Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "FAROS Ancient city CROATIA".
Situated in the deep, elongated bay on the longest Adriatic island,
Pharos was founded by Ionian Greeks from Paros in 385 B.C. They were helped by
Dionysios the Elder of Syracuse. It is the only Ionic settlement in the Adriatic,
the others being Doric. Not long after its foundation, native Illyrians with help
from the mainland attacked the settlers but were defeated by the fleet of Dionysios'
governor from Issa (Diod. 15.13.1). It is the first recorded naval battle in what
is now the Croatian part of the Adriatic. In the Illyro-Roman wars in 229 and
219 B.C. Pharos was the stronghold of Demetrius of Pharos, commander of the Illyrian
army, and the husband of their queen, Teuta. When the Romans captured and destroyed
the town in 219 B.C., Demetrius escaped to Macedonia. The town was rebuilt but
lost its autonomy; and after the founding of the colony at Salona, it was administered
as its praefectura. The fertile valley E of town was centuriated and settled by
veterans.
During its period of autonomy Pharos was the only known Greek foundation
in the Adriatic to mint coins that included silver pieces. The inscriptions confirm
the relations of the polis of Pharos with its metropolis on Paros. The cyclopean
parts of the city walls are still preserved. From the Roman period are fine mosaics
covered by modern streets. In the environs of the city are remains of several
villae rusticae.
The finds, mainly the inscriptions and coins, are preserved in the
archaeological museums at Zagreb and Split and in the local collection in the
Domenican Monastery at Stan Grad.
M. Zaninovic, 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.
Pharos (Pharos, Ephorus, ap. Steph. B., Fr. 151; Scyl. p. 8; Scymn. p. 427; Diodor. xv. 13; Strab. vii. p. 315), an island off the coast of Illyricum, which was colonised by Greek settlers from Paros, who, in the first instance, gave it the name of their own island, which was afterwards changed to Pharos. In this settlement, which took place B.C. 385, they were assisted by the elder Dionysius. When the Romans declared war against the Illyrians B.C. 229, Demetrius, a Greek of Pharos, betrayed his mistress, Queen Teuta, for which he was rewarded with the greater part of her dominions. (Polyb. ii. 11.) The traitor, relying on his connection with the court of Macedon, set the Romans at defiance ; he soon brought the vengeance of the republic upon himself and his native island, which was taken by L. Aemilius in B.C. 219. (Polyb. iii. 16 ; Zonar. viii. 20.) Pliny (iii. 30) and Ptolemy (ii. 17. § 14) speak of the island and city under the same name, Pharia (Pharia), and Polybius says the latter was strongly fortified. The city, the ancient capital, stood at Stari Grad or Citta Vecchia, to the N. of the island, where remains of walls have been found, and coins with the legend Pharion. After the fall of the Roman Empire the island continued for a long time in the hands of the Narentine pirates. Its Slavonic name is Hvar, a corruption of Pharos; and in Italian it is called Lesina or Liesina. For coins of Pharos see Eckhel, vol. ii. p. 160; Sestini, Monet. Vet. p. 42; Mionnet, vol. ii. p. 46. (Wilkinson, Dalmatia, vol. i. pp. 243-251; Neigebaur, Die Sud-Slaven, pp. 107-111.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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