Εμφανίζονται 100 (επί συνόλου 164) τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ Νομός ΕΛΛΑΔΑ" .
ΑΒΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
Abae (Abai. Eth. Abaios: near Exarkho, Ru.), an ancient town of Phocis,
near the frontiers of the Opuntian Locrians, said to have been built by the Argive
Abas, son of Lynceus and. Hypermnestra, and grandson of Danaus. Near the town
and on the road towards Hyampolis was an ancient temple and oracle of Apollo,
who hence derived the surname of Abaeus. So celebrated was this oracle, that it
was consulted both by Croesus and by Mardonius. Before the Persian invasion the
temple was richly adorned with treasuries and votive offerings. It was twice destroyed
by fire; the first time by the Persians in their march through Phocis (B.C. 480),
and a second time by the Boeotians in the Sacred or Phocian war (B.C. 346). Hadrian
caused a smaller temple to be built near the ruins of the former one. In the new
temple there were three ancient statues in brass of Apollo, Leto, and Artemis,
which had been dedicated by the Abaei, and had perhaps been saved from the former
temple. The ancient agora and the ancient theatre still existed in the town in
the time of Pausanias. According to the statement; of Aristotle, as preserved
by Strabo, Thracians from the Phocian town of Abae emigrated to Euboea, and gave
to the inhabitants the name of Abantes. The ruins of Abae are on a peaked hill
to the W. of Exarkho. There are now no remains on the summit of the peak; but
the walls and some of the gates may still be traced on the SW. side. There are
also remains of the walls, which formed the inclosure of the temple. (Paus. x.
35; Herod. i. 46, viii. 134, 33; Diod. xvi. 530; Strab. pp. 423, 445; Steph. Byz.
s. v.; Gell, Itinerary, p. 226; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 163, seq.)
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ΑΛΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town situated upon the Opuntian gulf, but belonging to Boeotia in the time of
Strabo and Pausanias. It is described by Pausanias as situated to the right of
the river Platanius, and as the last town of Boeotia. It probably derived its
name from some salt springs which are still found in its neighbourhood. Leake
places it on the cape which projects to the northward beyond Malesina and Proskyna,
where some ruins are said to exist at a church of St. John Theologus.
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ΑΛΟΠΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Eth. Alopites, Alopeus. A town of the Opuntian Locrians on the coast between Daphnus
and Cynus. Its ruins have been discovered by Gell on an insulated hill near the
shore.
ΑΛΟΠΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Eth. Alopites, Alopeus. A town of Phthiotis in Thessaly, placed by Stephanus between
Larissa Cremaste and Echinus. There was a dispute among the ancient critics whether
this town was the same as the Alope in Homer.
ΑΛΠΗΝΟΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Alpeni (Alpenoi, Herod. vii. 176; Alpenos polis, Herod. vii. 216: Eth. Alpenos),
a town of the Epicnemidii Locri at the E. entrance of the pass of Thermopylae.
ΑΜΦΙΚΛΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Amphicaea or Amphicleia (Amphikaia, Herod., Steph. B.; Amphikleia,
Paus.: Eth. Amphikaieus, Amphikleieus, a town in the N. of Phocis, distant 60
stadia from Lilaea, and 15 stadia from Tithronium. It was destroyed by the army
of Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. Although Herodotus calls it Amphicaea, following
the most ancient traditions, the Amphictyons gave it the name of Amphicleia in
their decree respecting rebuilding the town. It also bore for some time the name
of Ophiteia (Ophiteia), in consequence of a legend, which Pausanias relates. The
place was celebrated in the time of Pausanias for the worship of Dionysus, to
which an inscription refers, found at Dhadhi, the site of the ancient town. (Herod.
viii. 33; Paus. x. 3. § 2, x. 33. § 9, seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii.
pp. 75, 86.)
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ΑΝΤΡΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Antron (Hom. Strab.), Antrones (Dem.): Eth. Antronios. A town of Thessaly in the
district Phthiotis, at the entrance of the Maliac gulf, and opposite Oreus in
Euboea. It is mentioned in the Iliad (ii. 697) as one of the cities of Protesilaus,
and also in the Homeric hymn to Demeter (489) as under the protection of that
goddess. It was purchased by Philip of Macedon, and was taken by the Romans in
their war with Perseus. (Dem. Phil. iv. p. 133, Reiske; Liv. xlii. 42, 67.) It
probably owed its long existence to the composition of its rocks, which furnished
some of the best millstones in Greece; hence the epithet of petreeis given to
it in the hymn to Demeter. Off Antron was a sunken rock (herma nphalon) called
the Onos Antronos, or mill-stone of Antron. (Strab. p. 435; Steph. B. s. v.; Hesych.
s. v. Mnle; Eustath. in Il. l. c.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 349.)
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ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ (Νησί) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Atalanta (Atalante: Eth. Atalantaios.) (Talandonisi), a small island
off Locris, in the Opuntian gulf, said to have been torn asunder from the mainland
by an earthquake. In the first year of the Peloponnesian war it was fortified
by the Athenians for the purpose of checking the Locrians in their attacks upon
Euboea. In the sixth year of the war a part of the Athenian works was destroyed
by a great inundation of the sea. (Strab. i. p. 61, ix. pp. 395, 425; Thuc. ii.
32, iii. 89; Diod. xii. 44, 59; Paus. x. 20. § 3; Liv. xxxv. 37; Plin. ii. 88,
iv. 12; Sen. Q. N. vi. 24; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p.
172.)
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ΑΥΓΕΙΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Augeiae (Augeiai: Etth. Augeates). A town of Locris Epicnemidia, near Scarpheia, mentioned by Homer, but which had disappeared in the time of Strabo. (Hom. Il. ii. 532; Strab. ix. p. 426; Steph. B. s. v.)
ΒΗΣΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Eth. Bessaios. A town in Locris, so called from its situation in a wooded
glen, mentioned by Homer, but which had disappeared in the time of Strabo.
ΔΑΦΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Daphnous: Eth. Daphnountios, Daphnousios. A city on the Euboean sea, originally
belonging to Phocis, which thus extended from the Corinthian gulf to the Euboean
sea. Its narrow territory separated the Locri Epicnemidii from the Locri Opuntii;
but it was afterwards assigned to the Opuntii. The town was in ruins in the time
of Strabo, who fixes its site by describing it as distant 20 stadia from Cynus
and 120 from Elateia, and as having a harbour.
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ΔΡΥΜΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Drumaia, (Paus), Drumos (Herod.), Drumia (Steph. B. (Drymiae, Liv.).
A frontier town of Phocis, on the side of Doris, whence it is included in the
limits of Doris by Livy. It was one of the Phocian towns destroyed by the army
of Xerxes. Pausanias describes it as 80 stadia from Amphicleia: but this number
appears to be an error of the copyists, since in the same passage he says that
Amphicleia was only 15 stadia from Tithronium, and Tithronium 15 stadia from Drymaea,
which would make Drymaea only 35 stadia from Amphicleia. He also speaks of an
ancient temple of Demeter at Drymaea, containing an upright statue of the goddess
in stone, in whose honour the annual festival of the Thesmophoria was celebrated.
Its more ancient name is said to have been Nauboleis, which was derived from Naubolus,
an ancient Phocian hero, father of Iphitus. (Hom. Il. ii. 518.) According to Leake
the site of Drymaea is indicated by some ruins, situated midway between Kamares
and Glunista, and occupying a rocky point of the mountain on the edge of the plain.
Some of the towers remain nearly entire. The masonry is generally of the third
order, but contains some pieces of the polygonal kind; the space enclosed is a
triangle, of which none of the sides is more than 250 yards. At the summit is
a circular acropolis of about two acres, preserving the remains of an opening
into the town.
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ΔΡΥΟΠΙΣ (Αρχαία χώρα) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
ΕΛΑΤΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Eth. Elateus. A city of Phocis, and the most important place in the
country after Delphi, was situated about the middle of the great fertile basin
which extends near 20 miles from the narrows of the Cephissus below Amphicleia
to those which are at the entrance into Boeotia. (Leake). Hence it was admirably
placed for commanding the passes into Southern Greece from Mt. Oeta, and became
a post of great military importance. (Strab. ix. p. 424.) Pausanias describes
it as situated over against Amphicleia, at the distance of 180 stadia from the
latter town, on a gently rising slope in the plain of the Cephissus (x. 34. §
1.) Elateia is not mentioned by Homer. Its inhabitants claimed to be Arcadians,
derivingu their name from Elatus, the son of Areas. (Paus. l. c.) It was burnt,
along with the other Phocian towns, by the army of Xerxes. (Herod. viii. 33.)
When Philip entered Phocis in B.C. 338, with the professed object of conducting
the war against Amphissa, he seized Elateia and began to restore its fortifications.
The alarm occasioned at Athens by the news of this event shows that this place
was then regarded as the key of Southern Greece. (Dem. de Cor. p. 284: Aeschin.
in Ctes. p. 73; Diod. xvi. 84.) The subsequent history of Elateia is given in
some detail by Pausanias (l. c.). It successfully resisted Cassander, but it was
taken by Philip, the son of Demetrius. It remained faithful to Philip when the
Romans invaded Greece, and was taken by assault by the Romans in B.C. 198. (Liv.
xxxii. 24.) At a later time the Romans declared the town to be free, because the
inhabitants had repulsed an attack which Taxiles, the general of Mithridates,
had made upon the place.
Among the objects worthy of notice in Elateia, Pausanias mentions
the agora, a temple of Asclepius containing a beardless statue of the god, a theatre,
and an ancient brazen statue of Athena. He also mentions a temple of Athena Cranaea,
situated at the distance of 20 stadia from Elateia: the road to it was a very
gentle ascent, but the temple stood upon a steep hill of small size.
Elateia is represented by the modern village of Lefta, where are some
Hellenic remains, and where the ancient name was found in an inscription extant
in the time of Meletius. Some remains of the temple of Athena Cranaea have also
been discovered in the situation described by Pausanias.
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ΕΠΙΚΝΗΜΙΔΙΑ ΛΟΚΡΙΣ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Locris (Lokris: Eth. Lokroi; in Latin also Locri, but sometimes Locrenses). The
Locri were an ancient people in Greece, and were said to have been descended from
the Leleges. This was the opinion of Aristotle; and other writers supposed the
name of the Locrians to be derived from Locrus, an ancient king of the Leleges.
(Aristot.; Hes. ap. Strab. vii.; Scymnus Ch. 590; Dicaearch. 71; Plin. iv. 7.
s. 12.) The Locrians, however, must at a very early period have become intermingled
with the Hellenes. In the Homeric poems they always appear as Hellenes; and, according
to some traditions even Deucalion, the founder of the Hellenic race, is said to
have lived in the Locrian town of Opus
or Cynus. (Pind. Ol. ix.
63, seq.; Strab. ix.) In historical times the Locrians were divided into two distinct
tribes, differing from one another in customs, habits, and civilisation. Of these
the eastern Locrians, called the Opuntii and Epicnemidii, dwelt upon the eastern
coast of Greece, opposite the island of Euboea;
while the western Locrians dwelt upon the Corinthian gulf,
and were separated from the former by Mount Parnassus and the whole of Doris
and Phocis. (Strab. ix.)
The eastern Locrians are alone mentioned by Homer; they were the more ancient
and the more civilised: the western Locrians, who are said to have been a colony
of the former, are not mentioned in history till the time of the Peloponnesian
War, and are even then represented as a semi-barbarous people. (Thuc. i. 5.)
We may conjecture that the Locrians at one time extended from sea to sea, and
were torn asunder by the immigration of the Phocians and Dorians.
1. Locri Epicnemidii and
Opuntii (Epiknemidioi, Opountioi),
inhabited a narrow slip upon the eastern coast of Greece, from the pass of Thermopylae
to the mouth of the river Cephissus. Their northern frontier town was Alpeni,
which bordered upon the Malians,
and their southern frontier town was Larymna,
which at a later time belonged to Boeotia.
The Locrians, however, did not inhabit this coast continuously, but were separated
by a narrow slip of Phocis, which extended to the Euboean
sea, and contained the Phocian seaport town of Daphnus.
The Locrians north of Daphnus were called Epicnemidii, from Mount
Cnemis; and those south of this town were named Opuntii, from Opus, their
principal city. On the west the Locrians were separated from Phocis and Boeotia
by a range of mountains, extending from Mount
Oeta and running parallel to the coast. The northern part of this range, called
Mount Cnemis (Strab. ix.), now Talanda, rises to a considerable height, and separated
the Epicnemidii Locri from the Phocians of the upper valley of the Cephissus;
the southern portion, which bore no specific name, is not so lofty as Mount Cnemis,
and separated the Opuntian Locrians from the north-eastern parts of Boeotia. Lateral
branches extended from these mountains to the coast, of which one terminated in
the promontory Cnemides, opposite the islands called Lichades;
but there were several fruitful valleys, and the fertility of the whole of the
Locrian coast is praised both by ancient and modern observers. (Strab. ix.; Forchhammer,
Hellenika, pp. 11--12; Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. p. 381.) In consequence
of the proximity of the mountains to the coast there was no room for any considerable
rivers. The largest, which, however, is only a mountain torrent, is the Boagrius
(Boagrios), called also Manes by Strabo, rising in Mount Cnemis, and flowing into
the sea between Scarpheia and Thronium. (Hom. Il.. ii. 533; Strab. ix; Ptol. iii.
15. § 11; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12; Leake, Northern. Greece, vol. ii. p. 67.) The only
other river mentioned by name is the Platanius
(Platanios, Paus. ix. 24. § 5), a small stream, which flows into the Opuntian
gulf near the Boeotian frontier: it is the river which flows from the modern village
of Prosklyna. (Leake, vol. ii. p. 174.) The Opuntian gulf (ho Opountios kolpos,
Strab. ix.), at the head of which stood the town of Opus, is a considerable bay,
shallow at its inner extremity. In this bay, close to the coast, is the small
island of Atalanta.
There are three important passes across the Locrian mountains into
Phocis. One leads from the territory of the Epicnemidii, between the summits of
Mount Callidromus and Mount
Cnemis, to Tithronum,
in the upper valley of the Cephissus; a second across Mount Cnemis to the Phocian
town of Elateia; and a third
from Opus to Hyampolis, also
a Phocian town, whence the road ran to Abae
and Orchomenos.
The eastern Locrians, as we have already said, are mentioned by Homer,
who describes them as following Ajax, the son of Oileus, to the Trojan War in
forty ships, and as inhabiting the towns of Cynus,
Opus, Calliarus,
Besa, Scarphe,
Augeiae, Tarphe,
and Thronium. (Il. ii. 527-535.)
Neither Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, nor Polybius, make any distinction between
the Opuntii and Epicnemidii; and, during the flourishing period of Grecian history,
Opus was regarded as the chief town of the eastern Locrians. Even Strabo, from
whom the distinction is chiefly derived, in one place describes Opus as the metropolis
of the Epicnemidii; and the same is confirmed by Pliny (iv. 7. s. 12) and Stephanus
(s. v. Opoeis; from Leake vol. ii. p. 181). In the Persian War the Opuntian Locrians
fought with Leonidas at Thermopylae, and also sent seven ships to the Grecian
fleet. (Herod. vii. 203, viii. 1.) The Locrians fought on the side of Sparta in
the Peloponnesian War. (Thuc. ii. 9.)
The following is a list of the Locrian towns:-
Of the Epicnemidii: along the coast from N. to S., Alpenus;
Nicaea; Scarphe
or Scarpheia; Thronium;
Cnemis or Cnemides; more
inland, Tarphe afterwards
Pharygae; Augeiae.
Of the Opuntii: along the coast from N. to S., Alope;
Cynus; Opus;
Haleae; Larymna
which at a later time belonged to Boeotia; more inland, Calliarus;
Naryx; Corseia.
2. Locri Ozolae (Ozolai),
inhabited a district upon the Corinthian gulf, bounded on the north by Doris and
Aetolia, on the east by Phocis,
and on the west by Aetolia. This district is mountainous, and for the most part
unproductive. The declivities of Mount
Parnassus from Phocis, and of Mount Corax from Aetolia, occupy the greater
part of it. The only river, of which the name is mentioned, is the Hylaethus now
the Morno, which runs in
a south-westerly direction, and falls into the Corinthian gulf near Naupactus.
The frontier of the Locri Ozolae on the west was close to the promontory Antirrhium,
opposite the promontory Rhium on the coast of Achaia. Antirrhium,
was in the territory of the Locri . The eastern frontier of Locris, on the coast,
was close to the Phocian town of Crissa;
and the Crissaean gulf washed on its western side the Locrian, and on its eastern
the Phocian coast. The origin of the name of Ozolae is uncertain. Various etymologies
were proposed by the ancients. (Paus. x. 38. § 1, seq.) Some derived it from the
verb ozein, to smell, either from the stench arising from a spring at the foot
of Mount Taphiassus, beneath which the centaur Nessus is said to have been buried,
and which still retains this property (cf. Strab. ix.), or from the abundance
of asphodel which scented the air. (Cf. Archytas, ap. Plut. Quaest. Graec. 15.)
Others derived it from the undressed skins which were worn by the ancient inhabitants;
and the Locrians themselves from the branches (ozoi) of a vine which was produced
in their country in a marvellous manner. The Locri Ozolae are said to have been
a colony from the Opuntian Locrians. They first appear in history in the time
of the Peloponnesian War, as has been mentioned above, when they are mentioned
by Thucydides as a semi-barbarous nation, along with the Aetolians and Acarnanians,
whom they resembled in their armour and mode of fighting. (Thuc. i. 5, iii. 94.)
In B.C. 426 the Locrians promised to assist Demosthenes, the Athenian commander,
in his invasion of Aetolia; but, after the defeat of Demosthenes, most of the
Locrian tribes submitted without opposition to the Spartan Eurylochus, who marched
through their territory from Delphi
to Naupactus. (Thuc. iii. 95, seq.) They belonged at a later period to the Aetolian
League. (Polyb. xviii. 30.)
The chief and only important town of the Ozolae was Amphissa,
situated on the borders of Phocis. The other towns, in the direction of W. to
E., were: Molycreia; Naupactus;
Oeneon; Anticyra;
Eupalium; Erythrae;
Tolophon; Hessus;
Oeantheia or Oeanthe; Ipnus;
Chalaeum; more inland, Aegitium;
Potidania; Crocyleium;
Teichium; Olpae;
Messapia; Hyle;
Tritaea; Myonia.
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ΕΧΙΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Echinos: Eth. Echinaieus (Polyb. ix. 41). A town of Phthiotis in Thessaly,
situated upon the Maliac gulf, between Lamia and Larissa Cremaste, in a fertile
district. (Strab. ix.; Polyb. ix. 41; comp. Aristoph. Lysist. 1169.) It was said
to derive its name from Echion, who sprang from the dragon's teeth. (Scymn. Ch.
602; comp. Steph. B. s. v.) Demosthenes says that Echinus was taken by Philip,
the father of Alexander the Great, from the Thebans (Dem. Phil. iii. p. 120);
but whether he means the Thessalian town, or the one in Acarnania of the same
name, is uncertain. At a later time we find the Thessalian Echinus in the hands
of the Aetolians, from whom it was taken by the last Philip, after a siege of
some length. (Polyb. ix. 41, seq., xvii. 3, xviii. 21; Liv. xxxii. 33, xxxiv.
23.) Strabo mentions it as one of the Grecian cities which had been destroyed
by an earthquake. (Strab. i.) Its site is marked by the modern village of Akhino,
which is only a slight, corruption of the ancient name. The modern village stands
upon the side of a hill, the summit of which was occupied by the ancient Acropolis.
Dodwell remarks that it appears as well from its situation as its works, to have
been a place of great strength, Opposite the Acropolis, at the distance of a few
hundred paces, is a hill, where there are some ruins, and foundations of large
blocks, probably a temple.
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ΘΑΥΜΑΚΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΔΟΜΟΚΟΣ
Thaumakoi: Eth. Thaumakos. A town of Phthiotis in Thessaly, was situated
on the pass called Coela, on the road from Thermopylae and the Maliac gulf passing
through Lamia. At this place, says Livy, the traveller, after traversing rugged
mountains and intricate valleys, comes suddenly in sight of an immense plain like
a vast sea, the extremity of which is scarcely visible. From the astonishment
which it excited in the traveller, the city was supposed to have derived its name.
It stood upon a lofty and precipitous rock. It was besieged by Philip in B.C.
199; but a reinforcement of Aetolians having made their way into the town, the
king was obliged to abandon the siege. (Liv. xxxii. 4.) Thaumaci was taken by
the consul Acilius in the war with Antiochus, B.C. 191. (Liv. xxxvi. 14; comp.
Strab. ix. p. 434; Steph. B. s. v. Thaumakia.) Dhomoko occupies the site of Thaumaci,
and at this place inscriptions are found containing the ancient name. Its situation
and prospect are in exact accordance with the description of Livy, who copied
from Polybius, an eye-witness. Dodwell says that the view from this place is the
most wonderful and extensive he ever beheld, and Leake observes that at the southern
end of the town a rocky point, overtopping the other heights, commands a magnificent
prospect of the immense plain watered by the Peneius and its branches.
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ΘΕΡΜΟΠΥΛΕΣ (Ιστορικός τόπος) ΛΑΜΙΑ
Thermopulai, or simply Pylae (Pulai). That is, the Hot Gates or the
Gates, a celebrated narrow pass, leading from Thessaly into Locris, and the only
road by which an enemy can penetrate from northern into southern Greece. It lay
between Mount Oeta and an inaccessible morass, forming the edge of the Maliac
gulf. In consequence of the change in the course of the rivers, and in the configuration
of the coast, this pass is now very different from its condition in ancient times;
and it is therefore necessary first to give the statement of Herodotus and other
ancient writers respecting the locality, and then to compare it with its present
state. In the time of Herodotus the river Spercheius flowed into the sea in an
easterly direction at the town of Anticyra, considerably W. of the pass. Twenty
stadia E. of the Spercheius was another river, called Dyras, and again, 20 stadia
further, a third river, named Melas, 5 stadia from which was the city Trachis.
Between the mountains where Trachis stands and the sea the plain is widest. Still
further E. was the Asopus, issuing from a rocky gorge (diasphaz), and E. again
is a small stream, named Phoenix, flowing into the Asopus. From the Phoenix to
Thermopylae the distance, Herodotus says, is 15 stadia. (Herod. vii. 198 - 200.)
Near the united streams of the Phoenix and the Asopus, Mt. Oeta approached so
close to the morass of the gulf as to leave space for only a single carriage.
In the immediate vicinity of the pass is the town of Anthela, celebrated for the
temples of Amphictyon and of the Amphictyonic Demeter, containing seats for the
members of the Amphicytonic council, who held here their autumnal meetings. At
Anthela Mount Oeta recedes a little from the sea, leaving a plain a little more
than half a mile in breadth, but again contracts near Alpeni, the first town of
the Locrians, where the space is again only sufficient for a single carriage.
At this pass were some hot springs, which were consecrated to Hercules (Strab.
ix. p. 428), and were called by the natives Chytri or the Pans, on account of
the cells here prepared for the bathers. Across this pass the Phocians had in
ancient times built a wall to defend their country against the attacks of the
Thessalians, and had let. loose the hot water, so as to render the pass impracticable.
(Herod. vii. 200, 176.) It appears from this description that the proper Thermopylae
was the narrow pass near the Locrian town of Alpeni; but the name was also applied
in general to the whole passage from the mouth of the Asopus to Alpeni. Taking
the term in this acceptation, Thermopylae consisted of the two narrow openings,
with a plain between them rather more than a mile in length and about half a mile
in breadth. That portion of Mt. Oeta, which rises immediately above Thermopylae
is called Callidromon by Livy and Strabo, but both writers are mistaken in describing
it as the highest part of the range. Livy says that the pass is 60 stadia in breadth.
(Liv. xxxvi. 15; Strab. ix. p. 428.)
In consequence of the accumulation of soil brought down by the Spercheius
and the other rivers, three or four miles of new land have been formed, and the
mountain forming the gates of Thermopylae is no longer close to the sea. Moreover,
the Spercheius, instead of flowing into the sea in an easterly direction, considerably
W. of Thermopylae, now continues its course parallel to the pass and at the distance
of a mile from it, falling into the sea lower down, to the E. of the pass. The
rivers Dyras, Melas, and Asopus, which formerly reached the sea by different mouths,
now discharge their waters into the Spercheius. In addition to this there has
been a copious deposit from the warm springs, and a consequent formation of new
soil in the pass itself. The present condition of the pass has been described
by Colonel Leake with his usual clearness and accuracy. Upon entering the western
opening, Leake crossed a stream of warm mineral water, running with great rapidity
towards the Spercheius, and leaving a great quantity of red deposit. This is undoubtedly
the Phoenix, which probably derived its name from the colour of the sediment.
After crossing a second salt-spring, which is the source of the Phoenix, and a
stream of cold salt water, Leake entered upon that which Herodotus calls the plain
of Anthela, which is a long triangular slope, formed of a hard gravelly soil,
and covered with shrubs. There is an easy descent into this plain over the mountains,
so that the western opening was of no importance in a military point of view.
Upon reaching the eastern pass, situated at the end of the plain of Anthela, the
traveller reaches a white elevated soil formed by the deposit of the salt-springs
of the proper Thermopylae. There are two principal sources of these springs, the
upper or western being immediately at the foot of the highest part of the cliffs,
and the lower or eastern being 200 yards distant. From the lower source the water
is conducted in an artificial canal for a distance of 400 yards to a mill. This
water emits a strong sulphureous vapour, and, as it issues from the mill, it pours
out a great volume of smoke. Beyond the hill are conical heights, and in their
neighbourhood are two salt ponds, containing cold water; but as this water is
of the same composition as the hot springs, it is probably also hot at its issue.
Leake observes that the water of these pools, like that of the principal hot source,
is of a dark blue colour, thus illustrating the remark of Pausanias, that the
bluest water he ever saw was in one of the baths at Thermopylae. (Paus. iv. 35.
§ 9.) The springs at this pass are much hotter, and have left a far greater deposit
than those at the other end of the plain, at the opening which may be called the
false Thermopylae. Issuing from the pass are foundations of a Hellenic wall, doubtless
the remains of works by which the pass was at one time fortified; and to the left
is a tumulus and the foundations of a circular monument. Upwards of a mile further
is a deep ravine, in which the torrents descending from Mt. Callidromon, are collected
into one bed, and which afford the easiest and most direct passage to the summit
of the mountain. This is probably the mountain path by which the Persians, under
Hydarnes, descended in the rear of Leonidas and his companions. This path, as
well as the mountain over which it leads, is called Anopaea (he Anopaia) by Herodotus,
who does not use the name of Callidromon. He describes the path as beginning at
the gorge of the Asopus, passing over the crest of the mountain, and terminating
near Alpeni and the rock called Melampygus, and the seats of the Cercopes, where
the road is narrowest. (Herod. vii. 216.) The history of the defence of Thermopylae
by Leonidas is too well known to require to be related here. The wall of the Phocians,
which Leonidas repaired, was probably built a little eastward of the western salt-spring.
When the Spartan king learnt that Hydarnes was descending in his rear, he advanced
beyond the wall into the widest part of the pass, resolved to sell his life as
dearly as possible. Upon the arrival of Hydarnes, the Greeks retired behind the
wall, and took up their position upon a hill in the pass (kolonos en tei eisodoi),
where a stone lion was afterwards erected in honour of Leonidas. This hill Leake
identifies with the western of the two small heights already described, as nearest
to the position of the Phocian wall, and the narrowest part of the pass. The other
height is probably the rock Melampygus.
Thermopylae is immortalised by the heroic defence of Leonidas; but
it was also the scene of some important struggles in later times. In B.C. 279
an allied army of the Greeks assembled in the pass to oppose the Gauls under Brennus,
who were marching into southern Greece with the view of pillaging the temple of
Delphi. The Greeks held their ground for several days against the attacks of the
Gauls, till at length the Heracleotae and Aenianes conducted the invaders across
Mount Callidromon by the same path which Hydarnes had followed two centuries before.
The Greeks, finding their position no longer tenable, embarked on board their
ships and retired without further loss. (Paus. x. 19 - 22.) In B.C. 207, when
the Romans were carrying on war in Greece against Philip, king of Macedonia, the
Aetolians, who were then in alliance with the Romans, fortified Thermopylae with
a ditch and a rampart, but Philip shortly afterwards forced his way through the
pass. (Liv. xxviii. 5, 7; Polyb. x. 41.) In B.C. 181, Antiochus, who was then
at war with the Romans, took up his position at Thermopylae, which he fortified
with a double rampart, a ditch, and a wall; and, in order to prevent the Romans
from crossing the mountains and descending upon his rear, he garrisoned with 2000
Aetolians the three summits, named Callidromum, Teichius, and Rhoduntia. The consul
Acilius sent some troops against these fortresses and at the same time attacked
the army of Antiochus in the pass. While the battle was going on in the pass,
the Roman detachment, which had succeeded in taking Callidromum, appeared upon
the heights, threatening the king's rear, in consequence of which Antiochus immediately
took to flight. (Liv. xxxvi. 15 - 19.) There are still. remains of three Hellenic
fortresses upon the heights above Thermopylae, which probably represent the three
places mentioned by Livy. Appian (Syr. 17) speaks only of Callidromum and Teichius,
but Strabo (ix. p. 428) mentions Rhoduntia also. Procopius relates that the fortifications
of Thermopylae. were restored by Justinian (de Aed. iv. 2).
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ΘΡΟΝΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Thronion: Eth. Thronios, Thronites, Thronieus. The chief town of the
Locri Epicnemidii, situated 20 stadia from the coast and 30 stadia from Scarpheia,
upon the river Boagrius, which is described by Strabo as sometimes dry, and sometimes
flowing with a stream two plethra in breadth. (Strab. ix. p. 436.) It is mentioned
by Homer, who speaks of it as near the river Boagrius. (Il. ii. 533.) It was at
one time partly destroyed by an earthquake. (Strab. i. p. 60.) At the beginning
of the Peloponnesian War (B.C. 431) Thronium was taken by the Athenians. (Thuc.
ii. 26; Diod. xii. 44.) In the Sacred War it was taken by Onomarchus, the Phocian
general, who sold its inhabitants into slavery, and hence it is called by Scylax
a Phocian city. The site of Thronium was ascertained by Meletius who found above
the village Romani, at a place named Paleokastro, where some remains of the city
still exist, a dedicatory inscription of the council and demus of the Thronienses.
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ΚΑΛΛΙΑΡΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Calliarus (Kalliaros: Eih. Kalliarus), a town in eastern Locris mentioned
by Homer, was un-inhabited in Strabo's time, but its name was still attached to
a tract of ground on account of the fertility of the latter. (Hom. Il. ii. 531;
Strab. ix.; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii.)
ΚΝΗΜΙΔΑ (Βουνό) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Cnemis (Knemis), a range of mountains forming the boundary between
Phocis and the Epicnemidii Locri, who received their distinguishing name from
this mountain. Mount Cnemis was a continuation of Callidromus, with which it was
connected by a ridge, at the foot of which is the modern town of Pundonitza. (Strab.
ix. pp. 416, 425; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 66, 180.) A spur of this
mountain, running out into the sea, formed the promontory Cnemides (Knemides),
opposite the islands called Lichades and the Euboean promontory Cenaeum. Upon
this promontory stood a fortress, also called Cnemides, distant 20 stadia from
Thronium. It was near the modern Nikoraki. (Strab. ix. p. 426; Ptol. iii. 15.
§ 10; Mela, ii. 3. § 67 called Cnemis by Scylax, p. 23, and Plin. iv. 7. s. 12;
comp. Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 177.)
ΚΟΡΣΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
Corseia (Korseia),
1. A town of Boeotia, sometimes included in Opuntian
Locris, was the first place which the traveller reached after crossing Mt. Khlomo
from Cyrtones. In the Sacred War it was taken by the Phocians, along with Orchomenus
and Coroneia. In the plain below, the river Platanius joined the sea. Its site
is probably represented by the village Proskyna, on the heights above which are
the remains of an ancient acropolis. (Paus. ix. 24. § 5; Diod. xvi. 58; Dem. de
Fals. Leg. p. 385; called Chorsia by Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. ii. p. 184; Forchhammer, Hellenika, p. 179.)
2. Scylax mentions Korsiai as aport of Boeotia on the Corinthian gulf. It appears from Pliny that there was a second town of this name in the western part of Boeotia, and that it was distinguished from the other by the name of Thebae Corsicae. ( Thebis quae Corsicae cognominatae sunt juxta Heliconem, Plin. iv. 3. s. 4.) It is probably represented by the modern Khosia. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. P. 521.)
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ΚΥΝΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Kunos: Eth. Kunios, Kunaios. The principal sea-port of the Locri Opuntii,
was situated on a cape at the northern extremity of the Opuntian gulf, opposite
Aedepsus in Euboea, and at the distance of 60 stadia from Opus. (Strab. ix.; Paus.
x. 1. § 2.) Livy gives an incorrect idea of the position of Cynus, when he describes
it as situated on the coast, at the distance of a mile from Opus. (Liv. xxviii.
6.) Cynus was an ancient town, being mentioned in the Homeric catalogue (Il. ii.
531), and reported to have been the residence of Deucalion and Pyrrha; the tomb
of the latter was shown there. (Strab. l.c) Its site is marked by a tower, called
Paleopyrgo, and some Hellenic remains, about a mile to the south of the village
of Livanates.
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ΚΥΡΤΩΝΕΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
Kurtones: Eth. Kurtonios. Anciently called Cyrtone (Kurtone), a city
of Boeotia, east of the lake Copais, and 20 stadia from Hyettus, situated upon
a lofty mountain, after crossing which the traveller arrived at Corsia. Cyrtones
contained a grove and temple of Apollo, in which were statues of Apollo and Artemis,
and a fountain of cold water, at the source of which was a chapel of the nymphs.
Forchhammer places Cyrtones on the hill of the church of St. Athanasius between
the villages of Paula and Luki, and the Metokhi of Dendra. Here is celebrated
every spring a great festival, which Forchhammer regards as the remains of the
ancient festival of Apollo and Artemis.
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ΛΑΜΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Eth. Lamieus: Zituini. A town of the Malienses, though afterwards
separated from them, situated in the district Phthiotis in Thessaly. Strabo describes
Lamia as situated above the plain which lies at the foot of the Maliac gulf, at
the distance of 30 stadia from the Spercheius, and 50 stadia from the sea (ix.).
Livy says that it was placed on a height distant seven miles from Heracleia, of
which it commnanded the prospect (xxxvi. 25), and on the route which led from
Thermopylae through the passes of Phthiotis to Thaumaci (xxxii. 4). Strabo further
relates that it was subject to earthquakes (i.). Lamia is celebrated in history
on account of the war which the Athenians and the confederate Greeks carried on
against Antipater in B.C. 323. Antipater was at first unsuccessful, and took refuge
in Lamia, where he was besieged for some time by the allies. From this circumstance
this contest is usually called the Lamian war. Having afterwards received suecours
from Graterus, Antipater retreated northwards, and defeated the allies at the
battle of Crannon in the following year. (Diod. xviii. 9, seq.; Polyb. ix. 29.)
In B.C. 208 Philip, son of Demetrius, defeated the Aetolians near Lamia. (Liv.
xxvii. 30.) In 192 Lamia opened its gates to Antiochus (Liv. xxxv. 43), and was
in consequence besieged in the following year by Philip, who was then acting in
conjunction with the Romans. (Liv. xxxvi. 25.) On this occasion Livy mentions
the difficulty which the Macedonians experienced in mining the rock, which was
siliceous ( in asperis locis silex saepe impenetrabilis ferro occurrebat ). In
190 the town was taken by the Romans. (Liv. xxxvii. 4,5.) Lamia is mentioned by
Pliny (iv. 7. s. 14), and was also in existence in the sixth century. (Hierocl.
p. 642, ed. Wesseling.) The site of Lamia is fixed at Zituni, both by the description
of the ancient writers of the position of Lamia, and by an inscription which Paul
Lucas copied at this place. Zituni is situated on a hill, and is by nature a strongly
fortified position. The only remains of the ancient city which Leake discovered
were some pieces of the walls of the Acropolis, forming a part of those of the
modern castle, and some small remains of the town walls at the foot of the hill,
beyond the extreme modern houses to the eastward. On the opposite side of the
town Leake noticed a small river, which, we learn from Strabo (ix.), was called
Achelous. The port of Malia was named Phalara (ta Phalara, Strab. ix. ; Polyb.
xx. 11; Liv. xxvii. 30, xxxv. 43; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12), now Stylidha. Zituni has
been compared to Athens, with its old castle, or acropolis, above, and its Peiraeeus
at Stylidha, on the shore below. There is a fine view from the castle, commanding
the whole country adjacent to the head of the Maliac gulf.
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ΛΑΡΥΜΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Larumna. The name of two towns in Boeotia, on the river Cephissus,
distinguished as Upper and Lower Larymna. (Strab. ix.) Strabo relates that the
Cephissus emerged from its subterranean channel at the Upper Larymna, and joined
the sea at the Lower Larymna; and that Upper Larymna had belonged to Phocis until
it was annexed to the Lower or Boeotian Larymna by the Romans. Upper Larymna belonged
originally to the Opuntian Locris, and Lycophron mentions it as one of the towns
of Ajax Oileus. (Lycophr. 1146.) Pausanias also states, that it was originally
Locrian; and he adds, that it voluntarily joined the Boeotians on the increase
of the power of the Thebans. (Paus. ix. 23. § 7.) This, however, probably did
not take place in the time of Epaminondas, as Scylax, who lived subsequently,
still calls it a Locrian town. Ulrichs conjectures that it joined the Boeotian
league after Thebes had been rebuilt by Cassander. In B.C. 230, Larymna is described
as a Boeotian town (Polyb. xx. 5, where Larumnan should be read instead of Labrunan);
and in the time of Sulla it is again spoken of as a Boeotian town.
We may conclude from the preceding statements that the more ancient
town was the Locrian Larymna, situated at a spot, called Anchoe by Strabo, where
the Cephissus emerged from its subterranean channel. At the distance of a mile
and a half Larymna had a port upon the coast, which gradually rose into importance,
especially from the time when Larymna joined the Boeotian League, as its port
then became the most convenient communication with the eastern sea for Lebadeia,
Chaeroneia, Orchomenos, Copae, and other Boeotian towns. The port-town was called,
from its position, Lower Larymna, to distinguish it from the Upper city. The former
may also have been called more especially the Boeotian Larymna, as it became the
seaport of so many Boeotian towns. Upper Larymna, though it had joined the Boeotian
League, continued to be frequently called the Locrian, on account of its ancient
connection with Locris. When the Romans united Upper Larymna to Lower Larymna,
the inhabitants of the fomer place were probably transferred to the latter; and
Upper Larymna was henceforth abandoned. This accounts for Pausanias mentioning
only one Larymna, which must have been the Lower city; for if he had visited Upper
Larymna, he could hardly have failed to mention the emissary of the Cephissus
at this spot. Moreover, the ruins at Lower Larymna show that it became a place
of much more importance than Upper Larymna. These ruins, which are called Kastri,
like those of Delphi, are situated on the shore of the Bay of Larmes, on a level
covered with bushes, ten minutes to the left of the mouth of the Cephissus. The
circuit of the walls is less than a mile. The annexed plan of the remains is taken
from Leake.
Leake adds, that the walls, which in one place are extant to nearly
half their height, are of a red soft stone, very much corroded by the sea air,
and in some places are constructed of rough masses. The sorus is high, with comparison
to its length and breadth, and stands in its original place upon the rocks: there
was an inscription upon it, and some ornaments of sculpture, which are now quite
defaced. The Glyfonero is a small deep pool of water, impregnated with salt, and
is considered by the peasants as sacred water, because it is cathartic. The sea
in the bay south of the ruins is very deep; and hence we ought probably to read
in Pausanias (ix. 23. § 7), limen de sphisin estin athnchibathes, instead of limWe,
since there is no land-lake at this place. The ruins of Upper Larymna lie at Bazaraki,
on the right bank of the Cephissus, at the place where it issues from its subterranean
channel.
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ΛΟΚΡΙΣ (Αρχαία χώρα) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Locris (Lokris: Eth. Lokroi; in Latin also Locri, but sometimes Locrenses). The
Locri were an ancient people in Greece, and were said to have been descended from
the Leleges. This was the opinion of Aristotle; and other writers supposed the
name of the Locrians to be derived from Locrus, an ancient king of the Leleges.
(Aristot.; Hes. ap. Strab. vii.; Scymnus Ch. 590; Dicaearch. 71; Plin. iv. 7.
s. 12.) The Locrians, however, must at a very early period have become intermingled
with the Hellenes. In the Homeric poems they always appear as Hellenes; and, according
to some traditions even Deucalion, the founder of the Hellenic race, is said to
have lived in the Locrian town of Opus
or Cynus. (Pind. Ol. ix.
63, seq.; Strab. ix.) In historical times the Locrians were divided into two distinct
tribes, differing from one another in customs, habits, and civilisation. Of these
the eastern Locrians, called the Opuntii and Epicnemidii, dwelt upon the eastern
coast of Greece, opposite the island of Euboea;
while the western Locrians dwelt upon the Corinthian gulf,
and were separated from the former by Mount Parnassus and the whole of Doris
and Phocis. (Strab. ix.)
The eastern Locrians are alone mentioned by Homer; they were the more ancient
and the more civilised: the western Locrians, who are said to have been a colony
of the former, are not mentioned in history till the time of the Peloponnesian
War, and are even then represented as a semi-barbarous people. (Thuc. i. 5.)
We may conjecture that the Locrians at one time extended from sea to sea, and
were torn asunder by the immigration of the Phocians and Dorians.
1. Locri Epicnemidii and
Opuntii (Epiknemidioi, Opountioi),
inhabited a narrow slip upon the eastern coast of Greece, from the pass of Thermopylae
to the mouth of the river Cephissus. Their northern frontier town was Alpeni,
which bordered upon the Malians,
and their southern frontier town was Larymna,
which at a later time belonged to Boeotia.
The Locrians, however, did not inhabit this coast continuously, but were separated
by a narrow slip of Phocis, which extended to the Euboean
sea, and contained the Phocian seaport town of Daphnus.
The Locrians north of Daphnus were called Epicnemidii, from Mount
Cnemis; and those south of this town were named Opuntii, from Opus, their
principal city. On the west the Locrians were separated from Phocis and Boeotia
by a range of mountains, extending from Mount
Oeta and running parallel to the coast. The northern part of this range, called
Mount Cnemis (Strab. ix.), now Talanda, rises to a considerable height, and separated
the Epicnemidii Locri from the Phocians of the upper valley of the Cephissus;
the southern portion, which bore no specific name, is not so lofty as Mount Cnemis,
and separated the Opuntian Locrians from the north-eastern parts of Boeotia. Lateral
branches extended from these mountains to the coast, of which one terminated in
the promontory Cnemides, opposite the islands called Lichades;
but there were several fruitful valleys, and the fertility of the whole of the
Locrian coast is praised both by ancient and modern observers. (Strab. ix.; Forchhammer,
Hellenika, pp. 11--12; Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. p. 381.) In consequence
of the proximity of the mountains to the coast there was no room for any considerable
rivers. The largest, which, however, is only a mountain torrent, is the Boagrius
(Boagrios), called also Manes by Strabo, rising in Mount Cnemis, and flowing into
the sea between Scarpheia and Thronium. (Hom. Il.. ii. 533; Strab. ix; Ptol. iii.
15. § 11; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12; Leake, Northern. Greece, vol. ii. p. 67.) The only
other river mentioned by name is the Platanius
(Platanios, Paus. ix. 24. § 5), a small stream, which flows into the Opuntian
gulf near the Boeotian frontier: it is the river which flows from the modern village
of Prosklyna. (Leake, vol. ii. p. 174.) The Opuntian gulf (ho Opountios kolpos,
Strab. ix.), at the head of which stood the town of Opus, is a considerable bay,
shallow at its inner extremity. In this bay, close to the coast, is the small
island of Atalanta.
There are three important passes across the Locrian mountains into
Phocis. One leads from the territory of the Epicnemidii, between the summits of
Mount Callidromus and Mount
Cnemis, to Tithronum,
in the upper valley of the Cephissus; a second across Mount Cnemis to the Phocian
town of Elateia; and a third
from Opus to Hyampolis, also
a Phocian town, whence the road ran to Abae
and Orchomenos.
The eastern Locrians, as we have already said, are mentioned by Homer,
who describes them as following Ajax, the son of Oileus, to the Trojan War in
forty ships, and as inhabiting the towns of Cynus,
Opus, Calliarus,
Besa, Scarphe,
Augeiae, Tarphe,
and Thronium. (Il. ii. 527-535.)
Neither Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, nor Polybius, make any distinction between
the Opuntii and Epicnemidii; and, during the flourishing period of Grecian history,
Opus was regarded as the chief town of the eastern Locrians. Even Strabo, from
whom the distinction is chiefly derived, in one place describes Opus as the metropolis
of the Epicnemidii; and the same is confirmed by Pliny (iv. 7. s. 12) and Stephanus
(s. v. Opoeis; from Leake vol. ii. p. 181). In the Persian War the Opuntian Locrians
fought with Leonidas at Thermopylae, and also sent seven ships to the Grecian
fleet. (Herod. vii. 203, viii. 1.) The Locrians fought on the side of Sparta in
the Peloponnesian War. (Thuc. ii. 9.)
The following is a list of the Locrian towns:-
Of the Epicnemidii: along the coast from N. to S., Alpenus;
Nicaea; Scarphe
or Scarpheia; Thronium;
Cnemis or Cnemides; more
inland, Tarphe afterwards
Pharygae; Augeiae.
Of the Opuntii: along the coast from N. to S., Alope;
Cynus; Opus;
Haleae; Larymna
which at a later time belonged to Boeotia; more inland, Calliarus;
Naryx; Corseia.
2. Locri Ozolae (Ozolai),
inhabited a district upon the Corinthian gulf, bounded on the north by Doris and
Aetolia, on the east by Phocis,
and on the west by Aetolia. This district is mountainous, and for the most part
unproductive. The declivities of Mount
Parnassus from Phocis, and of Mount Corax from Aetolia, occupy the greater
part of it. The only river, of which the name is mentioned, is the Hylaethus now
the Morno, which runs in
a south-westerly direction, and falls into the Corinthian gulf near Naupactus.
The frontier of the Locri Ozolae on the west was close to the promontory Antirrhium,
opposite the promontory Rhium on the coast of Achaia. Antirrhium,
was in the territory of the Locri . The eastern frontier of Locris, on the coast,
was close to the Phocian town of Crissa;
and the Crissaean gulf washed on its western side the Locrian, and on its eastern
the Phocian coast. The origin of the name of Ozolae is uncertain. Various etymologies
were proposed by the ancients. (Paus. x. 38. § 1, seq.) Some derived it from the
verb ozein, to smell, either from the stench arising from a spring at the foot
of Mount Taphiassus, beneath which the centaur Nessus is said to have been buried,
and which still retains this property (cf. Strab. ix.), or from the abundance
of asphodel which scented the air. (Cf. Archytas, ap. Plut. Quaest. Graec. 15.)
Others derived it from the undressed skins which were worn by the ancient inhabitants;
and the Locrians themselves from the branches (ozoi) of a vine which was produced
in their country in a marvellous manner. The Locri Ozolae are said to have been
a colony from the Opuntian Locrians. They first appear in history in the time
of the Peloponnesian War, as has been mentioned above, when they are mentioned
by Thucydides as a semi-barbarous nation, along with the Aetolians and Acarnanians,
whom they resembled in their armour and mode of fighting. (Thuc. i. 5, iii. 94.)
In B.C. 426 the Locrians promised to assist Demosthenes, the Athenian commander,
in his invasion of Aetolia; but, after the defeat of Demosthenes, most of the
Locrian tribes submitted without opposition to the Spartan Eurylochus, who marched
through their territory from Delphi
to Naupactus. (Thuc. iii. 95, seq.) They belonged at a later period to the Aetolian
League. (Polyb. xviii. 30.)
The chief and only important town of the Ozolae was Amphissa,
situated on the borders of Phocis. The other towns, in the direction of W. to
E., were: Molycreia; Naupactus;
Oeneon; Anticyra;
Eupalium; Erythrae;
Tolophon; Hessus;
Oeantheia or Oeanthe; Ipnus;
Chalaeum; more inland, Aegitium;
Potidania; Crocyleium;
Teichium; Olpae;
Messapia; Hyle;
Tritaea; Myonia.
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ΜΑΚΡΑΚΩΜΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A place mentioned by Livy (xxxii. 13) along with Sperchiae. Its position is uncertain,
but it was perhaps a town of the Aenianes.
ΜΑΛΙΑΚΟΣ ΚΟΛΠΟΣ (Κόλπος) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Maliacus Sinus (o Maliakos kolpos; Meliakos Thuc. iii. 96; Strab.
ix. p. 403; o Melieus kolpos, Herod. iv. 33; Polyb. ix. 41: Gulf of Zituni), a
long gulf of the sea, lying between the southern coast of Thessaly and the northern
coast of the Locri Epicnemidii, and which derived its name from the country of
the Malians, situated at its head. At the entrance of the gulf is the northwestern
promontory of Euboea, and the islands Lichades, and into its furthest extremity
the river Spercheius flows. The gulf is called Lamiacus Sinus (d Damiakos kolpos)
by Pausanias (i. 4. § 3, vii. 15. § 2, x. 1. § 2), from the important town of
Lamia; and in the same way the gulf is now called Zituni, which is the modern
name of Lamia. Livy, who usually terms it Maliacus Sinus, gives it in one place
the name of Aenianum Sinus (xxviii. 5), which is borrowed from Polybius (x. 42).
(Comp. Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 4.)
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Lamiacus Sinus (ho Lamiakos kolpos), a name given by Pausanias to the Maliac gulf,
from the important town of Lamia. (Paus. i. 4. § 3, vii. 15. § 2, x. 1. § 2.)
In the same way the gulf is now called Zituni, which is the modern name of Lamia.
ΜΑΛΙΕΙΣ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΣ
Malis (he Malis ge; Melis Herod. vii. 198: Eth. Malieus Melieus),
a small district of Greece, at the head of the Maliac gulf, surrounded on all
sides by mountains, and open only in the direction of the sea. The river Spercheius
flowed through it. The limits of Malis are fixed by the description of Herodotus.
It extended a little north of the valley of the Spercheius to the narrowest part
of the straits of Thermopylae. Anticyra was the northernmost town of the Malians
(Herod. vii. 198); the boundary passed between Lamia and Anticyra. Anthela was
their southern-most town (vii. 176, 200). Inland, the Anopaea, the path over Mount
Oeta, by which the Persians turned the army of Leonidas, in part divided the territory
of the Trachinian Malians from that of the Oetaeans (vii. 217). According to Stephanus
B. (s. v. Malieus), the Malians derived their name from a town Malieus, not mentioned
by any other ancient author, said to have been founded by Malus, the son of Amphictyon.
The Malians were reckoned among the Thessalians; but although tributary to the
latter, they were genuine Hellenes, and were from the earliest times members of
the Amphicytonic council. They were probably Dorians, and were always in close
connection with the acknowledged Doric states. Hercules, the great Doric hero,
is represented as the friend of Ceyx of Trachis, and Mount Oeta was the scene
of the hero's death. Diodorus (xii. 59) even speaks of Trachis as the mother-town
of Lacedaemon. When the Trachinians were hard pressed by their Oetaean neighbours,
about the commencement of the Peloponnesian War, they applied for assistance to
the Spartans, who founded in consequence the colony of Heracleia near Trachis.
(Thuc. iii. 92.)
Scylax (p. 24), who is followed by Diodorus (xviii. 11), distinguishes
between the Melieis and Malieis, the former extending along the northern coast
of the Maliac gulf from Lamia to Echinus; but, as no other writer mentions these
towns as belonging to the Lamians, we ought probably to read Damieis, as K. O.
Muller observes. Thucydides mentions three divisions (mere) of the Malians, called
Paralii (Paralioi), Priests (Hieres), and Trachinii (Trachinioi). Who the Priests
were is a matter only of conjecture: Grote supposes that they may have been possessors
of the sacred spot on which the Amphictyonic meetings were held; while Leake imagines
that they were the inhabitants of the Sacred City (hieron hastu), to which, according
to Callimachus (Hymn. in Del. 287), the Hyperborean offerings were sent from Dodona
on their way to Delus, and that this Sacred City was the city Oeta mentioned by
Stephanus B. The names of the Paralii and Trachinii sufficiently indicate their
position. The Malians admitted every man to a share in the government, who either
had served or was serving as a Hoplite (Aristot. Polit. iv. 10. § 10). In war
they were chiefly famous as slingers and darters. (Thuc. iv. 100.)
Trachis was the principal town of the Malians. There were also Anticyra
and Anthela on the coast; and others, of which the names only are preserved, such
as Colaceia (Theopom. ap. Athen. vi. p. 254, f.), Aegoneia (Lycophr. 903; Steph.
B. s. v.), and Irus (Schol. in Lycophr. l. c.; Steph. B. s. v.). (Muller, Dorians,
vol. i. p. 50; Grote, Greece, vol. ii. p. 378; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii.
p. 20.)
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ΜΕΛΙΤΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΔΟΜΟΚΟΣ
Meliteia. Melitaia, Meliteia, Melitia, Eth. Melitaieus, Meliteus.
An ancient town of Phthiotis in Thessaly, situated near the river Enipeus, at
the distance of 10 stadia from the town Hellas. (Strab. ix. p. 432.) The inhabitants
of Melitaea affirmed that their town was anciently called Pyrrha, and they showed
in the market-place the tomb of Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, (Strab.
l. c.) When Brasidas was marching through Thessaly to Macedonia, his Thessalian
friends met him at Melitaea in order to escort him (Thuc. iv. 78); and we learn
from this narrative that the town was one day's march from Pharsalus, whither
Brasidas proceeded on leaving the former place. In the Lamiac war the allies left
their baggage at Melitaea, when they proceeded to attack Leonnatus. (Diod. xviii.
15.) Subsequently Melitaea was in the hands of the Aetolians. Philip attempted
to take it, but he did not succeed, in consequence of his scaling-ladders being
too short. (Polyb. v. 97, ix. 18.) Melitaea is also mentioned by Scylax, p. 24;
Ephor. ap Steph. B. s. v.; Dicaearch. p. 21; Plin. iv. 9. s. 16; Ptol. iii. 13.
§ 46, who erroneously calls it Melitara. Leake identifies it with the ruins of
an ancient fortress situated upon a lofty hill on the left bank of the Enipeus,
at the foot of which stands the small village of Keuzlar. (Northern Greece, vol.
iv. p. 469, seq.)
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ΝΑΡΘΑΚΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΜΙΑ
Narthakion: Eth. Narthakieus. The name of a city and mountain of Phthiotis
in Thessaly, in the neighbourhood of which Agesilaus, on his return from Asia
in B.C. 394, gained a victory over the Thessalian cavalry. The Thessalians, after
their defeat, took refuge on Mount Narthacium, between which and a place named
Pras, Agesilaus set up a trophy. On the following day he crossed the mountains
of the Achaean Phthiotis. (Xen. Hell. iv. 3. 3 - 9 ; Ages. 2. §§ 3 - 5 ; Plut.
Apophth. p. 211; Diod. xiv. 82.) Narthacium is accordingly placed by Leake and
Kiepert south of Pharsalus in the valley of the Enipeus; and the mountain of this
name is probably the one which rises immediately to the southward of Fersala.
Leake supposes the town of Narthacium to have been on the mountain not far from
upper Tjaterli, and Pras near lower Tjaterli. (Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 471,
seq.) The town Narthacium is mentioned by Ptolemy (iii. 13. § 46), and should
probably be restored in a passage of Strabo (ix. p. 434), where in the MS. there
is only the termination.
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ΝΑΡΥΞ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Narycium (Narukos, Naruch, Narycium, Eth. Narukios). A town of the
Opuntian Locrians, the reputed birthplace of Ajax, son of Oileus (Strab. ix. p.
425, Steph. B. s.v.), who is hence called by Ovid (Met. xiv. 468) Narycius heros.
In B.C. 395, Ismenias, a Boeotian commander, undertook an expedition against Phocis,
and defeated the Phocians near Naryx of Locris, whence we may conclude with Leake
that Naryx was near the frontier of Phocis. (Diod. xiv. 82.) In 352 Naryx was
taken by Phayllus, the Phocian commander. (Diod. xvi. 38.) It is placed by some
at Talanda, but by Leake at the small village of Kalapodhi, where there are a
few ancient remains. (Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 187.) As Locri in Bruttium
in Italy was, according to some of the ancients, a colony of Naryx (Virg. Aen.
iii. 399), the epithet of Narycian is frequently given to the Bruttian pitch.
(Virg. Georg. ii. 438; Colum. x. 386; Plin. xiv. 20. s. 25.)
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ΝΙΚΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Nicaea (Nikaia: Eth. Nikaieus), a fortress of the Locri Epicnemidii,
situated upon the sea, and close to the pass of Thermopylae. It is described by
Aeschines as one of the places which commanded the pass. (De Fals. Leg. p. 45,
ed. Steph.) It was the first Locrian town after Alpenos, the latter being at the
very entrance of the pass. The surrender of Nicaea by Phalaecus to Philip, in
B.C. 346, made the Macedonian king master of Thermopylae, and brought the Sacred
War to an end. (Diod. xvi. 59.) Philip kept possession of it for some time, but
subsequently gave it to the Thessalians along with Magnesia. (Dem. Phil. ii. p.
153, ed. Reiske; Aesch. c. Ctesiph. p. 73, ed. Steph.) But in B.C. 340 we again
find Nicaea in the possession of Philip. (Dern. in Phil. Ep. p. 153.) According
to Memnon (ap. Phot. p. 234, a., ed. Bekker; c. 41; ed. Orelli) Nicaea was destroyed
by the Phocians, and its inhabitants founded the Bithynian Nicaea. But even if
this is true, the town must have been rebuilt soon afterwards, since we find it
in the hands of the Aetolians during the Roman wars in Greece. (Polyb. x. 42,
xvii. 1; Liv. xxviii. 5, xxxii. 32.) Subsequently the town is only mentioned by
Strabo (ix. p. 426). Leake identifies Nicaea with the castle of Pundonitza, where
there are Hellenic remains. (Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 5, seq.)
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ΞΥΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΥΠΑΤΗ
Xyniae (Xunia: Eth. Xunieus). A town near the southern confines of
Thessaly, and the district of the Aenianes (Liv. xxxiii. 3), which gave its name
to the lake Xynias (Xunias), which Stephanus confounds with the Boebeis (Apollon.
Rhod. i. 67; Catull. lxiii. 287; Steph. B. s. v. Xunia). Xynia, having been deserted
by its inhabitants, was plundered by the Aetolians in B.C. 198 (Liv. xxxii. 13).
In the following year Flamininus arrived at this place in three days' march from
Heraclea (Liv. xxxiii. 3; comp. Liv. xxxix. 26). The lake of Xynias is now called
Taukli, and is described as 6 miles in circumference. The site of the ancient
city is marked by some remains of ruined edifices upon a promontory or peninsula
in the lake. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 460, vol. iv. p. 517.)
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ΟΘΡΥΣ (Οροσειρά) ΣΤΕΡΕΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ
Othrys (he Othrus), a lofty chain of mountains, which shuts in the
plain of Thessaly from the south. It branches off from Mount Tymphrestus, a summit
in the range of Pindus, and runs nearly due east through Phthiotis to the sea
coast, thus separating the waters which flow into the Peneius from those of the
Spercheius. (Strab. ix. pp. 432, 433; comp. Herod. vii. 129; Plin. iv. 8. s. 15.)
On its northern side, many offshoots extend into the plain of Pharsalus. It is
lofty and covered with wood, whence the poets give it the epithet of nivalis (Virg.
Aen. vii. 675) and nenierosus (Lucan vi.337). It is now usually called Gura, from
a large village of this name upon its sides; but its highest summit, which lies
to the east of this village, is named Jeracovouni, and is 5669 feet above the
level of the sea. The subsoil of the whole range is a limestone of various and
highly-inclined strata occasionally mixed with iron ore, amyanthe and asbestos.
(Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 17, vol. iv. p. 330, seq.; Journal of Geogr.
Society, vol. vii. p. 92.)
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ΟΙΤΗ (Βουνό) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Oeta (Oite: Eth. Oitaios), a mountain in the south of Thessaly, which
branches off from Mt. Pindus,: runs in a south-easterly direction, and forms the
northern barrier of Central Greece. The only entrance into Central Greece from
the north is through the narrow opening left between Mt. Oeta and the sea, celebrated
as the pass of Thermopylae. Mt. Oeta is now called Katavothra, and its highest
summit is 7071 feet. (Journal of Geogr. Soc. vol. vii. p. 94.) The mountain immediately
above Thermopylae is called Callidromon both by Strabo and Livy. (Strab. ix. p.
428; Liv. xxxvi. 15.) The latter writer says that Callidromon is the highest summit
of Mt. Oeta; and Strabo agrees with him in describing the summit nearest to Thermopylae
as the highest part of the range; but in this opinion they were both mistaken,
Mt. Patriotiko, which lies more to the west, being considerably higher. Strabo
describes the proper Oeta as 200 stadia in length. It is celebrated in mythology
as the scene of the death of Hercules, whence the Roman poets give to this hero
the epithet of Oetaeus. From this mountain the southern district of Thessaly was
called Oetaea (Oitaia, Strab. ix. pp. 430, 432, 434), and its inhabitants Oetaei
(Oitaioi, Herod. vii. 217; Thuc. iii. 92; Strab. ix. p. 416). There was also a
city, Oeta, said to have been founded by Amphissus, son of Apollo and Dryope (Anton.
Liberal. c. 32), which Stephanus B. (s. v.) describes as a city of the Malians.
Leake places it at the foot of Mt. Patriotiko, and conjectures that it was the
same as the sacred city mentioned by Callimachus. (Hymn. in Del. 287.) (Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 4, seq.)
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ΟΠΟΥΝΤΙΑ ΛΟΚΡΙΣ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Locris (Lokris: Eth. Lokroi; in Latin also Locri, but sometimes Locrenses). The
Locri were an ancient people in Greece, and were said to have been descended from
the Leleges. This was the opinion of Aristotle; and other writers supposed the
name of the Locrians to be derived from Locrus, an ancient king of the Leleges.
(Aristot.; Hes. ap. Strab. vii.; Scymnus Ch. 590; Dicaearch. 71; Plin. iv. 7.
s. 12.) The Locrians, however, must at a very early period have become intermingled
with the Hellenes. In the Homeric poems they always appear as Hellenes; and, according
to some traditions even Deucalion, the founder of the Hellenic race, is said to
have lived in the Locrian town of Opus
or Cynus. (Pind. Ol. ix.
63, seq.; Strab. ix.) In historical times the Locrians were divided into two distinct
tribes, differing from one another in customs, habits, and civilisation. Of these
the eastern Locrians, called the Opuntii and Epicnemidii, dwelt upon the eastern
coast of Greece, opposite the island of Euboea;
while the western Locrians dwelt upon the Corinthian gulf,
and were separated from the former by Mount Parnassus and the whole of Doris
and Phocis. (Strab. ix.)
The eastern Locrians are alone mentioned by Homer; they were the more ancient
and the more civilised: the western Locrians, who are said to have been a colony
of the former, are not mentioned in history till the time of the Peloponnesian
War, and are even then represented as a semi-barbarous people. (Thuc. i. 5.)
We may conjecture that the Locrians at one time extended from sea to sea, and
were torn asunder by the immigration of the Phocians and Dorians.
1. Locri Epicnemidii and
Opuntii (Epiknemidioi, Opountioi),
inhabited a narrow slip upon the eastern coast of Greece, from the pass of Thermopylae
to the mouth of the river Cephissus. Their northern frontier town was Alpeni,
which bordered upon the Malians,
and their southern frontier town was Larymna,
which at a later time belonged to Boeotia.
The Locrians, however, did not inhabit this coast continuously, but were separated
by a narrow slip of Phocis, which extended to the Euboean
sea, and contained the Phocian seaport town of Daphnus.
The Locrians north of Daphnus were called Epicnemidii, from Mount
Cnemis; and those south of this town were named Opuntii, from Opus, their
principal city. On the west the Locrians were separated from Phocis and Boeotia
by a range of mountains, extending from Mount
Oeta and running parallel to the coast. The northern part of this range, called
Mount Cnemis (Strab. ix.), now Talanda, rises to a considerable height, and separated
the Epicnemidii Locri from the Phocians of the upper valley of the Cephissus;
the southern portion, which bore no specific name, is not so lofty as Mount Cnemis,
and separated the Opuntian Locrians from the north-eastern parts of Boeotia. Lateral
branches extended from these mountains to the coast, of which one terminated in
the promontory Cnemides, opposite the islands called Lichades;
but there were several fruitful valleys, and the fertility of the whole of the
Locrian coast is praised both by ancient and modern observers. (Strab. ix.; Forchhammer,
Hellenika, pp. 11--12; Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. p. 381.) In consequence
of the proximity of the mountains to the coast there was no room for any considerable
rivers. The largest, which, however, is only a mountain torrent, is the Boagrius
(Boagrios), called also Manes by Strabo, rising in Mount Cnemis, and flowing into
the sea between Scarpheia and Thronium. (Hom. Il.. ii. 533; Strab. ix; Ptol. iii.
15. § 11; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12; Leake, Northern. Greece, vol. ii. p. 67.) The only
other river mentioned by name is the Platanius
(Platanios, Paus. ix. 24. § 5), a small stream, which flows into the Opuntian
gulf near the Boeotian frontier: it is the river which flows from the modern village
of Prosklyna. (Leake, vol. ii. p. 174.) The Opuntian gulf (ho Opountios kolpos,
Strab. ix.), at the head of which stood the town of Opus, is a considerable bay,
shallow at its inner extremity. In this bay, close to the coast, is the small
island of Atalanta.
There are three important passes across the Locrian mountains into
Phocis. One leads from the territory of the Epicnemidii, between the summits of
Mount Callidromus and Mount
Cnemis, to Tithronum,
in the upper valley of the Cephissus; a second across Mount Cnemis to the Phocian
town of Elateia; and a third
from Opus to Hyampolis, also
a Phocian town, whence the road ran to Abae
and Orchomenos.
The eastern Locrians, as we have already said, are mentioned by Homer,
who describes them as following Ajax, the son of Oileus, to the Trojan War in
forty ships, and as inhabiting the towns of Cynus,
Opus, Calliarus,
Besa, Scarphe,
Augeiae, Tarphe,
and Thronium. (Il. ii. 527-535.)
Neither Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, nor Polybius, make any distinction between
the Opuntii and Epicnemidii; and, during the flourishing period of Grecian history,
Opus was regarded as the chief town of the eastern Locrians. Even Strabo, from
whom the distinction is chiefly derived, in one place describes Opus as the metropolis
of the Epicnemidii; and the same is confirmed by Pliny (iv. 7. s. 12) and Stephanus
(s. v. Opoeis; from Leake vol. ii. p. 181). In the Persian War the Opuntian Locrians
fought with Leonidas at Thermopylae, and also sent seven ships to the Grecian
fleet. (Herod. vii. 203, viii. 1.) The Locrians fought on the side of Sparta in
the Peloponnesian War. (Thuc. ii. 9.)
The following is a list of the Locrian towns:-
Of the Epicnemidii: along the coast from N. to S., Alpenus;
Nicaea; Scarphe
or Scarpheia; Thronium;
Cnemis or Cnemides; more
inland, Tarphe afterwards
Pharygae; Augeiae.
Of the Opuntii: along the coast from N. to S., Alope;
Cynus; Opus;
Haleae; Larymna
which at a later time belonged to Boeotia; more inland, Calliarus;
Naryx; Corseia.
2. Locri Ozolae (Ozolai),
inhabited a district upon the Corinthian gulf, bounded on the north by Doris and
Aetolia, on the east by Phocis,
and on the west by Aetolia. This district is mountainous, and for the most part
unproductive. The declivities of Mount
Parnassus from Phocis, and of Mount Corax from Aetolia, occupy the greater
part of it. The only river, of which the name is mentioned, is the Hylaethus now
the Morno, which runs in
a south-westerly direction, and falls into the Corinthian gulf near Naupactus.
The frontier of the Locri Ozolae on the west was close to the promontory Antirrhium,
opposite the promontory Rhium on the coast of Achaia. Antirrhium,
was in the territory of the Locri . The eastern frontier of Locris, on the coast,
was close to the Phocian town of Crissa;
and the Crissaean gulf washed on its western side the Locrian, and on its eastern
the Phocian coast. The origin of the name of Ozolae is uncertain. Various etymologies
were proposed by the ancients. (Paus. x. 38. § 1, seq.) Some derived it from the
verb ozein, to smell, either from the stench arising from a spring at the foot
of Mount Taphiassus, beneath which the centaur Nessus is said to have been buried,
and which still retains this property (cf. Strab. ix.), or from the abundance
of asphodel which scented the air. (Cf. Archytas, ap. Plut. Quaest. Graec. 15.)
Others derived it from the undressed skins which were worn by the ancient inhabitants;
and the Locrians themselves from the branches (ozoi) of a vine which was produced
in their country in a marvellous manner. The Locri Ozolae are said to have been
a colony from the Opuntian Locrians. They first appear in history in the time
of the Peloponnesian War, as has been mentioned above, when they are mentioned
by Thucydides as a semi-barbarous nation, along with the Aetolians and Acarnanians,
whom they resembled in their armour and mode of fighting. (Thuc. i. 5, iii. 94.)
In B.C. 426 the Locrians promised to assist Demosthenes, the Athenian commander,
in his invasion of Aetolia; but, after the defeat of Demosthenes, most of the
Locrian tribes submitted without opposition to the Spartan Eurylochus, who marched
through their territory from Delphi
to Naupactus. (Thuc. iii. 95, seq.) They belonged at a later period to the Aetolian
League. (Polyb. xviii. 30.)
The chief and only important town of the Ozolae was Amphissa,
situated on the borders of Phocis. The other towns, in the direction of W. to
E., were: Molycreia; Naupactus;
Oeneon; Anticyra;
Eupalium; Erythrae;
Tolophon; Hessus;
Oeantheia or Oeanthe; Ipnus;
Chalaeum; more inland, Aegitium;
Potidania; Crocyleium;
Teichium; Olpae;
Messapia; Hyle;
Tritaea; Myonia.
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ΟΠΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
Opous (contr. of Opoeis, Il. ii. 531), Eth. Opountios. The chief town
of a tribe of the Locri, who were called from this place the Locri Opuntii. It
stood at the head of the Opuntian gulf (ho Opountios kolpos, Strab. ix. p. 425;
Opuntius Sinus, Plin. iv. 7. s. 12; Mela, ii. 3. § 6), a little inland, being
15 stadia from the shore according to Strabo, or only a mile according to Livy
(xxviii. 6). Opus was believed to be one of the most ancient towns in Greece.
It was said to have been founded by Opus, a son of Locrus and Protogeneia; and
in its neighbourhood Deucalion and Pyrrha were reported to have resided. (Pind.
Ol. ix. 62, 87; Schol. ad loc.) It was the native city of Patroclus. (Hom. Il.
xviii. 326), and it is mentioned in the Homeric catalogue as one of the Locrian
towns subject to Ajax, son of Oileus (Il. ii. 531). During the flourishing period
of Grecian history, it was regarded as the chief city of the eastern Locrians,
for the distinction between the Opuntii and Epicnemidii is not made either by
Herodotus, Thucydides, or Polybius. Even Strabo, from whom the distinction is
chiefly derived, in one place describes Opus as the capital of the Epicnemidii
(ix. p. 416); and the same is confirmed by Pliny (iv. 7. s. 12) and Stephanus
(s. v. Opoeis; from Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 181.) The Opuntii joined
Leonidas with all their forces at Thermopylae, and sent seven ships to the Grecian
fleet at Artemisium. (Herod. vii. 203, viii 1.) Subsequently they belonged to
the anti-Athenian party in Greece. Accordingly, after the conquest of Boeotia
by the Athenians, which followed the battle of Oenophyta, B.C. 456, the Athenians
carried off 100 of the richest Opuntians as hostages. (Thuc. i. 108.) In the Peloponnesian
War the Opuntian privateers annoyed the Athenian trade, and it was in order to
check them that the Athenians fortified the small island of Atalanta off the Opuntian
coast. (Thuc. ii. 32.) In the war between Antigonus and Cassander, Opus espoused
the cause of the latter, and was therefore besieged by Ptolemy, the general of
Antigonus. (Diod. xix. 78.) The position of Opus is a disputed point. Meletius
has fallen into the error of identifying it with Pundonitza, which is in the territory
of the Epicnemidii. Many modern writers place Opus at Talanda, where are several
Hellenic remains; but Leake observes that the distance of Talanda from the sea
is much too great to correspond with the testimony of Strabo and Livy. Accordingly
Leake places Opus at Kardhenitza, a village situated an hour to the south-eastward
of Talanda, at a distance from the sea corresponding to the 15 stadia of Strabo,
and where exist the remains of an ancient city. (Northern Greece, vol. ii. p.
173, seq.)
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ΠΡΟΕΡΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΔΟΜΟΚΟΣ
A town of Phthiotis, in Thessaly (Strab. ix. p. 434), which Stephanus
B. writes Proarna (Proarna), and calls by mistake a town of the Malians. In B.C.
191 Proerna, which had been taken by Antiochus, was recovered by the consul Acilius.
(Liv. xxxvi. 14.) We learn from this passage of Livy that Proerna stood between
Pharsalus and Thaumaci, and it is accordingly placed by Leake at Ghynekokastro.
(Northern Greece, vol. i.p.459)
ΣΚΑΡΦΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Scarphe or Scarpheia (Skarphe, Horn.; Skarpheia, Strab., Paus., Steph.
B.: Eth. Skarpheus, Skarphaieus), a town of the Locri Epicnemidii, mentioned by
Homer. (Il. ii. 532.) According to Strabo it was 10 stadia from the sea, 30 stadia
from Thronium, and a little less from some other place of which the name is lost,
probably Nicaea. (Strab. ix. p. 426.) It appears from Pausanias that it lay on
the direct road from Elateia to Thermopylae by Thronium (viii. 15. § 3), and likewise
from Livy, who states that Quintius Flamininus marched from Elateia by Thronium
and Scarpheia to Heracleia (xxxiii. 3). Hence the town may be placed between the
modern villages of ‘Andera and Molo. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 178.)
Scarpheia is said by Strabo to have been destroyed by an inundation of the sea
caused by an earthquake (i. p. 60), but it must have been afterwards rebuilt,
as it is mentioned by subsequent writers down to a late period. (Plin. iv. 7.
s. 12; Ptol. iii. 15. § 11; Hierocl. p. 643; Geog. Rav. iv. 10; Const. Porphyr.
de Them. ii. 5. p. 51, Bonn.) Scarpheia is also mentioned by Lycophr. 1147; Appian,
Syr. 19; Paus. ii. 29. § 3, x. 1. § 2.
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ΣΠΕΡΧΕΙΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Spercheius (Spercheios: Elladha), a river in the S. of Thessaly, rising
in Mount Tymphrestus (Strab. ix. p. 433), and flowing into the Maliac gulf. The
Dryopes and Aenianes dwelt in the upper part of its course till it entered the
plain of Malis, through which it flowed to the sea. In ancient times it joined
the sea at Anticyra; and the rivers Dyras, Melas, and Asopus fell separately into
the sea to the S. of the Spercheius. (Herod. vii. 198.) But the Spercheius has
changed its course, and now falls into the sea much further south, about a mile
from Thermopylae. The Dyras and Melas now unite their streams, and fall into the
Spercheius, as does also the Asopus. Spercheius is celebrated in mythology as
a river-god, and is mentioned in connection with Achilles. (Hom. Il. xvii. 142.)
Its name also frequently occurs in the other poets. (Aesch. Pers. 486; Sophocl.
Phil. 722; Virg. Georg. ii. 485; Lucan vi.366.) (Leake, Northern Greece, vol.
ii. pp. 8, 11, 15.)
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ΣΠΕΡΧΙΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A place in Thessaly, which, according to the description of Livy (xxxii.
13), would seem to have been situated at no great distance from the sources of
the Spercheius. Ptolemy (iii. 13. § 17) mentions a place Spercheia between Echinus
and Thebes in Phthiotis; and Pliny (iv. 7. s. 13) places Sperchios in Doris. It
is probable that these three names indicate the same place, but that its real
position was unknown.
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ΤΑΡΦΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Eth. Tarphaios. A town of the Locri Epicnemidii, mentioned by Homer
(Il. ii. 533). It was situated upon a height in a fertile and woody country, and
was said to have derived its name from the thickets in which it stood. In the
time of Strabo it had changed its name into that of Pharygae (Pharugai), and was
said to have received a colony from Argos. It contained a temple of Hera Pharygaea.
It is probably the modern Pundonitza.
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ΤΙΘΟΡΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Eth. Neonios. An ancient town of Phocis, said to have been built after
the Trojan war (Strab. ix. p. 439), was situated at the foot of Mt. Tithorea,
one of the peaks of Mt. Parnassus. Herodotus relates that, when the Persian army
invaded Phocis, many of the Phocians took refuge in Tithorea near Neon (viii.
32), and that the latter city was destroyed by the Persians (viii. 33). It was,
however, afterwards rebuilt; but was again destroyed, with the other Phocian towns,
at the end of the Sacred War. (Paus. x. 3. § 2.) In its neighbourhood, Philomelus,
the Phocian general, was defeated, and perished in the flight by throwing himself
down from a lofty rock. (Paus. x. 2. § 4.) Neon now disappears from history, and
in its place we read of a town TITHOREA, which is described by Pausanias (x. 32.
§ 8, seq.). This writer regards Tithorea as situated on the same site as Neon
; and relates that Tithorea was the name anciently applied to the whole district,
and that when the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages were collected in the
city, the name of Tithorea was substituted for that of Neon. This, however, is
not in accordance with the statement of Plutarch, according to whom Tithorea,
in the time of the Mithridatic war, was a fortress surrounded by precipitous rocks,
where the Phocians took refuge from Xerxes. He further states that it was not
such a city as the one existing in his day. (Plat. Sull. 15.) If the view of Plutarch
is correct, that the fortress, the site of which was afterwards occupied by the
city Tithorea, was the place where the Phocians took refuge from Xerxes, we may
conclude that Tithorea and Neon were two different places.
The city, which existed in the time of Plutarch and Pausanias, was
a place of some importance, though it had begun to decline for a generation before
the time of Pausanias. The latter writer mentions, however, a theatre, the enclosure
of an ancient agora, a temple of Athena, and the tomb of Antiope and Phocus. A
river flowed by Tithorea, called Cachales (Kachales), to which the inhabitants
had to descend in order to obtain water. In the territory of Tithorea, but at
the distance of 70 stadia from the city, was a temple of Asclepius, and also,
at the distance of 40 stadia, a shrine of Isis. (Paus. x. 32. §§ 8 - 13.) The
name is written Tithorea in Herodotus and Pausanias, Tithoraia in Stephanus B.,
Tithora in Plutarch, but Tithorra in inscriptions. The Ethnic name in Pausanias
is Tithoreeus, in Stephanus Tithoraieus, but in inscriptions Tithoreus.
The ruins of Tithorea are situated at Velitza, a village at the NE.
foot of Mt. Parnassus. The site is fixed by an inscription found at Velitza, in
which the name of Tithorea occurs. Two-thirds of the modern village stand within
the ruined walls of the ancient city. A considerable portion of the walls, and
many of the towers, still remain. The town was carefully fortified towards the
W. and NW., and was sufficiently protected towards the NE. and E. by the precipitous
banks of the Cachales, and towards the S. by the steep sides of Mt. Parnassus.
The walls are almost 9 feet broad. The Cachales, which now bears the name of Kakoreuma,
or the evil torrent, flows in a ravine below the village, and thus illustrates
the statement of Pausanias, that the inhabitants descended to it in order to obtain
water. Behind Velitza, ascending the Cachales, there is a cavern on the steep
side of the rock, which, during the last war of independence, received a great
number of fugitives. It is very spacious, is supplied with excellent water, and
is quite impregnable. This is probably the place where the inhabitants of Neon
and the surrounding places took refuge in the Persian invasion, as the Delphians
did in the Corycian cave, more especially as the height immediately above Velitza
is not adapted for such a purpose. A difficult mule path leads at present through
the ravine of the Cachales across the heights of Parnassus to Delphi. In the time
of Pausanias there were two roads from Tithorea across the mountain to Delphi,
one direct, the other longer, but practicable for carriages. Pausanias assigns
80 stadia as the length of the shorter road; but this number cannot be correct,
as Leake observes, since the direct distance is hardly less than 12 geographical
miles.
Most modern writers have followed Pausanias in identifying Tithorea
and Neon; but Ulrichs, for the reasons which have been already stated, supposes
them to have been different cities, and places Neon at the Hellenic ruins on the
Cephissus, called Palea Fiva, distant 1 1/2 hour, or 3 1/2 English miles, from
Velitza. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 77, seq.; Ulrichs, in Rheinisches
Museum, 1843, p. 544, seq.)
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ΤΙΘΡΩΝΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Tithronion: Eth. Tithronieus. A frontier town of Phocis, on the side
of Doris. Livy, who calls it Tritonon, describes it as a town of Doris (xxviii.
7), but all other writers place it in Phocis. It was destroyed by the army of
Xerxes together with the other Phocian towns. It is placed. by Pausanias in the
plain at the distance of 15 stadia from Amphicleia. The site of Tithronium is
probably indicated by some ruins at Mulki below Verzana, where a torrent unites
with the Cephissus.
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ΤΡΑΧΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Eth. Trachinios. A city of Malis, in the district called after, it
Trachinia. It stood in a plain at the foot of Mt. Oeta, a little to the N. or
rather W. of Thermopylae, and derived its name from the rocks which surrounded
the plain. It commanded the approach to Thermopylae from Thessaly, and was, from
its position, of great military importance. (Herod. vii. 176; Strab. ix. p. 428;
Steph. B. s. v.) The entrance to the Trachinian plain was only half a plethrum
in breadth, but the surface of the plain was 22,000 plethra, according to Herodotus.
The same writer states that the city Trachis was 5 stadia from the river Melas,
and that the river Asopus issued from a gorge in the mountains, to the S. of Trachis.
(Herod. vii. 198.) According to Thucydides, Trachis was 40 stadia from Thermopylae
and 20 from the sea (Thuc. iii. 92.) Trachin is mentioned in Homer as one of the
cities subject to Achilles (Il. ii. 682), and is celebrated in the legends of
Hercules as the scene of this hero's death. (Soph. Trach. passim.) It became a
place of historical importance in consequence of the colony founded here by the
Lacedaemonians in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War, B.C. 426. The Trachinians
and the neighbouring Dorians, who suffered much from the predatory incursions
of the Oetaean mountaineers, solicited aid from the Spartans, who eagerly availed
themselves of this opportunity to plant a strong colony in this commanding situation.
They issued an invitation to the other states of Greece to join in the colony;
and as many as 10,000 colonists, under three Spartan oecists, built and fortified
a new town, to which the name of HERACLEIA was given, from the great hero, whose
name was so closely associated with the surrounding district. (Thuc. iii. 92;
Diod. xii. 59.) It was usually called the Trachinian Heracleia, to distinguish
it from other places of the same name, and by later writers Heracleia in Phthiotis,
as this district was subsequently included in the Thessalian Phthiotis. (Herakleia
he en Trachiniai, Xen. Hell. i. 2. 18: Diod. xii. 77, xv. 57; Herakleotai hoi
en Trachini, Thuc. v. 51; He. He. he Trachin kaloumene proteron, Strab. ix. p.
428; Heraclea Trachin dicta, Plin. iv. 7. s. 14; H. Phthiotidos, Ptol. iii. 13.
§ 46.) The new colonists also built a port with docks near Thermopylae. It was
generally expected that this city. under the protection of Sparta, would become
a formidable power in Northern Greece, but it was attacked from the beginning
by the Thessalians, who regarded its establishment as an invasion of their territory;
and the Spartans, who rarely succeeded in the government of dependencies, displayed
haughtiness and corruption in its administration. Hence the city rapidly dwindled
down; and in B.C. 420 the Heracleots were defeated with great loss by the neighbouring
Thessalian tribes, and Xenares, the Lacedaemonian governor, was slain in the battle.
Sparta was unable at the time to send assistance to their colony; and in the following
year the Boeotians, fearing lest the place should fall into the hands of the Athenians,
took possession of it, and dismissed the Lacedaemonian governor, on the ground
of misconduct. (Thuc. v. 51, 52.) The Lacedaemonians, however, regained possession
of the place; and in the winter of B.C. 409 - 408, they experienced here another
disaster, 700 of the Heracleots being slain in battle, together with the Lacedaemonian
harmost. (Xen. Hell. i. 3. 18) But, after the Peloponnesian War, Heracleia again
rose into importance, and became the head-quarters of the Spartan power in Northern
Greece. In B.C. 399 Herippidas, the Lacedaemonian, was sent thither to repress
some factious movements in Heracleia; and he not only put to death all the opponents
of the Lacedaemonians in the town, but expelled the neighbouring Oetaeans and
Trachinians. from their abodes. (Diod. xiv. 38; Polyaen. ii. 21.) In B.C. 395
the Thebans, under the command of Ismenias, wrested this important place from
the Spartans, killed the Lacedaemonian garrison, and gave the city to the old
Trachinian and Oetaean inhabitants. (Diod. xiv. 82.) The walls of Heracleia were
destroyed by Jason, lest any state should seize this place and prevent him from
marching into Greece. (Xen. Hell. vi. 4. 27) At a later time Heracleia came into
the hands of the Aetolians, and was one of the main sources of their power in
Northern Greece. After the defeat of Antiochus at Thermopylae, B.C. 191, Heracleia
was besieged by the Roman consul Acilius Glabrio, who divided his army into four
bodies, and directed his attacks upon four points at once; one body being stationed
on the river Asopus, where was the gymnasium; the second near the citadel outside
of the walls (extra muros), which was almost more thickly inhabited than the city
itself; the third towards the Maliac gulf; and the fourth on the river Melas,
opposite the temple of Diana. The country around was marshy, and abounded in lofty
trees. After a siege of twenty-four days the Romans succeeded in taking the town,
and the Aetolians retired to the citadel. On the following day the consul seized
a rocky summit, equal to the citadel in height, and separated from it only by
a chasm so narrow that the two summits were within reach, of a missile. Thereupon
the Aetolians surrendered the citadel. (Liv. xxxvi. 24.) Leake remarks that it
seems quite clear from this account of Livy that the city occupied the low ground
between the rivers Karvunaria (Asopus) and Mavra-Neria (Melas), extending from
the one to the other, as well as a considerable distance into the plain in a south-eastern
direction. There are still some vestiges of the citadel upon a lofty rock above;
and upon its perpendicular sides there are many catacombs excavated. The distance
of the citadel above the town justifies the words extra muros, which Livy applies
to it, and may explain also the assertion of Strabo, that Heracleia was six stadia
distant from the ancient Trachis; for, although the town of Heracleia seems to
have occupied the same position as the Trachis of Herodotus, the citadel, which,
according to Livy, was better inhabited in the Aetolian War than the city, may
very possibly have been the only inhabited part of Heracleia two centuries later.
(Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 26 - 29.)
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ΥΑΜΠΟΛΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
Huampolis: Eth. Huampolites. An ancient town of Phocis, mentioned
by Homer (Il. ii. 521), and said to have been founded by the Hyantes after they
had been expelled from Boeotia by the Cadmeians. (Paus. ix. 35. § 5; Strab. ix.
p. 424.) It was situated on the road leading from Orchomenus to Opus (Paus. l
c.), and, as it stood at the entrance of a valley which formed a convenient passage
from Locris into Phocis and Boeotia, its name frequently occurs in history. It
was at the entrance of this pass that the Phocians gained a victory over the Thessalians.
(Herod. viii. 28.) Hyampolis was afterwards destroyed, along with the other Phocian
towns, by the army of Xerxes. (Herod. viii. 33.) In B.C. 371 Jason, in his march
through Phocis, when he was returning from Boeotia after the battle of Leuctra,
is said to have taken Huampoliton to proasteion (Xen Hell. vi. 4. § 27), which
is supposed by some to be the same place as Cleonae, a village belonging to Hyampolis.
(Pint. de Virt. Mul. p. 244; Valcken. ad Herod. viii. 28.) In B.C. 347 a battle
was fought near Hyampolis between the Boeotians and Phocians. (Diod. xvi. 56.)
The city is said to have been destroyed by Philip; but, as Pausanias states that
the ancient agora, senate-house, and theatre were still remaining in his time,
it must have been chiefly the fortifications which were destroyed by Philip. At
all events it continued to be an inhabited city, and is mentioned in the Roman
wars in Greece. (Liv. xxxii. 18.) It was embellished by Hadrian with a Stoa. Pausanias
mentions also a temple of Artemis, who was the deity chiefly worshipped in the
city. (Paus. x. 35. § § 6, 7.) Pliny (iv. 7. s. 12) and Ptolemy (iii. 15. § 20)
erroneously describe Hyampolis as a city of Boeotia.
The ruins of Hyampolis may be seen upon a height about five minutes
northward of the village of Vogdhani. The entire circuit of the fortifications
is traceable, but they are most complete on the western side. The masonry is of
the third order, nearly approaching to the most regular kind. The circumference
is about three-quarters of a mile. The direct distance to this ruin from the summit
of Abae is not more than a mile and a half in a north-west direction. Below Vogdhani,
on the side of a steep bank which falls to the valley of Khubavo, a fountain issuing
from the rock is discharged through two spouts into a stone reservoir of ancient
construction, which stands probably in its original place. (Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. ii. pp. 167, seq.)
Strabo relates that there was another town, named Hyampolis, in Phocis,
situated on Parnassus.
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ΥΠΑΤΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
he Hupate, ta Hupata: Eth. Hupataios, Hypataeus, also Hupateus. The
chief town of the Aenianes, in the valley of the Spercheius, and at the foot of
Mt. Oeta. In the Roman wars in Greece it belonged to the Aetolian league. (Polyb.
xx. 9, 11, xxi. 2, 3; Liv. xxxvi. 14, 26.) The women of Hypata, as of many other
Thessalian towns, were noted for their skill in magic; and it was here that Lucius,
in the story of Lucian, was metamorphosed into an ass. (Lucian, Asin. 1, seq.;.
comp. Apul. Metam. i. p. 104; Theophr. H. Plant. ix. 2.) The town is mentioned
by Hierocles in the 6th century. (Hierocl. p. 642, ed. Wess.; comp. Ptol. iii.
13. § 45.) It occupied the site of the modern Neopatra, where inscriptions have
been discovered containing the name of Hypata. The town appears to have been called
Neae Patrae in the middle ages, and is mentioned in the 12th century as a strongly
fortified place. (Niceph. Gregor. iv. 9. p. 112, ed. Bonn.) There are still considerable
remains of the ancient town. Leake observed many large quadrangular blocks of
stones and foundations of ancient walls on the heights of Neopatra, as well as
in the buildings of the town. In the metropolitan church he noticed a handsome
shaft of white marble, and on the outside of the wall an inscription in small
characters of the best times. He also discovered an inscription on a broken block
of white marble, lying under a plane-tree near a fountain in the Jewish burying-ground.
(Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 14, seq.)
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ΦΘΙΩΤΙΣ (Αρχαία χώρα) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Phthiotis (Phthiotis), inhabited by the Achaean Phthiotae (Achaioi
Phthiotai), under which name they are usually mentioned as members of the Amphictyonic
league. This district, according to Strabo, included the southern part of Thessaly,
extending from the Maliac gulf on the E. to Dolopia and Mount Pindus on the W.,
and stretching as far N. as Pharsalus and the Thessalian plains. (Strab. ix. p.
430.) Phthiotis derived its name from the Homeric Phthia (Phthie, Il. i. 155,
ii. 683), which appears to have included in the heroic times not only Hellas and
Dolopia, which is expressly called the furthest part of Phthia (Il. ix. 484),
but also the southern portion of the Thessalian plain, since it is probable that
Phthia was also the ancient name of Pharsalus. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv.
p. 484, seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΧΗΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Chen (Steph. B. s. v.), Chenai (Paus., Diod.): Eth. Cheneus, Chenieus.
The birthplace of Myson, whom Plato and others mention as one of the Seven Sages
of Greece. (Plat. Protag. p. 343, a.) There was a dispute among the ancients respecting
this place, some placing it in Thessaly at the foot of Mt. Oeta, and others in
Laconia (Diog. Laert. i. 106); but the balance of authorities is in favour of
the former of these two situations. Pausanias (x. 24. § 1) calls it a village
on Mt. Oeta; and Diodorus (Excerpt. de Virt. et Vit. p. 235) describes Myson as
a Malian, who dwelt in the village of Chenae. Stephanus B., on the other hand,
places Chen in Laconia. It has been conjectured that this confusion may have arisen
from the colony which the Lacedaemonians founded in the district of Oeta. (Thuc.
iii. 92.)
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΒΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
A city of Phocis, near and to the right of Elatea, towards Opus.
The inhabitants had a tradition that their city was founded by Abas, son of Lynceus
and Hypermnestra, grandson of Danaus. It was most probably of Pelasgic origin.
Abae was early celebrated for its oracle of Apollo, of greater antiquity than
that at Delphi, and hence Apollo is called Abaeus. During the Persian invasion,
the army of Xerxes set fire to the temple, and nearly destroyed it; soon after
it again gave oracles, though in this dilapidated state, and was consulted for
that purpose by an agent of Mardonius.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΛΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town on the Opuntian Gulf.
ΑΛΠΗΝΟΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town of the Epicnemidian Locri, at the entrance of the Pass of Thermopylae. (Alpenoi, Herod. vii. 176; Alpenos polis, Herod. vii. 216: Eth. Alpenos)
ΑΜΦΙΚΛΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
A town of northern Phocis, with a shrine of Dionysus.
ΑΝΘΗΛΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΜΙΑ
A small town of Thessaly, in the interval between the river
Phoenix and the Straits of Thermopylae, and near the spot where the Asopus flows
into the sea. In the immediate vicinity were the temples of Demeter Amphictyonia,
that of Amphictyon, and the seats of the Amphictyons. It was one of the two places
where the Amphictyonic Council used to meet, the other being Delphi. The place
for holding the assembly here was the temple of Demeter.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΝΤΡΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town of Phthiotis in Thessaly, at the entrance to the Sinus Maliacus.
ΔΑΦΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
A town of the Locri Opuntii, situated on the seacoast, at the mouth of a river of the same name, near the frontiers of the Epicnemidian Locri. Into the river Daphnus the body of Hesiod was thrown after his murder.
ΔΡΥΜΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
A town in Phocis, a little south of the Cephissus.
ΕΧΙΝΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town in Thessaly on the Maliac Gulf, said to have derived its name from Echion, who sprang from the dragon's teeth.
ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΑΜΙΑ
Trachinia, a town of Thessaly, founded by the Lacedaemonians,
and a colony from Trachis, about B.C. 426, in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian
War. It was distant about sixty stadia from Thermopylae and twenty from the sea.
Iason, tyrant of Pherae, took possession of this city at one period, and caused
the walls to be pulled down. Heraclea, however, again arose from its ruins, and
became a flourishing city under the Aetolians, who sometimes held their general
council within its walls. It was taken by the Roman consul, Acilius Glabrio, after
a long and obstinate siege.
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Also called Heraclea Trachiniae, or Heraclea Phthiotidis, or simply Heraclea, a town of Thessaly in the district Malis, celebrated as the residence of Heracles for a time.
ΘΕΡΜΟΠΥΛΕΣ (Ιστορικός τόπος) ΛΑΜΙΑ
(Thermopulai), or simply Pylae (Pulai). "The Hot Gates,"
or "The Gates." A celebrated pass leading from Thessaly into Locris.
It lay between Mount Oeta and an inaccessible morass, forming the edge of the
Malic Gulf. At one end of the pass, close to Anthela, the mountain approaches
so close to the morass as to leave room for only a single carriage between; this
narrow entrance formed the western gate of Thermopylae. About a mile to the east
the mountain again approached close to the sea, near the Locrian town of Alpeni,
thus forming the eastern gate of Thermopylae. The space between these two gates
was wider and more open, and was distinguished by its abundant flow of hot springs,
which were sacred to Heracles: hence the name of the place. Thermopylae was the
only pass by which an enemy could penetrate from northern into southern Greece;
whence its great importance in Grecian history. It is especially celebrated on
account of the heroic defence of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans against the mighty
host of Xerxes in B.C. 480; and they only fell through the Persians having discovered
a path over the mountains, and thus being enabled to attack the Greeks in the
rear. This mountain path commenced from the neighbourhood of Trachis, ascended
the gorge of the river Asopus and the hill called Anopaea, then crossed the crest
of Oeta, and descended in the rear of Thermopylae near the town of Alpeni.
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ΘΡΟΝΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Now Pikraki; the chief town of the Locri Epicnemidii, on the river Boagrius, at a short distance from the sea, with a harbour upon the coast.
ΚΑΛΛΙΔΡΟΜΟΝ (Βουνό) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
According to Livy, the highest summit of Mount Oeta. It was
occupied by Cato with a body of troops in the battle fought at the pass of Thermopylae
between the Romans, under Acilius Glabrio, and the army of Antiochus; and, owing
to this manouevre, the latter was entirely routed.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΚΥΝΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
The chief seaport in the territory of the Locri Opuntii. According to some ancient traditions, it had long been the residence of Deucalion and Pyrrha; the latter was even said to have been interred here.
ΛΑΜΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town in Phthiotis, in Thessaly, situated on the small river
Achelous, fifty stadia inland from the Maliac Gulf. It has given its name to the
war which was carried on by the confederate Greeks against Antipater after the
death of Alexander, B.C. 323. When Antipater was defeated by the confederates
under the command of Leosthenes, the Athenian, he took refuge in Lamia, where
he was besieged for some months. During the siege Leosthenes was killed, and soon
after Antipater, being joined by Craterus, defeated the confederates at Cranon,
ending the war.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΜΕΛΙΤΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΔΟΜΟΚΟΣ
A town in Thessaly in Phthiotis, on the northern slope of Mount Othrys, and near the river Enipeus.
ΝΑΡΥΞ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
(Narux), Narycus (Narukos), or Narycium (Narukion). A town of
the Locri Opuntii, on the Euboean Sea, described as the birthplace of Aias, son
of Oileus, who is hence called Narycius heros. Since Locri Epizephyrii, in the
south of Italy, claimed to be a colony from Naryx, in Greece, we find the town
of Locri called Narycia by the poets, and the pitch of Bruttium was also named
Narycia.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΟΘΡΥΣ (Οροσειρά) ΣΤΕΡΕΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ
(Othrus). A lofty range of mountains in the south of Thessaly, extending from Mount Tymphrestus, or the most southerly part of Pindus, to the eastern coast. It shut in the great Thessalian plain on the south.
ΟΙΤΗ (Βουνό) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
or Oete (Oite). Now Katavothra; a rugged pile of mountains in
the south of Thessaly, an eastern branch of Mount Pindus, extending along the
southern bank of the Sperchius to the Maliac Gulf at Thermopylae, thus forming
the northern barrier of Greece proper. Respecting the pass of Mount Oeta, see
Thermopylae. Oeta was celebrated in mythology as the mountain on which Heracles
burned himself to death. From this range, the southern part of Thessaly was called
Oetaea (Oitaia).
ΟΠΟΥΝΤΙΑ ΛΟΚΡΙΣ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
(Aokroi), sometimes called Locrenses by the Romans. The inhabitants
of two districts in Greece called Locris (Aokris).
(1) Eastern Locris, extending from Thessaly and the pass of
Thermopylae along the coast to the frontiers of Boeotia, and bounded by Doris
and Phocis on the west. It was a fertile and well-cultivated country The northern
part was inhabited by the Locri Epicnemidii, who derived their name from Mount
Cnemis. The southern part was inhabited by the Locri Opuntii, who derived their
name from their principal town, Opus. The two tribes were separated by Daphnus,
a small slip of land, which at one time belonged to Phocis The Epicnemidii were
for a long time subject to the Phocians, and were included under the name of the
latter people; whence the name of the Opuntii occurs more frequently in Greek
history.
This extract is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΟΠΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
A town of Locris, from which the Opuntian Locrians derived their name. It was the birthplace of Patroclus. The bay of the Euboean Sea, near Opus, was called Opuntius Sinus.
ΠΥΡΡΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town and promontory of Phthiotis, in Thessaly, on the Pagasaean Gulf, and near the frontiers of Magnesia. Off this promontory there were two small islands named Pyrrha and Deucalion.
ΣΚΑΡΦΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Scarphea (Skarpheia) or Scarphia (Skarphia). A town of the Epicnemidii Locri, at which the roads leading through Thermopylae united.
ΣΠΕΡΧΕΙΟΣ (Ποταμός) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
(Spercheios). Now Elladha; a river in the south of Thessaly,
which rises in Mount Tymphrestus, runs in an easterly direction through the territory
of the Aenianes and through the district Malis, and falls into the innermost corner
of the Sinus Maliacus. As a river-god, Spercheus is a son of Oceanus and Gaea,
and the father of Menesthius by Polydora, the daughter of Peleus.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΤΙΘΟΡΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
An ancient town in Phocis, at the eastern side of Mount Tithorea, a branch of Mount Parnassus, destroyed by the Persians under Xerxes, but rebuilt and named Tithorea (Tithorea), after the mountain on which it was situated.
ΤΡΑΧΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town of Phocis, on the frontiers of Boeotia, and on the slope of Mount Helicon in the neighbourhood of Lebadea.
ΥΑΜΠΟΛΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
A town in Phocis, east of the Cephissus, near Cleonae, founded by the Hyantes. It was first destroyed by Xerxes, and afterwards rebuilt to be destroyed again in part by Philip and the Amphictyons.
ΦΑΛΑΡΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A town of Phthiotis in Thessaly; the harbour of Lamia.
ΦΘΙΩΤΙΣ (Αρχαία χώρα) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
A district in the southeast of Thessaly, bounded on the south by the Maliac Gulf, and on the east by the Pagasaean Gulf, and inhabited by Achaeans. Homer calls it Phthia, and mentions a city of the same name, which was celebrated as the residence of Achilles. Hence, the poets call Achilles Phthius heros, and his father Peleus Phthius rex.
ΛΟΚΡΙΣ (Αρχαία χώρα) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
Regions of central Greece.
Locris was made up of two regions on either sides of Mount
Parnassus separated by Phocis.
One northeast, along the coast of mainland Greece
facing the northern part of the island of Euboea,
was called Opuntian Locris
(and its inhabitants Opuntes) after the name of Opus,
its main city; the other southwest, along the northern shore of the gulf
of Corinth, around the city of Naupactus,
was called Ozolian Locris
(and its inhabitants Ozolae).
Mythology knows of a Locrus, eponym of the Locrians, variously related
to Amphictyon, a son of Deucalion (he is at times his son, at times his great-grandson).
Locrus had for wife Protogenia (“the first born” in Greek), the daughter
of Deucalion, who had two sons from Zeus, Aethlius and Opus (the eponym of the
city by the same name), of whom Locrus was the “mortal” father. Aethlius
was the father of Endymion, who became king of Elis
and was himself the father of Aetolus, the eponym of the Aetolians. It is as a
result of a fight between Locrus and his son Opus that the former decided to leave
the throne to his son and move with some of his subjects to another country, eventually
to settle on the western slopes of Mount
Parnassus, in what became Ozolian
Locris.
Ozolian Locrians, toward the end of the VIIth century B. C., founded
the city of Locri in southern
Italy, giving it, and the
nearby region, the name of their former country. To distinguish this Locris
from Greek Locris, it was sometimes called Epizephyrian
Locris, after the name of nearby cape Zephyrion, to mean that it was “past
(or next to) Zephyrion”.
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.
ΛΑΡΥΜΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
In the fourth century B.C. a port was built at Larymna making it the easternmost harbor of Locris...Larymna is a village of Opuntian Locris which sits on the north coast of the Euboean Gulf. In the fourth century B.C. a port was built at Larymna making it the easternmost harbor of Locris.
ΑΜΦΙΚΛΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΟΚΡΙΔΑ
Pausanias states that the correct form of the name was Amphikleia,
and appeared in the Dogma of the Amphiktyons on the destruction of the Phokian
cities; but Herodotos men Amphikaian ekalesen hepomenos toi archaiotatoi ton logon.
Amphikaia was certainly the epichorian form, as is proved by the local legend
narrated by Pausanias. This form was associated with a cult of Dionysos, and cures
were effected di oneirhaton. The site is identified, apparently, on the hills
to the south of Kephisos, below and east of Lilaia, just above the modern Dadi
(Frazer v. 420): Pausanias' measurements here appear untrustworthy: Bursian i.
162
ΕΛΑΤΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΘΙΩΤΙΔΑ
ΥΑΜΠΟΛΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΤΑΛΑΝΤΗ
On the main road from Boiotia and Phokis to Opus, and so to Thermopylai;
Pausanias 10. 35. 5 records that the city was a settlement of Huantes from Thebes,
and that the full name of the city was Huanton polis. Kleonai, the actual scene
of the Thessalian defeat (Plutarch, l.c. c. 28) a little higher up the pass, was
presumably a dependency of Hyampolis; remains of Hyampolis are identifiable (Leake
ii. 167, Bursian i. 165, Frazer v. 442). The city would be the first exposed to
the attack of a force coming from Thermopylai, and probably in 480 B.C. (with
Abai) was destroyed, not by the Persian column which had crossed from Malis into
Doris, and then worked down the Kephisos valley, spreading ruin and death wherever
it came, but by the main column, which must have advanced from Thermopylai along
the coast, and through the pass of Hyampolis.
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