Listed 100 (total found 120) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "EVIA Island GREECE" .
AMARYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Amarynthus (Amarunphos: Eth. Amarunphios, Amarusios), a town upon
the coast of Euboea, only 7 stadia from Eretria, to which it belonged. It possessed
a celebrated temple of Artemis, who was hence called Amarynthia or Amarysia, amid
in whose honour there was a festival of this name celebrated, both in Eutboea
and Attica. (Strab. p. 448; Paus. i. 31. § 5 ; Liv. xxxv. 38; Steph. B. s. v.;
Dict. of Ant. art. Amarynthia.)
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
ANTHIDON (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Eth. Anthedonious, Anthedonius. A town of Boeotia, and one of the cities of the
League, was situated on the Euripus or the Euboean sea at the foot of Mt. Messapius,
and was distant, according to Dicaearchus, 70 stadia from Chalcis and 160 from
Thebes. Anthedon is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 508) as the furthermost town of
Boeotia. The inhabitants derived their origin from the sea-god Glaucus, who is
said to have been originally a native of the place. They appear to have been a
different race from the other people of Boeotia, and are described by one writer
(Lycophr, 754) as Thracians. Dicaearchus informs us that they were chiefly mariners,
shipwrights and fishermen, who derived their subsistence from trading in fish,
purple, and sponges. He adds that the agora was surrounded with a double stoa,
and planted with trees. We learn from Pausanias that there was a sacred grove
of the Cabeiri in the middle of the town, surrounding a temple of those deities,
and near it a temple of Demeter. Outside the walls was a temple of Dionysus, and
a spot called the leap of Glaucus. The wine of Anthedon was celebrated in antiquity.
The ruins of the town are situated 1 1/2 mile from Lukisi.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
Eth. Aulideus fem. Aulidis. A town of Boeotia, situated on the Euripus,
and celebrated as the place at which the Grecian fleet assembled, when they were
about to sail against Troy. Strabo says that the harbour of Aulis could only hold
fifty ships, and that therefore the Grecian fleet must have assembled in the large
port in the neighbourhood, called Bathus limen. (Strab. ix. p. 403.) Livy states
(xlv. 27) that Aulis was distant three miles from Chalcis. Aulis appears to have
stood upon a rocky height, since it is called by Homer (Il. ii. 303) Aulis petreessa,
and by Strabo petrodes chorion. These statements agree with the position assigned
to Aulis by modern travellers. About three miles south of Chaletis on the Boeotian
coast are two bays separated from each other by a rocky peninsula; the northern
is small and winding, the southern spreads out at the end of a channel into a
large circular basin. The latter harbour, as well as a village situated a mile
to the southward of it, is called Vathy, a name evidently derived from Bathus
limen. (Leake.) We may therefore conclude that Aulis was situated on the rocky
peninsula between these two bays.
Aulis was in the territory of Tanagra. It is called a kome by Strabo.
In the time of Pausanias it had only a few inhabitants, who were potters. Its
temple of Artemis, which Agamemnon is said to have founded, was still standing
when Pausanias visited the place. (Dicaearch. 88; Paus. ix. 19. § 6, seq.; Plin.
iv. 7. s. 12)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
Chalkis: Eth. Chalkideus, Chalcidensis. (Egripo, Negropont). The chief
town of Euboea, separated from the opposite coast of Boeotia by the narrow strait
of the Euripus, which is at this spot only 40 yards across. The Euripus is here
divided into two channels by a rock in the middle of the strait. This rock is
at present occupied by a square castle; a stone bridge, 60 or 70 feet in length,
connects the Boeotian shore with this castle; and another wooden bridge, about
35 feet long, reaches from the castle to the Euboean coast. In antiquity also,
as we shall presently see, a bridge also connected Chalcis with the Boeotian coast.
The channel between the Boeotian coast and the rock is very shallow, being not
more than three feet in depth; but the channel between the rock and Chalcis is
about seven or eight feet in depth. It is in the latter channel that the extraordinary
tides take place, which are frequently mentioned by the ancient writers. According
to the common account the tide changed seven times in the day, and seven times
in the night; but Livy states that there was no regularity in the change, and
that the flux and reflux constantly varied,--a phaenomenon which he ascribes to
the sudden squalls of wind from the mountains. (Strab. x. p. 403; Mela, ii. 7;
Plin. ii. 97; Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 1. 0; Liv. xxviii. 6.)
An intelligent modern traveller observes that at times the water runs
as much as eight miles an hour, with a fall under the bridge of about 1 1/2 feet;
but what is most singular is the fact, that vessels lying 150 yards from the bridge
are not in the least affected by this rapid. It remains but a short time in a
quiescent state, changing its direction in a few minutes, and almost immediately
resuming its velocity, which is generally from four to five miles an hour either
way, its greatest rapidity being however always to the southward. The results
of three months' observation, in which the above phaenomena were noted, afforded
no sufficient data for reducing them to any regularity. (Penny Cyclopaedia, vol.
x. p. 59.)
Chalcis was a city of great antiquity, and continued to be an important
place from the earliest to the latest times. It is said to have been founded before
the Trojan war by an Ionic colony from Athens, under the conduct of Pandorus,
the son of Erechtheus. (Strab. x. p. 447; Scymn. Ch. 573.) It is mentioned by
Homer. (Il. ii. 537.) After the Trojan war Cothus settled in the city another
Ionic colony from Athens. (Strab. l. c.) Chalcis soon became one of the greatest
of the Ionic cities, and at an early period carried on an extensive commerce with
almost all parts of the Hellenic world. Its greatness at this early period is
attested by the numerous colonies which it planted upon the coasts of Macedonia,
Italy, Sicily, and in the islands of the Aegaean. It gave its name to the peninsula
of Chalcidice between the Thermaic and Singitic gulfs, in consequence of the large
number of cities which it founded in this district. Its first colony, and the
earliest of the Greek settlements in the west, was Cumae in Campania, which it
is said to have founded as early as B.C. 1050, in conjunction with the Aeolians
of Cume and the Eretrians. Rhegium in Italy, and Naxos, Zancle, Tauromenium and
other cities in Sicily, are also mentioned as Chalcidian colonies.
During the early period of its history, the government of Chalcis
was in the hands of an aristocracy, called Hippobotae (Hippobotai, i. e. the feeders
of horses), who corresponded to the Hippeis in other Grecian states. (Herod. v.
77, vi. 100; Strab. x. p. 447 ; Plut. Pericl. 23; Aelian, V. H. vi. 1.) These
Hippobotae were probably proprietors of the fertile plain of Lelantum, which lay
between Chalcis and Eretria. The possession of this plain was a frequent subject
of dispute between these two cities (Strab. x. p. 448), and probably occasioned
the war between them at an early period, in which some of the most powerful states
of Greece, such as Samos and Miletus, took part. (Thuc. i. 15; Herod. v. 99)
Soon after the expulsion of the Peisistratidae from Athens, the Chalcidians
joined the Boeotians in making war upon the Athenians; but the latter crossed
over into Euboea with a great force, defeated the Chalcidians in a decisive battle,
and divided the lands of the wealthy Hippobotae among 4000 Athenian citizens as
clernchs B.C. 506. (Her. v. 77.) These settlers, however, abandoned their possessions
when the Persians, under Datis and Artaphernes, landed at Eretria. (Herod. vi.
100.) After the Persian wars, Chalcis, with the rest of Euboea, became a tributary
of Athens, and continued under her rule, with the exception of a few months, till
the downfal of the Athenian empire at the close of the Peloponnesian war. In B.C.
445, Chalcis joined the other Euboeans in their revolt from Athens; but the whole
island was speedily reconquered by Pericles, who altered the government of Chalcis
by the expulsion of the Hippobotae from the city. (Plut. Per. 23.)
In the 21st year of the Peloponnesian war, B.C. 411, Euboea revolted
from Athens (Thuc. viii. 95), and on this occasion we first read of the construction
of a bridge across the Euripus. Anxious to secure an uninterrupted communication
with the Boeotians, the Chalcidians built a mole from either shore, leaving a
passage in the centre for only a single ship: and fortifying by towers each side
of the opening in the mole. (Diod. xiii. 47.) Chalcis was now independent for
a short time; but when the Athenians had recovered a portion of their former power,
it again came under their supremacy, together with the other cities in the island.
(Diod. xv. 30.) In later times it was successively occupied by the Macedonians,
Antiochus, Mithridates, and the Romans. It was a place of great military importance,
commanding, as it did, the navigation between the north and south of Greece, and
hence was often taken and retaken by the different parties contending. for the
supremacy of Greece. Chalcis, Corinth, and Demetrias in Thessaly, were called
by the last Philip of Macedon the fetters of Greece, which could not possibly
be free, as long as these fortresses were in the possession of a foreign power.
(Pol. xvii. 11; Liv. xxxii. 37.)
Dicaearchus, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, describes Chalcis
as 70 stadia (nearly 9 miles) in circumference, situated upon the slope of a hill,
and abounding in gymnasia, temples, theatres, and other public buildings. It was
well supplied with water from the fountain Arethusa. The surrounding country was
planted with olives. (Dicaearch. Bios tes Hellados, p. 146, ed. Fuhr.) When Alexander
crossed over into Asia, the Chalcidians strengthened the fortifications of their
city by inclosing within their walls a hill on the Boeotian side, called Canethus,
which thus formed a fortified bridge-head. At the same time they fortified the
bridge with towers, a wall, and gates. (Strab. x. p. 447.) Canethus, which is
also mentioned by Apollonius Rhodius (i. 77), is probably the hill of Karababa,
which rises to the height of 130 feet immediately above the modern bridge, and
is the citadel of the present town.
In the second Punic war, B.C. 207, the Romans, under Sulpicius and
Attains, made an unsuccessful attack upon Chalcis, which was then subject to Philip.
(Liv. xxviii. 6.) A few years afterwards, B.C. 192, when the war was resumed with
Philip, the Romans surprised Chalcis and slew the inhabitants, but they had not
a sufficient force with them to occupy it permanently. (Liv. xxxi. 23.) In the
war between the Romans and Aetolians, Chalcis was in alliance with the former
(Liv. xxxv. 37--39); but when Antiochus passed over into Greece, at the invitation
of the Aetolians, the Chalcidians deserted the Romans, and received this king
into their city. During his residence at Chalcis, Antiochus became enamoured of
the daughter of one of the principal citizens of the place, and made her his queen.
(Liv. xxxv. 50, 51, xxxvi. 11; Pol. xx. 3, 8; Dion Cass. Fragm. ex libr. xxxiv.
p. 29, ed. Reimar.) Chalcis joined the Achaeans in their last war against the
Romans; and their town was in consequence destroyed by Mummius. (Liv. Epit. lii.;
comp. Pol. xl. 11.)
In the time of Strabo Chalcis was still the principal town of Euboea,
and must therefore have been rebuilt after its destruction by Mummius. (Strab.
x. p. 448.) Strabo describes the bridge across the Euripus as two plethra, or
200 Greek feet in length, with a tower at either end; and a canal (surinx) constructed
through the Euripus. (Strab. x. p. 403.) Strabo appears never to have visited
the Euripus himself; and it is not improbable that his description refers to the
same bridge, or rather mole, of which an account has been preserved by Diodorus
(xiii. 47). In this case the surinx would be the narrow channel between the mole.
Chalcis was one of the towns restored by Justinian. (Procop. de Aedif. iv. 3.)
The orator Isaeus and the poet Lycophron were natives of Chalcis,
and Aristotle died here. In the middle ages Chalcis was called Euripus, whence
its modern name Egripo. It was for some time in the hands of the Venetians, who
called it Negropont, probably a corruption of Egripo and ponte, a bridge. It was
taken by the Turks in 1470. It is now the principal, and indeed the only place
of importance in the island. There are no remains of the ancient city, with the
exception of some fragments of white marble in the walls of houses.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
DION (Ancient city) EVIA
Dium (Dion), a town in the NW. of Euboea near the promontory Cenaeum,
from which Canae in Aeolis is said to have been a colony. Dium is mentioned by
Homer. (Hom. Il. ii. 538; Strab. x. p. 446; Plin. iv. 12; Ptol. iii. 15. § 25.)
DYSTOS (Ancient city) KARYSTIA
Dustos: Eth. Dustios: Dhysta., A town in Euboea in the vicinity of Eretria, mentioned
by Theopompus. It still bears the name of Dhysta, which village is situated a
little to the northward of Porto Bufalo.
EDIPSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
Aidepsos: Eth. Aidepsios: Lipso. A town on the NW. coast of Euboea, 160 stadia
from Cynus on the opposite coast of the Opuntian Locri. It contained warm baths
sacred to Hercules, which were used by the dictator Sulla. These warm baths are
still found about a mile above Lipso, the site of Aedepsus.
EGES (Ancient city) EVIA
Aegae Eth. Aigaios, Aigeates, Aigaieus. A town in Euboea on the
western coast N. of Chalcis, and a little S. of Orobiae. Strabo says that it was
120 stadia from Anthedon in Boeotia. It is mentioned by Homer, but had disappeared
in the time of Strabo. It was celebrated for its worship of Poseidon from the
earliest times; and its temple of this god still continued to exist when Strabo
wrote, being situated upon a lofty mountain. The latter writer derives the name
of the Aegaean Sea from this town. Leake supposes it to have stood near Limni.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
Eth. Erteieus, fem. Epetpis, Eretrias: Adj. Eretrikos, Eretriakos.
One of the most ancient, and next to Chalcis the most powerful city in Euboea,
was situated upon the western coast of the island, a little south of Chalcis,
and at the south-western extremity of the extensive and fertile plain of Lelantum.
The Eretrians are represented as Ionians (Herod. viii. 46), and were supposed
to have come from Eretria in Attica. (Strab. viii.) It seems, however, that the
population was not purely Ionic, and, accordingly, some writers related that it
had been colonised from the Triphylian Macistus in Elis. (Strab. l. c.) Strabo
relates that it was formerly called Melaneis and Arotria.
At an early period Eretria was one of the chief maritime states in
Greece, and attained a high degree of prosperity and power. Andros, Tenos, and
Ceos, as well as other islands, were at one time subject to Eretria. (Strab. viii.)
According to some accounts, they took part in the colonisation of Cromae, and
they founded some colonies upon the peninsula of Chalcidice. Eretria is mentioned
by Homer. (Il. ii. 537.). The military strength of the state was attested by an
inscription, preserved in the temple of the Amarynthian Artemis, about a mile
from the city, recording that in the procession to that temple the Eretrians had
been accustomed to march with 3000 hoplites, 600 horsemen, and 60 chariots. (Strab.
l. c.)
Eretria and Chalcis were early engaged in war with each other. These
wars seem to have been occasioned by disputes respecting the division of the plain
of Lelantum, which lay between the two cities. (Strab. l. c.) In one of these
early wars some of the most powerful states of Greece, such as Miletus and Samos,
took part. (Thuc. i. 15; Herod. v. 99; Spanheim, ad Callim. Del. 289.) In gratitude
for the assistance which the Eretrians had received on this occasion from Miletus,
they sent five ships to the Athenian fleet which sailed to support Miletus and
the other Ionic cities in their revolt from Persia, B.C. 500. (Herod. l. c.) But
this step caused their ruin; for, in B.C. 490, a Persian force, under Datis and
Artaphernes, sent to punish the Athenians and Eretrians, laid siege to Eretria,
which was betrayed to the Persians after they had invested the place for six days.
The town was razed to the ground, and the inhabitants carried away to Persia;
but their lives were spared by Darius, who allowed them to settle in the Cissian
territory. (Herod. vi. 125.) The old town continued in ruins, but a new town was
rebuilt a little more to the south, which soon became a place of considerable
importance. In B.C. 411, the Athenians were defeated by the Spartans in a sea-fight
off the harbour of Eretria; and those of the Athenians who took refuge in Eretria,
as a city in alliance with them, were put to death by the Eretrians, who therefore
joined the rest of the Euboeans in their revolt from Athens. (Thuc. viii. 95.)
After the Peloponnesian War we find Eretria in the hands of tyrants.
One of these, named Themison, assisted the exiles of Oropus in recovering possession
of their native city from the Athenians in B.C. 366. (Diod. xv. 76; comp. Dem.
de Cor. p. 256; Xen. Hell. vii. 4. 1) Themison appears to have been succeeded
in the tyranny by Plutarchus, who applied to the Athenians in B.C. 354 for aid
against his rival, Callias of Chalcis, who had allied himself with Philip of Macedon.
The Athenians sent a force to his assistance under the command of Phocion, who
defeated Callias at Tamynae; but Phocion, suspecting Plutarchus of treachery,
expelled him from Eretria. Popular government was then established; but shortly
afterwards Philip sent a force, which destroyed Porthmus, the harbour of Eretria,
and made Cleitarchus tyrant of the city. Cleitarchus governed the city in Philip's
interests till B.C. 341, when Cleitarchus was expelled by Phocion, who had been
sent into Euboea on the proposition of Demosthenes for the purpose of putting
down the Macedonian interest in the island. Eretria was subsequently subject to
Macedonia; but in the war with Philip V. it was taken by the combined fleets of
the Romans, Attalus, and Rhodians, upon which occasion a great number of paintings,
statues, and other works of art fell into the hands of the victors. (Liv. xxxii.
16.) After the battle of Cynoscephalae, Eretria was de. clared free by the Roman
senate. (Polyb. xviii. 30.) Eretria was the seat of a celebrated school of philosophy
founded by Menedemus, a native of this city, and a disciple of Plato. The philosophers
of this school were called Eretrici (Eretrikoi, Strab. x. p. 448; Diog. Laert.
i. 17, ii. 126; Athen. ii. p. 55, d.; Cic. Acad. ii. 4. 2, de Orat. iii. 17, Tusc.
v. 39.) The tragic poet Achaeus, a contemporary of Aeschylus, was a native of
Eretria. It appears from the comic poet Sopater that Eretria was celebrated for
the excellence of its flour (ap. Athen. iv. p. 160).
Strabo says that Old Eretria was opposite Oropus, and the passage
across the strait 60 stadia; and that New Eretria was opposite Delphinium, and
the passage across 40 stadia (ix.). Thucydides makes the passage from Oropus to
New Eretria 60 stadia (viii. 95). New Eretria stood at Kastri, and Old Eretria
in the neighbourhood of Vathy. There are considerable remains of New Eretria.
The entire circuit of the ruined walls and towers of the Acropolis still subsist
on a rocky height, which is separated from the shore by a marshy plain. At the
foot of the hill are remains of the theatre, and in the plain a large portion
of the town walls, with many foundations of buildings in the inclosed place. The
situation was defended to the west by a river, and on the opposite side by a marsh.
The territory of Eretria extended from sea to sea.: Between Old Eretria
and New Eretria was Amaynthus; south of Old Eretria, Tamynae; and further south,
Porthmus. In the interior were Dystus and Oechalia.
The annexed coin represents on the obverse the head of Artemis, who
was worshipped in the neighbouring town of Amarynthus: the bull on the. reverse
probably has reference to the brazen bull which the Eretrians dedicated at Olympia.
(Paus. v. 27. § 9)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
EVIA (Island) GREECE
Euboea (Euboia: Eth. Euboieus, Euboeus, fem. Eubois: Adj. Euboikos,
Euboicus, Euboeus: Egripo or Negropont), the largest island in the Aegaean sea,
lying along the coasts of Attica, Boeotia, Locris, and the southern part of Thessaly,
from which countries it is separated by the Euboean sea, called the Euripus in
its narrowest part. It is a long and narrow island. According to Strabo, its length
from N. to S., from the promontory Cenaeum to the promontory Geraestus, is about
1200 stadia, and its greatest breadth 150 stadia. (Strab. x. p. 444.) Pliny describes
it as 150 miles in length, and 365 miles in circuit; as in one place more than
40 miles in breadth, and nowhere less than two. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21.) But these
measurements are far from accurate. The real length of the island from N. to S.
is about 90 miles; its extreme breadth is 30 miles, but in one part it is not
more than 4 miles across.
Throughout the whole length of Euboea there runs a range of mountains,
forming as it were the back-bone of the island, which may be regarded as a continuance
of the range of Ossa and Pelion, and of that of Othrys. In several parts of the
island these mountains rise to a great height. Mt. Delphi, on the eastern coast,
is 7266 feet above the sea. These mountains consist of grey limestone, with a
considerable quantity of clay-slate.
The interior of Euboea has never been thoroughly explored by any modern
traveller; and the best description of its physical features is given in the Penny
Cyclopaedia by a writer well acquainted with the island, to whose account we are
chiefly indebted for the following remarks. The northern end of the island, facing
the coast of Thessaly and the Pagasaean gulf, is of considerable width. Its north-western
extremity is a small peninsula, terminating in the promontory Cenaeum (Kenaion:
Lithadha), and containing a mountain called Lithadha, which rises to the height
of 2837 feet above the sea. Immediately south of the isthmus, which connects this
peninsula with the mass of the island, is Mount Telethrius (Telethrios, Strab.
x. p. 445), 3100 feet high, on the west coast opposite Locris: at the foot of
this mountain upon the coast are some warm springs, called Therma, which were
celebrated in antiquity. From Telethrius the mountains spread out across the island
to the eastern coast, and contain several elevations above 2000 feet in height.
Along the foot of these mountains, opposite Thessaly, is the fertile plain of
Histiaea. Upon this northern coast was the promontory Artemisium, off which the
Greeks gained their celebrated naval victory over the Persians, B.C. 480. South
of Telethrius there is high land along the western coast as far as C. Politika;
and one of the mountains between these limits, called Kandili, is 4200 feet high.
South of C. Politika, and extending south of Chalcis, is a fertile and extensive
plain, bounded on the north and north-east by the high mountains which extend
to the eastern coast; this plain, which is the largest in the island, was called
Lelantum in antiquity, and was divided between the rival cities of Chalcis and
Eretria. The centre of the mountain mass, which bounds this plain, is Delphi,
already mentioned: it was called in ancient times Dirphys or Dirphe (Dirphus,
Steph. B. s. v.; Dirphe, Eurip. Here. Fur. 185). South of Chalcis there is for
some distance a track of low land along the western coast, backed however by lofty
mountains. South of Eretria is the plain of Aliveri, after which there appear
to be no longer plains of any size. The whole of the southern end of the island
is filled by a. mass of mountains, presenting a dangerous coast to mariners: the
highest elevation of these mountains, called Oche (Oche) in antiquity, now Mt.
Elias, is 4748 feet above the level of the sea. On the summit of Mt. Oche are
the ruins of a very ancient temple, of which a description and drawings are given
by Mr. Hawkins in Walpole's Travels (p. 288, seq.). The southeastern extremity
of the island was called Caphareus or Caphereus (Kapherens), now Kavo Doro or
Xylofago: the south-western extremity was named Geraestus (Geraidtos), now Mandili.
The dangerous part of the coast, called the Coela or Hollow, appears to have been
a little north of the promontory Geraestus.
The eastern side of Euboea is much more rocky than the western coast.
On the eastern side the rocks rise almost precipitously from the water, and are
rarely interrupted by any level spot, except towards the northern end. Fragments
of wreck are found at the height of 80 feet perpendicular, washed up by the heavy
sea which a north-east wind throws into this bay. These winds, which always blow
very strong, are called by the Greeks `meltem,' probably a corruption of 'mal
tiempo.' In addition to this, the Dardanelles current, preserving the course communicated
to it by the direction of that strait, sets strong to the south-west into this
bay (between the promontories Caphareus and Chersonesus), and renders it a most
dangerous coast: no vessel once unbayed here can escape destruction. The current
being deflected to the southward, sweeps round C. Doro (Caphareus), frequently
at the rate of three miles an hour. Port Petries is the only refuge which this
coast offers, and so little has hitherto been known of this shore that even this
shelter has only recently been discovered. Along the whole extent of this coast,
which is upwards of 100 miles, there are only five or six villages near the shore.
It was believed by the ancient writers that Euboea was originally
connected with the opposite coast of Greece, and. was separated from the latter
by an earthquake. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21; comp. Strab. i. p. 58, x. p. 447.) The
channel between the northern end of Euboea and the opposite coast of Thessaly,
now called Trikeri from the Thessalian town of this name, is an average width
of about 4 miles, though in one part it contracts to not quite 1 1/2 mile. Upon
rounding the promontory Cenaeum, off which lie the small rocky islands called
Lichades, and turning to [p. 872] the southward, is the bay of Talanda, so called
from the Boeotian town of this name. A remarkable feature in this part of the
channel is the amazing depth of water under Mt. Telethrius, where, for about 12
or 15 miles, there is no bottom with 220 fathoms within half a mile of the shore;
but from this point the water shoals gradually towards Egripo (Chalcis). Towards
the north-west extremity of this shore there is a very safe and excellent harbour,
now called Port Ghialtra (formerly Port Kalos). At Chalcis the Euboean sea contracts
into a narrow channel, called the Euripus, only 40 yards across. An account of
this channel, and of the extraordinary tides which here prevail, is given elsewhere.
South of the Euripus are several islands along the Euboean shore, which afford
good anchorage. Of these the most important are Glauconnesus, Aegiliae, and the
islands Petaliae. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21; Strab. x. p. 444.)
Euboea is deficient in water. There is not a stream in the whole island
into which the smallest boat can enter. Those streams of which the names are mentioned,
are: Callas (Kallas, Strab. x. p. 445), on the north coast, flowing into the sea
near Oreus; Cereus (Kereus) and Neleus (Neleus), of uncertain position, of which
it is recorded that the sheep drinking the water of the Cereus became white, while
those drinking the water of the Neleus became black (Strab. x. p. 449; Plin. xxxi.
9. s. 2; Antig. Caryst. Hist. Mirab. 84); Lelantus, flowing through the plain
of this name (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21); and Budorus (Boudoros, Ptol. iii. 12. s. 25),
flowing into the sea on the east coast by Corinthus.
In the plains of Euboea a considerable quantity of corn was grown
in antiquity; and there is excellent pasture for sheep in the summer, on the slopes
of the mountains. These mountain-lands appear in ancient times to have belonged
to the state, and were let out for pasture to such proprietors as had the means
of supporting their flocks during the winter. The mountains are said to contain
copper and iron, and the marble quarries of Carystus in the southern part of the
island were among the most celebrated in Greece. At the present day a light red
wine is made from the vines grown in the northern plains of the island; while
the plains towards the south are generally cultivated with corn and olives.
Euboea, like many of the other Grecian islands, is said to have borne
other names in the most ancient times. Thus, it was called Macris, from its great
length in comparison with its breadth. (Strab. x. p. 444.) It was also named Hellopia,
properly a district near Histiaea in the northern part of the island, from Hellops,
the son of Ion; Oche, from the mountain of this name in the south of the island;
and Abantis, from the most ancient inhabitants of the island. (Strab. l. c.; Plin.
iv. 12. s. 21.) It is observed by Strabo that Homer (Il. ii. 536) calls the inhabitants
of the island Abantes, though he gives to the island itself the name of Euboea.
Hesiod related that the name of Abantis was changed into Euboea from the cow Io,
who was even said to have given birth to Epaphus in the island. (Hes. ap. Steph.
B. s. v. Abantis;; Strab l. c.) It would be idle to inquire into the origin of
these Abantes. According to Aristotle, they were Thracians who passed over to
Euboea from the Thracian town of Abae; while others, in accordance with the common
practice, derived their name from an eponymous hero. (Strab. l. c.) The southern
part of the island was inhabited by Dryopes, who are expressly said to have founded
Styra and Carystus (Herod. viii. 46; Thuc. vii. 57); but in the historical period
the Abantes had disappeared from Euboea. Herodotus relates that the Abantes assisted
in colonising the Ionic cities of Asia Minor. (Herod. i. 146.)
In the historical times most of the cities of Euboea were inhabited
by Ionic Greeks; and the Athenians are said to have taken the chief part in their
colonisation. Euboea was divided between six or seven independent cities, of which
Chalcis and Eretria on the western coast in the centre of the island, were the
most important. In the northern end of the island were situated Histiaea afterwards
called Oreus, on the coast opposite Thessaly; Dium, Aedepsus, Athenae Diades,
Orobiae, and Aegae on the west coast opposite Locris; and Cerinthus on the east
coast. In the southern end of the island were Dystus, Styra, and Carystus. There
were also a few smaller places dependent upon these cities, of which a list is
given under the names of the cities to which they respectively belonged. All the
above-mentioned cities occur in the Iliad, with the exception of Athenae Diades.
Scylax mentions only four cities Carystus, Eretria, Chalcis, and Hestiaea.
As Euboea never formed one political state, it is impossible to give
a general history of the whole island without repeating what is mentioned under
each city. It is therefore only necessary to mention here a few leading facts,
referring for the details of the history to other articles. At a very early period
Chalcis and Eretria were two of the most important cities in Greece. They possessed
an extensive commerce, and founded colonies upon the coasts of Macedonia, Italy,
and Sicily, and in the islands of the Aegaean. They continued in a flourishing
condition down to the expulsion of the Peisistratidae from Athens, when the Chalcidians
joined the Boeotians in making war upon the Athenians. But for this they paid
dearly; for the Athenians crossed over to Euboea, defeated the Chalcidians, and
divided their lands among 4000 Athenian colonists, B.C. 506. Eretria was destroyed
by the Persians in B.C. 490, in consequence of the aid which the Eretrians had
rendered to the Ionians, in their revolt from Persia two years previously: and
although the city was subsequently rebuilt near its former site, it never recovered
its former power. After the Persian wars the whole of Euboea became subject to
the Athenians, who regarded it as the most valuable of all their foreign possessions.
It supplied them with a considerable quantity of corn, with timber and fire-wood,
and with pasture for their horses and flocks. In B.C. 445 the whole island revolted
from Athens, but it was speedily reconquered by Pericles. In B.C. 411, shortly
after the Athenian misfortunes in Sicily, Euboea again revolted from Athens, and
its cities continued for a time independent. But when Athens recovered its maritime
supremacy, the influence of the Athenians again became predominant in Euboea,
in spite of the Thebans, who attempted to bring it under their sway. The Athenians
however were no longer able to exercise the same sovereignty over the Euboean
cities, as they had done during the flourishing period of their empire; and accordingly
they did not interfere to put down the tyrants who had established themselves
in most of the cities shortly before the time of Philip of Macedon. This monarch
availed himself of the overtures of Callias, the tyrant of Chalcis, to establish
his influence in the island; which virtually became subject to him after the battle
of Chaeroneia. From this time Euboea formed a part of the Macedonian dominions,
till the Romans wrested it from Philip V., and restored to its cities their independence,
B.C. 194. (Liv. xxxiv. 51.) The Euboean cities remained faithful to the Roman
alliance during the war with the Aetolians (Liv. xxxv. 37, 39), but Chalcis fell
into the hands of Antiochus when he crossed over into Greece (Liv. xxxv. 50, 51).
Under the Romans, Euboea was included in the province of Achaia.
In the middle ages Euboea was called Egripo, a corruption of Euripus,
the name of the town built upon the ruins of Chalcis. The Venetians, who obtained
possession of the island upon the dismemberment of the Byzantine empire by the
Latins, called it Negropont, probably a corruption of Egripo, and ponte, a bridge.
The island now forms part of the modern kingdom of Greece. (Comp. Fiedler, Reise
dutch Griechenland, vol. i. p. 420, seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p.
252, seq.; Pflugk, Rerumn Euboicarum Spec., Gedani, 1829.)
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GERESTOS (Ancient port) KARYSTOS
Geraistos: Eth. Geraistios. A promontory of Euboea, forming the south-west extremity
of the island, now called Cape Mandili. There was a town on this cape, with a
celebrated temple of Poseidon, and at its foot there was a well-frequented port,
which seems to have been small, though Livy, as Leake observes, calls it nobilis
Euboeae portus.
ISTIEA (Ancient city) EVIA
Oreus (Oreos: Eth. Oreites: the territory Horia, Strab. x. p. 445),
formerly called Histiaea (Histiaia, also Estiaia Eth. Histiaieus), a town in the
north of Euboea, situated upon the river Callas, at the foot of Mt. Telethrium,
and opposite Antron on the Thessalian coast. From this town the whole northern
extremity of Euboea was named Histiaeotis (Histiaiotis, Ion. Histiaietis, Herod.
vii. 23). According to some it was a colony from the Attic demus of Histiaea (Strab.
x. p. 445); according to others it was founded by the Thessalian Perrhaebi. (Scymn.
Ch. 578.) It was one of the most ancient and most important of the Euboean cities.
It occurs in Homer, who gives it the epithet of polustaphulos (Il. ii. 537); and
Scylax mentions it as one of the four cities of Euboea (p. 22). After the battle
of Artemisium, when the Grecian fleet sailed southwards, Histiaea was occupied
by the Persians. (Herod. vii. 23.) Upon the expulsion of the Persians from Greece,
Histiaea, with the other Euboean towns, became subject to Attica. In the revolt
of Euboea from Athens in B.C. 445, we may conclude that Histiaea took a prominent
part, since Pericles, upon the reduction of the island, expelled the inhabitants
from the city, and peopled it with 2000 Athenian colonists. The expelled Histiaeans
were said by Theopompus to have withdrawn to Macedonia. (Thuc. i. 114; Diod. xii.
7, 22; Plut. Per. 23; Theopomp. ap. Strab. x. p. 445.) From this time we find
the name of the town changed to Oreus, which was originally a demus dependent
upon Histiaea. (Strab. l. c.; Paus. vii. 26. § 4.) It is true that Thucydides
upon one occasion subsequently calls the town by its ancient name (vii. 57); but
he speaks of it as Oreus, in relating the second revolt of Euboea in B.C. 411,
where he says that it was the only town in the island that remained faithful to
Athens. (Thuc. viii. 95.) At the end of the Peloponnesian War, Oreus became subject
to Sparta; the Athenian colonists were doubtless expelled, and a portion at least
of its ancient inhabitants restored; and accordingly we read that this town remained
faithful to Sparta and cherished a lasting hatred against Athens. (Diod. xv. 30.)
Neogenes, supported by Jason of Pherae, made himself tyrant of Oreus for a time;
but he was expelled by Therippidas, the Lacedaemonian commander ; and the Athenian
Chabrias endeavoured in vain to obtain possession of the town. (Diod. l. c.) But
shortly afterwards, before the battle of Leuctra, Oreus revolted from Sparta.
(Xen. Hell. v. 4. 56) In the subsequent war between Philip and the Athenians,
a party in Oreus was friendly to Philip; and by the aid of this monarch Philistides
became tyrant of the city (Dem. Phil. iii. pp. 119, 127, de Cor. p. 248; Strab.
l. c.); but the Athenians, at the instigation of Demosthenes, sent an expedition
against Oreus, which expelled Philistides, and, according to Charax, put him to
death. (Dem. de Cor. p. 252; Charax, ap. Steph. s. v. Oreos.) In consequence of
its geographical position and its fortifications, Oreus became an important place
in the subsequent wars. In the contest between Antigonus and Cassander it was
besieged by the latter, who was, however, obliged to retire upon the approach
of Ptolemy, the general of Antigonus. (Diod. xix. 75, 77.) In the first war between
the Romans and Philip, it was betrayed to the former by the commander of the Macedonian
garrison, B.C. 207. (Liv. xxviii. 6.) In the second war it was taken by the Romans
by assault, B.C. 200. (Liv. xxxi. 46.) Soon afterwards, in B.C. 196, it was declared
free by T. Quinctius Flamininus along with the other Grecian states. (Polyb, xviii.
28, 30; Liv. xxxiii. 31, 34.) Pliny mentions it among the cities of Euboea no
longer existent in his time (Plin. iv. 21. s. 21), but it still occurs in the
lists of Ptolemy, under the corrupt form of Soreos (iii. 15. § 25).
Strabo says that Orens was situated upon a lofty hill named Drymus
(x. p. 445). Livy describes it as having two citadels, one overhanging the sea
and the other in the middle of the city (xxviii. 6). There are still some remains
of the ancient walls at the western end of the bay, which is still called the
bay of Oreos. (Stephani, Reise, &c. pp. 33, seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol.
iv. p. 352.)
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KAFIREAS (Cape) EVIA
Caphareus or Caphereus (Kaphereus), a rocky and dangerous promontory,
forming the south-eastern extremity of Euboea, now called Kavo Doro or Xylofago;
it was known by the latter name in the middle ages. (Tzetzes, ad Lycophr. 384.)
It was off this promontory that the Grecian fleet was wrecked on its return from
Troy. (Eurip. Troad. 90, Helen. 1129; Herod. viii. 7; Strab. viii. p. 368; Pans.
ii. 23. § 1, iv. 36. § 6; Virg. Aen. xi. 260; Prop. iii. 5. 55; Ov. Met. xiv.
472, 481, Trist. i. 1. 83, v. 7. 36; Sil. Ital. xiv. 144; Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. ii. p. 423.)
KARYSTOS (Ancient city) EVIA
Karustos: Eth. Karustios. A town of Euboea, situated on the south
coast of the island, at the foot of Mt. Oche. It is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii.
539), and is said to have been founded by Dryopes. (Thuc. vii. 57; Diod. iv. 37;
Scymn. 576.) Its name was derived from Carystus, the son of Cheiron. (Steph. B.
s. v.; Eustath. ad Hom. l. c.) The Persian expedition under Datis and Artaphernes
(B.C. 490) landed at Carystus, the inhabitants of which, after a slight resistance,
were compelled to submit to the invaders. (Herod. vi. 99.) Carystus was one of
the towns, from which Themistocles levied money after the battle of Salamis. (Herod.
viii. 112.) A few years afterwards we find mention of a war between the Athenians
and Carystians; but a peace was in the end concluded between them. (Thuc. i. 98;
Herod. ix. 105.) The Carystians fought on the side of the Athenians in the Lamian
war. (Diod. xviii. 11.) They espoused the side of the Romans in the war against
Philip. (Liv. xxxii. 17; Pol. xviii. 30.)
Carystus was chiefly celebrated for its marble, which was in much
request at Rome. Strabo places the quarries at Marmarium, a place upon the coast
near Carystus, opposite Halae Araphenides in Attica ; but Mr. Hawkins found the
marks of the quarries upon Mt. Ocha. On his ascent to the summit of this mountain
he saw seven entire columns, apparently on the spot where they had been quarried,
and at the distance of three miles from the sea. This marble is the Cipolino of
the Romans,- a green marble, with white zones. (Strab. x. p. 446; Plin. iv. 12.
s. 21, xxxvi. 6. s. 7 ; Plin. Ep. v. 6; Tibull. iii. 3. 14; Senec. Troad. 835;
Stat. Theb. vii. 370; Capitol. Gordian. 32.) At Carystus the mineral asbestus
was also obtained, which was hence called the Carystian stone (lithos Karustios,
Plut. de Def. Orac. p. 707; Strab. l. c.; Apoll. Dysc. Hist. Mirab. 36.) There
are very few remains of the ancient Carystus.
Antigonus, the author of the Historiae Mirabiles, the comic poet Apollodorus,
and the physician Diocles were natives of Carystus.
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KIRINTHOS (Village) CHALKIDA
Cerinthus (Kerinthos: Eth. Kerinthios), a town upon the north-eastern
coast of Euboea, and near the small river Budorus, said to have been founded by
the Athenian Cothus. It is mentioned by Homer, and was still extant in the time
of Strabo, who speaks of it as a small place. (Hom. Il. ii. 538 ; Scymn.
Ch. 576; Strab. x. p. 446; Apoll. Rhod. i. 79; Ptol. iii. 1,5. § 25; Plin. iv.
12. s. 21.)
KIRYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Kerinthos: Eth. Kerinthios. A town upon the north-eastern coast of Euboea, and
near the small river Budorus, said to have been founded by the Athenian Cothus.
It is mentioned by Homer, and was still extant in the time of Strabo, who speaks
of it as a small place.
LICHADES (Island complex) ISTIEA
Lichades (hai Lichades), a group of three small islands between. the promontory
of Cenaeum. in Euboea and that of Cnemides in Loeris. They are said to have derived
their name from Lichas, who was here thrown into the sea by Hercules, when he
was suffering from the poisoned garment.. (Strab. i. p. 60, ix. p. 426; Plin.
iv. 12. s. 20; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 177.)
LILANTIO PLAIN (Plain) EVIA
Lelantus Campus (to Lelanton pedion), a fertile plain in Euboea, between
Chalcis and Eretria, which was an object of frequent contention between those
cities. It was the subject of volcanic action. Strabo relates that on one occasion
a torrent of hot mud issued from it ; and it contained some warm springs, which
were used by the dictator Sulla. The plain was also celebrated for its vineyards
; and in it there were mines of copper and iron. (Strab. i. p. 58, x. p. 447,
seq.; Hon. Hymn. in Apoll. 219 ; Theogn. 888; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii.
p. 265.) Pliny mentions a river Lelantus in Euboea, which must have flowed through
this plain, if it really existed. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21.)
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MYKALISSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
Mukalessos: Eth. Mukalessios. An ancient town of Boeotia, mentioned
by Homer. (Il. ii. 498, Hymn. Apoll. 224.) It was said to have been so called,
because the cow, which was guiding Cadmus and his comrades to Thebes, lowed (emukesato)
in this place. (Paus. ix. 19. § 4.) In B.C. 413, some Thracians, whom the Athenians
were sending home to their own country, were landed on the Euripus, and surprised
Mycalessus. They not only sacked the town, but put all the inhabitants to the
sword, not sparing even the women and children. Thucydides says that this was
one of the greatest calamities that had ever befallen any city. (Thuc. vii. 29;
Paus. i. 23. § 3.) Strabo (ix. p. 404) calls Mycalessus a village in the territory
of Tanagra, and places it upon the road from Thebes to Chalcis. In the time of
Pausanias it had ceased to exist; and this writer saw the ruins of Harma and Mycalessus
on his road to Chalcis. (Paus. ix. 19. § 4.) Pausanias mentions a temple of Demeter
Mycalessia, standing in the territory of the city upon the sea-coast, and situated
to the right of the Euripus, by which he evidently meant south of the strait.
The only other indication of the position of Mycalessus is the statement of Thucydides
(l. c.), that it was 16 stadia distant from the Hermaeum, which was on the sea-shore
near the Euripus. It is evident from these accounts, that Mycalessus stood near
the Euripus; and Leake places it, with great probability, upon the height immediately
above the southern bay of Egripo, where the ruined walls of an ancient city still
remain. (Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 249, seq., 264.) It is true, as Leake remarks,
that this position does not agree with the statement of Strabo, that Mycalessus
was on the road from Thebes to Chalcis, since the above-mentioned ruins are nearly
two miles to the right of that road; but Strabo writes loosely of places which
he had never seen. Mycalessus is also mentioned in Strab. ix. pp. 405, 410; Paus.
iv. 7. s. 12.
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OROVIES (Ancient city) EVIA
Orobiae (Orobiai), a town on the western coast of Euboea, between
Aedepsus and Aegae, which possessed an oracle of Apollo Selinuntius. (Strab. x.
p. 445 comp. ix. p. 405.) The town was partly destroyed by an earthquake and an
inundation of the sea in B.C. 426. (Thuc. iii. 89.) This town seems to be the
one mentioned by Stephanus under the name of Orope (Orope), who describes it as
a city of Euboea, having a very renowned temple of Apollo. (Steph. B. s. v. Korope.)
There are some remains of the walls of Orobiae at Rovies, which word is only a
corruption of the ancient name. (Leake, Northern Greece. vol. ii. p. 176.)
PORTHMOS (Ancient port) EVIA
Porthmus (Porthmos), a harbour in Euboea, belonging to Eretria, described
by Demosthenes as opposite to Attica, is the modern Porto Bufalo, immediately
opposite to Rhamnus, in the narrowest part of the Euboean channel, where the breadth
is only two miles. It was destroyed by Philip, after expelling the Eretrians;
but its advantageous position close to the coast of Attica gave it importance
for many centuries afterwards. (Dem. Phil. iii. pp. 119, 125, iv. p. 133, de Cor.
p. 248; Plin. iv. 12. s. 21; Hierocl. p. 645; Harpocrat. Phot. Suid. s. u. Porthmos;
Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 435.)
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SKYROS (Island) STEREA HELLAS
Scyros or Scyrus (Skuros: Eth. Skurios: Skyro), an island in the Aegaean
sea, and one of the northern Sporades, was so called from its ruggedness. It lay
east of Euboea, and contained a town of the same name (Strab. ix. p. 436; Scylax,
p. 23; Ptol. iii. 13. § 47), and a river called Cephissus. (Strab. ix. p. 424.)
Scyros is frequently mentioned in the stories of the mythical period. Here Thetis
concealed her son Achilles in woman's attire among the daughters of Lycomedes,
in order to save him from the fate which awaited him under the walls of Troy.
(Apollod. iii. 13. § 8; Paus. i. 22. § 6; Strab. ix. p. 436.) It was here also
that Pyrrhus, the son of Deidamia by Achilles, was brought up, and was fetched
from thence by Ulysses to the Trojan War. (Hom. Il. xix. 326, Od. xi. 507; Soph.
Phil. 239, seq.) According to another tradition Scyros was conquered by Achilles
(Hom. Il. i. 668; Paus. i. 22. § 6); and this conquest was connected in the Attic
legends with the death of Theseus. After Theseus had been driven out of Athens
he retired to Scyros, where he was first hospitably received by Lycomedes, but
was afterwards treacherously hurled into the sea from one of the rocks in the
island. It was to revenge his death that Peleus sent Achilles to conquer the island.
(Plut. Thes. 35; Pans. i. 22. § 6; Philostr. Heroic. 19.) Scyros is said to have
been originally inhabited by Pelasgians, Carians, and Dolopians; and we know from
Thucydides that the island was still inhabited by Dolopians, when it was conquered
by Cimon after the Persian wars. (Nicolaus Damasc. ap. Steph. B. s. v.; Scymn.
Ch. 580, seq.; Thuc. i. 98; Diod. xi. 60.) In B.C. 476 an oracle had directed
the Athenians to bring home the bones of Theseus; but it was not till B.C. 469
that the island was conquered, and the bones conveyed to Athens, where they were
preserved in the Theseium. Cimon expelled the Dolopians from the island, and peopled
it with Athenian settlers. (Thuc. Diod. ll. cc.; Plut. Thes. 36, Cim. 8; on the
date of the conquest of Scyros, which Clinton erroneously places in B.C. 476,
see Grote, History of Greece, vol. v. p. 409.) From this time Scyros was subject
to Athens, and was regarded even at a later period, along with Lemnos and Imbros,
as a possession to which the Athenians had special claims. Thus the peace of Antalcidas,
which declared the independence of all the Grecian states, nevertheless allowed
the Athenians to retain possession of Scyros, Lemnos, and Imbros (Xen. Hell. iv.
8. 15, v. 1. § 31); and though the Macedonians subsequently obtained possession
of these islands, the Romans compelled Philip, in the peace concluded in B.C.
196, to restore them to the Athenians. (Liv. xxxiii. 30.) The soil of Scyros was
unproductive (Dem. c. Callip. p. 1238; Eustath. ad Hom. Il. ii. p. 782; Suidas,
s. v. arche Skuria); but it was celebrated for its breed of goats, and for its
quarries of variegated marble. (Strab. ix. p. 437; Athen. i. p. 28, xii. p. 540;
Zenob. ii. 18; Plin. xxxvi. 16. s. 26.)
Scyros is divided into two parts by a narrow isthmus, of which the
southern half consists of high rugged mountains. The northern half is not so mountainous.
The modern town of St. George, on the eastern side of the island, stands upon
the site of the ancient town. It covers the northern and western sides of a high
rocky peak, which to the eastward falls steeply to the sea; and hence Homer correctly
describes the ancient city as the lofty Scyros (Skuron aipeian, Il. i. 664). The
Hellenic walls are still traceable in many parts. The city was barely 2 miles
in circumference. On the isthmus south of Scyros a deep bay still retains the
name of Achilli (Achilli), which is doubtless the site of the Achilleion, or sanctuary
of Achilles, mentioned by Eustathius (ad Il. ix. 662). Athena was the divinity
chiefly worshipped at Scyros. Her temple stood upon the shore close to the town.
(Stat. Achill. i. 285, ii. 21.) Tournefort says that he saw some remains of columns
and cornices of white marble, close by a forsaken chapel, on the left hand going
into the fort of St. George; these are probably remains of the temple of Athena.
(Tournefort, Voyage, vol. i. p. 334, trans.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii.
p. 106, seq.; Fiedler, Reise, vol. ii. p. 66; Ross, Wanderungen in Griechenland,
vol. ii. p. 32, seq.)
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STYRA (Ancient city) EVIA
ta Stura: Eth. Stureus. A town of Euboea, on the W. coast, N. of Carystus,
and nearly opposite the promontory of Cynosura in Attica. The town stood near
the shore in the inner part of the bay, in the middle of which is the island Aegileia,
now called Sturanisi. Styra is mentioned by Homer along with Carystus (Il. ii.
539). Its inhabitants were originally Dryopians, though they denied this origin
(Herod. viii. 46; Paus. iv. 34. § 11), and claimed to be descended from the demus
of Steiria in Attica. (Strab. x. p. 446.) In the First Persian War (B.C. 490)
the Persians landed at Aegileia, which belonged to Styra, the prisoners whom they
had taken at Eretria. (Herod. vi. 107.) In the Second Persian War (B.C. 480, 479)
the Styrians fought at Artemisium, Salamis, and Plataeae. They sent two ships
to the naval engagements, and at Plataeae they and the Eretrians amounted together
to 600 men. (Herod. viii. 1, 46, ix. 28; Paus. v. 23. § 2.) They afterwards became
the subjects of Athens, and paid a yearly tribute of 1200 drachmae. (Thuc. vii.
57; Franz, Elem. Epigr. Gr. n. 49.) The Athenian fleet was stationed here B.C.
356. (Dem. c. Mid. p. 568.) Strabo relates (x. p. 446) that the town was destroyed
in the Maliac war by the Athenian Phaedrus, and its territory given to the Eretrians;
but as the Maliac war is not mentioned elsewhere, we ought probably to substitute
Lamiac for it. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 422, 432.)
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
TAMYNES (Ancient city) EVIA
Tamunai, Tamuna, Eth. Tamuneus. A town of Euboea in the territory
of Eretria, at the foot of Mt. Cotylaeum, with a temple of Apollo, said to have
been built by Admetus. (Strab. x. p. 447; Steph. B. s. v. Tamuna, Kotulaion.)
It was taken by the Persians, when they attacked Eretria in B.C. 490 (Herod. vi.
101), but it is chiefly memorable for the victory which the Athenians, under Phocion,
gained here over Callias of Chalcis, B.C. 350. (Aesch. c. Ctes. § § 85 - 88, de
Fals. Leg. 180; Dem. de Pac. 5; Plat. Phoc. 12.) Leake places Tamynae at the village
of Ghymno, at the foot of a high, mountain, which he supposes to be the ancient
Cotylaeum (Ancient Greece, vol. ii. p. 439); but Ulrichs regards Aliveri, where
there are several ancient remains, as the site of Tamynae.
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
YRIA (Ancient city) AVLIDA
Huria: Eth. Huriates. A Boeotian town, mentioned by Homer along with Aulis. Hence
it was placed near Aulis; but its position was quite uncertain, and some of the
ancient critics identified it, though without sufficient reason, with Hysiae.
Strabo placed it in the territory of Tanagra.
AMARYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
A town in Euboea, seven stadia distant from Eretria, and noted for its splendid temple of Artemis, who is hence called Amarynthia or Amarysia.
ARTEMISSION (Ancient city) ISTIEA
A promontory on the northwestern coast of Euboea, and noted for the naval victory won by the Greeks over the Persians on the same day as the battle of Thermopylae, in B.C. 480.
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
A harbour in Boeotia on the Euripus, where the Greek forces assembled before sailing for Troy.
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
The modern Egripo or Negroponte; the principal town of Euboea,
situated on the narrowest part of the Euripus, and united with the mainland by
a bridge. It was a very ancient town, originally inhabited by Abantes or Curetes,
and colonized by Attic Ionians. Its flourishing condition at an early period is
attested by the numerous colonies which it planted in various parts of the Mediterranean.
It founded so many cities in the peninsula in Macedonia, between the Strymonic
and Thermaic gulfs, that the whole peninsula was called Chalcidice. In Italy it
founded Cumae, and in Sicily, Naxos. Chalcis was usually subject to Athens during
the greatness of the latter city. The orator Isaeus and the poet Lycophron were
born at Chalcis, and Aristotle died there.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
EDIPSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
A town of Euboea, famous for its hot baths in ancient as in modern times.
EGES (Ancient city) EVIA
A town in Euboea, with a celebrated temple of Poseidon, who was hence called Aegaeus.
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
A town of the island of Euboea, situated on the coast of the
Euripus southeast of Chalcis. It was said by some to have been founded by a colony
from Triphylia in Peloponnesus; by others its origin was ascribed to a party of
Athenians belonging to the deme of Eretria. The latter opinion is far more probable,
as this city was doubtless of Ionic origin. We learn from Strabo that Eretria
was formerly called Melaneis and Arotria, and that at an early period it had attained
to a considerable degree of prosperity and power. The Eretrians conquered the
islands of Ceos, Teos, Tenos, and others; and in their festival of Artemis, which
was celebrated with great splendour, three thousand soldiers on foot, with six
hundred cavalry and sixty chariots, were often employed to attend the procession.
Eretria, at this period, was frequently engaged in war with Chalcis, and Thucydides
reports that on one occasion most of the Grecian States took part in the contest.
The assistance which Eretria then received from the Milesians induced that city
to cooperate with the Athenians in sending a fleet and troops to the support of
the Ionians, who had revolted from Persia at the instigation of Aristagoras, by
which measure it became exposed, in conjunction with Athens, to the vengeance
of Darius. That monarch accordingly gave orders to his commanders, Datis and Artaphernes,
to subdue both Eretria and Athens and bring the inhabitants captive before him.
Eretria was taken after six days' siege, and the captive inhabitants brought to
Asia. Darius treated the prisoners kindly, and settled them in the district of
Cissia. Eretria recovered from the effects of this disaster and was rebuilt soon
after. We find it mentioned by Thucydides, towards the close of his history, as
revolting from Athens on the approach of a Spartan fleet under Hegesandridas,
and mainly contributing to the success obtained by that commander. After the death
of Alexander, this city surrendered to Ptolemy, a general in the service of Antigonus;
and in the Macedonian War, to the combined fleets of the Romans, the Rhodians,
and Attalus. It was subsequently declared free by order of the Roman Senate. This
place, as we learn from Athenaeus, was noted for the excellence of its flour and
bread. At one time it possessed a distinguished school of philosophy and dialectics.
The ruins of Eretria are still to be observed close to a headland which lies opposite
to the mouth of the Asopus in Boeotia.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
EVIA (Island) GREECE
Now Negropont; the largest island of the Aegaean Sea, lying
along the coasts of Attica, Boeotia, and the southern part of Thessaly, from which
countries it is separated by the Euboean Sea, called the Euripus in its narrowest
part. Its early name was Macris. Euboea is about ninety miles in length; its extreme
breadth is thirty miles, but in the narrowest part it is only four miles across.
Throughout the length of the island runs a lofty range of mountains, which rise
in one part as high as 7266 feet above the sea. It contains, nevertheless, many
fertile plains, and was celebrated in antiquity for the excellence of its pasturage
and corn-fields. According to the ancients it was once united to Boeotia, from
which it was separated by an earthquake. In Homer the inhabitants are called Abantes,
and are represented as taking part in the expedition against Troy. In the northern
part of Euboea dwelt the Histiaei, from whom that part of the island was called
Histiaea; below these were the Ellopii, who gave the name of Ellopia to the district,
extending as far as Aegae and Cerinthus; and in the south were the Dryopes. The
centre of the island was inhabited chiefly by Ionians. It was in this part of
Euboea that the Athenians planted the colonies of Chalcis and Eretria, which were
the two most important cities in the island. After the Persian Wars Euboea became
subject to the Athenians, who attached much importance to its possession; and
consequently Pericles made great exertions to subdue it, when it revolted in B.C.
445. Under the Romans Euboea formed part of the province of Achaea.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
GERESTOS (Ancient port) KARYSTOS
(Geraistos). A promontory and harbour at the southern extremity of Euboea, with a celebrated temple of Poseidon.
ICHALIA (Ancient city) EVIA
A town of Euboea, in the district Eretria. The ancients were divided in opinion as to which of these places was the residence of Eurytus, whom Heracles defeated and slew. The original legend probably belonged to the Thessalian Oechalia, and was thence transferred to the other towns.
ISTIEA (Ancient city) EVIA
( (Oreos). A town in the north of Euboea, originally called Hestiaea
or Histiaea. After the Persian Wars it became subject to Athens, but having revolted
from the Athenians in B.C. 445, it was taken by Pericles, its inhabitants expelled,
and their place supplied by 2000 Athenians. It was an important place down to
the dissolution of the Achaean League.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KAFIREAS (Cape) EVIA
The modern Capo d' Oro; a rocky and dangerous promontory on the southeast coast of Euboea, where the Greek fleet is said to have been wrecked on its return from Troy
KARYSTOS (Ancient city) EVIA
A town on the southern coast of Euboea, founded by Dryopes, celebrated for its marble quarries and for the mineral known as asbestos
MARMARION (Ancient city) EVIA
(Marmarion). A place in the southwestern part of Euboea with celebrated quarries of marble and a temple of Apollo Marmarius.
MYKALISSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
(Mukalessos). An ancient city in Boeotia, on the road from Aulis to Thebes. In B.C. 413 it was sacked by some Thracian mercenaries in the pay of Athens. Here was a famous temple of Demeter, who was in consequence called Mycalessia.
OROVIES (Ancient city) EVIA
(Orobiai). A town on the coast of Euboea near Aegae. It had an oracle of Apollo.
SKYROS (Island) STEREA HELLAS
Now Scyro. An island in the Aegaean Sea, east of Euboea, and
one of the Sporades. Here Thetis concealed her son Achilles in woman's attire
among the daughters of Lycomedes, and here also Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles by
Deidamia, was brought up. According to another tradition the island was conquered
by Achilles, in order to revenge the death of Theseus, who is said to have been
treacherously destroyed in Scyros by Lycomedes. The bones of Theseus were discovered
by Cimon in Scyros, after his conquest of the island, B.C. 476, and were conveyed
to Athens, where they were preserved in the Theseum ( Thuc.i. 98; Diod. Sic.xi.
60). From this time Scyros continued subject to Athens till the period of the
Macedonian supremacy; but the Romans compelled the last Philip to restore it to
Athens, B.C. 196.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
STYRA (Ancient city) EVIA
(Ta Stura). Now Stura; a town in Euboea on the southwest coast, not far from Carystus, and nearly opposite Marathon in Attica.
TAMYNES (Ancient city) EVIA
Now Aliveri; a city of Eubola with a temple of Apollo said to have been built by Admetus. Here the Athenians under Phocion gained a great victory over Callias of Chalcis in B.C. 354.
YRIA (Ancient city) AVLIDA
A town in Boeotia near Tanagra.
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
City of Boeotia
along the shore facing Euboea.
Aulis is the location where the Greek fleet gathered under the leadership
of Agamemnon to undertake the expedition against Troy,
and where Agamemnon had to sacrifice his own daughter Iphigenia to the goddess
Artemis to put an end to the lack of wind that was holding the fleet there.
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.
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
City on the western coast of the island of Euboea,
facing mainland Greece, north
of Athens.
Chalcis was the homeland of settlers who founded cities in several
parts of the Mediterranean during the VIIIth and VIIth centuries B. C., epecially
in Sicily and Italy
(Naxos, Cumae,
Zancle, ...).
This is the place where Aristotle died in 322, having fled Athens
some time earlier for fear of being tried as pro-Macedonian.
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.
AMARYNTHOS (Municipality) CHALKIDA
MESSAPIES (Municipality) CHALKIDA
AMARYNTHOS (Municipality) CHALKIDA
In the following WebPages you can find an interactive map with all the monuments and museums of the Prefecture, with relevant information and photos.
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
In earlier times Eretria was called Melaneis and Arotria.
EVIA (Island) GREECE
Aristotle says that Thracians, setting out from the Phocian Aba, recolonized the island and renamed those who held it "Abantes." Others derive the name from a hero, just as they derive "Euboea" from a heroine. But it may be, just as a certain cave on the coast which fronts the Aegaean, where Io is said to have given birth to Epaphus, is called Boos Aule, that the island got the name Euboea from the same cause. The island was also called Oche; and the largest of its mountains bears the same name. And it was also named Ellopia, after Ellops the son of Ion. Some say that he was the brother of Aiclus and Cothus; and he is also said to have founded Ellopia, a place in Oria, as it is called, in Histiaeotis near the mountain Telethrius, and to have added to his dominions Histiaea, Perias, Cerinthus, Aedepsus, and Orobia; in this last place was an oracle most averse to falsehood (it was an oracle of Apollo Selinuntius).
Physical Description
Euboea, the second largest of the Aegean Islands, extends for some 180 km along
the east coast of mainland Greece. The length and geomorphology of the island
permits a natural division of Euboea into three distinct regions corresponding
to its three major mountain groups. The north, dominated by the peak of Mt. Pyxaria
(1341 m), is heavily forested and has a climate and environment similar to the
Pelion Peninsula on the mainland immediately to the north. The broadest and most
fertile part of Euboea is the central region which contains relatively large plains
south of Mt. Dhirfis (1745 m), the highest peak on the island. Central Euboea
lies closest to the mainland and is separated from it by only 40 m where the Euripos
(Euboean Channel) narrows at Chalkis. The environment closely resembles those
of Boeotia and Attica, with the exception that there is more rainfall on the eastern
side of the island. The narrowest part of Euboea (in places less than 10 km) is
the stretch of land between Dystos and Styra, which joins the central and southern
portions of the island. Southern Euboea, with Mt. Ochi (1394 m) at its center,
is mountainous and sparsely inhabited. The region lies at a greater distance from
the mainland and is subject to a maritime climatic influence. Southern Euboea
is geophysically and environmentally distinct from the rest of the island and
its climate corresponds with that of the northern Cycladic Islands.
History
The natural division of Euboea has been paralleled throughout history
by the socio-cultural divisions of the island. Each region is represented by a
major town (Histiaia-Oreos in the north, Chalkis in the center, and Karystos in
the south) which has preserved its importance from the first mention in the Homeric
Catalogue of Ships down to modern times. This tripartite cultural division of
the island is first reflected in the prehistoric settlement of the island by the
semi-legendary tribes of the Ellopians in the north, the Abantes in the center,
and the Dryopians in the south. In historical antiquity Chalkis and Eretria contested
the fertile Lelantine Plain, located between the two cities and the commercial
and colonizing role afforded by their locations at the center of the Euripos.
Although leaders in the colonizing period of Greek history, the city states of
Euboea later became politically subject to Athens and then to Macedonia.
Sites
•Histiaia-Oreos- Histiaia, overlooking the strategic north entrance to the
Euripos and a large fertile plain, was described by Homer as "rich in vines."
In 446 Athens conquered the city, expelled the inhabitants, and settled a colony
of cleruchs at nearby Oreos. After the Peloponnesian War the Histiaians reclaimed
their area and the city thereafter was known by either name. No systematic excavations.
•Artemision- A high promontory on the northwest coast, below which the first
Greek-Persian sea battle occurred in 480 B.C. A Sanctuary of Artemis Proseoa on
the cape was excavated by the German Institute in 1883.
•Chalkis- Located at the narrowest part of the Euripos (where the direction
of the currents change as often as seven times a day), the city was a commercial
center and sent out many early colonies. It was a trade and territorial rival
to Eretria, which it fought for control of the fertile Lelantine Plain located
between the two cities. Few ancient remains have been recorded, chiefly through
salvage excavations.
•Eretria- Located on the Euripos ca. 20 km south of Chalkis, Eretria is first
mentioned in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships and rivaled Chalkis in trade and the
establishment of colonies abroad. Eretria's support of the Ionian revolt in 500
B.C. may have encouraged the later Persian invasion of Greece in 490 B.C. Excavations,
sporadic since the 19th century, were assumed by the Swiss Archaeological Mission
in 1964 and are the most extensive on Euboea.
•Lefkandi- A coastal settlement with associated cemeteries located halfway
between Chalkis and Eretria. The site was first occupied in the Early Bronze Age
(ca 3000 B.C.) and continued into the Geometric period (ca 700 B.C.) and is claimed
as the old settlement of Eretria or Chalkis. Excavations were conducted by the
British School in the 1960's.
•Dystos- A fortified city located on an isolated conical hill above a marshy
plain ca. 30 km east of Eretria. The history of Dystos is little known, but it
may have been an Eretrian deme. The well preserved Classical architecture was
investigated briefly by the German Institute in 1895, but the site remains unexcavated.
•Styra- On the southwest coast ca. 30 km north of Karystos, Styra remained
under the influence of Eretria during most of its history. No excavations.
•Geristos- The one safe harbor on the southwest coast and the first safe
stopping point for ships returning from the east. A Sanctuary of Poseidon, first
mentioned by Homer, is located at Geristos and an ancient road leads to Karystos,
ca. 20 km to the northwest. There have been only test excavations.
•Karystos- Located on the north shore of a large bay, Karystos controlled
the southern entrance to the Euripos and sea traffic moving through the Andros
Straits. Karystos was the first Greek city to oppose the Persian advance in 490
B.C., but later fell under Athenian control and probably had an Athenian clerouchy
imposed on its territory. In the Roman period Karystos was famous for its marble
quarries. Only minor excavations in the region.
This text is cited June 2003 from Perseus Project URL bellow, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ANTHIDON (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
ARTEMISSION (Ancient city) ISTIEA
AMARYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
EVRIPOS STRAIGHT (Sea strait) EVIA
Total results: 85
ISTIEA (Ancient city) EVIA
Total results on 23/4/2001: 16 for Hestiaea, 1 for Hestiaia, 28 for Histiaea, 19 for Histiaia, 50 for Oreus, 7 for Orei.
SKYROS (Island) STEREA HELLAS
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