου Στέρνας, στο ΒΔ τμήμα του
Νομού Αιτωλοακαρνανίας
και νότια της εισόδου του Αμβρακικού
κόλπου. Έχει έκταση περίπου 940 εκτάρια και παρουσιάζει έντονες διακυμάνσεις
της στάθμης του νερού, που είναι συνάρτηση των ετήσιων βροχοπτώσεων. Η Βουλκαριά
είναι αβαθής λίμνη με μέγιστο βάθος 2,5 μ. Σχηματίζεται σε τεκτονική τάφρο και
θεωρείται ως αποτέλεσμα τεκτονικής δράσης, καρστικοποίησης και εναπόθεσης υλικών
(χαλίκια, άμμος, άργιλος). Μεταγενέστερα εναποτέθηκαν στην περιοχή νεογενή ιζήματα
λιμναίας ή παράκτιας προέλευσης, που καλύφθηκαν από αλλουβιακές εναποθέσεις. Η
ευρύτερη περιοχή της λίμνης αποτελείται κυρίως από μεσοζωικούς ασβεστόλιθους και
δολομίτες, νεογενή ιζήματα (μάργες, αμμόλιθοι, κροκαλοπαγή), καθώς και αλλουβιακούς
δολομίτες. Στο μεγαλύτερο τμήμα της πεδιάδας, που περιβάλλει τη λίμνη, απαντούν
ρέματα και μικρότερα ρυάκια που μεταφέρουν ποικίλα εναποθέματα. Στα σημεία του
υγροτόπου όπου δεν υπάρχουν αγροτικές δραστηριότητες παρατηρούνται τυρφώδεις σχηματισμοί.
Η λίμνη έχει ευρεία λεκάνη απορροής, η οποία στα δυτικά περιλαμβάνει το ανατολικό
τμήμα του λόφου Ασπρόχορτο, ενώ στις υπόλοιπες πλευρές καταλαμβάνει μια πεδινή
έκταση με εκτεταμένες καλλιέργειες. Η Βουλκαριά έχει ελώδεις ακτές μεγάλου εύρους
και συνδέεται με τη θάλασσα με ένα τεχνητό κανάλι μήκους 1.400 μ. To κανάλι αυτό,
που ονομάζεται κανάλι του Αγ. Νικολάου ή Κλεοπάτρας, βρίσκεται στο δυτικό τμήμα
της λίμνης και εκβάλλει στον κόλπο του Αγ. Νικολάου. Κατά τη διάρκεια του χειμώνα,
όταν η λίμνη υπερχειλίζει, παρατηρείται ροή νερού από αυτήν προς τη θάλασσα, ενώ
κατά τη διάρκεια του καλοκαιριού παρατηρείται ροή αντίθετης φοράς. Η θερινή ροή
προκαλεί την αύξηση της αλατότητας της λίμνης και αυτό επηρεάζει έντονα τις γεωργικές
καλλιέργειες της γύρω περιοχής. Το πρόβλημα αυτό έχει ήδη αντιμετωπισθεί από το
1964 με τη ρύθμιση της εισροής του νερού στο κανάλι, που γίνεται με κλείσιμό του
κατά τη θερινή περίοδο. Η Σαλτίνη (ή Σαλίνη) είναι πολύ ρηχή αλμυρή ή υφάλμυρη
παράκτια λίμνη, έκτασης περίπου 210 εκταρίων. Βρίσκεται στο βόρειο τμήμα της χερσονήσου
Στέρνας, νότια από το αεροδρόμιο
του Ακτίου. Η γύρω περιοχή είναι επίπεδη, με εκτεταμένες καλλιέργειες και
χορτολίβαδα. Ανατολικά της λίμνης, κάτω από τον λόφο Στούπα παρατηρούνται εκτεταμένοι
ελαιώνες και χορτολίβαδα. Σε αρκετά μέρη αναπτύσσεται χαρακτηριστική βλάστηση
με Juncus. Η κυρίαρχη παρουσία του Αsphodelus aestivus αποτελεί ένδειξη για την
υπερβόσκηση της περιοχής. Στην περιοχή Ανω Πούντα, στα ανατολικά και νοτιοανατολικά
της λίμνης απαντούν ελαιώνες, θερμοκήπια, αλλά και χορτολίβαδα. Στις όχθες της
λίμνης απαντά μία στενή ζώνη με Phragmites australis. Στα δυτικά και νοτιονατολικά
τμήματα της λίμνης, η δενδρώδης παραποτάμια βλάστηση αντιπροσωπεύεται από όχι
ιδιαίτερα σημαντικές διάσπαρτες συστάδες δέντρων Ulmus και Salix. Στη νότια πλευρά
υπάρχει ένα τεχνητό κανάλι που συνδέει τη λίμνη με το Ιόνιο πέλαγος. Μέσω αυτού
του καναλιού εισέρχονται ψάρια από τη θάλασσα στη λίμνη. Η Σαλτίνη είναι ιδιωτική
λίμνη και χρησιμοποιείται κυρίως για αλιεία.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΘΕΡΜΟ (Κωμόπολη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Σε καταπράσινο περιβάλλον η μικρή αυτή κωμόπολη, που ήταν άλλοτε τόπος
εξορίας αποτελεί σήμερα τόπο για ανάπαυση και περισυλλογή. Απέχει 100 χλμ. βορειοανατολικά
του Μεσολογγίου, έχει 2.400
κατοίκους και βρίσκεται πλάι στην λίμνη Τριχωνίδα.
Κοντά στο χωριό βρίσκονται τα ερείπια του αρχαίου
Θέρμου, που υπήρξε πανάρχαιο πολιτικό και θρησκευτικό κένιρο των Αιτωλών.
Αξιοθέατα αποτελούν ο αρχαιολογικός
χώρος με ερείπια του ναού του Θερμίου Απόλλωνα και του "Κοιψού των Αιτωλών".
Μεγάλη στοά μήκους 170 μέτρων και βάσεις ανδριάντων. Διατηρούνται γύρω από το
ναό βάσεις σπιτιών και μια κρήνη με τρεις κρουνούς.
Στον ίδιο χώρο στεγάζεται το Αρχαιολογικό
Μουσείο που περιλαμβάνει ευρήματα από τις ανασκαφές στο ναό του Θερμίου Απόλλωνα
και της Καλυδώνας, πήλινα
ειδώλια από τη Χρυσοβίτσα,
ρωμαϊκές στήλες κ.ά. Στην κοινότητα στεγάζεται η βιβλιοθήκη του Αποκούρου.
Στο χωριό Αγία Σοφία
- 3 χλμ. δυτικά - υπάρχει ο ναός του Αγίου Νικολάου, που είναι χτισμένος στις
βάσεις του ναού της Αρτέμιδας.
Στο χωριό Μέγα Δένδρο
- 3 χλμ. 8 - την πατρίδα του Κοσμά του Αιτωλού, η εκκλησία
του Αγίου Κοσμά.
Το μοναστήρι
της Μυρτιάς - 6 χλμ. δυτικά - είναι αφιερωμένο στα Εισόδια της Θεοτόκου και
ιδρύθηκε το 1491, σύμφωνα με την κτιτορική επιγραφή.
Αξιόλογα είναι επίσης τα μοναστήρια
του Καταφυγίου - 9 χλμ. - με παλιές ωραίες τοιχογραφίες, και της Αγίας
Παρασκευής στη Μάνδρα,
4 χλμ. βόρεια.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΛΙΜΝΗ ΤΡΙΧΩΝΙΔΑ (Λίμνη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
H λίμνη Tριχωνίδα βρίσκεται στην καρδιά του Aιτωλικού Πεδίου και είναι
η μεγαλύτερη, η γραφικότερη και η πιο άγνωστη της Eλλάδας. Έχει επιφάνεια 98,6
τετραγωνικά χιλιόμετρα, μέγιστο μήκος 19 χιλιόμετρα και μέγιστο βάθος 58 μέτρα.
Bρίσκεται σε κρυπτοβύθισμα, αφού το βαθύτερο τμήμα της λιμναίας λεκάνης της βρίσκεται
κάτω από τη μέση στάθμη της επιφάνειας της θάλασσας. H περιοχή από την οποία συλλέγει
τα νερά της έχει έκταση 215 τετραγωνικά χιλιόμετρα.
Tα οικοσυστήματα της Tριχωνίδας βρίσκονται σε συνεχή αλληλεπίδραση
με τα γειτονικά οικοσυστήματα του Παναιτωλικού,
του Aράκυνθου,
των βουνών της Nαυπακτίας,
του κάμπου του Aγρινίου,
της Mακρυνείας
και της λίμνης Λυσιμαχίας. Kάθε μεταβολή σε κάποιο από τα γειτονικά οικοσυστήματα,
έχει επίδραση και στο οικοσύστημα της λίμνης.
Παλαιότερα, γύρω από την Tριχωνίδα και τη Λυσιμαχία υπήρχαν πλούσια
παραλίμνια δάση, τόσο πυκνά που ήταν δύσκολο να τα διαβεί κανείς. Aποτελούνταν
από φράξους, ιτιές, πλατάνια, σκλήθρα, λεύκες, λυγαριές και πρόσφεραν καταφύγιο
σε πολλά σπάνια είδη ζώων και πουλιών. H περιοχή ήταν από παλιά τόπος κυνηγιού
για τους ντόπιους, αλλά και περιηγητές, Έλληνες και ξένοι, είχαν κυνηγήσει εδώ.
"Kατά τη διάρκεια της διαδρομής το ρίχναμε στο κυνήγι, καθώς περνούσαμε από
πλούσια κυνηγοτόπια", γράφει ο Tούρκος περιηγητής Eβλία Tσελεμπί, που πέρασε
από τις λίμνες τον 17ο αιώνα. Στην περιοχή της Λυσιμαχίας υπήρχε το μεγαλύτερο
παραλίμνιο δάσος της Eλλάδας, το οποίο εκριζώθηκε και η γη αποδόθηκε στην καλλιέργεια.
Tο "έργο" αυτό άρχισε το 1915 και τελείωσε πριν από τη γερμανική κατοχή.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙ (Πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Το Μεσολόγγι αναφέρεται για πρώτη φoρά από τον Ενετό Paruta κατά την
περιγραφή της ναυμαχίας της Ναυπάκτου.
Σύμφωνα με την κυρίαρχη ιστορική άποψη, η oνoμασία τoυ πρoήλθε από τoν συνδυασμό
των ιταλικών λέξεων mezzo langhi (Mezzolanghi) πoυ σημαίνει στo "μέσoν λιμνών"
ή messo langhi (Messolanghi) πoυ σημαίνει "τόπo εν μέσω λιμνών". Μέχρι
τo 1700 τo Μεσoλόγγι βρισκόταν κάτω από την Ενετική Κυριαρχία. Oι κάτoικoί τoυ
ήταν στην πλειoψηφία τoυς ψαράδες. Oι κατoικίες τoυς ήταν καλύβες, κατασκευασμένες
από αδιάβρoχo χoρτάρι (ρένα) και καλάμι, στερεωμένες σε πασσάλoυς για να μην έρχoνται
σε επαφή με τη θάλασσα. Από τότε μέχρι σήμερα oνoμάζoνται πελάδες (σπίτια τoυ
πελάγoυ). Τo 1770, κατά τα Oρλωφικά, o μεσoλoγγίτικoς στόλoς καταστράφηκε και
περιήλθε στoυς Τoύρκoυς.
Τo Μεσoλόγγι κήρυξε την επανάσταση στις 20 Μαϊoυ 1821. Η πρώτη πoλιoρκία
τoυ ξεκινά στις 25 Oκτωβρίoυ 1822 και λήγει στις 31 Δεκεμβρίoυ 1822 με σημαντικές
απώλειες τoυ εχθρoύ σε έμψυχo και άψυχo υλικό. Στις 15 Απριλίoυ 1825 αρχίζει η
δεύτερη πoλιoρκία από τoν Κιoυταχή, τoυ oπoίoυ o στρατός αριθμoύσε 30.000 άνδρες,
για να ενισχυθεί αργότερα με 10.000 άνδρες τoυ Ιμπραήμ. Ύστερα από ασφυκτική πoλιoρκία
ενός έτoυς και μπρoστά στoν κίνδυνo τoυ θανάτoυ από τo λιμό, απoφασίζεται η Έξoδoς
της Φρoυράς τη νύχτα της 10ης Απρίλη 1826. Στo Μεσoλόγγι βρίσκoνταν 10.500 άτoμα
εκ των oπoίων oι 3.500 ήταν oπλoφόρoι. Ελάχιστoι ήταν αυτoί πoυ σώθηκαν ξεφεύγoντας
από τoν τoυρκικό κλoιό μετά την πρoδoσία τoυ σχεδίoυ τoυς.
Τo Μεσoλόγγι oνoμάστηκε "Ιερά Πόλις" τo 1937 με κείμενo
νόμoυ της κυβέρνησης ως αναγνώριση της θυσίας των κατoίκων τoυ κατά τoν Απελευθερωτικό
Αγώνα.
Σήμερα τo Μεσoλόγγι διατηρεί την Πύλη Εισόδoυ και τμήμα από το ένδοξο
Oχύρωμα των Ελεύθερων Πoλιoρκημένων, ανακατασκευασμένο από τον Όθωνα. Αμέσως μετά
την Πύλη βρίσκεται o κήπoς των Ηρώων, μέσα στoν oπoίo έχoυν ταφεί ανώνυμoι και
επώνυμoι ήρωες πoυ έπεσαν ένδoξα κατά την Ηρωική Έξoδo. Τo Ηρώo αποτελεί τα Ηλύσια
Πεδία τoυ νεότερoυ Ελληνισμoύ και είναι αναμφίβoλα τo πιo εντυπωσιακό πάρκo της
Ελλάδας. Κάθε χρόνo στην εoρτή των Bαΐων εoρτάζεται η επέτειoς της Εξόδoυ, που
απoτελεί τη "μεγάλη τοπική γιoρτή" στην oπoία συμμετέχει επίσημα η Ελληνική
Πολιτεία.
Τo Μεσoλόγγι είναι η πατρίδα πέντε πρωθυπoυργών της Ελλάδας, με εξέχoυσα
τη φυσιoγνωμία τoυ Χαρίλαου Τρικoύπη και των λογοτεχνών Κ. Παλαμά, Μ. Μαλακάση,
Α. Τραυλαντώνη. Είναι η πόλη πoυ αγάπησε και άφησε την τελευταία τoυ πνoή o Λόρδoς
Βύρων, πρoσφέρoντας σημαντικές υπηρεσίες στoν Αγώνα των "Ελευθέρων Πoλιoρκημένων".
Η πόλη τoυ Μεσoλoγγίoυ, πρωτεύουσα του νομού Αιτωλοακαρνανίας με 17.597
κατοίκους, είναι όμoρφη, λειτoυργική , με oρθή πoλεoδoμική διαρρύθμιση, πρoικισμένη
με πoλλά ενδιαφέρoντα oικoδoμήματα παραδoσιακής αρχιτεκτoνικής. Τo αρχoντικό των
Τρικoύπηδων, του Παλαμά, η Βάλβειoς Βιβλιoθήκη, η Πινακoθήκη Σύγχρονης Τέχνης
Χρήστoυ και Σoφίας Μoσχανδρέoυ δίνουν τη σφραγίδα της πνευματικότητας και του
μεγαλείoυ πoυ ανέκαθεν χαρακτήριζε τo Μεσoλόγγι. Τo Μoυσείo Ιστoρίας και Τέχνης
στεγάζεται σ' ένα νεoκλασικό κτίριo στη πλατεία Μ. Μπότσαρη και φιλoξενεί πίνακες
διασήμων Ελλήνων και ξένων ζωγράφων πoυ εμπνεύστηκαν από τoν Αγώνα τoυ Μεσoλoγγίoυ.
Oι ζώνες πρασίνoυ, oι χώρoι αναψυχής, η λιμνoθάλασσα, η ιστoρία αλλά
ταυτόχρoνα τα σύγχρονα oυζερί με τoυς τoπικoύς "μεζέδες", oι ταβέρνες
και τα ψαράδικα συνθέτoυν τη σημερινή ιδιαιτερότητα τoυ Μεσoλoγγίoυ που γoητεύει
όσoυς τo επισκέπτoνται, αλλά και τους νέους που αποφασίζουν να σπουδάσουν στο
ΤΕΙ του Μεσολογγίου.
Γεωγραφία
Το Μεσoλόγγι βρίσκεται στην είσoδo τoυ Πατραϊκoύ
κόλπoυ και ανάμεσα στις εκβoλές δύo πoταμών, τoυ Αχελώoυ
και τoυ Ευήνoυ. Oι φερτές
ύλες των δύo πoταμών σχημάτισαν με τo πέρασμα των αιώνων ένα ιδιαίτερα εκτεταμένo
σύστημα αβαθών νερών, τρεις λιμνoθάλασσες, τoυ Μεσoλoγγίoυ, τoυ Αιτωλικoύ και
της Κλείσoβας. Oι λιμνoθάλασσες της περιoχής διαχωρίζoνται από τη θάλασσα τoυ
Ιoνίoυ με λoυρoνησίδες ή
αμμoθίνες. Oι υγρoβιότoπoι της περιοχής είναι από τoυς σημαντικότερoυς της Μεσoγείoυ
με σπάνια χλωρίδα και πανίδα. Στα νερά τoυς καθρεπτίζoνται τα βoυνά Βαράσoβα,
Αράκυνθoς, Ταξιάρχης και πλήθoς λόφων από προσχωμένες νησίδες των Εχινάδων
πoυ βρίσκoνται διάσπαρτοι στην περιoχή. Η παρoυσία αυτών εκτός της ιδιαιτερότητας
τoυ τoπίoυ δημιoυργεί ιδανικές συνθήκες για την πoικιλία των φυτικών και ζωικών
ειδών. Τo Μεσoλόγγι είναι o πιo φημισμένoς ιχθυoπαραγωγικός τόπoς στην Ελλάδα
και η περιoχή φιλoξενεί πoλλά ιχθυoτρoφεία.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΜΥΤΙΚΑΣ (Χωριό) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Ο Μύτικας με τον ατέλειωτο ελαιώνα και αμπελώνα του.
Ένα από τα πιο αρχαία ιστορικά είδη καλλιέργειας του Ληλαντίου Πεδίου
είναι το αμπέλι, που καλλιεργείται στην περιοχή Αμπέλια του Μύτικα των Φύλλων
του Αφρατίου και του Αγίου Νικολάου, στην ίδια περιοχή όπου καλλιεργούνταν και
πριν χιλιάδες χρόνια.
Κατά την αρχαιότητα τιμούνταν εδώ ο θεός του αμπελιού Διόνυσος, του
οποίου υπήρχε και ιερό.
Το όνομα Μύτικας κατά τους γλωσσολόγους προέρχεται από τη θεά Μήτι,
που ήταν σύζυγος του Δία, υπήρχε μάλιστα και ιερό προς τη θεά, που ήταν πολιούχος
και προστάτιδα του Μύτικα. Η ονομασία του καθιερώθηκε από τους Αθηναίους κληρούχους
που εγκαταστάθηκαν στο Ληλάντιο Πεδίο.
Ο Μύτικας είναι κτισμένος σποραδικά σε όλη την έκτασή του, όλη η περιοχή
είναι ένας απέραντος δενδρόκηπος, ένα περιβόλι της Εδέμ.
Εδώ στο Μύτικα θα συναντήσει κανείς και πολλά ελαιοτριβεία, δείγμα
της πλούσιας και ποιοτικής παραγωγής σε ελαιόλαδο του Ληλαντίου Πεδίου.
Μέσα στο καταπράσινο πεδινό τοπίο με τις χίλιες δυο καλλιέργειες υψώνεται
χωμάτινος λόφος και στην κορυφή του υπάρχει το εκκλησάκι του Αγίου Αθανασίου και
οι δύο ενετικοί πύργοι που στέκουν εκεί αγέρωχοι από το 13ο αιώνα.
Ο δρόμος για τους δύο πύργους είναι βατός και από εκεί μπορεί ο επισκέπτης
να θαυμάσει την ομορφιά του πεδινού τμήματος του Ληλαντίου.
Οι πύργοι φωταγωγήθηκαν πρόσφατα από το δήμο και την νύχτα προσφέρουν
ένα μοναδικό θέαμα που είναι ορατό από πολλές θέσεις του Ληλαντίου.
Στο βορειοδυτικό τμήμα του και πάνω στην πλαγιά του όρους Βαθροβούνι
υψώνεται αγέρωχο το παρεκκλήσι του Προφήτου Ηλία, χτισμένο σε ένα απότομο βράχο.
Από εδώ πάνω έχεις στα πόδια σου σαν χαλί το γαλάζιο του Νότιου
Ευβοϊκού κόλπου με τις θαυμάσιες παραλίες του και το πράσινο των αμπελώνων
και ελαιώνων του Ληλαντίου πεδίου.
Στο γεωγραφικό κέντρο του απλωμένου σε όλο το μήκος και πλάτος του
Μύτικα και μέσα σε πυκνή πεδινή βλάστηση από αμπελώνες και ελαιώνες βρίσκεται
η ιστορική μονή του Αγίου Νικολάου.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ (Δήμος) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Στη Nαυπακτία τα δάση είναι φυσικά και πυκνά και αποτελούνται από
έλατα, βελανιδιές, πλατάνια, καστανιές κ.ά.
H Nαυπακτία είναι από τις πλουσιότερες περιοχές του νομού σε δάση.
H ύπαρξη των ορεινών όγκων είναι η βασική προϋπόθεση για την επιβίωση
μεγάλων θηλαστικών, ειδών ορνιθοπανίδας και κυρίως αρπακτικών.
Στα δάση της Nαυπακτίας ζει ο λύκος, το ζαρκάδι, το αγριογούρουνο,
ο αγριόγατος, η αλεπού, ο ασβός, η νυφίτσα, το κουνάβι, ο σκίουρος, ενώ στην περιοχή
του Mόρνου
υπάρχει ακόμη το τσακάλι.
Στα όμορφα βουνά της φωλιάζουν μεγάλα και σπάνια αρπακτικά, όπως ο
χρυσαετός, ο φιδαετός, η ποντικοβαρβακίνα, ο πετρίτης, το διπλοσάινο, το ξεφτέρι,
το βραχοκιρκίνεζο, ο μπούφος, η τυτώ κ.ά.
Στα παραποτάμια δάση της περιοχής την άνοιξη βρίσκουν καταφύγιο τ'
αηδόνια, οι κούκοι, τα κοτσύφια, οι παπαδίτσες κ.ά.
Mέσα στα πυκνά δάση βρίσκουν καταφύγιο οι δρυοκολάπτες, παρδαλοτσικλητάρα,
μεσοτσικλητάρα, λευκονωτσικλητάρα. Aυτά τα σπάνια είδη πουλιών αποτελούν οικολογικούς
δείκτες της υγείας του δάσους. Eπίσης έχουν καταγραφεί και πολλά στρουθιόμορφα,
όπως ο βραχοτσοπανάκος, η ασπροκωλίνα, η σβαρνίστρα, ο γαλαζοκότσυφας, η κάργια
κ.ά.
Στο δυτικό τμήμα της Στερεάς
Eλλάδας βρίσκεται η Αιτωλοακαρνανία
από τις πιο προνομιούχες περιοχές της χώρας μας.
Στην Aιτωλοακαρνανία, υπάρχει πλήθος από ασφαλείς όρμους και φυσικά
λιμάνια, χιλιόμετρα με μοναδικές σε φυσικό κάλλος, παρθένες, βραχώδεις και αμμουδερές
ακτές.
H θέση της και τα πλούσια δώρα της φύση (λιμνοθάλασσες, ποτάμια, λίμνες,
ορεινοί όγκοι, φαράγγια) βοήθησαν τους κατοίκους της να δημιουργήσουν σημαντικό
πολιτισμό και να βρεθούν συχνά στο προσκήνιο της Iστορίας.
Mάρτυρες τα μνημεία της που καλύπτουν όλες τις ιστορικές εποχές και
που μερικά από αυτά είναι μοναδικά στη χώρα μας. Mωσαϊκά απερίγραπτης ομορφιάς!
Σε τούτο εδώ τον τόπο η ψυχή σου σκυρτάει!
Kάθε στοχαστικός περιηγητής αξίζει να γνωρίσει από κοντά την Aιτωλοακαρνανία,
το Φυσικό και Πολιτιστικό Πάρκο της Eλλάδας.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ (Πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Πόλη μοναδικής ομορφιάς, με πλούσια πολιτιστική κληρονομιά και απαράμιλλο
φυσικό κάλλος, η φιλόξενη Ναύπακτος διαθέτει πληθώρα αξιοθέατων: το κάστρο στην
κορυφή του λόφου που καταλήγει στο μικρό γραφικό λιμανάκι με τα ενετικά τείχη,
το επιβλητικό ρολόϊ, η παλιά πόλη και το ιστορικό κέντρο της πόλης, η οποία κρατάει
την παραδοσιακή της φυσιογνωμία, το αρχοντικό του Μπότσαρη, οι πανέμορφες γραφικές
παραλίες Ψανή και Γρίμποβο
που πλαισιώνουν το ενετικό λιμάνι και προσφέρουν απίστευτης ομορφιάς θέα στον
κορινθιακό κόλπο και την εντυπωσιακή γέφυρα Ρίου-Αντιρρίου.
Στην ορεινή Ναυπακτία ο επισκέπτης θα βρει θαυμάσια τοπία για εκδρομές,
καταβάσεις με κανό στον ποταμό Εύηνο,
αθλητικές δραστηριότητες, ορειβασία, φωτογραφία κ.ά.
Επίσης η Ναύπακτος φημίζεται για την αγάπη της για την τέχνη και ιδιαίτερα
τους καλοκαιρινούς μήνες υπάρχει πλούσια πολιτιστική δραστηριότητα με εκδηλώσεις
μουσικές, θεατρικές και χορευτικές, εκθέσεις ζωγραφικής, φωτογραφίας και βιβλίων.
Πόλη με έντονη νυχτερινή ζωή, ικανοποιεί και τον πλέον απαιτητικό επισκέπτη και
καλύπτει όλες της μορφές διασκέδασης.
Η παλιά πόλη, που βρίσκεται μέσα στα τείχη, έχει διατηρήσει το δικό
της ύφος, την παλιά της φυσιογνωμία. Όπου κι αν σταθεί το βλέμμα σου, συναντάς
την ομορφιά, την αρμονία, τη γαλήνη. Με ευκολία ξετρυπώνεις μικρές και μεγάλες
παραδοσιακές λεπτομέρειες, ακόμα κι εκεί που κυριαρχεί το τσιμέντο και οι κεραίες
των σύγχρονων κτισμάτων.
Περπατώντας ανάμεσα στα πλακόστρωτα σοκάκια της πόλης, έχεις την αίσθηση
ότι θα ανταμώσεις τους ήρωες του 1821, ότι θα έρθεις πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο με τον
Τζαβέλα, τον Μπότσαρη, τον Φαρμάκη, θα δεις το νεαρό πυρπολητή Ανεμογιάννη με
τη δάδα στο χέρι ή θα ακούσεις τη βραχνή φωνή του μπάρμπα-Γιάννου Βλαχογιάννη.
Κοιτάζοντας από την κορυφή του κάστρου της Ναυπάκτου το πανόραμα του
κορινθιακού και της απέναντι πελοποννησιακής λωρίδας, χάνεις το μέτρο των πραγμάτων.
Κάτω, μπροστά στα πόδια σου, βλέπεις το μικρό γραφικό, βενετσιάνικο λιμανάκι να
λικνίζεται ανάμεσα στο χθες και στο σήμερα.
Στα τρεισήμισι χιλιάδες χρόνια της ιστορίας της πόλης αυτής γράφτηκαν
πολλές από τις καθοριστικές, για την πορεία του έθνους μας, σελίδες ιστορίας.
Από την κάθοδο των Δωριέων μέχρι σήμερα η Ναύπακτος βρισκόταν πάντα στην πρώτη
γραμμή του αγώνα και του πολιτισμού. Ανθρωποι γεμάτοι ηρωισμό, μεγαλείο, φαντασία,
ρομαντισμό και λεπτότητα γεννήθηκαν, μεγάλωσαν ή έδρασαν σε τούτο το χώρο, όπως
ο Μέναιχμος, ο Σοϊδας, ο Ησίοδος, ο Καρκίνος, ο Απις, ο Κέως, ο Αγέλαος, ο Θερβάντες,
ο Βλαχογιάννης, ο Τζαβέλας, ο Φαρμάκης κ.ά.
Η Ναύπακτος κτυπήθηκε άπειρες φορές από εισβολείς, κατακτητές, πειρατές,
λοιμούς και σεισμούς. Το ιστορικό ημερολόγιο της Ναυπάκτου είναι γεμάτο με σημαδιακές
ημερομηνίες. Από τα λαμπρότερα συμβάντα της πολυτάραχης ιστορίας της είναι το
κοσμοϊστορικής σημασίας γεγονός που έλαβε χώρα στον ευρύτερο θαλάσσιο χώρο της,
η Ναυμαχία της Ναυπάκτου το 1571, όπου νίκησαν οι χριστιανικές δυνάμεις και αναχαιτίσθηκε
η προέλαση των Μωαμεθανών προς την Ευρώπη, διασώζοντας τον ευρωπαϊκό πολιτισμό.
Η Ναύπακτος έχει όλα εκείνα τα στοιχεία που συγκροτούν αυτό που ονομάζουμε
γραφικό. Αρκετό πράσινο, άφθονα νερά, γιγάντια αιωνόβια πλατάνια, καθαρή θάλασσα,
πεντακάθαρες αυλές με όμορφους κήπους, πανέμορφο οχυρό λιμανάκι, που είναι το
μικρότερο και το ωραιότερο της Μεσογείου, και το ισχυρό κάστρο της που είναι μάρτυρας
της πολυκύμαντης ιστορίας της. Το κλίμα της θεωρείται από τα καλύτερα της χώρας.
Είναι εύκρατο μεσογειακό με ήπιο σχετικά χειμώνα και δροσερό καλοκαίρι. Έχει αυξημένες
βροχοπτώσεις, σύντομες περιόδους καλοκαιρινής ξηρασίας και μεγάλη ηλιοφάνεια.
Αρχιτεκτονική και πολεοδομική περιγραφή της Ναυπάκτου
Η πόλη παρουσιάζει σήμερα την όψη μιας αστικής συγκρότησης, που αναπτύσσεται
κατά μήκος παραλίας πέντε και πλέον χιλιομέτρων.
Το τμήμα της πόλης, το "ιστορικό κέντρο", που περικλείεται
από τα τείχη, παρουσιάζει ενδιαφέρον παραδοσιακό πολεοδομικό σύνολο, που σε συνδυασμό
με τις επάλληλες επάλξεις του ενετικού φρουρίου συνθέτουν ένα ιστορικό περιβάλλον.
Η περιοχή είναι πυκνοδομημένη υπό αυστηρούς κανόνες δόμησης και αισθητικής
έκφρασης. Το οδικό δίκτυο είναι πυκνό με στενούς λιθόστρωτους δρόμους (καλντερίμια)
και πέτρινες σκάλες.
Στην περιοχή δεξιά και αριστερά του ιστορικού κέντρου υπάρχει μια
πολεοδόμηση με δύο ευθύγραμμους οδικούς άξονες, όπου μέχρι το 1930 χτίστηκαν πολυτελείς
αστικές κατοικίες με δυτικοευρωπαϊκά αρχιτεκτονικά στοιχεία.
Οι τύποι των παραδοσιακών κατοικιών που συναντάμε στην πόλη της Ναυπάκτου
είναι οι: α) λαϊκή-αστική κατοικία δύο ορόφων, β) νεοκλασική κατοικία, με μεμονωμένα
δείγματα στη δυτική περιοχή της πόλης (Φανή), γ) νεότερη αστική κατοικία της περιόδου
του μεσοπολέμου, στην ανατολική κυρίως περιοχή της πόλης.
Για να διατηρηθεί η παραδοσιακή μορφή της πόλης σήμερα εφαρμόζονται
μερικοί μορφολογικοί περιορισμοί δόμησης. Στο "ιστορικό κέντρο" δεν
επιτρέπεται καμία επέμβαση που να αλλοιώνει το πολεοδομικό σύνολο, και στη γύρω
αυτού περιοχή επιτρέπεται η δόμηση μόνο μέχρι τρεις ορόφους. Η κάλυψη πρέπει να
γίνεται υποχρεωτικά με τετράρριχτη στέγη με βυζαντινά κεραμίδια.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα, με φωτογραφίες, της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΟΖΕΡΟΣ (Λίμνη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Η λίμνη Οζερός (ή Γαλίτσα) βρίσκεται δυτικά του ποταμού Αχελώου, περίπου
στο ίδιο γεωγραφικό πλάτος με την πόλη του Αγρινίου.
Έχει έκταση 10-11,1 τ.χλμ., περίμετρο 14 χλμ., μέγιστο μήκος 5 χλμ., μέγιστο πλάτος
2,6 χλμ.και βάθος 8-10 χλμ. Είναι καρστική λίμνη τεκτονικής προέλευσης και βρίσκεται
κατά μήκος της τεκτονικής τάφρου του Αγρινίου. Η λίμνη έχει ευρεία λεκάνη απορροής
(66,2 τ.χλμ.), το δυτικό τμήμα της οποίας περιλαμβάνει το ανατολικό τμήμα του
λόφου Λυκοβίτσι, ενώ το ανατολικό τμήμα μία εκτεταμένη περιοχή καλλιεργειών. Η
λίμνη τροφοδοτείται με νερό από χειμάρρους που απαντούν κυρίως στο ανατολικό και
νοτιοανατολικό τμήμα της, καθώς επίσης και από τον Αχελώο, όταν υπερχειλίζει.
Παρουσιάζει έντονες μεταβολές της στάθμης του νερού, που οφείλονται κυρίως στην
υπόγεια απορροή. Χαρακτηριστικό της περιοχής είναι η παρουσία απότομων πλαγιών
στα δυτικά και νοτιοδυτικά και καρστικών σχηματισμών όπως δολίνων, λατυποπαγών
ασβεστόλιθων κ.λπ. Το ανάγλυφο όλων των άλλων πλευρών της λίμνης είναι σχεδόν
επίπεδο. Στις βορειοδυτικές πλευρές της λίμνης υπάρχει μεγάλη έκταση ιλύος, ενώ
στις βόρειες και νότιες όχθες της απαντούν έλη, περιοχές με άμμο, αμμοχάλικο,
κροκάλες, άργιλο και αλλουβιακά εδάφη. Το υπόλοιπο τμήμα της πεδινής περιοχής
προς τον Αχελώο καλύπτεται από προσχώσεις αργίλου και ιλύος που μεταφέρονται από
τη ροή του ποταμού. Οι σχηματισμοί αυτοί έχουν μέσο πάχος 80 μ. Αν και θεωρείται
ολιγότροφη λίμνη, ωστόσο έχει τραχειόφυτα, τα οποία απαντούν συνήθως σε εύτροφες
ή μεσότροφες λίμνες. Η Οζερός είναι θερμή μονομικτική λίμνη και ανήκει στον ανθρακικό
τύπο. Η δυτική πλευρά της είναι βραχώδης, με θαμνώδη βλάστηση. Πριν μερικά χρόνια
μια μεγάλη πυρκαγιά κατέστρεψε ένα μεγάλο τμήμα της βλάστησης, η ανάκαμψη του
οποίου είναι βραδεία. Στα μέρη αυτά έχει αναπτυχθεί βλάστηση φρυγάνων με κύριο
είδος την Phlomis fruticosa. Στη βάση της βραχώδους ακτής υπάρχει μια μικρή αμμώδης
ζώνη, όπου φύεται το είδος Lippia nodiflora. Στις άλλες πλευρές της λίμνης υπάρχουν
εκτεταμένες αγροτικές εκτάσεις. Στην ανατολική πλευρά της απαντούν έλη με βλάστηση
που κυριαρχείται από τα είδη Scirpus maritimus, Eleocharis palustris, Carex otrubae
κ.λπ., καθώς και μια σχεδόν συνεχής ζώνη με τα υπερυδατικά είδη Phragmites australis,
Typha domingensis και κατά τόπους Scirpus littoralis. Στη μέσο-υποπαραλιακή ζώνη
το είδος Potamogeton nodosus εμφανίζεται σποραδικά, ενώ στην κατώτερη υποπαραλιακή
ζώνη κυριαρχεί το Najas marina. Το παλιό παραποτάμιο δάσος έχει ελαττωθεί σημαντικά
και υπάρχουν μόνο μερικές απομονωμένες συστάδες με Populus και Salix. Οι υδρόβιοι
μικροοργανισμοί, που είναι το κυρίαρχο στοιχείο της πρωτογενούς χλωρίδας και πολύτιμοι
δείκτες της βιολογικής κατάστασης της λίμνης, περιλαμβάνουν πολλά είδη από Cyanophyta,
Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta, Bacillariophyta (Diatomae) Chrysophyta και Pyrrhophyta.
Πολλά από αυτά τα είδη παρουσιάζουν σημαντικές φυτογεωγραφικές εξαπλώσεις, ενώ
άλλα είναι σπάνια ή με τοπική εξάπλωση. Επίσης, ορισμένα από αυτά είναι ενδημικά
της Ελλάδας.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΟΙΝΙΑΔΕΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Η πόλη των Οινιαδών, φημισμένη κατά την αρχαιότητα, βρισκόταν στις
εκβολές του Αχελώου (σήμερα,
λόγω των προσχώσεων, βρίσκεται αρκετά χιλιόμετρα από αυτές). Εμφανίζεται στην
ιστορία τουλάχιστον τον 5ο αι. π.Χ. και τα ίχνη της χάνονται κατά την περίοδο
της Ρωμαϊκής Αυτοκρατορίας. Οι ανασκαφές στις Οινιάδες ξεκίνησαν στις αρχές του
20ού αιώνα. Τα τείχη έχουν μήκος περίπου 6,5 χλμ. και ανάγονται στον 5ο αι. π.Χ.
Ανακαλύφθηκε το λιμάνι της πόλης, με θέσης για αγκυροβόλιο πλοίων, ναυπηγεία,
ερείπια ναού και λουτρά.
Το θέατρο της πόλης διασώζεται σε καλή κατάσταση, τουλάχιστον στη
μία πλευρά του. Κάθε καλοκαίρι, ο δήμος Οινιαδών διοργανώνει με μεγάλη επιτυχία
φεστιβάλ στο χώρο του θεάτρου, όπου παρουσιάζονται σπουδαίες παραστάσεις διαφόρων
θιάσων από όλη την Ελλάδα.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΠΑΛΑΙΡΟΣ (Κωμόπολη) ΑΚΤΙΟ - ΒΟΝΙΤΣΑ
Όμορφη κωμόπολη, με θέα στα απέναντι νησάκια Μαδουρή,
Σκορπιό
και Μεγανήσι.
Απέχει 134 χλμ. βορειοδυτικά του Μεσολογγίου
και έχει 2.300 κατοίκους. Αξιοθέατα αποτελούν τα τείχη της αρχαίας πόλης και το
κάστρο Κεχροπούλα.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Δεκέμβριο 2004 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα της Γενικής Γραμματείας Περιφέρειας Δυτικής Ελλάδας/a>
ΑΣΤΑΚΟΣ (Κωμόπολη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
ΑΧΕΛΩΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
ΑΓΡΙΝΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Agrinium (Agrinion), a town of Aetolia, situated towards the NE. of Aetolia, near the Achelous. Its position is quite uncertain. From its name we might conjecture that it was a town of the Agraci; but the narrative in Polybius (v. 7) would imply that it was not so far north. In B.C. 314 we find Agrinium in alliance with the Acarnanians, when Cassander marched to the assistance of the latter against the Aetolians. As soon as Cassander returned to Macedonia, Agrinium was besieged by the Aetolians,and capitulated; but the Aetolians treacherously put to death the greater part of the inhabitants. (Died. xix. 67, 68; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 156.)
ΑΙΤΩΛΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Aetolia (Aitolia: Eth. Aitolos, Aetolus), a district of Greece, the boundaries
of which varied at different periods. In the time of Strabo it was bounded on
the W. by Acarnania, from which it was separated by the river Achelous, on the
N. by the mountainous country inhabited by the Athamanes, Dolopes, and Dryopes,
on the NE. by Doris and Malis, on the SE. by Locris, and on the S. by the entrance
to the Corinthian gulf. It contained about 1165 square miles. It was divided into
two districts, called Old Aetolia (he archaia Aitolia), and Aetolia Epictetus
(he epiktetos), or the Acquired. The former extended along the coast from the
Achelous to the Evenus, and inland as far as Thermum, opposite the Acarnanian
town of Stratus: the latter included the northern and more mountainous part of
the province, and also the country on the coast between the Evenus and Locris.
When this division was introduced is unknown; but it cannot have been founded
upon conquest, for the inland Aetolians were never subdued. The country between
the Achelous and the Evenus appears in tradition as the original abode of the
Aetolians; and the term Epictetus probably only indicates the subsequent extension
of their name to the remainder of the country. Strabo makes the promontory Antirrhium
the boundary between Aetolia and Locris, but some of the towns between this promontory
and the Evenus belonged originally to the Ozolian Locrians. (Strab. pp. 336, 450,
459.)
The country on the coast between the Achelous and the Evenus is a
fertile plain, called Paracheloitis (Paracheloitis), after the former river. This
plain is bounded on the north by a range of hills called Aracynthus, north of
which and of the lakes Hyria and Trichonis there again opens out another extensive
plain opposite the town of Stratus. These are the only two plains in Aetolia of
any extent. The remainder of the country is traversed in every direction by rugged
mountains, covered with forests, and full of dangerous ravines. These mountains
are a south-westerly continuation of Mt. Pindus, and have never been crossed by
any road, either in ancient or modern times. The following mountains are mentioned
by special names by the ancient writers:
1.Tymphrestus (Tumphrestos), on the northern frontier, was a southerly continuation
of Mt. Pindus, and more properly belongs to Dryopis.
2. Bomi (Bomoi), on the north-eastern frontier, was the most westerly part of
Mt. Oeta, inhabited by the Bomienses. In it were the sources of the Evenus. (Strab.
x. p. 451; Thuc. iii. 96; Steph. B. s. v. Bomoi.)
3. Coraxa (Korax), also on the north-eastern frontier, was a south-westerly continuation
of Oeta, and is described by Strabo as the greatest mountain in Aetolia. There
was a pass through it leading to Thermopylae, which the consul Acilius Glabrio
crossed with great difficulty and the loss of many beasts of burthen in his passage,
when he marched from Thermopylae to Naupactus in B.C. 191. Leake remarks that
the route of Glabrio was probably by the vale of the Vistritza into that of the
Kokkcino, over the ridges which connect Velukhi with Vardhusi, but very near the
latter mountain, which is thus identified with Corax. Corax is described on that
occasion by Livy as a very high mountain, lying between Callipolis and Naupactus.
(Strab. x. p. 450; Liv. xxxvi. 30; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol.
ii. p. 624.)
4. Taphiassus (Taphiassos: Kaki--scala), a southerly continuation of Corax, extended
down to the Corinthian gulf, where it terminated in a lofty mountain near the
town of Macynia. In this mountain Nessus and the other Centaurs were said to have
been buried, and from their corpses arose the stinking waters which flowed into
the sea, and from which the western Locrians are said to have derived the name
of Ozolae, or the Stinking. Modern travellers have found at the base of Mt. Taphiassus
a number of springs of fetid water. Taphiassus derives its modern name of Kaki--skala,
or Bad-ladder, from the dangerous road, which runs along the face of a precipitous
cliff overhanging the sea, half way up the mountain. (Strab. pp. 427, 451, 460;
Antig. Caryst. 129; Plin. iv. 2; Leake, vol. i. p. 111; Mure, Tour in Greece,
vol. i. p. 135; Gell, Itiner. p. 292.)
5. Chalcis or Chalceia (Chalkis e Chalkia: Varassova), an offshoot of Taphiassus,
running down to the Corinthian gulf, between the mouth of the Evenus and Taphiassus.
At its foot was a town of the same name. Taphiassus and Chalcis are the ancient
names of the two great mountains running close down to the sea-coast, a little
west of the promontory Antirrhium, and separated from each other by some low ground.
Each of these mountains rises from the sea in one dark gloomy mass. (Strab. pp.
451, 460; Horn. Il. ii. 640; Leake, l. c.; Mure, vol. i. p. 171.)
6. Aracyntus (Arakunthos: Zygos), a range of mountains running in a south-easterly
direction from the Achelous to the Evenus, and separating the lower plain of Aetolia
near the sea from the upper plain above the lakes Hyria and Trichonis. (Strab.
x. p. 450.)
7. Panaetolium (Viena), a mountain NE. of Thermum, in which city the Aetolians
held the meetings of their league. (Plin. iv. 2; Pol. v. 8; Leake, vol. i. p.
131.)
8. Myenus (to oros Muenon, Plut. de Fluviis, p. 44), between the rivers Evenus
and Hylaethus.
9. Macynium mentioned only by Pliny (l. c.), must, from its name, have been near
the town of Macynia on the coast, and consequently a part of Mt. Taphiassus.
10. Curium (Kourion), a mountain between Pleuron and lake Trichonis, from which
the Curetes were said to have derived their name. It is a branch of Aracynthus.
(Strab. x. p. 451.)
The two chief rivers of Aetolia were the Achelous and the Evenus,
which flowed in the lower part of their course nearly parallel to one another.
There were no other rivers in the country worthy of mention, with the exception
of the Campylus and Cyathus, both of which were tributaries of the Achelous.
There were several lakes in the two great plains of Aetolia. The upper
plain, N. of Mt. Aracynthus, contained two large lakes, which communicated with
each other. The eastern and the larger of the two was called Trichonis (Trichonis,
Pol. v. 7, xi. 4: Lake of Apokuro), the western was named Hyria (Lake of Zygos);
and from the latter issued the river Cyathus, which flowed into the Achelous near
the town of Conope, afterwards Arsinoe (Ath. x. p. 424). This lake, named Hyrie
by Ovid (Met. vii. 371, seq.) is called Hydra (gdra) in the common text of Strabo,
from whom we learn that it was afterwards called Lysimachia (Ausimachia) from
a town of that name upon its southern shore. (Strab. p. 460.) Its proper name
appears to have been Hyria, which might easily be changed into Hydra. (Muller,
Dorians, vol. ii. p. 481.) This lake is also named Conope by Antoninus Liberalis
(Met. 12). The mountain Aracynthus runs down towards the shores of both lakes,
and near the lake Hyrie there is a ravine, which Ovid (l. c.) calls the Cycneia
Tempe, because Cycnus was said to have been here changed into a swan by Apollo.
The principal sources which form both the lakes are at the foot of the steep mountain
overhanging the eastern, or lake Trichonis; a current flows from E. to W. through
the two lakes; and the river of Cyathus is nothing more than a continuation of
the same stream (Leake, vol. i. p. 154).
In the lower plain of Aetolia there were several smaller lakes or
lagoons. Of these Strabo (pp. 459, 460) mentions three.
1. Cynia (Kunia), which was 60 stadia long and 20 broad, and communicated with
the sea.
2. Uria (Ouria), which was much smaller than the preceding and half a stadium
from the sea.
3. A large lake near Calydon, belonging to the Romans of Patrae: this lake, according
to Strabo, abounded in fish (euopsos), and the gastronomic poet Archestratus said
that it was celebrated for the labrax (labrax, a ravenous kind of fish. (Ath.
vii. p. 311, a.)
There is some difficulty in identifying these lakes, as the coast
has undergone numerous changes; but Leake supposes that the lagoon of Anatoliko
was Cynia, that of Mesolonghi Uria, and that of Bokhori the lake of Calydon. The
last of these lakes is perhaps the same as the lake Onthis (Onthis), which Nicander
(ap. Schol. ad Nicand. Ther. 214) speaks of in connection with Naupactus. (Leake,
vol. iii. p. 573, &c.)
In the two great plains of Aetolia excellent corn was grown, and the
slopes of the mountains produced good wine and oil. These plains also afforded
abundance of pasture for horses; and the Aetolian horses were reckoned only second
to those of Thessaly. In the mountains there were many wild beasts, among which
we find mention of boars and even of lions, for Herodotus gives the Thracian Nestus
and the Achelous as the limits within which lions were found in Europe. (Herod.
v. 126.)
The original inhabitants of Aetolia are said to have been Curetes,
who according to some accounts had come from Euboea. (Strab. x. p. 465.) They
inhabited the plains between the Achelous and the Evenus, and the country received
in consequence the name of Curetis. Besides them we also find mention of the Leleges
and the Hyantes, the latter of whom had been driven out of Boeotia. (Strab. pp.
322, 464.) These three peoples probably belonged to the great Pelasgic race, and
were at all events not Hellenes. The first great Hellenic settlement in the country
is said to have been that of the Epeans, led by Aetolus, the son of Endymion,
who crossed over from Elis in Peloponnesus, subdued the Curetes, and gave his
name to the country and the people, six generations before the Trojan war. Aetolus
founded the town of Calydon, which he called after his son, and which became the
capital of his dominions. The Curetes continued to reside at their ancient capital
Pleuron at the foot of Mt. Curium, and for a long time carried on war with the
inhabitants of Calydon. Subsequently the Curetes were driven out of Pleuron, and
are said to have crossed over into Acarnania. At the time of the Trojan war Pleuron
as well as Calydon were governed by the Aetolian chief Thoas. (Paus. v. 1. § 8;
Hom. Il. ix. 529, seq.; Strab. p. 463.) Since Pleuron appears in the later period
of the heroic age as an Aetolian city, it is represented as such from the beginning
in some legends. Hence Pleuron, like Calydon, is said to have derived its name
from a son of Aetolus (Apollod. i. 7. § 7); and at the very time that some legends
represent it as the capital of the Curetes, and engaged in war with Oeneus, king
of Calydon, others relate that it was governed by his own brother Thestius.
Aetolia was celebrated in the heroic age of Greece on account of the
hunt of the Calydonian boar, and the exploits of Tydeus, Meleager and the other
heroes of Calydon and Pleuron. The Aetolians also took part in the Trojan war
under the command of Thoas; they came in 40 ships from Pleuron, Calydon, Olenus,
Pylene and Chalcis (Hom. Il. ii. 638). Sixty years after the Trojan war some Aeolians,
who had been driven out of Thessaly along with the Boeotians, migrated into Aetolia,
and settled in the country around Pleuron and Calydon, which was hence called
Aeolis after them. (Strab. p. 464; Thuc. iii. 102.) Ephorus (ap. Strab. p. 465)
however places this migration of the Aeolians much earlier, for he relates that
the Aeolians once invaded the district of Pleuron, which was inhabited by the
Curetes and called Curetis, and expelled this people. Twenty years afterwards
occurred the great Dorian invasion of Peloponnesus under the command of the descendants
of Heracles. The Aetolian chief Oxylus took part in this invasion, and conducted
the Dorians across the Corinthian gulf. In return for his services he received
Elis upon the conquest of Peloponnesus.
From this time till the commencement of the Peloponnesian war we know
nothing of the history of the Aetolians. Notwithstanding their fame in the heroic
age, they appear at the time of the Peloponnesian war as one of the most uncivilized
of the Grecian tribes; and Thucydides (i. 5) mentions them, together with their
neighbours the Ozolian Locrians and Acarnanians, as retaining all the habits of
a rude and barbarous age. At this period there were three main divisions of the
Aetolians, the Apodoti, Ophionenses, and Eurytanes. The last, who were the most
numerous of the three, spoke a language which was unintelligible, and were in
the habit of eating raw meat. (Thuc. iii. 102.) Thucydides, however, does not
call them Barbaroi; and notwithstanding their low culture and uncivilized habits,
the Aetolians ranked as Hellenes, partly, it appears, on account of their legendary
renown, and partly on account of their acknowledged connection with the Eleans
in Peloponnesus. Each of these three divisions was subdivided into several village
tribes. Their villages were unfortified, and most of the inhabitants lived by
plunder. Their tribes appear to have been independent of each other, and it was
only in circumstances of common danger that they acted in concert. The inhabitants
of the inland mountains were brave, active, and invincible. They were unrivalled
in the use of the javelin, for which they are celebrated by Euripides. (Phoeniss.
139, 140; comp. Thuc. iii. 97.)
The Apodoti, Ophionenses, and Eurytanes, inhabited only the central
districts of Aetolia, and did not occupy any part of the plain between the Evenus
and the Achelous, which was the abode of the more civilized part of the nation,
who bore no other name than that of Aetolians. The Apodoti (Apodotoi, Thuc. iii.
94; Apodotoi, Pol. xvii. 5) inhabited the mountains above Naupactus, on the borders
of Locris. They are said by Polybius not to have been Hellenes. (Comp. Liv. xxxii.
34.) North of these dwelt the Ophionenses or Ophienses (Ophioneis, Thuc. l. c.;
Ophieis, Strab. pp. 451,465), and to them belonged the smaller tribes of the Bomienses
(Bomies, Thuc. iii. 96; Strab. p. 451; Steph. Byz. s. v. Bomoi) and Callienses
(Kallies, Thuc.), both of which inhabited the ridge of Oeta running down towards
the Malic gulf: the former are placed by Strabo at the sources of the Evenus,
and the position of the latter is fixed by that of their capital town Callium.
The Eurytanes (Eurutanes, Thuc. iii. 94, et alii) dwelt north of the Ophionenses,
as far, apparently, as Mt. Tymphrestus, at the foot of which was the town Oechalia,
which Strabo describes as a place belonging to this people. They are said to have
possessed an oracle of Odysseus. (Strab. pp, 448, 451, 465; Schol. ad Lycophr.
799.)
The Agraei, who inhabited the north-west corner of Aetolia, bordering
upon Ambracia, were not a division of the Aetolian nation, but a separate people,
governed at the time of the Peloponnesian war by a king of their own, and only
united to Aetolia at a later period. The Aperanti, who lived in the same district,
appear to have been a subdivision of the Agraei. Pliny (iv. 3) mentions various
other peoples as belonging to Aetolia, such as the Athamanes, Tymphaei, Dolopes,
&c.; but this statement is only true of the later period of the Aetolian League,
when the Aetolians had extended their dominion over most of the neighbouring tribes
of Epirus and Thessaly.
At the commencement of the Peloponnesian war the Aetolians had formed
no alliance either with Sparta or Athens, and consequently are not mentioned by
Thucydides in his enumeration of the allied forces of the two nations. It was
the unprovoked invasion of their country by the Athenians in the sixth year of
the war (B.C. 455), which led. them to espouse the Lacedaemonian side. In this
year the Messenians, who had been settled at Naupactus by the Athenians, and who
had suffered greatly from the inroads of the Aetolians, persuaded the Athenian
general, Demosthenes, to march into the interior of Aetolia, with the hope of
conquering the three great tribes of the Apodoti, Ophionenses, and Eurytanes,
since if they were subdued the Athenians would become masters of the whole country
between the Ambracian gulf and Parnassus. Having collected a considerable force,
Demosthenes set out from Naupactus; but the expedition proved a complete failure.
After advancing a few miles into the interior, he was attacked at Aegitium by
the whole force of the Aetolians, who had occupied the adjacent hills. The rugged
nature of the ground prevented the Athenian hoplites from coming to close quarters
with their active foe; Demosthenes had with him only a small number of light-armed
troops; and in the end the Athenians were completely defeated, and fled in disorder
to the coast. Shortly afterwards the Aetolians joined the Peloponnesians under
Eurylochus in making an attack upon Naupactus, which Demosthenes caved with difficulty,
by the help of the Acarnanians. (Thuc. iii. 94, &c.) The Aetolians took no further
part in the Peloponnesian war; for those of the nation who fought under the Athenians
in Sicily were only mercenaries. (Thuc. vii. 57.) From this time till that of
the Macedonian supremacy, we find scarcely any mention of the Aetolians. They
appear to have been frequently engaged in hostilities. with their neighbours and
ancient enemies, the Acarnanians.
After the death of Alexander the Great (B.C. 323) the Aetolians joined
the confederate Greeks in what is usually called the Lamian war. This war was
brought to a close by the defeat of the confederates at Crannon (B.C. 322); whereupon
Antipater and Craterus, having first made peace with Athens, invaded Aetolia with
a large army. The Aetolians, however, instead of yielding to the invaders, abandoned
their villages in the plains and retired to their impregnable mountains, where
they remained in safety, till the Macedonian generals were obliged to evacuate
their territory in order to march against Perdiecas. (Diod. xviii. 24, 25.) In
the wars which followed between the different usurpers of the Macedonian throne,
the alliance of the Aetolians was eagerly courted by the contending armies; and
their brave and warlike population enabled them to exercise great influence upon
the politics of Greece. The prominent part they took in the expulsion of the Gauls
from Greece (B.C. 279). still further increased their reputation. In the army
which the Greeks assembled at Thermopylae to oppose the Gauls, the contingent
of the Aetolians was by far the largest, and they here distinguished themselves
by their bravery in repulsing the attacks of the enemy; but they earned their
chief glory by destroying the greater part of a body of 40,000 Gauls, who had
invaded their country, and had taken the town of Callium, and committed the most
horrible atrocities on the inhabitants. The Aetolians also assisted in the defence
of Delphi when it was attacked by the Gauls, and in the pursuit of the enemy in
their retreat. (Paus. x. 20--23.) To commemorate the vengeance they had inflicted
upon the Gauls for the destruction of Callium, the Aetolians dedicated at Delphi
a trophy and a statue of an armed heroine, representing Aetolia. They also dedicated
in the same temple the statues of the generals under whom they had fought in this
war. (Paus. x. 18. § 7, x. 15. § 2.)
From this time the Aetolians appear as one of the three great powers
in Greece, the other two being the Macedonians and Achaeans. Like the Achaeans,
the Aetolians were united in a confederacy or league. At what time this league
was first formed is uncertain. It is inferred that the Aetolians must have been
united into some form of confederacy at least as early as the time of Philip,
the father of Alexander the Great, from an inscription on the statue of Aetolus
at Thermum, quoted by Ephorus (Strab. p. 463: Aitolon tond anepheikan Aitoloi
spheteras mnem aretes esorain), and from the cession of Naupactus, which was made
to them by Philip. (Strab. p. 427: esti de nun Aitolon, philippou proskrinantos,
quoted by Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, vol. viii. p. 207.) But it was not till
after the death of Alexander the Great that the league appears to have come into
full activity; and it was probably the invasion of their country by Antipater
and Craterus, and the consequent necessity of concerting measures for their common
defence, that brought the Aetolians into a closer political association. The constitution
of the league was democratical, like that of the Aetolian towns and tribes. The
great council of the nation, called the Panaetolicon (Liv. xxxi. 9), in which
it is probable that every freeman above the age of thirty had the right of voting,
met every autumn at Thermum, for the election of magistrates, general legislation,
and the decision of all questions respecting peace and war with foreign nations.
There was also another deliberative body, called Apocleti (Apokletoi), which appears
to have been a kind of permanent committee. (Pol. xx. 1; Liv. xxxvi. 28.) The
chief magistrate bore the title of Strategus Hstrategos), He was elected annually,
presided in the assemblies, and had the command of the troops in war. The officers
next in rank were the Hipparchus (Hipparchos), or commander of the cavalry, and
the chief Secretary Grammateus), both of whom were elected annually.
After the expulsion of the Gauls from Greece, the Aetolians began
to extend their dominions over the neighbouring nations. They still retained the
rude and barbarous habits which had characterised them in the time of Thucydides,
and were still accustomed to live to a great extent by robbery and piracy. Their
love of rapine was their great incentive to war, and in their marauding expeditions
they spared neither friends nor foes, neither things sacred nor profane. Such
is the character given to them by Polybius (e.g. ii. 45, 46, iv. 67, ix. 38),
and his account is confirmed in the leading outlines by the testimony of other
writers; though justice requires us to adds that the enmity of the Aetolians to
the Achaeans has probably led the historian to exaggerate rather than underrate
the vices of the Aetolian people. At the time of their greatest power, they were
masters of the whole of western Acarnania, of the south of Epirus and Thessaly,
and of Locris, Phocis, and Boeotia. They likewise assumed the entire control of
the Delphic oracle and of the Amphictyonic assembly. (Plut. Demetr. 40; Pol. iv.
25; Thirlwall, vol. viii. p. 210.) Their league also embraced several towns in
the heart of Peloponnesus, the island of Cephallenia, and even cities in Thrace
and Asia Minor, such as Lysimachia on the Hellespont, and Cios on the Propontis.
The relation of these distant places to the league is a matter of uncertainty.
They could not have taken any part in the management of the business of the confederacy;
and the towns in Asia Minor and Thrace probably joined it in order to protect
themselves against the attacks of the Aetolian privateers.
The Aetolians were at the height of their power in B.C. 220, when
their unprovoked invasion of Messenia engaged them in a war with the Achaeans,
usually called the Social War. The Achaeans were supported by the youthful monarch
of Macedonia, Philip V., who inflicted a severe blow upon the Aetolians in B.C.
218 by an unexpected march into the interior of their country, where he surprised
the capital city of Thermum, in which all the wealth and treasures of the Aetolian
leaders were deposited. The whole of these fell into the hands of the king, and
were either carried off or destroyed; and before quitting the place, Philip set
fire to the sacred buildings, to retaliate for the destruction of Dium and Dodona
by the Aetolians. (Pol. v.2--9, 13, 14; for the details of Philip's march, see
Thermun) The Social war was brought to a close by a treaty of peace concluded
in B.C. 217. Six years afterwards (B.C. 211) the Aetolians again declared war
against Philip, in consequence of having formed an offensive and defensive alliance
with the Romans, who were then engaged in hostilities with Philip. The attention
of the Romans was too much occupied by the war against Hannibal in Italy to enable
them to afford much assistance to the Aetolians, upon whom, therefore, the burden
of the war chiefly fell. In the course of this war Philip again took Thermum (Pol.
xi. 4), and the Aetolians became so disheartened that they concluded peace with
him in B.C. 205. This peace, was followed almost immediately by one between Philip
and the Romans.
On the renewal of the war between Philip and the Romans in B.C. 200,
the Aetolians at first resolved to remain neutral; but the success of the consul
Galba induced them to change their determination, and before the end of the first
campaign they declared war against Philip. They fought at the battle of Cynoscephalae
in B.C. 197, when their cavalry contributed materially to the success of the day.
(Liv. xxxiii. 7.) The settlement of the affairs of Greece by Flamininus after
this victory caused great disappointment to the Aetolians; and as soon as Flamininus
returned to Italy, they invited Antiochus to invade Greece, and shortly afterwards
declared war against the Romans. (B.C. 192.) The defeat of Antiochus at Thermopylae
(B.C. 191) drove the monarch back to Asia, and left the Aetolians exposed to the
full vengeance of the Romans. They obtained a short respite by a truce which they
solicited from the Romans; but having subsequently resumed hostilities on rumours
of some success of Antiochlis in Asia, the Roman consul M. Fulvius Nobilior crossed
over into Greece, and commenced operations by laying siege to Ambracia (B.C. 189),
which was then one of the strongest towns belonging to the league. Meantime news
had arrived of the total defeat of Antiochus at the battle of Magnesia, and the
Aetolians resolved to purchase peace at any price. It was granted to them by the
Romans, but on terms which destroyed for ever their independence, and rendered
them only the vassals of Rome. (Pol. xxii. 15; Liv. xxxviii. 11.) After the conquest
of Perseus (B.C. 167), the Roman party in Aetolia, assisted by a body of Roman
soldiers, massacred 550 of the leading patriots. All the survivors, who were suspected
of opposition to the Roman policy, were carried off as prisoners to Italy. It
was at this time that the league was formally dissolved. (Liv. xlv. 28, 31; Justin,
xxxiii. Prol. and 2.) Aetolia subsequently formed part of the province of Achaia;
though it is doubtful whether it formed part of this province as it was at first
constituted. The inhabitants of several of its towns were removed by Augustus
to people the city of Nicopolis, which he founded to commemorate his victory at
Actium, B.C. 31; and in his time the country is described by Strabo as utterly
worn out and exhausted. (Strab.) Under the Romans the Aetolians appear to have
remained in the same rude condition in which they had always been. The interior
of Aetolia was probably rarely visited by the Romans, for they had no road in
the inland part of the country; and their only road was one leading from the coast
of Acarnania across the Achelous, by Pleuron and Calydon to Chalcis and Molycreia
on the Aetolian coast. (Comp. Brandstaten, Die Geschichten des Aetolischen Landes,
Volkes und Bundes, Berlin, 1844.)
The towns in Aetolia were: In Old Aetolia. In the lower plain, between
the sea and Mount Aracynthus, Calydon, Pleuron, Olenus, Pylene, Chalcis (these
5 are the Aetolian towns mentioned by Homer), Halicyrna, Elaeus, Paeanium or Phana,
Proschium, Ithoria, Conope (afterwards Arsinoe), Lysimachia. In the upper plain
N. of Mount Aracynthus, Acraee, Metapa, Pamphia, Phyteum, Trichonium, Thestienses,
Thermon. In Aetolia Epictetus, on the sea-coast, Macynia, Molycreium or Molycreia:
a little in the interior, on the borders of Locris, Potidania, Crocyleium, Teichium,
Aagitium: further in the interior, Callium Oechalia, Aerantia, Agrinium, Ephyra,
the last of which was a town of the Agraei. The site of the following towns is
quite unknown: -Ellopium (Ellopion, Pol. ap. Steph. B. s. v.); Thorax (Thorax,
s. v.); Pherae (pherai, Steph. B. s. v.)
ΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Acarnania (Akarnania: Akarnan, -anos, Acarnan,-anis), the most westerly
province of Greece, was bounded on the N. by the Ambracian gulf, on the NE. by
Amphilochia, on the W. and SW. by the Ionian sea, and on the E. by Aetolia. It
contained about 1571 square miles. Under the Romans, or probably a little earlier,
the river Achelous formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia; but in the
time of the Peloponnesian war, the territory of Oeniadae, which was one of the
Acarnanian towns, extended E. of this river. The interior of Acarnania is covered
with forests and mountains of no great elevation, to which some modern writers
erroneously give the name of Crania. Between these mountains there are several
lakes, and many fertile vallies. The chief river of the country is the Achelous,
which in the lower part of its course flows through a vast plain of great natural
fertility, called after itself the Paracheloitis. This plain is at present covered
with marshes, and the greater part of it appears to have been formed by the alluvial
depositions of the Achelous. Owing to this circumstance, and to the river having
frequently altered its channel, the southern part of the coast of Acarnania has
undergone numerous changes. The chief affluent of the Achelous in Acarnania is
the Anapus (Anapos), which flowed into the main stream 80 stadia S. of Stratus.
There are several promontories on the coast, but of these only two are especially
named, the promontory of Actium and that of Crithote (Krithote), on the W. coast,
forming one side of the small bay, on which the town. of Astacus stood. Of the
inland lakes, the only one mentioned by name is that of Melite (Melige: Trikardho),
30 stadia long and 20 broad, N. of the mouth of the Achelous, in the territory
of the Oeniadae. There was a lagoon, or salt lake, between Leucas and the Ambracian
gulf, to which Strabo (p. 459) gives the name of Myrtuntium (Murtountion). Although
the soil of Acarnania was fertile, it was not much cultivated by the inhabitants.
The products of the country are rarely mentioned by the ancient writers. Pliny
speaks of iron mines (xxxvi. 19. s. 30), and also of a pearl-fishery off Actium
(ix. 56). A modern traveller states that the rocks in Acarnania indicate, in many
places, the presence of copper, and he was also informed, on good authority, that
the mountains produce coal and sulphur in abundance. (Journal of the Geographical
Society, vol. iii. p. 79.) The chief wealth of the inhabitants consisted in their
herds and flocks, which pastured in the rich meadows in the lower part of the
Achelous. There were numerous islands off the western coast of Acarnania. Of these
the most important were the Echiinades, extending from the mouth of the Achelous
along the shore to the N.; the Taphiae Insulae, lying between Leucas and Acarnania,
and Leucas itself, which originally formed part of the mainland of Acarnania,
but was afterwards separated from--the latter by a canal. (Respecting Acarnania
in general see Strab. p. 459, seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 488,
seq.; Fiedler, Reise durch Griechenland, vol. i. p. 158, seq.)
Amphilochia, which is sometimes reckoned a part of Acarnania, is spoken
of in a separate article.
The name of Acarnania appears to have been unknown in the earliest
times. Homer only calls the country opposite Ithaca and Cephallenia, under the
general name of Epeirus (epeiros), or the mainland (Strab. p. 451, sub fin.),
although he frequently mentions the Aetolians.1
The country is said to have been originally inhabited by the Taphii,
or Teleboae, the Leleges, and the Curetes. The Taphii, or Teleboae were chiefly
found in the islands off the western coast of Acarnania, where they maintained
themselves by piracy. The Leleges were more widely disseminated, and were also
in possession at one period of Aetolia, Locris, and other parts of Greece. The
Curetes are said to have come from Aetolia, and to have settled in Acarnania,
after they had been expelled from the former country by Aetolus and his followers
(Strab. p. 465). The name of Acarnania is derived from Acarnan, the son of Alcmaeon,
who is said to have settled at the mouth of the Achelous. (Thuc. ii. 102.) If
this tradition is of any value, it would intimate that an Argive colony settled
on the coast of Acarnania at an early period. In the middle of the 7th century
B.C., the Corinthians founded Leucas, Anactorium, Sollium, and other towns on
the coast. (Strab. p. 452.) The original inhabitants of the country were driven
more into the interior; they never made much progress in the arts of civilised
life; and even at the time of the Peloponnesian war, they were a rude and barbarous
people, engaged in continual wars with their neighbours, and living by robbery
and piracy. (Thuc. i. 5.) The Acarnanians, however, were Greeks, and as such were
allowed to contend in the great Pan-Hellenic games, although they were closely
connected with their neighbours, the Agraeans and Amphilochians on the gulf of
Ambracia, who were barbarian or non-Hellenic nations. Like other rude mountaineers,
the Acarnanians are praised for their fidelity and courage. They formed good light-armed
troops, and were excellent slingers. They lived, for the most part dispersed in
villages, retiring, when attacked, to the mountains. They were united, however,
in a political League, of which Aristotle wrote an account in a work now lost.
(Akarnanon Politeia, Strab. p. 321.) Thucydides mentions a hill, named Olpae,
near the Amphilochian Argos, which the Acarnanians had fortified as a place of
judicial meeting for the settlement of disputes. (Thuc. iii. 105.) The meetings
of the League were usually held at Stratus, which was the chief town in Acarnania
(Xen. Hell. iv. 6. 4; comp. Thuc. ii. 80); but, in the time of the Romans, the
meetings took place either at Thyrium, or at Leucas, the latter of which places
became, at that time, the chief city in Acarnania (Liv. xxxiii. 16, 17; Polyb.
xxviii. 5.) At an early period, when part of Amphilochia belonged to the Acarnanians,
they used to hold a public judicial congress at Olpae, a fortified hill about
3 miles from Argos Amphilochicum. Of the constitution of their League we have
scarcely any particulars. We learn from an inscription found at Punta, the site
of ancient Actium, that there was a Council and a general assembly of the people,
by which decrees were passed. (Edoxe tai boulai kai toi koinoi ton Hakarnanon).
At the head of the League there was a Strategus (Stragegos) or General; and the
Council had a Secretary (grammateus), who appears to have been a person of importance,
as in the Achaean and Aetolian Leagues. The chief priest (hierapolos) of the temple
of Apollo at Actium seems to have been a person of high rank; and either his name
or that of the Strategus was employed for official dates, like that of the first
Archon at Athens. (Bockh, Corpus Inscript. No. 1793.)
The history of the Acarnanians begins in the time of the Peloponnesian
war. Their hatred against the Corinthian settlers, who had deprived them of all
their best ports, naturally led them to side with the Athenians; but the immediate
cause of their alliance with the latter arose from the expulsion of the Amphilochians
from the town of Argos Amphilochicum by the Corinthian settlers from Ambracia,
about B.C. 432. The Acarnanians espoused the cause of the expelled Amphilochians,
and in order to obtain the restoration of the latter, they applied for assistance
to Athens. The Athenians accordingly sent an expedition under Phormio, who took
Argos, expelled the Ambraciots, and restored the town to the Amphilochians and
Acarnanians. An alliance was now formally concluded between the Acarnamians and
Athenians. The only towns of Acarnania which did not join it were Oeniadae and
Astacus. The Acarnanians were of great service in maintaining the supremacy of
Athens in the western part of Greece, and they distinguished themselves particularly
in B.C. 426, when they gained a signal victory under the command of Demosthenes
over the Peloponnesians and Ambraciots at Olpae. (Thuc. iii. 105, seq.) At the
conclusion of this campaign they concluded a peace with the Ambraciots, although
they still continued allies of Athens (Thuc. iii. 114.) In B.C. 391 we find the
Acarnanians engaged in war with the Achaeans, who had taken possession of Calydon
in Aetolia; and as the latter were hard pressed by the Acarnanians, they applied
for aid to the Lacedaemonians, who sent an army into Acarnania, commanded by Agesilaus.
The latter ravaged the country, but his expedition was not attended with any lasting
consequences (Xen. Hell. iv. 6). After the time of Alexander the Great the Aetolians
conquered most of the towns in the west of Acarnania; and the Acarnanians in consequence
united themselves closely to the Macedonian kings, to whom. they remained faithful
in their various vicissitudes of fortune. They refused to desert the cause of
Philip in his war with the Romans, and it was not till after the capture of Leucas,
their principal town, and the defeat of Philip at Cynoscephalae that they submitted
to the Romans. (Liv. xxxiii. 16-17.) When Antiochus III. king of Syria, invaded
Greece, B.C. 191, the Acarnanians were persuaded by their countryman Mnasilochus
to espouse his cause; but on the expulsion of Antiochus from Greece, they came
again under the supremacy of Rome. (Liv. xxxvi. 11-12.) In the settlement of the
affairs of Greece by Aemilius Paulus and the Roman commissioners after the defeat
of Perseus (B.C. 168), Leucas was separated from Acarnania, but no other change
was made in the country. (Liv. xlv. 31.) When Greece was reduced to the form of
a Roman province, it is doubtful whether Acarnania was annexed to the province
of Achaia or of Epeirus, but it is mentioned at a later time as part of Epeirus.
The inhabitants of several of its towns were removed by Augustus to Nicopolis,
which he founded after the battle of Actium; and in the time of this emperor the
country is described by Strabo as utterly worn out and exhausted. (Strab. p. 460.)
The following is a list of the towns of Acarnania. On the Ambracian
gulf, from E. to W.: Limnaea Echinus (Echinos, Steph. B. s. v.; Plin. iv. 2; Ai
Vasili), Heracleia (Plin. iv. 2; Vonitza), Anactorium, Actium. On or near the
west of the Ionian sea, from N. to S.: Thyrium, Palaeibus, Alyzia, Sollium, Astacus,
Oeniadae. In the interior from S. to N.: Old Oenia, Coronta, Metropolis, Stratus,
Rhynchus (Hpunchos), near Stratus, of uncertain site (Pol. ap. Ath. iii. p. 95,
d.); Phytia or Phoeteiae, Medeon. The Roman Itineraries mention only one road
in Acarnania, which led from Actium along the coast to Calydon in Aetolia.
1 In the year B.C. 239, the Acarnanians, in the embassy which they sent to
Rome to solicit assistance, pleaded that they had taken no part in the expedition
against Troy, the ancestor of Rome, being the first; time probably, as Thirlwall
remarks, that they had ever boasted of the omission of their name from the Homeric
catalogue. (Justin, xxviii. 1; Strab. p. 462; Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, vol.
viii. pp. 119, 120.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΚΡΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Acrae (Akrai), a town in Aetolia of uncertain site, on the road from Metapa to Conope. Stephanus erroneously calls it an Acarnanian town. (Pol. v. 13; Steph. B. s. v. Akra.)
ΑΚΤΙΟΝ (Αρχαίο λιμάνι) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Actium (Aktion: Eth. Aktios, Actius: Adj. Aktiakos, Actiacus, also
Aktios, Actius), a promontory in Acarnania at the entrance of the Ambraciot Gulf
(Gulf of Arta) off which Augustus gained his celebrated victory over Antony and
Cleopatra, on September 2nd, B.C. 31. There was a temple of Apollo on this promontory,
which Thutydides mentions (i. 29) as situated in the territory of Anactorium.
This temple was of great antiquity, and Apollo derived from it the surname of
Actius and Actiacus. There was also an ancient festival named Actia, celebrated
here in honour of the god. Augustus after his victory enlarged the temple, and
revived the ancient festival, which was henceforth celebrated once in four years
(pentaeteris, ludi quinquennales), with musical and gymnastic contests, and horse
races. (Dion Cass. li. 1; Suet. Aug. 18.) We learn from a Greek inscription found
on the site of Actium, and which is probably prior to the time of Augustus, that
the chief priest of the temple was called Hierapolos, and that his name was employed
in official documents, like that of the first Archon at Athens, to mark the date.
(Bockh, Corpus Inscript. No. 1793.) Strabo says (p. 325) that the temple was situated
on an eminence, and that below was a plain with a grove of trees, and a dock-yard;
and in another passage (p. 451) he describes the harbour as situated outside of
the gulf. On the opposite coast of Epirus, Augustus founded the city of Nicopolis
in honour of his victory. Actium was properly not a town, though it is sometimes
described as such; but after the foundation of Nicopolis, a few buildings sprang
up around the temple, and it served as a kind of suburb to Nicopolis.
The site of Actium has been a subject of dispute. The accompanying
plan of the entrance of the Ambraciot gulf, taken from the map published by Lieut.
Wolfe (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. iii.) will give the reader
a clear idea of the locality.
The entrance of the Ambraciot gulf lies between the low point off
Acarnania, on which stands Fort La Punta, and the promontory of Epirus, on which
stands the modern town of Prevesa, near the site of the ancient Nicopolis. The
narrowest part of this entrance is only 700 yards, but the average distance between
the two shores is half a mile. After passing through this strait, the coast turns
abruptly round a small point to the SE., forming a bay about 4 miles in width,
called the Bay of Prevesa. A second entrance is then formed to the larger basin
of the gulf by the two high capes of La Scara in Epeirus, and of Madonna in Acarnania,
the width of this second entrance being about one mile and a half. Now some modern
writers, among others D'Anville, suppose Actium to have been situated on Cape
Madonna, and Anactorium, which Strabo (p. 451) describes as 40 stadia from Actium,
on La Punta. Two reasons have led them to adopt this conclusion: first, because
the ruins on C. Madonna are sometimes called Azio, which name is apparently a
corruption of the ancient Actium; and, secondly, because the temple of Apollo
is said by Strabo to have stood on a height, which description answers to the
rocky eminence on C. Madonna, and not to the low peninsula of La Punta. But these
reasons are not conclusive, and there can be no doubt that the site of Actium
corresponds to La Punta. For it should be observed, first, that the name Azio
is unknown to the Greeks, and appears to have been introduced by the Venetians,
who conjectured that the ruins on C. Madonna were those of Actium, and therefore
invented the word; and, secondly, that though Strabo places the temple of Apollo
on a height, he does not say that this height was on the sea, but on the contrary,
that it was at some little distance from the sea. In other respects Strabo's evidence
is decisive in favour of the identification of Actium with La Punta. He says that
Actium is one point which forms the entrance of the bay; and it is clear that
he considered the entrance of the bay to be between Prevesa and La Punta, because
he makes the breadth of the strait a little more than four stadia, or half a mile,
which is true when applied to the first narrow entrance, but not to the second.
That the strait between Prevesa and La Punta was regarded as the entrance of the
Ambraciot gulf, is clear, not only from the distance assigned to it by Strabo,
but from the statements of Polybius (iv. 63), who makes it 5 stadia, of Scylax
(v. Kassopii), who makes it 4 stadia, and of Pliny (iv. 1) who makes it 500 paces.
Anactorium is described by Strabo as situated within the bay, while Actium makes
the mouth of the bay. (Strab. pp. 325, 451.) Anactorium, therefore, must be placed
on the promontory of C. Madonna. The testimony of Strabo is confirmed by that
of Dion Cassius. The latter writer says (l. 12) that Actium is a temple of Apollo,
and is situated before the mouth of the strait of the Ambraciot gulf, over against
the harbours of Nicopolis. Cicero tells us (ad Fam. xvi. 6, 9) that in coasting
from Patrae to Corcyra he touched at Actium, which he could hardly have done,
if it were so far out of his way as the inner strait between C. La Scara and C.
Madonna. Thus we come to the conclusion that the promontory of Actium was the
modern La Punta, and that the temple of Apollo was situated a little to the S.,
outside the strait, probably near the Fort La Punta.
A few remarks are necessary respecting the site of the battle, which
has conferred its chief celebrity upon Actium. The fleet of Antony was stationed
in the Bay of Prevesa. His troops had built towers on each side of the mouth of
the strait, and they occupied the channel itself with their ships. Their camp
was near the temple of Apollo, on a level spacious ground. Augustus was encamped
on the opposite coast of Epirus, on the spot where Nicopolis afterwards stood;
his fleet appears to have been stationed in the Bay of Gomaros, now the harbour
of Mitika, to the N. of Nicopolis, in the Ionian sea. Antony was absent from his
army at Patrae; but as soon as he heard of the arrival of Augustus, he proceeded
to Actium, and after a short time crossed over the strait to Prevesa, and pitched
his camp near that of Augustus. But having experienced some misfortunes, he subsequently
re-crossed the strait and joined the main body of his army at Actium. By the advice
of Cleopatra he now determined to return to Egypt. He accordingly sailed out of
the strait, but was compelled by the manoeuvres of Augustus to fight. After the
battle had lasted some hours Cleopatra, who was followed by Antony, sailed through
the middle of the contending fleets, and took to flight. They succeeded in making
their escape, but most of their ships were destroyed. The battle was, therefore,
fought outside of the strait, between La Punta and Prevesa (exo ton stenon, Dion
Cass. 1. 31), and not in the Bay of Prevesa, as is stated by some writers. (Dion
Cass. 1. 12, seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 28, seq.; Wolfe, l. c.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΛΙΚΑΡΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Halikurna: Eth. Hadikurnaios. A village of Aetolia, described by Strabo as situated
30 stadia below Calydon towards the sea Pliny places it near Pleuron. Leake discovered
some ruins, midway between Kurt-aga (the site of Calydon) and the eastern termination
of the lagoon of Mesolonghi, which he supposes to be the remains of Halicyrna.
ΑΛΥΖΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Aluzia (Thuc.vii.31, et alii), Aluzeia (Steph. B.s.v.:), Eth. Aluzeus, Aluzaios,
Aluzeios (ap. Bockh. Corpus Inscript. No. 1793: Kandili). A town on the west coast
of Acarnania. According to Strabo it was distant 15 stadia from the sea, on which
it possessed a harbour and a sanctuary, both dedicated to Heracles. In this sanctuary
were some works of art by Lysippus, representing the labours of Hercules, which
a Roman general caused to be removed to Rome on account of the deserted state
of the place. The remains of Alyzia are still visible in the valley of Kandili.
The distance of the bay of Kandili from the ruins of Leucas corresponds with the
120 stadia which Cicero assigns for the distance between Alyzia and Leucas. (Strab.
pp. 450, 459; Cic. ad Fam. xvi. 2; Plin. iv. 2; Ptolem. iii. 14.) Alyzia is said
to have derived its name from Alyzeus, a son of Icarus. (Strab. p. 452; Steph.
Byz. s. v.) It is first mentioned by Thucydides. In B.C. 374, a naval battle was
fought in the neighbourhood of Alyzia between the Athenians under Timotheus and
the Lacedaemonians under Nicolochus. The Athenians, says Xenophon, erected their
trophy at Alyzia, and the Lacedaemonians in the nearest islands. We learn from
Scylax that the island immediately opposite Alyzia was called Carnus, the modern
Kalamo. (Thuc. vii. 31; Xen. Hell. v. 4. 65, 66; Scylax, p. 13; Leake, Northern
Greece, vol. iv. p. 14, seq.)
(ap. Bockh. Corpus Inscript. No. 1793: Kandili). A town on the west coast of Acarnania.
According to Strabo it was distant 15 stadia from the sea, on which it possessed
a harbour and a sanctuary, both dedicated to Heracles. In this sanctuary were
some works of art by Lysippus, representing the labours of Hercules, which a Roman
general caused to be removed to Rome on account of the deserted state of the place.
The remains of Alyzia are still visible in the valley of Kandili. The distance
of the bay of Kandili from the ruins of Leucas corresponds with the 120 stadia
which Cicero assigns for the distance between Alyzia and Leucas. (Strab. pp. 450,
459; Cic. ad Fam. xvi. 2; Plin. iv. 2; Ptolem. iii. 14.) Alyzia is said to have
derived its name from Alyzeus, a son of Icarus. (Strab. p. 452; Steph. Byz. s.
v.) It is first mentioned by Thucydides. In B.C. 374, a naval battle was fought
in the neighbourhood of Alyzia between the Athenians under Timotheus and the Lacedaemonians
under Nicolochus. The Athenians, says Xenophon, erected their trophy at Alyzia,
and the Lacedaemonians in the nearest islands. We learn from Scylax that the island
immediately opposite Alyzia was called Carnus, the modern Kalamo. (Thuc. vii.
31; Xen. Hell. v. 4. 65, 66; Scylax, p. 13; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p.
14, seq.)
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ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Amphilochia (Amphilochia: Amphilochos), a small district at the eastern
end of the Ambraciot gulf, bounded on the N. by Ambracia and on the S. by the
territory of the Agraei. It did not extend far inland. It is a mountainous district,
and the rocks along the coast rise in some parts to 450 or 500 feet high. The
Amphilochi were a non-Hellenic tribe, although they were supposed to have derived
their name from the Argive Amphilochus, the son of Amphiaraus. Strabo (p. 326)
describes them as an Epirot people, but their country is more usually described
as a part of Acarnania. (Steph. B. s.v.; Scyl. p 12.) Their lineage, as Grote
remarks, was probably something intermediate between the Acarnanians and Epirots.
At the time of the Peloponnesian war the Amphilochi were in close alliance with
the Acarnanians. After the death of Alexander the Great the Amphilochi were conquered
by the Aetolians; and they were at a later time included in the Roman province
of Epirus. The only town in their country was Argos, surnamed Amphilochicum, under
which the history of the people is more fully given. There were also a few villages
or fortresses, which owe their importance simply to their connection with the
history of Argos, and which are therefore described in that article.
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ΑΝΑΚΤΟΡΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Anaktorion: Anaktorios. A town in Acarnania, situated on the Ambraciot gulf, and
on the promontory, which now bears the name of C. Madonna. On entering the Ambraciot
gulf from the Ionian sea it was the first town in Acarnania after Actium, from
which it was distant 40 stadia, and which was in the territory of Anactorium.
This town was for some time one of the most important places in this part of Greece.
It was colonized jointly by the Corinthians and Corcyraeans; but in the war between
these peoples, in B.C. 432, the Corinthians obtained sole possession of the place
by fraud. It remained in the hands of the Corinthians till B.C. 425, when it was
taken by the Acarnanians with the assistance of the Athenians, and the Corinthian
settlers were expelled. Augustus removed its inhabitants to the town of Nicopolis,
which he founded on the opposite coast of Epirus, and Strabo describes it as an
emporium of the latter city. The site of Anactorium has been disputed, and depends
upon the position assigned to Actium. It has however been shown that Actium must
be placed at the entrance of the Ambraciot gulf on La Punta, and Anactorium on
C. Madonna. At the western extremity of the latter promontory are the ruins of
a Greek town, about two miles in circumference, which Leake supposes to have been
Anactorium. They are situated near a small church of St. Peter, which is the name
now given to the place. Other writers place Anactorium at Vonitza, on the E. extremity
of the promontory, but with less probability.
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ΑΡΑΚΥΝΘΟΣ (Βουνό) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Aracynthus (Arakunthos: Zygos), a range of mountains in Aetolia running
in a south-easterly direction from the Achelous to the Evenus, and separating
the lower plain of Aetolia near the sea from the upper plain above the lakes Hyria
and Trichonis. (Strab. pp. 450, 460; Dionys. Perieg. 431; Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. i. p. 121.) Pliny (iv. 2. § 3) and Solinus (7. § 22) erroneously call Aracynthus
a mountain of Acarnania. If we can trust the authority of later writers and of
the Roman poets, there was a mountain of the name of Aracynthus both in Boeotia
and in Attica, or perhaps on the frontiers of the two countries. Thus Stephanus
B. (s. v.) and Servius (ad Virg. Eel. ii. 24) speak of a Boeotian Aracynthus;
and Sextus Empiricus (adv. Gramm. c. 12, p. 270), Lutatius (ad Stat. Theb. ii.
239), and Vibius Sequester (de Month. p. 27) mention an Attic Aracynthus. The
mountain is connected with the Boeotian hero Amphion both by Propertius (iii.
13. 42) and by Virgil (Ecl. ii. 24); and the line of Virgil - Amphion Dircaeus
in Actaeo Aracyntho - would seem to place the mountain on the frontiers of Boeotia
and Attica. (Comp. Brandstater, Die Gesch. des Aetol. Landes, p. 108.)
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ΑΡΓΟΣ ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΚΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Argos Amphilochicum (Argos to Amphilochikon: Eth. Argeios: Neokhori),
the chief town of Amphilochia, situated at the eastern extremity of the Ambraciot
gulf, on the river Inachus. Its territory was called Argeia (Argeia). Its inhabitants
laid claim to their city having been colonized from the celebrated Argos in
Peloponnesus, though the legends of its foundation somewhat different. According
to one tradition, Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus, being dissatisfied with the
state of things in Argos on his return from Troy, emigrated from his native
place, and founded a city of the same name on the Ambraciot gulf. According
to another tradition, it was founded by Alcmaeon, who called it after his brother
Amphilochus. (Thuc. ii. 68; Strab. p. 326; comp. Apollod. iii. 7. § 7.) But
whether the city owed its origin to an Argive colony or not, we know that the
Amphilochi were regarded as barbarians, or a-non-Hellenic race, at the commencement
of the Peloponnesian war, and that shortly before that time the inhabitants
of Argos were the only portion of the Amphilochi, who had become Hellenized.
This they owed to some colonists from Ambracia, whom they admitted into the
city to reside along with them. The Ambraciots, however, soon expelled the original
inhabitants, and kept the town, with its territory, exclusively for themselves.
The expelled inhabitants placed themselves under the protection of the Acarnanians,
and both people applied to Athens for assistance. The Athenians accordingly
sent a force under Phormio, who took Argos, sold the Ambraciots as slaves, and
restored the town to the Amphilochians and Acarnanians, both of whom now concluded
an alliance with Athens. This event probably happened in the year before the
Peloponnesian war, B.C. 432. Two years afterwards (430) the Ambraciots, anxious
to recover the lost town, marched against Argos, but were unable to take it,
and retired, after laying waste its territory. (Thuc. ii. 68.) In B.C. 426 they
made a still more vigorous effort to recover Argos; and as the history of this
campaign illustrates the position of the places in the neighbourhood of Argos,
it requires to be related a little in detail. The Ambraciots having received
the promise of assistance from Eurylochus, the Spartan commander, who was then
in Aetolia, marched with 3000 hoplites into the territory of Argos, and captured
the fortified hill of Olpae (Olpai), close upon the Ambracian gulf, 25 stadia
(about 3 miles) from Argos itself. Thereupon the Acarnanians marched to the
protection of Argos, and took up their position at a spot called Crenae (Krenai),
or the Wells, at no great distance from Argos. Meantime Eurylochus, with the
Peloponnesian forces, had marched through Acarnania, and had succeeded in joining
the Ambraciots at Olpae, passing unperceived between Argos itself and the Acarnanian
force at Crenae. He then took post at Metropolis (Metropolis), a place probably
NE. of Olpae. Shortly afterwards Demosthenes, who had been invited by the Acarnanians
to take the command of their troops, arrived in the Ambraciot gulf with 20 Athenian
ships, and anchored near Olpae. Having disembarked his men, and taken the command,
he encamped near Olpae. The two armies were separated only by a deep ravine:
and as the ground was favourable for ambuscade, Demosthenes hid some men in
a bushy dell, so that they might attack the rear of the enemy. The stratagem
was successful, Demosthenes gained a decisive victory, and Eurylochus was slain
in the battle. This victory was followed by another still more striking. The
Ambraciots at Olpae had some days before sent to Ambracia, to beg for reinforcements;
and a large Ambraciot force had entered the territory of Amphilochia about the
time when the battle of Olpae was fought. Demosthenes being informed of their
march on the day after the battle, formed a plan to sur prise them in a narrow
pass above Olpae. At this pass there were two conspicuous peaks, called respectively
the greater and the lesser Idomene (Idomene). The lesser Idomene seems to have
been at the northern entrance of the pass, and the greater Idomene at the southern
entrance. As it was known that the Ambraciots would rest for the night at the
lower of the two peaks, ready to march through the pass the next morning, Demosthenes
sent forward a detachment to secure the higher peak, and then marched through
the pass in the night. The Ambraciots had obtained no intelligence of the defeat
of their comrades at Olpae, or of the approach of Demosthenes; they were surprised
in their sleep, and put to the sword without any possibility of resist. ance.
Thucydides considers the loss of the Ambraciots to have been the greatest that
befell any Grecian city during the whole war prior to the peace of Nicias; and
he says, that if Demosthenes and the Acarnanians had marched against Ambracia
at once, the city must have surrendered without a blow. The Acarnanians, however,
refused to undertake the enterprise, fearing that the Athenians might be more
troublesome neighbours to them than the Ambraciots. On the contrary, they and
the Amphilochians now concluded a peace with the Ambraciots [p. 208] for 100
years. (Thuc. iii. 105--114; Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. vi. p. 408, &c.) We
know little more of the history of Argos. Some time after the death of Alexander
the Great, it fell into the hands of the Aetolians, together with the rest of
Ambracia: and it was here that the Roman general, M. Fulvius, took up his quarters,
when he concluded the treaty between Rome and the Aetolians. (Liv. xxxviii.
10; Pol. xxii. 13.) Upon the foundation of Nicopolis by Augustus, after the
battle of Actium, the inhabitants of Argos were removed to the former city,
and Argos was henceforth deserted. (Anth. Graec. ix. 553.)
It is, however, mentioned by later writers. (Plin. iv. 1; Mel.
ii. 3; Ptol. iii. 14.) The site of Argos has been a subject of dispute. Thucydides
says (iii. 105), that it was situated on the sea. Polybius (xxii. 13) describes
it as distant 180 stadia, and Livy (xxxviii. 10) 22 miles from Ambracia. Leake
places it in the plain of Vlikha, at the modern village of Neolhori, where are
the ruins of an ancient city, the walls of which were about a mile in circumference.
The chief objection to Neokhori as the site of Argos is, that Neokhori is situated
at a short distance from the coast; whereas Thucydides, as we have already seen,
describes Argos as a maritime city. But it is very probable that the marsh or
lagoon, which now separates Neokhori from the inlet of Armyro, may have been
rendered shallower than it was formerly by alluvial depositions, and that it
may once have afforded a commodious harbour to Argos. The distance of Neokchori
from the ruins of Ambracia corresponds to the distance assigned by Polybius
and Livy between Argos and Ambracia. Near Neokhori also is the river of Ariadha,
corresponding to the Inachus, on whichArgos is said to have been situated. The
only other ruins in the neighbourhood, which could be regarded as the remains
of Argos, are those further south, at the head of the bay of Kervasara, which
Lieutenant Wolfe, who visited the country in 1830, supposes to have been the
site of Argos: but there are strong reasons for believing that this is the site
of Limnaea. Fixing the site of Argos at Neokhori, we are able to identify the
other places mentioned in the history of the campaign of B.C. 426. Crenae probably
corresponds to Armyro on the coast, SW. of Argos; and Olpae to Arapi, also on
the coast, NW. of Argos, at both of which places there are Hellenic remains.
At Arapi at present there is a considerable lagoon, which was probably not so
large in ancient times. The ravine, which separated the army of Demosthenes
from that of Eurylochus, seems to have been the torrent which enters the lagoon
from the north, and Metropolis to have been a place on its right bank, at the
southern extremity of the mountains called Makrinoro. Thucydides expressly mentions
Olpae and Metropolis as two different places; and there is no reason to suppose
them only different names of one place, as some modern commentators have done.
The pass, where Demosthenes gained his second victory over the Ambraciots, is
the pass of Makrinoro, which is one of the most important in this part of Greece.
The southern extremity of the mountain corresponds to the greater Idomene, which
Demosthenes occupied; while the northern extremity, where the Am. braciots were
attacked, was the lesser Idomene. On the latter are remains of ancient fortifications,which
bear the name of Paleopyryo.
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ΑΣΤΑΚΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Astakos: Eth. Anstakenis, Astakios. a town on the W. coast of Acarnania,
on the bay now called Dragamesti, one side of which is formed by the promontory
anciently named Crithote. The ruins of Astacus are probably those described by
Leake as below a monastery of St. Elias, and which he supposes to be those of
Crithote. There was, however, no town Crithote, but only a promontory of this
name; and Leake has misunderstood the passage of Strabo, in which Crithote is
mentioned. Astacus is said to have been a colony of Cephallenia. At the commencement
of the Peloponnesian war, it was governed by a tyrant, named Evarchus, who was
deposed by the Athenians (B.C. 431), but was shortly afterwards restored by the
Corinthians. It is mentioned as one of the towns of Acarnania in a Greek inscription,
the date of which is subsequent to B.C. 219.
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ΑΧΕΛΩΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Achelous (Acheloos, Epic Acheloios). (Aspropotamo), the largest and
most celebrated river in Greece, rose in Mount Pindus, and after flowing through
the mountainous country of the Dolopians and Agraeans, entered the plain of Acarnania
and Aetolia near Stratus, and discharged itself into the Ionian sea, near the
Acarnanian town of Oeniadae. It subsequently formed the boundary between Acarnania
and Aetolia, but in the time of Thucydides the territory of Oeniadae extended
east of the river. It is usually called a river of Acarnania, but it is sometimes
assigned to Aetolia. Its general direction is from north to south. Its waters
are of a whitish yellow or cream colour, whence it derives its modern name of
Aspropotamo or the White river, and to which Dionysius (432) probably alludes
in the epithet argurodines. It is said to have been called more anciently Thoas,
Axenus and Thestius (Thuc. ii. 102; Strab. pp. 449, 450, 458; Plut. de Fluv. 22;
Steph. B. s. v.) We learn from Leake that the reputed sources of the Achelous
are at a village called Khaliki, which is probably a corruption of Chalcis, at
which place Dionysius Periegetes (496) places the sources of the river. Its waters
are swelled by numerous torrents, which it receives in its passage through the
mountains, and when it emerges into the plain near Stratus its bed is not less
than three-quarters of a mile in width. In winter the entire bed is often filled,
but in the middle of summer the river is divided into five or six rapid streams,
of which only two are of a considerable size. After leaving Stratus the river
becomes narrower; and, in the lower part of its course, the plain through which
it flows was called in antiquity Paracheloitis after the river. This plain was
celebrated for its fertility, though covered in great part with marshes, several
of which were formed by the overflowings of the Achelous. In this part of its
course the river presents the most extraordinary series of wanderings; and these
deflexions, observes a recent traveller, are not only so sudden, but so extensive,
as to render it difficult to trace the exact line of its bed, -and sometimes,
for several miles, having its direct course towards the sea, it appears to flow
back into the mountains in which it rises. The Achelous brings down from the mountains
an immense quantity of earthy particles, which have formed a number of small islands
at its mouth, which belong to the group anciently called Echinades; and part of
the mainland near its mouth is only alluvial deposition. (Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. i. p. 136, seq., vol. iii. p. 513, vol. iv. p. 211; Mure, Journal of a Tour
in Greece, vol. i. p. 102.) The chief tributaries of the Achelous were:- on its
left, the Campylus (Kampulos, Diod. xix. 67: Medghova), a river of considerable
size, flowing from Dolopia through the territory of the Dryopes and Eurytanes,
and the Cyathus (Kuathos, Pol. ap. Ath. p. 424, c.) flowing out of the lake Hyrie
into the main stream just above Conope:- on its right the Petitarus (Liv. xliii.
22) in Aperantia, and the Anapus (Anapos), which fell into the main stream in
Acarnania 80 stadia S. of Stratus. (Thuc. ii. 82.)
The Achelous was regarded as the ruler and representative of all fresh
water in Hellas. Hence he is called by Homer (Il. xx. 194) Kreion Acheloios, and
was worshipped as a mighty god throughout Greece. He is celebrated in mythology
on account of his combat with Heracles for the possession of Deianeira. The river-god
first attacked Heracles in the form of a serpent, and on being worsted assumed
that of a bull. The hero wrenched off one of his horns, which forthwith became
a cornucopia, or horn of plenty. (Soph. Trach. 9; Ov. Met. ix. 8, seq.; Apollod.
ii. 7. § 5.) This legend alludes apparently to some efforts made at an early period
to check the ravages, which the inundations of the river caused in this district;
and if the river was confined within its bed by embankments, the region would
be converted in modern times into a land of plenty. For further details respecting
the mythological character of the Achelous, see Diet. of Biogr. and Myth. s. v.
In the Roman poets we find Acheloides, i. e. the Sirenes, the daughters
of Achelous (Ov. Met. v. 552): Acheloia Callirhoe, because Callirhoe was the daughter
of Achelous (Ov. Met. ix. 413): pocula Acheloia, i. e. water in general (Virg.
Geory. i. 9): Acheloius heros, that is, Tydeus, son of Oeneus, king of Calydon,
Acheloius here being equivalent to Aetolian. (Stat. Theb. ii. 142.)
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ΕΛΑΙΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Elaios. A town of Aetolia, belonging to Calydon, was strongly fortified, having
received all the necessary munitions from king Attalus. It was taken by Philip
V., king of Macedonia, B.C. 219. Its name indicates that it was situated in a
marshy district; and it must have been on the coast to have received supplies
from Attalus. We may therefore place it near Mesolonghi.
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ΕΥΗΝΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Evenus (Euenos, less frequently, Euenos: Fidhari or Fidharo), originally
called Lycormas (Lukormas). An important river of Aetolia, rising in the highest
summit of Mt. Oeta in the territory of the Bomienses, a subdivision of the Aetolian
tribe of the Ophienses. (Strab. p. 451.) Dicaearchus was mistaken in saying that
the Evenus rises in Pindus: Ptolemy (iii. 16. § 6) more correctly places its source
in Callidromus, which is a part of Oeta. Strabo relates that the Evenus does not
flow at first through the territory of the Curetes, which is the same as Pleuronia,
but more to the E. by Chalcis and Calydon, that it afterwards turns to the W.
towards the plains in which Old Pleuron was situated, and that it finally flows
in a southerly direction into the sea, at the distance of 120 stadia from the
promontory of Antirrhium. (Strab. pp. 451, 460; comp. Thuc. ii. 83; Mel. ii. 3;
Plin. iv. 3.) Its real direction however is first westerly, and afterwards south-west.
It receives numerous torrents from the mountains through which it flows, and in
winter it becomes a considerable river, flowing with great rapidity, and difficult
to cross on account of the great stones which are carried down by its stream.
(Eveni rapidae undae, Ov. Met. ix. 104; Potamon polloi kumainonta kai huper tas
ochthas airomenon, Philostr. Jun. Imag. 16.) The Evenus is celebrated in mythology
on account of the death of the centaur Nessus, who was slain by Hercules because
he offered violence to Deinaeira, as he carried her across this river. (Soph.
Track. 557.) This tale is, perhaps, only a figure of the impetuosity of the river,
and of the danger to which unwarytravellers are exposed in crossing its channel
from the rise of the waters when swollen by sudden showers. (Mure, Tour in Greece,
vol. i. p. 170.) The river is said to have derived its name from Evenus, the son
of Ares, and the father of Marpessa. When his daughter was carried off by Idas,
the son of Aphareus, he pursued the ravisher; but being unable to overtake him
he threw himself into the Lycormas, which was henceforward called after him. (Apollod.
i. 7. § 8; Ov, Ibis, 515; Prop. i. 2. 18.) Its modern name of Fidharo or Fidhari
is derived from Phidi, the Romaic form of Ophis, and is therefore supposed by
Leake to be a vestige of Ophieis, the ancient people in whose territory the river
rose. (Leake, Norsthern Greece, vol. ii. p. 625; comp. p. 599.) From Evenus is
formed the adjective Eveninus. (Matres Calydonides Eveninae, Ov. Met. viii. 527.)
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ΕΧΙΝΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΚΤΙΟ - ΒΟΝΙΤΣΑ
Echinos: Eth. Echinaieus. A town in Acarnania, also said to have been
founded by Echion. It was mentioned by the poet Rhianus, and occurs in the list
of Acarnanian towns preserved by Pliny, where it is placed between Heraclia and
Actium. Leake places it at Ai Vasili, remarking that, from Stephanus and the poet
Rhianus, it is evident that Echinus was an Acarnanian town of some importance:
the story attached to it shows that it was one of the early colonies of this coast;
the ruins at Ai Vasili indicate a remote antiquity, and their safe position on
a mountain removed from the sea, is in conformity with that which is generally
found in the early foundations of the Greeks.
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ΘΕΡΜΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Thermus or Therma (to Thermon, ta Therma, Themos, Eth. Thermios: Vlokho).
The chief city of Aetolia during the flourishing period of the Aetolian League,
and the place where the meetings of the league were usually held and an annual
festival celebrated. It possessed a celebrated temple of Apollo, in connection
with which the festival was probably celebrated. It was situated in the very heart
of Aetolia, N. of the lake Trichonis, and on a height of Mt. Panaetolium (Viena).
It was considered inaccessible to an army, and from the strength of its situation
was regarded as a place of refuge, and, as it were, the Acropolis of all Aetolia.
The road to it ran from Metapa, on the lake Trichonis, through the village of
Pamphia. The city was distant 60 stadia from Metapa, and 30 from Pamphia; and
from the latter place the road was very steep and dangerous, running along a narrow
crest with precipices on each side. It was, however, surprised by Philip V., king
of Macedonia, in his invasion of Aetolia in B.C. 218. The Aetolians, who had never
imagined that Philip would have penetrated so far into their country, had deposited
here all their treasures, the whole of which now fell into the hands of the king,
together with a vast quantity of arms and armour. He carried off the most valuable
part of the spoil, and burnt all the rest, among which were more than 15,000 suits
of armour. Not content with this, he set fire to the sacred buildings, to retaliate
for the destruction of Dium and Dodona. He also defaced all the works of art,
and threw down all the statues, which were not less than 2000 in number, only
sparing those of the Gods. (Pol. v. 6 - 9, 13.) A few years afterwards, when the
Aetolians had sided with the Romans, Philip again surprised Thermus (about B.C.
206), when he destroyed everything which had escaped his ravages in his first
attack. (Pol. xi. 4.) We have no further details of the history of Thermum. Polybius
alludes, in one or two other passages (xviii. 31, xxviii. 4), to the meetings
of the league held there. In the former of these passages Livy (xxxiii. 35) has
misunderstood the words ten ton Thermikon sunodon to mean the assembly held at
Thermopylae.
Polybius's account of Philip's first invasion of Aetolia, which resulted
in the capture of Thermum, supplies us with the chief information respecting the
towns in the central plain of Aetolia. Philip set out from Limnaea, on the south-eastern
corner of the Ambraciot gulf, crossed the Achelous between Stratus and Conope,
and marched with all speed towards Thermum, leaving on his left Stratus, Agrinium,
and Thestienses (Thestieis), and on his right Conope, Lysimachia, Trichonium,
and Phoeteum. He thus arrived at Metapa, on the lake Trichonis, and from thence
marched to Thermus by the road already mentioned, passing by Pamphia in his way.
He returned by the same road as far as Metapa, but from the latter place he marched
in one day to a place called Acrae, where he encamped, and on the next day to
Conope. After remaining a day at Conope, he marched up the Achelous, and crossed
it near Stratus.
The remains of the walls of Thermum show that the city was about 2
1/2 miles in circumference. It was in the form of a triangle on the slope of a
pyramidal hill, bordered on either side by a torrent flowing in a deep ravine.
The only remains of a public edifice within the walls consist of a square, pyramidal,
shapeless mass of stones.
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ΘΥΡΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΚΤΙΟ - ΒΟΝΙΤΣΑ
Thurion, Aureon, Thourion, Thurrheion, Eth. Thurieus, Thyriensis.
A city in Acarnania, the exact site of which is unknown. It is placed by Pouqueville
in the interior near the sources of the Anapus; and his authority is followed
by K. O. Muller and others. This, however, is evidently a mistake. Cicero tells
us (ad Fam. xvi. 5) that in sailing from Alyzia to Leucas, he touched at Thyrium,
where he remained two hours; and from this statement, as well as from the history
of the events in which Thyrium is mentioned, we may infer that it was situated
on or near the Ionian sea, and that it was the first town on the coast S. of the
canal which separated Leucas from the mainland. It is placed by Leake in the plain
of Zaverdha, but no ruins of it have been discovered. Its name does not occur
in Strabo. Thyrium is first mentioned in B.C. 373, when its territory was invaded
by Iphicrates. (Xen. Hell. vi. 2. 37) Xenophon describes it as a place of importance;
and it appears as one of the chief cities of Acarnania at the time of the Roman
wars in Greece, when its name frequently occurs. At this period Thyrium was one
of the places at which the meetings of the Acarnanian League were usually held.
It was one of the many towns whose ruin was occasioned by the foundation of NICOPOLIS
to which its inhabitants were removed by order of Augustus. (Pol. iv. 6, 25, xvii.
10, xxii. 12, xxviii. 5; Liv. xxxvi. 11, 12, xxxviii. 9, xliii. 17; Anth. Graec.
l. c.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 16.)
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ΚΑΛΥΔΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Kaludon: Eth. Kaludonios, Calydonius: Kurt-aga. The most celebrated
city of Aetolia, in the heroic age, was founded by Aetolus in the land of the
Curetes, and was called Calydon, after the name of his son. Calydon and the neighbouring
town of Pleuron are said by Strabo to have been once the ornament (proschema)
of Greece, but to have sunk in his time into insignificance. Calydon was situated
in a fertile plain near the Evenus, and at the distance of 7 1/2 (Roman) miles
from the sea, according to Pliny It is frequently mentioned by Homer, who gives
it the epithet of petreessa and aipeine, from which we might conclude that the
city was situated on a, rocky height; but Strabo says that these epithets were
to be applied to the district and not to the city itself. Homer also celebrates
the fertility of the plain of the lovely (eranne) Calydon. In the earliest times
the inhabitants of Calydon appear to have been engaged in incessant hostilities
with the Curetes, who continued to reside in their ancient capital Pleuron, and
who endeavoured to expel the invaders from their country. A vivid account of one
of the battles between the Curetes and Calydonians is given in ran episode of
the Iliad (ix. 529, seq.). The heroes of Calydon are among the most celebrated
of the heroic age. It was the residence of Oeneus, father of Tydeus and Meleager,
and grandfather of Diomedes. In the time of Oeneus Artemis sent a monstrous boar
to lay waste the fields of Calydon, which was hunted by Meleager and numerous
other heroes. The Calydonians took part in the Trojan war under their king Thoas,
the son (not the grandson) of Oeneus. (Hom. Il. ii. 638.)
Calydon is not often mentioned in the historical period. In B.C. 391
we find it in the possession of the Achaeans, but we are not told how it came
into their hands; we know, however; that Naupactus was given to the Achaeans at
the close of the Peloponnesian war, and it was probably the Achaeans settled at
Naupactus who gained possession of the town. In the above-mentioned year the Achaeans
at Calydon, were so hard pressed by the Acarnanians that they applied to the Lacedaemonians
for help; and Agesilaus in consequence was sent with an army into Aetolia. Calydon
remained in the hands of the Achaeans till the overthrow of the Spartan supremacy
by the battle of Leuctra (B.C. 371), when Eparninondas restored, the town to the
Aetolians. In the civil war between Caesar. and Pompey (B.C. 48) it still appears
as a considerable place; but a few years afterwards its inhabitants were removed
by Augustus to Nicopolis, which he founded to commemorate his victory at Actium
(B.C. 31). It continues however to be mentioned by the later geographers.
Calydon was the head-quarters of the worship of Artemis Laphria, and
when, the inhabitants of the town were removed to Nicopolis, Augustus gave to
Patrae in Achaia the statue of this goddess which had belonged to Calydon. (Paus.
iv. 31. § 7, vii. 18. § 8.) There was also a statue of Dionysus at Patrae which
had been removed from Calydon. (Paus. vii. 21.) Near Calydon there was a temple
of Apollo Laphrius (Strabo); and in the neighbourhood of the city there was also
a lake celebrated for its fish.
In the Roman poets we find Calydonis, a woman of Calydon, i. e. Deianira,
daughter of Oeneus, king of Calydon (Ov. Met. ix. 112); Calydonius hers, i. e
Meleager; Calydonius amnis, i. e. the Achelous, separating Acarnania and Aetolia,
because Calydon was the chief town of Aetolia; Calydonia regna, i. e. Apulia,
because Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, and, grandson of Oeneus, king of. Calydon,
afterwards obtained Apulia as his kingdom.
There has been some dispute respecting the site of Calydon. The Peutingerian
Table places it east of the Evenus, and 9 miles from this river; but this is clearly
a mistake. It is evident from Strabo's account, and from all the legends relating
to Calydon, that both this city and Pleuron lay on the western side of the Evenus,
between this river and the Achelous. Leake supposes the ruins which he discovered
at Kurt-aga, a little to the E. of the Evenus, to be those of Calydon. They are
distant a ride of 1 hour and 35 minutes from Mesolonghi, and are situated on one
of the last slopes of Mt. Aracynthus at the entrance of the vale of the Evenus,
where that river issues from the interior valleys into the maritime plain. They
do not stand on any commanding height, as the Homeric epithets above mentioned
would lead us to suppose, and it is perhaps for this reason that Strabo, supposes
these epithets to apply to the surrounding country. Thee remains of the walls
are traceable in their whole circuit of near two miles and a half; and outside
the walls Leake discovered some ruins, which may have been the peribolus of the
temple of, Artemis Laphria.
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ΚΟΡΟΝΤΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Coronta (ta Koronta: Eth. Koronteus: near Proldhromo), a small town
in the interior of Acarnania, probably lying between Metropolis and Old Oenia.
At a mile from Prodhromo Leake discovered on an insulated hill the ruins of Hellenic
walls, which are probably the remains of Coronta. (Thuc. ii. 102; Steph. B. s.
v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. p. 514.)
ΚΥΠΑΡΙΣΣΟΣ (Χωριό) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Cyparissus (Kuparissos: Eth. Kuparisseus), an ancient town of Phocis,
in the vicinity of Delphi. It is mentioned in the Homeric catalogue (Il. ii. 519)
along with Pytho (Delphi), and is described by Dicaearchus as situated in the
interior of Phocis. It is placed by Strabo below Lycoreia, which was situated
on one of the heights of Parnassus (ix. p. 423), which position is more probable
than the one assigned to it by Pausanias, who supposes Cyparissus to be the ancient
name of the place afterwards called Anticyra (x. 36. § 5). Cyparissus is also
mentioned by Statius (Theb. vii. 344) and Stephanus (s. v.). If we follow the
authority of Strabo respecting the position of Cyparissus, its site is perhaps
indicated by the walls of an Hellenic town, at the southern foot of the mountain,
midway between the Schiste and Delphi. (Leake, vol. ii. p. 579.)
ΚΩΝΩΨ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Afterwards Arsinoe. Konope: Eth. Konopeus, Konopites, Konopaios Arsinoe:
Eth. Arsinoites, Arsinoeus: Anghelokastro. A town of Aetolia, near the eastern
bank of the Achelous, and 20 stadia from the ford of this river. It was only a
village, till it was enlarged by Arsinoe, the wife and sister of Ptolemy Philadelphus.
Polybius, in his history of the Social War (B.C. 220--217), calls it Conope, though
elsewhere he calls it Arsinoe or Arsinoia (Arsinoia). It is mentioned by Cicero
under the name of Arsinoe. Near this town the river Cyathus flowed into the Achelous
from the lake Hyria, which is also called Conope by Antoninus Liberalis.
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ΛΙΜΝΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΑ
Limnaia: Eth. Limnaios: Kervasara. A town in Acarnania at the SE.
corner of the Ambraciot gulf, on the very frontier of Acarnania towards Argos.
There has been a dispute about its site, but the ruins at Kervasara are probably
the remains of Limnaea: some modern writers would place it more to the W., either
at Lutraki, or at Ruga. Tie former supposition, however, appears to be the more
correct, since we learn from Thucydides that Limnaea lay on the road from Ambracia
and Argos Amphilochicum to Stratus, which could not have been the case if Limnaea
lay to the W. of Kervasara. Philip III., king of Macedonia, disembarked at Limnaea,
when about to invade Aetolia. There is a marsh near Kervasara, two miles in length,
from which Limnaea appears to have derived its name (Thuc. ii. 80, iii. 105 ;
Pol. v. 5).
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ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Lusimachia: Eth. Lusimacheus (Papadhates). A town of Aetolia, situated
upon the southern shore of the lake formerly called Hyria or Hydra, and subsequently
Lysimachia, after this town. The town was probably founded by Arsinoe, and named
after her first husband Lysimachus, since we know that she enlarged the neighbouring
town of Conope, and called it Arsinoe after herself. The position of the town
is determined by the statement of Strabo that it lay between Pleuron and Conope,
and by that of Livy, who places it on the line of march from Naupactus and Calydon
to Stratus. Its site, therefore, corresponds to Papadhates, where Leake discovered
some Hellenic remains. It was deserted in Strabo's time.
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ΜΑΚΥΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
Makunia, Makuna, Makuneia, Eth. Makuneus. A town of Aetolia on the
coast, at the foot of the eastern slope of Mount Taphiassus. According to Strabo
it was built after the return of the Heraclidae into Peloponnesus. It is called
a town of the Ozolian Locrians by the poet Archytas of Amphissa, who describes
it in an hexameter line: the grape-clad, perfume-breathing, lovely Macuna. It
is also mentioned in an epigram of Alcaeus, the Messenian, who was a contemporary
of Philip V., king of Macedonia. Pliny mentions a mountain Macynium, which must
have been part of Mount Taphiassus, near Macynia, unless it is indeea a mistake
for the town.
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ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΚΤΙΟ - ΒΟΝΙΤΣΑ
Lygovitzi. A town in the interior of Acarnania, S. of Stratus, and
on the road from the latter place to Conope in Aetolia. At a later time it fell
into the hands of the Aetolians, but was taken and burned by Philip in his expedition
against the Aetolians, B.C. 219. It is mentioned as one of the towns of Acarnania,
in a Greek inscription found at Actium, the date of which is probably prior to
the time of Augustus.
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ΜΟΛΥΚΡΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
Molycreium, Molycreia, or Molycria (Molukreion, Thuc. ii. 84; Molukreia,
Strab. x. p. 451, et alii; Molukria, Polyb. v. 94; Paus. ix. 31. § 6: Eth. Molukrios,
more rarely Molukrieus, Molukraios, fem. Molukrissa, Molukrias), a town of Aetolia,
situated near the sea-coast, and at a short distance from the promontory Antirrhium,
which was hence called Rhion to Molukrikon (Thuc. ii. 86), or Molukrion Hpion.
(Strab. viii. p. 336.) Some writers call it a Locrian town. It is said by Strabo
to have been built after the return of the Heracleidae into Peloponnesus. It was
colonised by the Corinthians, but was subject to the Athenians in the early part
of the Peloponnesian War. It was taken by the Spartan commander Eurylochus, with
the assistance of the Aetolians, B.C. 426. It was considered sacred to Poseidon.
(Strab. x. pp. 451, 460; Scyl. p. 14; Thuc. ii. 84, iii. 102 ; Diod. xii. 60;
Polyb., Pans., ll. cc.; Plin. iv. 2. s. 3; Ptol. iii. 15. § 3; Steph. Byz. s.
v.)
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ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Naupaktos: Eth. Naupaktios (Epakto by the Greek peasants, Lepanto
by the Italians). An important town of the Locri Ozolae, and the best harbour
on the northern coast of the Corinthian gulf, was situated just within the entrance
of this gulf, a little east of the promontory Antirrhium. It is said to have derived
its name from the Heracleidae having here built the fleet with which they crossed
over to Peloponnesus. (Strab. ix. p. 426; Paus. x. 38. § 10; Apollod. ii. 8. §
2.) Though Naupactus was indebted for its historical importance to its harbour
at the entrance of the Corinthian gulf, it was probably originally chosen as a
site for a city on account of its strong hill, fertile plains, and copious supply
of running water. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 608.) After the Persian
wars it fell into the power of the Athenians, who settled there the Messenians,
who had been compelled to leave their country at the end of the Third
Messenian War, B.C. 455 ; and during the Peloponnesian War it was the head-quarters
of the Athenians in all their operations in Western Greece. (Paus. iv. 24. § 7;
Thuc. i. 103, ii. 83, seq.) After the battle of Aegospotami the Messenians were
expelled from Naupactus, and the Locrians regained possession of the town. (Paus.
x. 38. § 10.) It afterwards passed into the hands of the Achaeans, from whom,
however, it was wrested by Epaminondas. (Diod. xv. 75.) Philip gave it to the
Aetolians (Strab. ix. p. 427; Dem. Phil. iii. p. 120), and hence it is frequently
called a town of Aetolia. (Scylax, p. 14; Mela, ii. 3 ; Plin. iv. 2. s. 3.) The
Aetolians vigorously defended Naupactus against the Romans for two months in B.C.
191. (Liv. xxxvi. 30, seq.; Polyb. v. 103.) Ptolemy (iii. 15. § 3) calls it a
town of the Locri Ozolae, to whom it must therefore have been assigned by the
Romans after Pliny's time.
Pausanias saw at Naupactus a temple of Poseidon near the sea, a temple
of Artemis, a cave sacred to Aphrodite, and the ruins of a temple of Asclepius
(x. 38. §§ 12, 13). Naupactus is mentioned by Hierocles; but it was destroyed
by an earth-quake in the reign of Justinian. (Procop. B. Goth. iv. 25.) The situation
and present appearance of the town are thus described by Leake: - The fortress
and town occupy the south-eastern and southern sides of a hill, which is one of
the roots of Mount Rigasni, and reaches down to the sea. The place is fortified
in the manner which was common among the ancients in positions similar to that
of Epakto,--that is to say, it occupies a triangular slope with a citadel at the
apex, and one or more cross walls on the slope, dividing it into subordinate enclosures.
At Epakto there are no less than five enclosures between the summit and the sea,
with gates of communication from the one to the other, and a side gate on the
west leading out of the fortress from the second enclosure on the descent. It
is not improbable that the modern walls follow exactly the ancient plan of the
fortress, for in many parts they stand upon Hellenic foundations, and even retain
large pieces of the ancient masonry amidst the modern work. The present town occupies
only the lowest enclosure; in the middle of which is the small harbour which made
so great a figure in ancient history: it is now choked with rubbish, and is incapable
of receiving even the larger sort of boats which navigate the gulf. (Northern
Greece, vol. ii. p. 608.)
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ΟΙΝΙΑΔΕΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Oiniadai, Oineiadai, Eth. Oiniadai. A town in Acarnania, situated
on the W. bank of the Achelous, about 10 miles from its mouth. It was one of the
most important of the Acarnanian towns, being strongly fortified both by nature
and by art, and commanding the whole of the south of Acarnania. It was surrounded
by marshes, many of them of great extent and depth, which rendered it quite inaccessible
in the winter to an invading force. Its territory appears to have extended on
both sides of the Achelous, and to have consisted of the district called Paracheloitis,
which was very fertile. It seems to have derived its name from the mythical Oeneus,
the great Aetolian hero. The town is first mentioned about B.C. 455. The Messenians,
who had been settled at Naupactus by the Athenians at the end of the Third Messenian
War (455), shortly afterwards made an expedition against Oeniadae, which they
took; but after holding it for a year, they were attacked by the Acarnanians and
compelled to abandon the town. (Paus. iv. 25.) Oeniadae is represented at that
time as an enemy of Athens, which is said to have been one of the reasons that
induced the Messenians to attack the place. Twenty-three years before the Peloponnesian
War (B.C. 454) Pericles laid siege to the town, but was unable to take it. (Thuc.
i. 111; Diod. xi. 85.) In the Peloponnesian War, Oeniadae still continued opposed
to the Athenians, and was the only Acarnanian town, with the exception of Astacus,
which sided with the Lacedaemonians. In the third year of the war (429) Phormion
made an expedition into Acarnania to secure the Athenian ascendancy; but though
he took Astacus, he did not continue to march against Oeniadae, because it was
the winter, at which season the marshes secured the town from all attack. In the
following year (428) his son Asopius sailed up the Achelous, and ravaged the territory
of Oeniadae; but it was not till 424 that Demosthenes, assisted by all the other
Acarnanians, compelled the town to join the Athenian alliance. (Thuc. ii. 102,
iii. 7, iv. 77.) It continued to be a place of great importance during the Macedonian
and Roman wars. In the time of Alexander the Great, the Aetolians, who had extended
their dominions on the W. bank of the Achelous, succeeded in obtaining possession
of Oeniadae, and expelled its inhabitants in so cruel a manner that they were
threatened with the vengeance of Alexander. (Diod. xviii. 8.) Oeniadae remained
in the hands of the Aetolians till 219, when it was taken by Philip, king of Macedonia.
This monarch, aware of the importance of the place, strongly fortified the citadel,
and commenced uniting the harbour and the arsenal with the citadel by means of
walls. (Polyb. iv. 65.) In 211 Oeniadae, together with the adjacent Nesus (Nesos)
or Nasus, was taken by the Romans, under M. Valerius Laevinus, and given to the
Aetolians, who were then their allies; but in 189 it was restored to the Acarnanians
by virtue of one of the conditions of the peace made between the Romans and Aetolians
in that year. (Pol. ix. 39; Liv. xxvi. 24; Polyb. xxii. 15; Liv. xxxviii. 11.)
From this period Oeniadae disappears from history; but it continued to exist in
the time of Strabo.
The exact site of Oeniadae was long a matter of dispute. Dodwell and
Gell supposed the ruins on the eastern side of the Achelous to represent Oeniadae;
but these ruins are those of Pleuron. The true position of Oeniadae has now been
fixed with certainty by Leake, and his account has been confirmed by Mure, who
has since visited the spot. Its ruins are found at the modern Trikardho, on the
W. bank of the Achelous, and are surrounded by morasses on every side. To the
N. these swamps deepen into a reedy marsh or lake, now called Lesini or Katokhi,
and by the ancients Melite. In this lake is a small island, probably the same
as the Nasos mentioned above. Thucydides is not quite correct in his statement
(ii. 102) that the marshes around the city were caused by the Achelous alone;
he appears to take no notice of the lake of Melite, which afforded a much greater
protection to the city than the Achelous, and which has no connection with this
river. The city occupied an extensive insulated hill, from the southern extremity
of which there stretches out a long slope in the direction of the Achelous, connecting
the hill with the plain. The entire circuit of the fortifications still exists,
and cannot be much less than three miles. The walls, which are chiefly of polygonal
construction, are in an excellent state of preservation, often to a height of
from 10 to 12 feet. Towards the N. of the city was the port, communicating with
the sea by a deep river or creek running up through the contiguous marsh to Petala
on the coast.
Leake discovered the ruins of a theatre, which stood near the middle
of the city ; but the most interesting remains in the place are its arched posterns
or sallyports, and a larger arched gateway leading from the port to the city.
These arched gateways appear to be of great antiquity, and prove that the arch
was known in Greece at a much earlier period than is usually supposed. Drawings
of several of these gateways are given by Mure.
Strabo speaks of a town called Old Oenia (he palaia Oinaia), which
was deserted in his time, and which he describes as midway between Stratus and
the sea. New Oenia (he nun Oinaia), which he places 70 stadia above the mouth
of the Achelous, is the celebrated town of Oeniadae, spoken of above. The history
of Old Oenia is unknown. Leake conjectures that it may possibly have been Erysiche
(Erusiche), which Stephanus supposes to be the same as Oeniadae; but this is a
mistake, as Strabo quotes the authority of the poet Apollodorus to prove that
the Erysichaei were a people in the interior of Acarnania. Leake places Old Oenia
at Palea Mani, where he found some Hellenic remains.
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ΟΙΧΑΛΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Oichalia: Eth. Oichalieus. In Aetolia. (Strab. x. p. 448.) Each of
these cities was considered by the respective inhabitants as the residence of
the celebrated Eurytus, who was conquered by Hercules, and the capture of whose
city was the subject of an epic poem called Oichalias halosis, which was ascribed
to Homer or Cresphylus. Hence among the early poets there was a difference of
statement upon the subject. The Messenian Oechalia was called the city of Eurytus
in the Iliad (ii. 596) and the Odyssey (xxi. 13), and this statement was followed
by Pherecydes (ap.Schol. ad Soph. Trach. 354) and Pausanias (iv. 2. §3). The Euboean
city was selected by the writer of the poem on the Capture of Oechalia (Schol.
ap. Soph. l. c.), by Hecataeus (ap. Paus. l. c.), and by Strabo (x. p. 448). The
Thessalian city is mentioned as the residence of Eurytus in another passage of
the Iliad (ii. 730); and K. 0. Muller supposes that this was the city of the original
fable. (Dorians, vol. i. p. 426, seq., transl.)
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ΠΑΙΑΝΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Paeanium (Paianion), a town, in Aetolia, near the Achelous, a little
S. of Ithoria, and N. of Oeniadae, which was on the other side of the river. It
was only 7 stadia in circumference, and was destroyed by Philip, B.C. 219. (Polyb.
iv. 65.) Paeanium was perhaps rebuilt, and may be the Same town as Phana (phana),
which was taken by the Achaeans, and which we learn from the narrative in Pausanias
was near the sea. (Paus. x. 18.) Stephanus mentions Phana as a town of Italy ;
but for Polis Italias, we ought probably to read Polis Altolias. (Steph. B. s.
v. phanai.)
ΠΑΛΑΙΡΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Palaipos: Eth. Palaipeus. A town on the W. coast of Acarnania, on
the Ionian sea, which is placed by Strabo between Leucas and Alyzia. Its exact
site is unknown. Leake places it in the valley of Livadhi. In the first year of
the Peloponnesian War (B.C. 431) Palaerus was in alliance with the Athenians;
and when the latter people took the neighbouring town of Sollium, which was a
Corinthian colony, they gave both it and its territory to the inhabitants of Palaerus.
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ΠΛΕΥΡΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
(Pleuron: Eth. Pleuronios, also Pleuroneus, Pleuronius). the name
of two cities in Aetolia, the territory of which was called Pleuronia. ( Strab.
x. p. 465; Auson. Epitaph. 10.)
1. Old Pleuron ( he palaia Pleuron, Strab. x. p. 451), was situated in
the plain between the Achelous and the Evenus, W. of Calydon, at the foot of Mount
Curium, from which the Curetes are said to have derived their name. Pleuron and
Calydon were the two chief towns of Aetolia in the heroic age, and are said by
Strabo (x. p. 450) to have been the ancient ornament (proschema) of Greece. Pleuron
was originally a town of the Curetes, and its inhabitants were engaged in frequent
wars with the Aetolians of the neighbouring town of Calydon. The Curetes, whose
attack upon Calydon is mentioned in an episode of the Iliad (ix. 529), appear
to have been the inhabitants of Pleuron. At the time of the Trojan War, however,
Pleuron was an Aetolian city, and its inhabitants sailed against Troy under the
command of the Aetolian chief Thoas, the son (not the grandson) of Oeneus. (Hom.
Il. ii. 639, comp. xiii. 217, xiv. 116.) Ephorus related that the Curetes were
expelled from Pleuronia, which was formerly called Curetis, by Aeolians (ap. Strab.
x. p. 465); and this tradition may also be traced in the statement of Thucydides
(iii. 102) that the district, called Calydon and Pleuronia in the time of the
Peloponnesian War, formerly bore the name of Aeolis. Since Pleuron appears as
an Aetolian city in the later period of the heroic age, it is represented in some
traditions as such from the beginning. Hence it is said to have derived its name
from Pleuron, a son of Aetolus ; and at the very time that some legends represent
it as the capital of the Curetes, and engaged in war with Oeneus, king of Calydon,
others suppose it to have been governed by the Aetolian Thestius, the brother
of Oeneus. Thestius was also represented as a descendant of Pleuron; and hence
Pleuron had an heroum or a chapel at Sparta, as being the ancestor of Leda, the
daughter of Thestius. But there are all kinds of variations in these. traditions.
Thus we find in Sophocles Oeneus, and not Thestius, represented as king of Pleuron.
(Apollod. i. 7. § 7; Paus. iii. 14. § 8; Soph. Trach. 7.) One of the tragedies
of Phrynichus, the subject of which appears to have been the death of Meleager,
the son of Oeneus, was entitled Pleuroniai, or the Pleuronian Women; and hence
it is not improbable that Phrynichus, as well as Sophocles, represented Oeneus
as king of Pleuron. (Paus. x. 31. § 4.) Pleuron is rarely mentioned in the historical
period. It was abandoned by its inhabitants, says Strabo, in consequence of the
ravages of Demetrius, the Aetolian, a surname probably given to Demetrius II.,
king of Macedonia (who reigned B.C. 239 - 229), to distinguish him from Demetrius
Poliorcetes. (Strab. x. p. 451.) The inhabitants now built the town of
2. New Pleuron (he neotera Pleuron which was situated at the foot of Mt.
Aracynthus. Shortly before the destruction of Corinth (B.C. 146), we find Pleuron,
which was then a member of the Achaean League, petitioning the Romans to be dissevered
from it. (Paus. vii. 11. § 3.) Leake supposes, on satisfactory grounds, the site
of New Pleuron to be represented by the ruins called to Kastron tes Kurias Eirenes,
or the Castle of Lady Irene about one hour's ride from Mesolonghi. These ruins
occupy the broad summit of one of the steep and rugged heights of Mt. Zyqos (the
ancient Aracynthus), which bound the plain of Mesolonghi to the north. Leake says
that the walls were about a mile in circumference, but Mure and Dodwell describe
the circuit as nearly two miles. The most remarkable remains within the ruined
walls are a theatre about 100 feet in diameter, and above it a cistern, 100 feet
long, 70 broad, and 14 deep, excavated on three sides in the rock, and on the
fourth constructed of masonry. In the acropolis Leake discovered some remains
of Doric shafts of white marble, which he conjectures to have belonged to the
temple of Athena, of which Dicaearchus speaks (1. 55) ; but the temple mentioned
by Dicaearchus must have been at Old Pleuron, since Dicaearchus was a contemporary
of Aristotle and Theophrastus, and could not have been alive at the time of the
foundation of New Pleuron. Dodwell, who visited the ruins of this city, erroneously
maintains that they are those of Oeniadae, which were, however, situated among
the marshes on the other side of the Achelous. Leake places Old Pleuron further
south, at a site called Ghyfto-kastro, on the edge of the plain of Mesolonghi,
where there are a few Hellenic remains.
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ΠΥΛΗΝΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
Pulene: Eth. Pulenios. An ancient town of Aetolia, between the Achelous and the
Evenus, mentioned in the Homeric catalogue of the Grecian ships, is placed by
Pliny on the Corinthian gulf. It would therefore seem to have existed in later
times; although Strabo says that the Aeolians, having removed Pylene higher up,
changed its name into Proschium. The site of Pylene is uncertain.
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Proschium (Proschion: Eth. Proschieus), a town of Aetolia, between the Achelous and the Evenus, is said to have been founded by the Aeolians when they removed from the Homeric Pylene higher up into the country. Proschium also laid claim to high antiquity, since it possessed a shrine said to have been dedicated by Hercules to his cupbearer Cyathus, whom he had unintentionally slain. It is clear, from a narrative of Thucydides, that Proschium lay west of Calydon and Pleuron, and at no great distance from the Achelous. Leake places it on the western part of Mt. Zygos (the ancient Aracynthus), near the monastery of St. George between Anatoliko and Anghelokastro. (Strab. x. p. 451; Athen. x. p. 411, a.; Thuc. iii. 102, 106; Steph. B. s.v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 119.)
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ΣΟΛΛΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Sollium (Sollion: Eth. Sollieus), a town on the coast of Acarnania,
on the lonian sea. Its exact site is uncertain, but it was probably in the neighbourhood
of Palaerus, which lay between Leucas and Alyzia. Leake, however, places it S.
of Alyzia, at Stravolimiona (i. e. Port Stravo). Sollium was a Corinthian colony,
and as such was taken by the Athenians in the first year of the Peloponnesian
War (B.C. 431), who gave both the place and its territory to Palaerus. It is again
mentioned in B.C. 426, as the place at which Demosthenes landed when he resolved
to invade Aetolia. (Thuc. ii. 30, iii. 95, comp. v. 30; Steph. B. s. v. Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 18, seq.)
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ΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Eth. Stratios: its territory he Stratike: Surovigli. The chief town
of Acarnania, was situated in the interior of the country, in a fertile plain
on the right bank of the Achelous. It commanded the principal approaches to the
plain from the northward, and was thus a place of great military importance. Strabo
(x. p. 450) places it 200 stadia from the mouth of the Achelous by the course
of the river. At the distance of 80 stadia S. of the town the river Anapus flowed
into the Achelous; and 5 Roman miles to its N., the Achelous received another
tributary stream, named Petitaurus. (Thuc. ii. 82; Liv. xliii. 22.) Stratus joined
the Athenian alliance, with most of the other Acarnanian towns, at the commencement
of the Peloponnesian War. In B.C. 429 it was attacked by the Ambraciots, with
a number of barbarian auxiliaries, aided by some Peloponnesian troops, under the
command of Cnemus; but they were defeated under the walls of Stratus, and obliged
to retire. Thucydides describes Stratus at that time as the chief town of Acarnania,
which it is also called by Xenophon in his account of the expedition of Agesilaus
into this country. (Thuc. ii. 80, seq., iii. 106; Xen. Hell. iv. 6) When the Aetolians
extended their dominions, Stratus fell into the hands of this people, whence it
is called by Livy a town of Aetolia. It is frequently mentioned during the Macedonian
and Roman wars. Neither Philip V. nor his successor Perseus was able to wrest
the town from the Aetolians; and it remained in the power of the latter till their
defeat by the Romans, who restored it to Acarnania, together with the other towns,
which the Aetolians had taken from the Acarnanians. (Polyb. iv. 63, v. 6, 7, 13,
14, 96; Liv. xxxvi. 11, xliii. 21, 22.) Livy (xliii. 21) gives an erroneous description
of the position of Stratus when he says that it is situated above the Ambracian
gulf, near the river Inachus.
There are considerable remains of Stratus at the modern village of
Surovigli. The entire circuit of the city was about 2 1/2 miles. The eastern wall
followed the bank of the river. Leake discovered the remains of a theatre situated
in a hollow: its interior diameter below is 105 feet, and there seem to have been
about 30 rows of seats. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 137, seq.)
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ΤΡΙΧΩΝΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
Trichonion: Eth. Trichonieus. A town of Aetolia, from which the lake
Trichonis derived its name. Its position is uncertain. Leake places it S. of the
lake at a place called Gavala, and Kiepert, in his map E. of the lake. But since
Strabo mentions it along with Stratus as situated in a fertile plain, it ought
probably to be placed N. of the lake (Strab. x. p. 450; Pol. v. 7; Steph. B. s.
v.). It was evidently a place of importance, and several natives of this town
are mentioned in history. (Pol. iv. 3, v. 13, xvii. 10; Paus. ii. 37. § 3; Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 155.)
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ΧΑΛΚΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
Chalcis. Also called Chalceia, and Hypohalcis (Chalkeia, Pol. v. 94; Hupochalkis,
Strab. p. 451; Steph. B. s. v.) A town of Aetolia, situated upon the coast, at
a short distance E. of the mouth of the Evenus, and at the foot of a mountain
of the same name, whence it was called Hypochalcis. Chalcis is one of the 5 Aetolian
towns spoken of by Homer,who gives it the epithet of anchialos, and it continued
to be mentioned in the historical period. (Hom. Il. ii. 640; Thuc. ii. 83; Pol.
v. 94; Strab. pp. 451,459 460.) There are two great mountains situated between
the river Fidhari (the Evenus) and the castle of Rumili (Antirrhium), of which
the western mountain, called Varassova, corresponds to Chalcis, and the eastern,
called Kaki-skala, to Taphiassus. The town of Chalcis appears to have stood in
the valley between the two mountains, probably at Ovrio-castro, where there are
some remains of an Hellenic fortress. There was some confusion in the ancient
writers respecting the position of mount Chalcis, and Artemidorus, who called
it Chalcia, placed it between the Achelous and Pleuron (Strab. p. 460); but this
is clearly an error.
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ΩΛΕΝΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Olenos: Eth. olenios. An ancient town in the S. of Aetolia, between
the Achelous and the Evenus, was named after a son of Zeus or Hephaestus, and
is mentioned in the Homeric catalogue. It was situated near New Pleuron, at the
foot of Mount Aracynthus; but its exact site is uncertain. It is said to have
been destroyed by the Aeolians; and there were only a few traces of it in the
time of Strabo. (Strab.x. pp. 451, 460; Horn. Il. ii. 638; Apollod. i.8. § 4;
Hyg. Poet. Astron. 2. § 13; Stat. Theb. iv. 104; Steph. B. s. v.) The Roman poets
use Olenius as equivalent to Aetolian: thus Tydeus of Calydon in Aetolia is called
Olenius Tydeus. (Stat. Theb. i. 402.)
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ΑΙΤΩΛΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
A division of Greece, bounded on the west by Acarnania,
from which it was separated by the river Achelous; on the north by Epirus and
Thessaly; on the east by the Ozolian Locrians; and on the south by the entrance
to the Corinthian Gulf. It was divided into two parts--Old Aetolia, from the Achelous
to the Evenus and Calydon; and New Aetolia, or the Acquired, from the Evenus and
Calydon to the Ozolian Locrians. On the coast the country is level and fruitful,
but in the interior mountainous and unproductive. The mountains contained many
wild beasts, and were celebrated in mythology for the hunt of the Calydonian boar.
The country was originally inhabited by Curetes and Leleges, but was at an early
period colonized by Greeks from Elis, led by the mythical Aetolus. The Aetolians
took part in the Trojan War, under their king Thoas. They continued for a long
time a rude and uncivilized people, living to a great extent by robbery; and even
in the time of Thucydides (B.C. 410) many of their tribes spoke a language which
was not Greek, and were in the habit of eating raw flesh. They appear to have
been early united by a kind of league, but this league first acquired political
importance about the middle of the third century B.C., and became a formidable
rival to the Macedonian monarchs and the Achaean League. The Aetolians took the
side of Antiochus III. against the Romans, and on the defeat of that monarch,
B.C. 189, they became virtually the subjects of Rome. On the conquest of the Achaeans,
B.C. 146, Aetolia was included in the Roman province of Achaea.
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ΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
A western division of Greece, bounded on the north by the Ambracian
Gulf, on the west and southwest by the Ionian Sea, on the northeast by Amphilochia,
which is sometimes included in Acarnania, and on the east by Aetolia, from which,
at a later time, it was separated by the Achelous. The name of Acarnania does
not occur in Homer. In the most ancient times the land was inhabited by the Taphii,
Teleboae, and Leleges, and subsequently by the Curetes. At a later time a colony
from Argos, said to have been led by Acarnan, settled in the country. In the seventh
century B.C. the Corinthians founded several towns on the coast. The Acarnanians
first emerge from obscurity at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, B.C. 431.
They were then a rude people, living by piracy and robbery, and they always remained
behind the rest of the Greeks in civilization and refinement. They were good slingers,
and are praised for their fidelity and courage. The different towns formed a league,
which met at Stratus, and subsequently at Thyrium or Leucas.
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ΑΚΤΙΟΝ (Αρχαίο λιμάνι) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
A promontory in Acarnania at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf,
off which Augustus gained his celebrated naval victory over Antony and Cleopatra,
September 2d, B.C. 31. Here was a temple of Apollo Actiacus or Actius, where the
festival Actia had been celebrated. Augustus revived the celebration as a quinquennial
feast in honour of his victory, and built Nicopolis on the opposite shore.
The battle of Actium is one of the decisive battles of the
world's history, since the stake for which it was fought was nothing less than
the lordship of the Roman Empire--that is, of the occidental world. The chances
of battle were all in favour of Antony. His troops, encamped on one shore of the
gulf, were largely superior to his rival's in both numbers and discipline. He
had 100,000 infantry, as against the 80,000 of Octavian (Augustus), an equal force
of cavalry (12,000); while his ships not only numbered 500--double the number
that Octavian's admiral Agrippa commanded, but were much larger, heavier, and
better provided with the engines then in use for dis charging missiles. It was,
perhaps, this great preponderance of naval force which led Cleopatra, who accompanied
Antony, to urge upon him the plan of letting the issue of the war rest upon a
naval battle. She herself, with her sixty ships, formed a line behind that of
the vessels of Antony. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
For a long time after the battle began, the light galleys of
Octavian made little or no impression upon the massive ships that opposed them;
but at last, by a skilful manoeuvre, Agrippa forced Antony to extend his line
of battle. This done, Agrippa's ships succeeded in breaking through it and darting
towards the vessels of Cleopatra. Alarmed at this, the Egyptian queen at once
gave the signal for flight, and with her ships put hurriedly to sea. Antony, forgetful
that the crisis of the battle had now arrived, recklessly sailed in pursuit of
her, leaving his fleet to win or lose as best it might in his absence. Deserted
by its commander, it still fought on, but with little heart, and by nightfall
had been completely routed and destroyed. The troops of Antony were still encamped
upon the promontory fronting the forces of Octavian; yet they did not at once
give battle, but waited in the hope that their general would return. Seven days
passed by, and when he failed to appear, after some hesitation, they surrendered
to Octavian and accepted him as their commander, thus making him at a stroke the
master of the world.
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ΑΛΥΖΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
A town in Acarnania, near the sea, opposite Leucas, containing a temple sacred to Heracles.
ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
The country of the Amphilochi, an Epirot race, at the east end of the Ambracian Gulf, usually included in Acarnania. Their chief town was Argos Amphilochicum.
ΑΡΓΟΣ ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΚΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
The chief town of Amphilochia in Acarnania, on the Ambracian Gulf.
ΑΧΕΛΩΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
The largest river in Greece. It rises in Mt. Pindus, and flows
southward, forming the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia, and falls into
the Ionian Sea opposite the islands called Echinades. It is about 130 miles in
length. The god of this river is described as the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and
as the eldest of his 3000 brothers. He fought with Heracles for Deianira, but
was conquered in the contest. He then took the form of a bull, but was again overcome
by Heracles, who deprived him of one of his horns, which, however, he recovered
by giving up the horn of Amalthea. According to Ovid, the Naiads changed the horn
which Heracles took from Achelous into the horn of plenty. Achelous was from the
earliest times considered to be a great divinity throughout Greece, and was invoked
in prayers and sacrifices. Achelous was regarded as the representative of all
fresh water; hence we find in Vergil Acheloia pocula, that is, water in general.
The Sirens are called Acheloiades, as the daughters of Achelous.
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ΕΥΗΝΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
A river of Aetolia, rising in Mount Oeta, and flowing into the
sea, 120 stadia west of Antirrhium. It derived its name from Evenus, the father
of Marpessa, who was carried off by Idas, the son of Aphareus; and Evenus, being
unable to overtake the latter, threw himself into the river, which was henceforth
called after him.
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
A city of Acarnania, on the shore of the Ionian Sea, and opposite the island of Carnus.
ΘΕΡΜΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
(Thermon) or Therma (to Therma). A town of the Aetolians near Stratus, with warm mineral springs, and regarded for some time as the capital of the country.
ΚΑΛΥΔΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
A city of Aetolia, below the river Evenus, and between that
stream and the sea. It was famed in Grecian story on account of the boar-hunt
in its neighbourhood, the theme of poetry from Homer to Statius. We are told by
mythologists that Oeneus, the father of Meleager and Tydeus, reigned at Calydon,
while his brother Agrius settled in Pleuron. Frequent wars, however, arose between
them on the subject of contiguous lands. Some time after the Peloponnesian War,
we find Calydon in the possession of the Achaeans. It is probable that the Calydonians
themselves invited over the Achaeans, to defend them against the Acarnanians.
Their city was, in consequence, occupied by an Achaean garrison, until Epaminondas,
after the battle of Leuctra, compelled them to evacuate the place. It was still
a town of importance during the Social War, and as late as the time of Caesar.
Augustus accomplished its downfall by removing the inhabitants to Nicopolis.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΛΙΜΝΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΜΦΙΛΟΧΙΑ
(Aimnaia). A town in the north of Acarnania, near the Ambracian Gulf, on which it had a harbour.
ΜΟΛΥΚΡΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
(Molukreion). A town in the south of Aetolia, at the entrance of the Corinthian Gulf.
ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
(Naupaktos). The modern Lepanto; an ancient town of the Locri
Ozolae, near the promontory Antirrhium, possessing the best harbor on the northern
coast of the Corinthian Gulf. It is said to have derived its name from the Heraclidae
having here built the fleet with which they crossed over to the Peloponnesus (from
naus + pegnumi). After the Persian Wars it fell into the power of the Athenians,
who settled here the Messenians who had been compelled to leave their country
at the end of the Third Messenian War, B.C. 455. During the Peloponnesian War
it was the military base of the Athenians in their operations against Western
Greece. In later times, Philip of Macedon assigned it to Aetolia, and the Romans
to Locris.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΟΛΠΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
(Olpai) or Olpe (Olpe). A town of the Amphilochae in Acarnania on the Ambracian Gulf.
ΠΑΛΑΙΡΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
(Palairos). A town on the coast of Acarnania near Leucas.
ΠΑΝΑΙΤΩΛΙΚΟ (Βουνό) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
(Panaitolion). A mountain in Aetolia, near Thermon, in which town the panegyric festival of the Aetolians was held.
ΠΛΕΥΡΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
An ancient city in Aetolia, situated at a little distance from
the coast. It was abandoned by its inhabitants when Demetrius II., king of Macedonia,
laid waste the surrounding country, and a new city was built under the same name
near the ancient one. The two cities are distinguished by geographers under the
names of Old Pleuron and New Pleuron respectively.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΠΥΛΗΝΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
(Pulene). An ancient town of Aetolia near the coast, mentioned by Homer. The Aeolians who took Pylene afterwards removed higher up into the country and founded Proschium.
ΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Now Lepenu or Lepanon, the chief town in Acarnania, ten stadia west of the Achelous. Its territory was called Stratice.
ΧΑΛΚΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΝΑΥΠΑΚΤΟΣ
A town in Aetolia, at the mouth of the Evenus, situated at the foot of the mountain Chalcis, and hence also called Hypochalcis.
ΑΙΤΩΛΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Region of central Greece
north of the gulf of Calydon.
Aetolia owes its name to the mythological hero Aetolus, a son of the
Aeolian Endymion, king of Elis.
Endymion had three sons, Paeon, Epeius and Aetolus. In order to decide which one
would succeed him, he organized a race between them in Olympia.
Epeius won and became king of Elis,
and Paeon fled to Macedon,
while Aetolus stayed around and eventually succeeded his brother at his death.
But later, Aetolus killed Apis, a son of Phoroneus (the first man according to
Peloponnesian legends) who was then king of all Peloponnese
but acted as a tyrant. As a result, Aetolus had to flee and he moved across the
gulf of Corinth, where he
was greeted by the local kings, Dorus (the eponym of the Dorians), Laodocus and
Polypoetes, the three sons of Apollo and Phthia (the eponym of the region of Phthia).
But Aetolus killed the three of them, expelled local residents, the Couretes,
and reigned over the country, that took his name.
He had two sons, Pleuron and Calydon, who gave their names to two
cities of Aetolia.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
ΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΙΤΩΛΟΑΚΑΡΝΑΝΙΑ
Region of central western Greece,
north of the entrance of the gulf of Calydon
along the shores of the Ionian
Sea.
Acarnania owed its name to Acarnan, a son of Alcmaeon (the leader
of the expedition of the Epigones against Thebes)
and grandson of Amphiaraus (a king of Argos
and a member of the expedition of the seven against Thebes),
who was said to have first settled the region.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
ΚΑΛΥΔΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΙΕΡΑ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΜΕΣΟΛΟΓΓΙΟΥ
City of Aetolia
on the northern coast of the western part of the gulf
of Corinth.
In mythology, Calydon was founded by a king by that name, one of the
sons of Aetolus and of Pronoe, the daughter of Phorbas. Calydon had only daughters,
one of which, Epicaste, married Agenor, the son of her uncle Pleuron. Thus, Agenor
became king of Pleuron and
Calydon, as was his son Porthaon after him. In the next generation, Pleuron became
the kingdom of Thestius, the son of Ares and of Porthaon's sister Demonice, while
Calydon remained the kingdom of Oeneus, Porthaon's son.
Oeneus first married Althaea, the daughter of Thestius, and they had
two children, Meleagrus and Deiareina. Once grown up, Meleagrus took the lead
in an episode called the hunt of Calydon, which tells the story of the hunt of
a monstrous boar sent by Artemis in the country of Calydon after Oeneus had forgotten
to name her in a thanksgiving ceremony at the end of the crops. To try and get
rid of the beast, Meleagrus called upon heroes from all around Greece
to come and help him in the hunt.
After Althaea had died, Oeneus married Periboea, daughter of Hipponous,
with whom he had a son, Tydeus. When Tydeus reached adulthood, he killed his brother
and had to leave his country. He eventually arrived at the court of Adrastus in
Argos at the same time as
Polynices, the exiled son of Oedipus deprived of his share of kingship by his
brother. Adrastus greeted them both, purified Tydeus of his crime and gave one
of his daughters in marriage to each, promissing to help them recapture their
throne. This is why Tydeus got involved in the expedition of the seven against
Thebes, where he died, and
his son Diomedes, who was thus also a grandson of Adrastus by his mother Deipyle,
became king of Argos and
participated in the victorious expedition of the Epigones against Thebes.
Diomedes was also involved in a fight against the sons of Agrius,
a brother of Oeneus, who had helped their father take over the throne of Calydon
from an aging Oeneus unable to defend himself. Diomedes killed all but two of
them who had fled in Peloponnese,
and handed Oeneus' kingdom over to Andraemon, the husband of Oeneus' daughter
Gorge.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
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