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KLITOR (Ancient city) KALAVRYTA
Kleitor; Clitorium,; Eth. Kleitorios. A town in Arcadia, the name
of which is derived by Muller, from its being situated in an enclosed plain (from
kleio), while others connect it with Clivia and Clusium. It possessed. a small
territory called Cleitoria (Kleitoria, Polyb. iv. 10. § 6), bounded on the E.
by the territory of Pheneus, on the W. by that of Psophis, on the N. by that of
Cynaetha and Achaia, and on the S. by the territories of Caphyae, Tripolis, and
Thelpusa. The lofty Aroanian mountains formed the NE. boundary of the territory
of Cleitor, separating it from that of Pheneus. In these mountains the river Aroanius
(Katzana) rises, which flowed through the territory of Cleitor from N. to S.,
and falls into the Ladon near the sources of the latter. The valley of this river
opens out into two plains. In the upper plain, now called the plain of Sudhena,
was situated Lusi, at. one.time an independent town, but at a later period a dependency
of Cleitor. In the lower plain, now called the plain of Katzana, or Katzanes,
was the town of Cleitor itself.
Besides the valley of the Aroanius, the upper valley of the Ladon
also formed part of the territory of Cleitor. The Ladon rose in this district,
and flowed through the southern part of it in a south-westerly direction. The
road from Caphyae to Psophis passed through the Cleitoria, and was traversed by
Pausanias. (viii. 23. § § 8, 9). At the distance of seven stadia from Caphyae
was Nasi, in the territory of the latter city; and 50 stadia beyond, the road
crossed the Ladon, but Pausanias does not mention where the territory of Cleitor
began. The road then entered a forest of oaks called Soron, and passed through
Argeathae, Lycuntes, and Scotane, till it arrived at the ruins of Paus, situated
at the end of the forest, and not far from Seirae, which was distant 30 stadia
from Psophis, and was the boundary between the Cleitorii and Psophidii. There
are still some remains of this forest, which, in the time of Pausanias, contained
bears and wild boars. The position of these places is uncertain; though Leake
attempts to identify some of them. Paus is also mentioned by Herodotus (Paion,
or Pagou polis, vi. 127), who speaks of it as a town of Azania.
Cleitor was situated in the midst of the plain of Katzana, upon a
hill. of moderate height between two rivulets. The more important of these streams,
running. S. of the town, was also called Cleitor, now Klitora. The other stream,
now called the river of Karnesi, rises in the district of Lusi, and falls into
the Klitora just beyond the remains of the ancient city., The Cleitor, after flowing
rapidly through the plain, falls into the Aroanius, at the distance of seven stadia
from the city of Cleitor, according to Pausanias; but the real distance is at
least double. (Paus. viii. 21. § 1; rapidus Clitor, Stat. Theb. iv.289; Athen.v.
iii. p.331, d.; kleitoen hudor potamos Arkadias, Hesych.) A little north of the
junction of the river Cleitor with the Aroanius is the Kalyvia of Mazi upon. a
gentle elevation, in the neighbourhood of which Dodwell discovered the remains
of a small Doric temple.
Cleitor is said to have been founded by a hero of the same name, the
son of the Arcadian king Azan. (Paus. viii. 4. § 5, viii. 21. § 3.) The Cleitoria
formed an important part of the Azanian district. The Cleitorian fountain, of
which we shall speak presently, was regarded as one of the curiosities of Azania;
and the Aroanian mountains, on the summits of which the daughters of Proetus wandered
in their madness, are called the Azanian mountains. (Eudoxus, ap. Steph. s. v.
Azania.) The Cleitorians were renowned among the Peloponnesians for their love
of liberty. (to Kleitorion phileleutheron kai gennaion), of which an instance
is cited even from the mythical times, in the brave resistance they offered to
Sous, king of Sparta. (Plut. Lyc. 2, Apophth. p. 234.) Their power was increased
by the conquest of Lusi, Paus, and other towns in their neighbourhood. In commemoration
of these, conquests they dedicated at Olympia a brazen statue of Zeus, 18 feet
in height, which was extant in the time of Pausanias, who has preserved the inscription
upon it. (Paus. v. 23. § 7.) Cleitor seems to have occupied an important position
among the Arcadian cities. In the Theban war it carried on hostilities against
Orchomenus. (Xen. Hell. v. 4. 36) In the Social War it belonged to the Achaean
League, and bravely repelled the assaults of the Aetolians, who attempted to scale
the walls. (Polyb. iv. 18, 19, ix. 38.) It was sometimes used as the place of
meeting of the Achaean League. (Polyb. xxiii. 5.; Liv. xxxix. 5.) Strabo mentions
Cleitor among the Arcadian towns destroyed in his time, or of which scarcely any
traces existed; but this is not correct, since it was not only in existence in
the time of Pausanias, but it continued to coin money as late as the reign of
Septimius Severus.
Pausanias gives only a brief description of Cleitor. He says that
its three principal temples were those of Demeter, Asclepius, and Eileithyia;
that at the distance of four stadia from the city the Cleitorians possessed a
temple of the Dioscuri, whom they called the great gods; and that further on the
summit of a mountain, at the distance of 30 stadia from the city, there was a
temple of Athena Coria. (Paus. viii. 21. § 3.) The ruins of Cleitor are now called
Paleopoli, distant about three miles from a village which still bears the name
of the ancient town. It would seem, as Leake remarks, that the river, having preserved
its name after the city had ceased to exist, at length gave that name to a village
built at its sources. The walls of the ancient city may still be traced in nearly
their full extent. They inclose an irregular oblong space, not more than a mile
in circumference; they were about 15 feet in thickness, and were fortified with
towers. But the space inclosed by these walls seems to have been properly the
acropolis of the ancient city, since the whole plain between the river of Klitora
and the river of Karnesi is covered with stones and pottery, mixed with quadrangular
blocks and remains of columns. There are remains of a theatre towards the western
end of the hill.
In the territory of Cleitor was a celebrated fountain, of which those
who drank lost for ever their taste for wine:
Clitorio quicunque sitim de fonte levarit,
Vina fugit: gaudetque meris abstemius undis.
(Ov. Met. xv. 322)
A spring of water, gushing forth from the hill on which the ruins
stand, is usually supposed to be this miraculous fountain; but Curtius places
it in the territory of Lusi, because it is said to have been situated upon the
confines of the Cleitoria, and is mentioned in connection with the purification
of the daughters of Proetus by Melampus, which is said to have taken place at
Lusi. (Eitiskai pege para tois Kleitoriois, Hesych.; situated an eschatias Kleitoros,
Vitruv. l. c.; en Kleitori in Phylarch. ap. Athen. l. c., is to be understood
of the territory.)
Another marvel in the territory of Cleitor was the singing fish of
the river Aroanius. These fish, which were called poikiliai, were said to sing
like thrushes. Pausanias relates (viii. 21. § 2) that he had seen these fish caught;
but that he had never heard them sing, although he had remained for that purpose
on the banks of the river till sunset, when they were supposed to be most vocal.
These singing fish are also mentioned by Athenaeus and Pliny. The former writer
cites three authorities in proof of their existence, of whom Philostephanos placed
them on the Ladon, Mnaseas in the Cleitor, and the Peripatetic Clearchus in the
Pheneatic Aroanius. (Athen. viii. pp. 331, 332.) Pliny improperly identifies them
with the exocoetus or adonis, which was a sea-fish. (Plin. ix. 19.) The poikilia
was probably trout, and was so called from its spotted and many-coloured scales.
The trout of the Aroanius are described by Dodwell as of a fine bright colour,
and beautifully variegated.
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
LYKOYRIA (Ancient city) KALAVRYTA
Lukouria. A village in Arcadia, which still retains its ancient name, marked the
boundaries of the Pheneatae and Cleitorii.
KLITOR (Ancient city) KALAVRYTA
or Clitorium. A town in the north of Arcadia on a river of the same name, a tributary of the Aroanius. There was a fountain in the neighbourhood, the waters of which are said to have given to persons who drank of them a dislike for wine.
This was the first city in Arkadia to produce coins, the mint being
active from ca. 500 to 460 B.C. The site has been identified with ancient remains
at the point where the Kleitor River joins the Karnesi. The acropolis wall is
double-faced of bulging, roughly quadrangular blocks, and is strengthened with
semicircular towers. There are remains of more walls and towers in the plain on
the N and W; the other sides are bounded by the two streams. The cavea of a theater
is preserved on the W slope of the acropolis. Pausanias saw Sanctuaries of Demeter,
Asklepios, and Eileithya at Kleitor, which Curtius and Leake identified at three
locations occupied by churches built with ancient blocks. West of the city, the
foundations of a large building with columns may belong to Pausanias' Temple of
the Dioskouroi. The Temple of Athena Koria he described as on the top of a mountain
30 stades (5.77 km) distant: it probably lay to the N.
The relief of the soldier-historian Polybios found at Kleitor has
been separated from its inscription and is now less well preserved than a cast
in the Berlin Museum.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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