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DOLOPIA (Ancient country) THESSALIA
Dolopia (Dolopia inhabited by the Dolopes (Dolopes), a mountainous
district in the SW. corner of Thessaly, lying between Mt. Tymphrestus, a branch
of Pindus, on the one side, and Mt. Othrys on the other. The Dolopes were, like
the Magnetes, an ancient Hellenic people, and members of the Amphictyonic league.
They are mentioned by Homer (Il. ix. 484) as included in Phthia, but were governed
by a subordinate chieftain of their own. Though nominally belonging to Thessaly,
they seem practically to have been independent: and their country was at a later
period a constant subject of contention between the Aetolians and the kings of
Macedonia. The only place in Dolopia of the slightest importance was Ctimene.
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
PELASGIOTIS (Ancient area) THESSALIA
Pelasgiotis, inhabited by the Pelasgiotae (Pelasgiotai,), extended
S. of the Peneius, and along the western side of Pelion and Ossa, including the
districtcalled the Pelasgic plain. (Strab. ix. p. 443.) The name shows that this
district was originally inhabited by Pelasgians; and its chief town was Larissa,
a well known name of Pelasgic cities.
THESSALIA (Ancient area) GREECE
Thessalia (Thettalos, or Thettalia: Eth. Thessalos or Thettalos, Thessalus,
fem. Thssalis, Thettalis, Thessalis: Adj. Thessalikos, Thettalikos, Thessalicus,
Thessalius), the largest political division of Greece, was in its widest extent
the whole country lying N. of Thermopylae as far as the Cambunian mountains, and
bounded upon the W. by the range of Pindus. But the name of Thessaly was more
specifically applied to the great plain, by far the widest and largest in all
Greece, enclosed by the four great mountain barriers of Pindus, Othrys, Ossa and
Pelion, and the Cambunian mountains. From Mount Pindus,--the Apennines or back-bone
of Greece,--which separates Thessaly from Epeirus, two large arms branch off towards
the eastern sea, running parallel to one another at the distance of 60 miles.
The northern, called the Cambunian mountains, forms the boundary between Thessaly
and Macedonia, and terminates in the summit of Olympus, which is the highest mountain
in all Greece. The southern arm, named Othrys, separates the plain of Thessaly
from Malis, and reaches the sea between the Malian and Pagasaean gulfs. The fourth
barrier is the range of mountains, first called Ossa and afterwards Pelion, which
run along the coast of Thessaly upon the E., nearly parallel to the range of Pindus.
The plain of Thessaly, which is thus enclosed by natural ramparts, is broken only
at the NE. corner by the celebrated vale of Tempe, which separates Ossa from Olympus,
and is the only way of entering Greece from the N., except by a pass across the
Cambunian mountains. This plain, which is drained by the river Peneius and its
affiuents, is said to have been originally a vast lake, the waters of which were
afterwards carried off through the vale of Tempe by some sudden convulsion, which
rent the rocks of the valley asunder. (Herod. vii. 129.) The lakes of Nessonis
and Boebeis, which are connected by a channel, were supposed by Strabo (ix. p.
430) to have been the remains of this vast lake. In addition to this plain there
are two other districts included under the general name of Thessaly, of which
one is the long and narrow slip of rocky coast, called Magnesia, extending from
the vale of Tempe to the gulf of Pagasae, and lying between Mounts Ossa and Pelion
and the sea; while the other, known under the name of Malis, is quite distinct
in its physical features from the rest of Thessaly, being a long narrow valley
between Mounts Othrys and Oeta, through which the river Spercheius flows into
the Maliac gulf.
The plain of Thessaly properly consists of two plains, which received
in antiquity the name of Upper and Lower Thessaly; the Upper, as in similar cases,
meaning the country near Mount Pindus most distant from the sea, and the Lower
the country near the Thermaic gulf. (Strab. ix. pp. 430, 437.) These two plains
are separated by a range of hills between the lakes Nessonis and Boebeis on the
one hand, and the river Enipeus on the other. Lower Thessaly, which constituted
the ancient division Pelasgiotis, extends from Mounts Titarus and Ossa on the
N. to Mount Othrys and the shores of the Pagasaean gulf on the S. Its chief town
was Larissa. Upper Thessaly, which corresponded to the ancient divisions Thessaliotis
and Histiaeotis, of which the chief city was Pharsalus, stretches from Aeginium
in the N. to Thaumaci in the S., a distance of at least 50 miles in a straight
line. The road from Thermopylae into Upper Thessaly entered the plain at Thaumaci,
which was situated at the pass called Coela, where the traveller came in sight
of a plain resembling a vast sea. (Liv. xxxii. 4.)
The river Peneius, now called the Salamvria or Salambria (Salambrias,
Salamprias), rises at the NW. extremity of Thessaly, and is composed of streams
collected in the valleys of Mount Pindus and the offshoots of the Cambunian mountains.
At first it flows through a contracted valley till it reaches the perpendicular
rocks, named the Meteora, upon the summits of which several monasteries are perched.
Below this spot, and near the town of Aeginium or Stagus, the valley opens out
into the vast plain of Upper Thessaly, and the river flows in a general southerly
direction. At Tricca, or Trikkala, the Peneius makes a bend to the E., and shortly
afterwards reaches the lowest point in the plain of Upper Thessaly, where it receives
within a very short space many of its tributaries. Next it passes through a valley
formed by a range of hills, of which those upon the right divide the plains of
Upper and Lower Thessaly. It then emerges into the plain a few miles westward
of Larissa; after passing which city it makes a sudden bend to the N., and flows
through the vale of Tempe to the sea. Although the Peneius drains the greater
part of Thessaly, and receives many tributaries, it is in the greater part of
its course a shallow and sluggish river, except after the melting of the snows,
when it sometimes floods the surrounding plain. Hence on either side of the river
there is frequently a wide gravelly uncultivable space, described by Strabo as
poramoklustos (ix. p. 430; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 420). When the river
is swollen in the spring, a channel near Larissa conducts the superfluous waters
into the Karatjai‘r or Maurolimne, the ancient Nessonis; and when this basin is
filled, another channel conveys the waters into the lake of Karla, the ancient
Boebeis. (Leake, iv. p. 403.) In the lower part of its course, after leaving Larissa,
the Peneius flows with more rapidity, and is full of small vortices, which may
have. suggested to Homer the epithet argurodines (Il. ii. 753); though, as Leake
has remarked, the poet carries his flattery to an extreme in comparing to silver
the white hue of its turbid waters, derived entirely from the earth suspended
in them. (Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 291.) The principal rivers of Thessaly,
according to Herodotus (vii. 129), are the Peneius, Apidanus, Onochonus, Enipeus
and Pamisus. The four latter rivers all flow from the S. Of these the most important
is the Enipeus, now called the Fersaliti, which flows through the plain of Pharsalus,
and falls into the Peneius near Piresiae in the lowest part of the plain. The
Apidanus, now called Vrysia, into which the Cuarius (Sofadhitiko) falls, is a
tributary of the Enipeus. The Pamisus, now called the Bliuri or Piliuri,
also joins the Peneius a little to the W. of the Enipeus. The Onochonus, which
is probably the same as the Onchestus, flows into the lake Boebeis and not into
the Peneius. [For details, see Vol. II. p. 483, a.] The chief tributary of the
Peneius on the N. is the Titaresius, now called Elassonitiko or Xeraghi, which
rises in Mt. Titarus, a part of the Cambunian range, and joins the main stream
between Larissa and the vale of Tempe. Homer relates (Il. ii. 753, seq.) that
the waters of the Titaresius did not mingle with those of the Peneius, but floated
upon the surface of the latter like oil upon water, whence it was regarded as
a branch of the infernal river Styx. (Comp. Lucan, vi. 375.) Leake calls attention
to the fact that Strabo (ix. p. 441), probably misled by the epithet (argurodines)
applied by the poet to the Peneius, has reversed the true interpretation of the
poet's comparison of the Peneius and the Titaresius, supposing that the Peneius
was the pellucid river, whereas the apparent reluctance of the Titaresius to mingle
with the Peneius arises from the former being clear and the latter muddy. (Northern
Greece, iii. p. 396, iv. p. 296.) The Titaresius was also called Eurotas (Strab.
vii. p. 329) and Horcus or Orcus (Plin. iv. 8. s. 15). The plain of Thessaly is
the most fertile in all Greece. It produced in antiquity a large quantity of corn
and cattle, which supported a numerous population in the towns, and especially
a rich and proud aristocracy, who were at frequent feuds with one another and
much given to luxury and the pleasures of the table (ekei gar de pleiste ataxia
kai akolasia, Plat. Crit. 15; Athen. xii. p. 564; Theopomp. ap. Athen. vi. p.
260; Dem. Olynth. p. 16). The Thessalian horses were the finest in Greece, and
their cavalry was at all times efficient; but we rarely read of their infantry.
The nobles, such as the Aleuadae of Larissa and the Scopadae of Crannon, supplied
the poorer citizens with horses; but there was no class of free equal citizens,
from which the hoplites were drawn in other Grecian states. (See Grote, Hist.
of Greece, vol. ii. p. 367.) Hence the political power was generally either in
the hands of these nobles or of a single man who established himself as despot.
The numerous flocks and herds of the Scopadae at Crannon are alluded to by Theocritus
(Id. xvi. 36), and the wealth of the Thessalian nobles is frequently mentioned
by the ancient writers. Thessaly is said to have been originally known by the
names of Pyrrha, Aemonia, and Aeolis. (Rhian. ap. Schol. Rhod. iii. 1089; Steph.
B. s. v. Aimonia; Herod. vii. 176.) The two former appellations belong to mythology,
but the latter refers to the time when the country was inhabited by the Aeolian
Pelasgi, who were afterwards expelled from the country by the Thessalians. This
people are said to have been immigrants, who came from Thesprotia in Epeirus,
and conquered the plain of the Peneius. (Herod. vii. 176, comp. i. 57; Strab.
ix. p. 444.) The Boeotians are said to have originally dwelt at Arne, in the country
afterwards called Thessaly, and to have been expelled by the Thessalian invaders
60 years after the Trojan War. (Thuc. i. 12.) The expulsion of the Boeotians by
the Thessalians seems to have been conceived as an immediate consequence of the
immigration of the Thessalian invaders; but, however this may be, the name of
Thessaly is unknown in Homer, who only speaks of the several principalities of
which the country was composed. In the Homeric catalogue Pheidippus and Antiphus,
who led the Greeks from Carpathus, Cos, and the neighbouring islands, are called
the sons of Thessalus, the son of Hercules (Hom. Il. ii. 676); and, in order to
connect this name with the Thessalians of Thesprotia, it was reported that these
two chiefs had, upon their return from Troy, been driven by a storm upon the coast
of Epeirus, and that Thessalus, the grandson of Pheidippus, led the Thessalians
across Mount Pindus and imposed his name upon the country. (Vell. Pat. i. 2, 3;
Steph. B. s. v. Dorion; Polyaen. viii. 44.) There are many circumstances in the
historical period which make it probable that the Thessalians were a body of immigrant
conquerors; though, if they came from Thesprotia, they must have gradually dropt
their original language, and learnt that of the conquered people, as the Thessalian
was a variety of the Aeolic dialect. There was in Thessaly a triple division of
the population analogous to that in Laconia. First, there were the Thessalians
proper, the rich landed proprietors of the plain. Secondly, there were the descendants
of the original inhabitants of the country, who were not expelled by the Thessalian
conquerors, and who were more or less dependent upon them, corresponding to the
Lacedaemonian Perioeci, but, unlike the latter, retaining their original names
and their seats in the Amphictyonic council. These were the Perrhaebi who occupied
the mountainous district between Mount Olympus and the lower course of the Peneius;
the Magnetes, who dwelt along the eastern coast between Mounts Pelion and
Ossa and the sea; the Achaeans, who inhabited the district called Phthiotis,
which extended S. of the Upper Thessalian plain, from Mount Pindus on the W. to
the gulf of Pagasae on the S.; the Dolopes who occupied the mountainous
regions of Pindus, S. of Phthiotis; and the Mialians, who dwelt between
Phthiotis and Thermopylae. The third class of the Thessalian population were the
Penestae, serfs or dependent cultivators, corresponding to the Helots of Laconia,
although their condition seems upon the whole to have been superior. They tilled
the estates of the great nobles, paying them a certain proportion of the produce,
and followed their masters to war upon horseback. They could not, however, be
sold out of the country, and they possessed the means of acquiring property, as
many of them were said to have been richer than their masters. (Archemach. ap.
Athen. vi. p. 264; Plat. Leg. vi. p. 777; Aristot. Pol. ii. 6. § 3, vii. 9. §
9; Dionys. ii. 84.) They were probably the descendants of the original inhabitants
of the country, reduced to slavery by the conquering Thesprotians; but when Theopompus
states that they were the descendants of the conquered Perrhaebians and Magnetes
(ap. Athen. vi. p. 265), this can only be true of a part of these tribes, as we
know that the Penestae were entirely distinct from the subject Perrhaebians, Magnetes,
and Achaeans. (Aristot. Polit. ii. 6. § 3.) The Penestae, like the Laconian Helots,
frequently rose in revolt against their masters.
In the Homeric poems the names of Perrhaebi, Magnetes, Achaeans, and
Dolopes occur; and Achaea Phthiotis was the residence of the great hero Achilles.
This district was the seat of Hellen, the founder of the Hellenic race, and contained
the original Hellas, from which the Hellenes gradually spread over the rest of
Greece. (Hem. Il. ii. 683; Thuc. i. 3; Strab. ix. p. 431; Dicaearch. p. 21, ed.
Hudson; Steph. B. s. v. Hellas). The Achaeans of Phthiotis may fairly be regarded
as the same race as the Achaeans of Peloponnesus.
Thessaly Proper was divided at an early period into four districts
or tetrarchies, named Thessaliotis, Pelasgiotis, Histiaeotis and Phthiotis. When
this division was introduced is unknown. It was older than Hecataeus (Steph. B.
s. v. Krannon), and was ascribed to Aleuas, the founder of the family of the Aleuadae.
(Hellenic. Fragm. 28, ed. Didot; Harpocrat. s. v. Terrarchia; Strab. ix. p. 430.)
This quadruple division continued to the latest times, and seems to have been
instituted for political purposes; but respecting the internal government of each
we have no precise information. The four districts were nominally united under
a chief magistrate, called Tagus; but he seems to have been only appointed in
war, and his commands were frequently disobeyed by the Thessalian cities. When
Thessaly is under a Tagus, said Jason, despot of Pherae, she can send into the
field an army of 6000 cavalry and 10,000 hoplites. (Xen. Hell. vi. 1. 8) But Thessaly
was rarely united. The different cities, upon which the smaller: towns were dependent,
not only administered their own affairs independent of one another, but the three
most important, Larissa, Pharsalus and Pherae, were frequently at feud with one
another, and at the same time torn with intestine faction. Hence they were able
to offer little resistance to invaders, and never occupied that position in Grecian
history to which their population and wealth would seem to have entitled them.
(Respecting the Thessalians in general, see Mr. Grote's excellent remarks, Hist.
of Greece, vol. ii. p. 363, seq.)
The history of Thessaly may be briefly dismissed, as the most important
events are related under the separate cities. Before the Persian invasion, the
Thessalians had extended their power as far as Thermopylae, and threatened to
overrun Phocis and the country of the Locrians. The Phocians built a wall across
the pass of Thermopylae to keep off the Thessalians; and though active hostilities
seem to have ceased before the Persian invasion, as the wall was at that time
in ruins, the two nations continued to cherish bitter animosity towards one another.
(Herod. vii. 176.) When Xerxes invaded Greece, the Thessalians were at first opposed
to the Persians. It is true that the powerful family of the Aleuadae, whom Herodotus
calls (vii. 6) kings of Thessaly, had urged Xerxes to invade Greece, and had promised
the early submission of their countrymen; but it is evident that their party was
in the minority, and it is probable that they were themselves in exile, like the
Athenian Peisistratidae. The majority of the Thessalians sent envoys to the confederate
Greeks at the Isthmus, urging them to send a force to the pass of Tempe, and promising
them active co-operation in the defence. Their request was complied with, and
a body of 10,000 heavy-armed infantry was despatched to Thessaly; but the Grecian
commanders, upon arriving at Tempe, found that there was another pass across Mount
Olympus, and believing it impossible to make any effectual resistance north of
Thermopylae, retreated to their ships and abandoned Thessaly. (Herod. vii. 172,
seq.) The Thessalians, thus deserted, hastened to make their submission to Xerxes;
and under the influence of the Aleuadae, who now regained the ascendency in Thessaly,
they rendered zealous and effectual assistance to the Persians. After the death
of Leonidas and his heroic companions at Thermopylae, the Thessalians gratified
their enmity against the Phocians by directing the march of the Persians against
the Phocian towns and laying their country waste with fire and sword.
From the Persian to the Peloponnesian wars the Thessalians are rarely
mentioned. After the battle of Oenophyta (B.C. 456) had given the Athenians the
ascendency in Boeotia, Locris, and Phocis, they endeavoured to extend their power
over Thessaly. With this view they marched into Thessaly under the command of
Myronides in B.C. 454, for the purpose of restoring Orestes, one of the exiled
nobles or princes of Pharsalus, whom Thucydides calls son of the king of the Thessalians.
The progress of Myronides was checked by the powerful Thessalian cavalry; and
though he advanced as far as Pharsalus, he was unable to accomplish anything against
the city, and was compelled to retreat. (Thuc. i. 111; Diodor. xi. 85.) In the
Peloponnesian War the Thessalians took no part; but the mass of the population
was friendly to the Athenians, though the oligarchical governments favoured the
Spartans. With the assistance of the latter, combined with his own rapidity and
address, Brasidas contrived to march through Thessaly in B.C. 424, on his way
to attack the Athenian dependencies in Macedonia (Thuc. iv. 78); but when the
Lacedaemonians wished to send reinforcements to Brasidas in the following year,
the Thessalians positively refused them a passage through their country. (Thuc.
iv. 132.) In B.C. 395 the Thessalians joined the Boeotians and their allies in
the league against Sparta; and when Agesilaus marched through their country in
the following year, having been recalled by the Spartan government from Asia,
they endeavoured to intercept him on his return; but their cavalry was defeated
by the skilful manoeuvres of Agesilaus. (Xen. Hell. vi. 3. 3, seq.)
About this time or a little earlier an important change took place
in the political condition and relative importance of the Thessalian cities. Almost
down to the end of the Peloponnesian War the powerful families of the Aleuadae
at Larissa, of the Scopadae at Crannon, and of the Creondae at Pharsalus, possessed
the chief power in Thessaly. But shortly before the close of this war Pherae rose
into importance under the administration of Lycophron, and aspired to the supremacy
of Thessaly. Lycophron overthrew the government of the nobles at Pherae, and made
himself tyrant of the city. In prosecution of his ambitious schemes he attacked
Larissa; and in B.C. 404 he gained a great victory over the Larissaeans and the
other Thessalians who were opposed to him. (Xen. Hell. ii. 3. 4) In B.C. 395 Lycophron
was still engaged in a contest with Larissa, which was then under the government
of Medius, probably the head of the Aleuadae. Lycophron was supported by Sparta;
and Medius accordingly applied for succour to the confederacy of Greek states
which had been lately formed to resist the Lacedaemonian power. With their assistance
Medius took Pharsalus, which was then occupied by a Lacedaemonian garrison, and
is said to have sold all its inhabitants as slaves. (Diod. xiv. 82.) The return
of Agesilaus, and his victory over the Thessalians, probably deprived Medius and
his party of their power, and Larissa no longer appears as the rival of Pherae
for the supremacy of Thessaly. Pharsalus soon recovered from the blow which it
had received from Medius, and became, next to Pherae, the most important city
in Thessaly. The inhabitants of Pharsalus agreed to entrust the supreme power
to Polydamas, one of their own citizens, in whose integrity and abilities all
parties placed the greatest confidence. The acropolis and the whole management
of the finances were placed in his hands, and he discharged his trust to the satisfaction
of all parties. (Xen. Hell. vi. 1. 2, 3.)
Meantime the supreme power at Pherae had passed into the hands of
Jason, a man of great energy and ability, and probably the son of Lycophron, though
this is not expressly stated. He inherited the ambitious views of Lycophron, and
meditated nothing less than extending his dominion over the whole of Greece, for
which his central situation seemed to offer many facilities. He cherished even
still more extensive projects of aggrandisement, and, once master of Greece, he
looked forward to conquer the Persian empire, which the retreat of the Ten Thousand
Greeks and the campaigns of Agesilaus in Asia seemed to point out as an easy enterprise.
But the first step was his election as Tagus of Thessaly, and the submission of
all the Thessalian cities to his authority. For this purpose it was necessary
to obtain the acquiescence of Pharsalus, and although he might have gained his
object by force, he preferred to effect it by negotiation, and accordingly frankly
disclosed his schemes to Polydamas, and offered him the second place in Thessaly,
if he would support his views. Polydamas asked the advice of the Spartans, and
finding that he could receive from them no help, he acceded to the proposals of
Jason, and induced the Pharsalians to espouse his cause. Soon after this, probably
in B.C. 374, Jason was elected Tagus of Thessaly, and proceeded to settle the
contingent of cavalry and heavy-armed troops which the Pharsalian cities were
to furnish. He now possessed a force of 8000 cavalry and more than 20,000 infantry;
and Alcetas I., king of Epeirus, and Amyntas II., king of Macedonia were his allies.
(Xen. Hell. vi. 1. 2--19; Diod. xv. 60.) He could in effect command a greater
force than any, other state in Greece; and from the disunion and exhaustion of
the other Grecian states, it seemed not improbable that he might be able to carry
his ambitious projects into effect. He had already formed an alliance with Thebes,
and after the battle of Leuctra (B.C. 371) he was invited by the Thebans to join
them in attacking the Lacedaemonian camp. But Jason's policy was to prevent any
other power from obtaining the preponderance in Greece, and accordingly upon his
arrival at Leuctra he advised the Thebans not to drive the Lacedaemonians to despair,
and obtained a truce for the latter, which enabled them to secure their safety
by a retreat. (Xen. Hell. vi. 4. 20, seq.) In the following year he announced
his intention of marching to Delphi at the head of a body of Thessalian troops
and presiding at the Pythian festival. Great alarm was felt throughout Greece;
but before the time came, he was assassinated by seven youths as he sat in public
to give audience to all comers. His death was felt as a relief by Greece; and
the honours paid in many of the Grecian cities to his assassins prove the general
fear which his ambitious schemes had excited. (Xen. Hell. vi. 4. 28--32.)
Jason had so firmly established his power that he was succeeded in
the post of Tagus of Thessaly by his two brothers Polyphron and Polydorus; but
they did not possess his abilities or energy, and Thessaly again sank into political
insignificance. Polyphron was assassinated by his brother Polydorus, who became
sole Tagus. Polydorus exercised his authority with great cruelty; he put to death
Polydamas of Pharsalus, and killed or drove into exile many other distinguished
persons of this city and of Larissa. (Xen. Hell. vi. 4. 33, 34.) At the end of
a year he was also assassinated by Alexander, who was either his brother (Diod.
xv. 61) or his nephew (Plut. Pelopid. 29.) Alexander surpassed even Polyphron
in cruelty, and was guilty of gross enormities. The Aleuadae and other noble families,
who were chiefly exposed to his vengeance, applied in their distress to Alexander,
the youthful king of Macedonia, who had recently succeeded his father Amyntas.
Alexander invaded Thessaly, defeated the tyrant, and took possession of Larissa
and Crannon, which he garrisoned with his troops. (Diodor. xv. 61.) It would seem,
however, that the necessities of his own kingdom compelled him shortly afterwards
to withdraw his troops from Thessaly; since we find the Thessalian cities opposed
to the tyrant inviting the aid of the Thebans. Accordingly, about B.C. 369, Pelopidas
invaded Thessaly, and took Larissa and several other cities under his protection,
apparently with the sanction of Alexander of Macedonia, with whom he formed an
alliance. (Diodor. xv. 67.) In the following year (B.C. 368) Pelopidas again marched
into Thessaly at the head of a Theban force, to protect Larissa and the other
cities against the projects of Alexander of Pherae, who had solicited aid from
Athens. Alexander was compelled to sue for peace; and Pelopidas, after arranging
the affairs of Thessaly, marched into Macedonia, where the young king had been
lately assassinated. Ptolemy, the regent of the kingdom, was also compelled to
enter into alliance with Pelopidas, and to give him several hostages, among whom
was the youthful Philip, afterwards king of Macedonia. (Diod. xv. 71; Plut. Pelop,
c. 26.) By these means the influence of Thebes was extended over the greater part
of Thessaly. Two years afterwards (B.C. 366) the Thebans obtained from the Persian
court a rescript acknowledging their claims to the headship of Greece; and in
the same year Pelopidas, accompanied by Ismenias, visited Thessaly with the view
of obtaining the recognition of their claim from Alexander of Pherae and the other
Thessalian cities. Alexander met them at Pharsalus, but when he found that they
were not supported by any armed force, he seized them as prisoners and carried
them off to Pherae. The first attempt of the Thebans to rescue their countryman
proved unsuccessful; and the army which they sent into Thessaly was only saved
from destruction by the genius of Epaminondas, who was then serving as a private,
and was compelled [p. 1169] by the soldiers to take the command. So greatly was
Alexander strengthened in his power by this failure that all the Thessalian cities
submitted to him, and the influence of Thebes in Thessaly was for a time destroyed.
Subsequently a second expedition was sent into Thessaly under the command of Epaminondas,
who compelled the tyrant to release Pelopidas and Ismenias, but without restoring
Thebes to the commanding position which she had formerly held in Thessaly. (Diod.
xv. 71-75; Plut. Pelop. 27-29; Cornel. Nep. Pelop. 5; Paus. ix. 15. § 1.) The
continued oppressions of Alexander of Pherae became so intolerable that the Thessalian
cities once more applied to Thebes for assistance. Accordingly in B.C. 364 Pelopidas
was again sent into Thessaly at the head of a Theban army. In the first engagemnent
Pelopidas was slain, but Alexander was defeated. (Diod. xv. 80, 81; Plut. Pelop.
31, 32; Cornel. Nep. Pelop. 5; respecting the different expeditions of Pelopidas
into Thessaly, as to which there are discrepancies in the accounts, see Grote,
Hist. of Greece, vol. x. p. 361, note, p. 391, note.) The death of Pelopidas,
however, proved almost fatal to Alexander. Burning to revenge his loss, the Thebans
sent a powerful army into Thessaly, which compelled him to renounce his supremacy
in Thessaly, to confine himself to Pherae, and to submit to all the demands of
Thebes. (Plut. Pelop. 35.)
After the death of Epaminondas at the battle of Mantineia (B.C. 362)
the supremacy of Thebes in Thessaly was weakened, and Alexander of Pherae recovered
much of his power, which he continued to exercise with his accustomed cruelty
and ferocity till his assassination in B.C. 359 by his wife Thebe and her brothers.
One of these brothers, Tisiphonus, succeeded to the supreme power, under the direction
of Thebe; but his reign lasted only a short time, and lie was followed in the
government by Lycophron, another brother. (Xen. Hell. vi. 4. 37; Diod. xvi. 14;
Plut. Pelop. 35.) Meanwhile Philip, who had ascended the throne of Macedon in
B.C. 369, had been steadily extending his dominions and his influence; and the
Aleuadae of Larissa now had recourse to him in preference to Thebes. Accordingly
Philip marched into Thessaly in B.C. 353. Lycophron, unable to resist him, invoked
the aid of Onomarchus and the Phocians; and Philip, after a severe struggle was
driven out of Thessaly. (Diodor. xvi. 35.) In the following year Philip returned
to Thessaly, and gained a signal victory over Onomarchus and Lycophron. Onomarchus
was slain in the battle; and when Philip followed up his victory by laying siege
to Pherae, Lycophron surrendered the city to him, upon being allowed to retire
to Phocis with his mercenaries. (Diodor. xvi. 37.) Thus ended the powerful dynasty
of the tyrants of Pherae. Philip established a popular government at Pherae (Diod.
xvi. 38), and gave nominal independence to the Thessalian cities. But at the same
time he garrisoned Magnesia and the port of Pagasae with his troops, and kept
steadily in view the subjugation of the whole country. An attempt made in B.C.
344 to restore the dynasty of the tyrants at Pherae gave him an opportunity of
carrying his designs into effect. Not only did he garrison Pherae with his own
troops, but he revived the ancient division of the country into four tetrarchies
or tetradarchies, and placed at the head of each some of the chiefs of the Aleuadae,
who were entirely devoted to his interests. The result of this arrangement was
the entire subjection of Thessaly to Philip, who drew from the country a considerable
addition to his revenues and to his military resources. (Harpocrat. s. v. Tetrarchia;
Dem. Olynth. i. § 23; Strab. ix. p. 440; Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, vol. vi.
pp. 12-14.) Upon the death of Philip the Thessalians were the first Grecian people
who promised to support Alexander in obtaining the supremacy of Greece. (Diod.
xvii. 4.) After the death of Alexander the Thessalians took an active part with
the other Grecian states in attempting to throw off the Macedonian yoke, but by
the victory of Antipater they were again united to the Macedonian monarchy, to
which they remained subject till the defeat of Philip by the Romans at the battle
of Cynoscephalae, B.C. 197. The Roman senate then declared Thessaly free (Liv.
xxxiii. 32); but from this time it was virtually under the sovereignty of Rome.
The government was vested in the hands of the more wealthy persons, who formed
a kind of senate, which was accustomed to meet at Larissa. (Liv. xxxiv. 52, xxxvi.
8, xlii. 38.)
When Macedonia was reduced to the form of a Roman province, Thessaly
was incorporated with it. (Strab. xvii. p. 840.) Under Alexander Severus it formed
a separate province governed by a procurator (Gruter, Inscr. p. 474. 4); and in
the later constitution of the Empire after the time of Constantine, it also appears
as a separate province under the administration of a praeses. (Not. Dig. i. p.
7; Bocking, i. p. 151; Marquardt, in Becker's Rom. Alterth. vol. iii. pt. i. p.
117.)
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
Argos Pelasgicum (Argos Peladgikon), was probably employed by Homer
(Il. ii. 681) to signify the whole of Thessaly. Some critics have supposed that
by Pelasgic Argos the poet alluded to a city, and that this city was the same
as the Thessalian Larissa; but it has been correctly observed, that the line of
the Catalogue in which Pelasgic Argos is named marks a separation of the poet'
s topography of Southern Greece and the Islands from that of Northern Greece;
and that by Pelasgic Argos he meant Pelasgic Greece, or the country included within
the mountains Cnemis, Oeta, Pindus, and Olympus, and stretching eastward to the
sea; in short, Thessaly in its most extended sense. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol.
iv. p. 532.)
PELASGIOTIS (Ancient area) THESSALIA
A district in Thessaly, between Hestiaeotis and Magnesia.
THESSALIA (Ancient area) GREECE
The largest division of Greece. It was bounded on the north
by the Cambunian Mountains, which separated it from Macedonia; on the west by
Mount Pindus, which separated it from Epirus; on the east by the Aegaean Sea;
and on the south by the Maliac Gulf and Mount Oeta, which separated it from Locris,
Phocis, and Aetolia. Thessaly proper is a vast plain, shut in on every side by
mountain barriers, broken only at the northeastern corner by the valley and defile
of Tempe, which separates Ossa from Olympus. This plain is drained by the river
Peneus and its affluents, and is said to have been originally a vast lake, the
waters of which were afterwards carried off through the vale of Tempe by some
sudden convulsion which rent the rocks of this valley asunder. In addition to
the plain already described, there were two other districts included under the
general name of Thessaly: one called Magnesia, being a long, narrow strip of country
extending along the coast of the Aegaean Sea from Tempe to the Pagasaean Gulf,
and bounded on the west by Mounts Ossa and Olympus; and the other being a long,
narrow vale at the extreme south of the country, lying between Mounts Othrys and
Oeta, and drained by the river Spercheus. Thessaly proper was divided in very
early times into four districts or tetrarchies--a division which we still find
existing in the Poloponnesian War. These districts were: (a) Hestiaeotis (Hestiaiotis),
the northwestern part of Thessaly, bounded on the north by Macedonia, on the west
by Epirus, on the east by Pelasgiotis, and on the south by Thessaliotis; the Peneus
may be said in general to have formed its southern limit. (b) Pelasgiotis (Pelasgiotis),
the eastern part of the Thessalian plain, bounded on the north by Macedonia, on
the west by Hestiaeotis, on the east by Magnesia, and on the south by the Sinus
Pagasaeus and Phthiotis. (c) Thessaliotis (Thessaliotis), the southwestern part
of the Thessalian plain, bounded on the north by Hestiaeotis, on the west by Epirus,
on the east by Pelasgiotis, and on the south by Dolopia and Phthiotis. (d) Phthiotis
(Phthiotis), the southeast of Thessaly, bounded on the north by Thessaliotis,
on the west by Dolopia, on the south by the Sinus Maliacus, and on the east by
the Pagasaean Gulf. It is in this district that Homer places Phthia and Hellas
proper, and the dominions of Achilles. Besides these there were four other districts,
viz.: (e) Magnesia. (See Magnesia.) (f) Dolopia (Dolopia), a small district bounded
on the east by Phthiotis, on the north by Thessaliotis, on the west by Athamania,
and on the south by Oetaea. The Dolopes were an ancient people, for they are not
only mentioned by Homer as fighting before Troy, but they also sent deputies to
the Amphictyonic assembly. (g) Oetaea (Oitaia), a district in the upper valley
of the Spercheus, lying between Mounts Othrys and Oeta, and bounded on the north
by Dolopia, on the Thessalian Coin. south by Phocis, and on the east by Malis.
(h) Malis.
The Thessalians were a Thesprotian tribe, and, under the guidance
of leaders who are said to have been descendants of Heracles, invaded the western
part of the country, afterwards called Thessaliotis, whence they subsequently
spread over the other parts of the country. For some time after the conquest,
Thessaly was governed by kings of the race of Heracles; but the kingly power seems
to have been abolished in early times, and the government in the separate cities
became oligarchical, the power being chiefly in the hands of a few great families
descended from the ancient kings. Of these, two of the most powerful were the
Aleuadae and the Scopadae, the former of whom ruled at Larissa, and the latter
at Cranon (or Crannon). At an early period the Thessalians were united into a
confederate body. Each of the four districts into which the country was divided
probably regulated its affairs by some kind of provincial council; and in case
of war a chief magistrate was elected, under the name of Tagus (Tagos), whose
commands were obeyed by all the four districts. This confederacy, however, was
not of much practical benefit to the Thessalian people, and appears to have been
only used by the Thessalian nobles as a means of cementing and maintaining their
power. The Thessalians never became of much importance in Grecian history. In
B.C. 344 Philip completely subjected Thessaly to Macedonia, by placing at the
head of the four divisions of the country governors devoted to his interests.
The victory of T. Flamininus at Cynoscephalae, in 197, again gave the Thessalians
a semblance of independence under the protection of the Romans.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Region of northern Greece
between Doris south and Macedon
north, the coast of the Aegean
Sea east and Epirus west.
Thessalia was a region of plains surrounded by mountains: east, along
the coast of the Aegean Sea,
Mount Ossa and, further south,
in the peninsula of Magnesia,
Mount Pelion; north, Mount
Olympus; west, the Pindus
Range; and south, the Othrys
Range. Several rivers, gathering to form the Peneus,
were flowing from the surrounding mountains across these plains and a great lake,
lake Boebeis, remnant of a time when most of these plains were under water, still
covered a large area of southeastern Thessalia. Because of these plains, Thessalia
was a rich country and, among other things, a major supplier of horse to Athens
and other parts of Greece,
governed by a few noble families owning most of the land and herds and controling
the cities, especialy the four major ones: Larissa,
Crannon, Pheres
and Pharsalus.
These nobles had enslaved local peoples that were there when they
arrived, in much the same way Sparta
had enslaved local Helots, and were living in luxury, sponsoring such artists
as Simonides and Pindar. Their families provided kings to the several “states”
that together were forming Thessalia. It was divided into four major regions:
Hestiaotis in the northwest, Pelasgiotis
in the northeast, Thessaliotis
in the southwest and Phthiotis
in the southeast, but it is hard to know how united they were and we know of rivalries
between leading families.
Peoples in the regions surrounding Thessalia, such as Dolopes from
the Pindus range, Magnetes
from the eartern peninsula of Magnesia,
Achaeans from Phthiotis were
at times subjected to a tribute by Thessalian kings. Thessalia was playing a major
role in the protection of the sanctuary of Delphi
as a leading member of the Delphic Amphictiony.
Mythology knows of several heroes named Thessalus who were supposed
to have given their name to the region. One was the son of Heracles and Chalciope,
daughter of Eurypylus, that Heracles killed on his way back from Troy
because he didn't want to let him land in his island. This Thessalus became king
of Cos as had been his grandfather
and had two sons, Phidippus and Antiphus, who took part in the Trojan war and,
after coming back, settled in Thessalia, giving the region its name in memory
of their father. Another Thessalus was a son of Jason and Medea who escaped his
mother's wrath and fled to Iolcos
to become king of the place at the death of Acastus, the son of Pelias.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1999), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
But speaking of it as a whole, I may say that in earlier times it was called Pyrrhaea, after Pyrrha the wife of Deucalion, and Haemonia after Haemon, and Thessaly after Thessalus the son of Haemon. But some writers, dividing it into two parts, say that Deucalion obtained the portion towards the south and called it Pandora after his mother, and that the other part fell to Haemon, after whom it was called Haemonia, but that the former name was changed to Hellas, after Hellen the son of Deucalion, and the latter to Thessaly, after the son of Haemon. Some, however, say that descendants of Antiphus and Pheidippus, the sons of Thessalus the son of Heracles, invaded the country from Thesprotian Ephyra and named it after Thessalus, their own ancestor. And it has been said that the country too was once named Nessonis, like the lake, after Nesson the son of Thessalus (Strab. 9.5.23).
Total results on 18/4/2001: 1000 for Thessaly, 24 for Thessalia.
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