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FLIOUS (Ancient city) NEMEA
Eth. Phliasios, the territory Phliasia. An independent city in the
north-eastern part of Peloponnesus, whose territory was bounded on the N. by Sicyonia,
on the W. by Arcadia, on the E. by Cleonae, and on the S. by Argolis. This territory
is a small valley about 900 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains,
from which streams flow down on every side, joining the river Asopus in the middle
of the plain. The mountain in the southern part of the plain, from which the principal
source of the Asopus springs, was called Carneates (Karneates) in antiquity, now
Polyfengo. (Strab. viii. p. 382.) The territory of Phlius was celebrated in antiquity
for its wine. (Athen. i. p. 27, d.) According to Strabo (viii. p. 382), the ancient
capital of the country was Araethyrea (Araithurea) on Mt. Celosse, which city
is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 571); but the inhabitants subsequently deserted
it and built Phlius at the distance of 30 stadia. Pausanias (ii. 12. § § 4, 5),
however, does not speak of any migration, but says that the ancient capital was
named Arantia (Arantia), from its founder Aras, an autochthon, that it was afterwards
called Araethyrea from a daughter of Aras, and that it finally received the name
of Phlius, from Phlias, a son of Ceisus and grandson of Temenus. The name of Arantia
was retained in the time of Pausanias in the hill Arantinus, on which the city
stood. Hence the statement of grammarians that both Arantia and Araethyrea were
ancient names of Phlius. (Steph. B. s. vv. Phlious, Arantia; Schol. ad Apoll.
Rhod. i. 115.) According to Stephanus B. (s. v. Phlious) Phlius derived its name
from Dionysus and Chthonophyle. Phlius was subsequently conquered by Dorians under
Rhegnidas, who came from Sicyon. Some of the inhabitants migrated to Samos, others
to Clazomenae; among the settlers at Samos was Hippasus, from whom Pythagoras
derived his descent. (Paus. ii. 13. § 1, seq.) Like most of the other Doric states,
Phlius was governed by an aristocracy, though it was for a time subject to a tyrant
Leon, a contemporary of Pythagoras. (Diog. Laert. i. 12, viii. 8; Cic. Tusc. v.
3) Phlius sent 200 soldiers to Thermopylae (Herod. vii. 202), and 1000 to Plataea
(ix. 28). Daring the whole of the Peloponnesian War it remained faithful to Sparta
and hostile to Argos. (Thuc. v. 57, seq., vi. 105.) But before B.C. 393 a change
seems to have taken place in the government, for in that year we find some of
the citizens in exile who professed to be the friends of the Lacedaemonians. The
Phliasians, however, still continued faithful to Sparta) and received a severe
defeat from Iphicrates in the year already mentioned. So much were they weakened
by this blow that they were obliged to admit a Lacedaemonian garrison within their
walls, which they had been unwilling to do before, lest their allies should restore
the exiles. But the Lacedaemonians did not betray the confidence placed in them,
and quitted the city without making any change in the government. (Xen. Hell.
iv. 4. 15, seq.) Ten years afterwards (B.C. 383) the exiles induced the Spartan
government to espouse their cause; and with the fate of Mantineia before their
eyes, the Phliasians thought it more prudent to comply with the request of the
Spartans, and received the exiles. (Xen. Hell. v. 2. 8, seq.) But disputes arising
between returned exiles and those who were in possession of the government, the
former again appealed to Sparta, and Agesilaus was sent with an army in B.C. 380
to reduce the city. At this period Phlius contained 5000 citizens. Agesilaus laid
siege to the city, which held out for a year and eight months. It was at length
obliged to surrender through failure of provisions in B.C. 379; and Agesilaus
appointed a council of 100 members (half from the exiles and half from the besieged),
with powers of life and death over the citizens, and authorised to frame a new
constitution. (Xen. Hell. v. 3. 10, seq.; Plut. Ages. 24; Diod. xv. 20.) From
this time the Phliasians remained faithful to Sparta throughout the whole of the
Theban War, though they had to suffer much from the devastation of their territory
by their hostile neighbours. The Argives occupied and fortified Tricaranum above
Phlius, and the Sicyonians Thyamia on the Sicyonian frontier. (Xen. Hell. vii.
2. 1) In B.C. 368 the city was nearly taken by the exiles, who no doubt belonged
to the democratical party, and had been driven into exile after the capture of
the city by Agesilaus. In this year a body of Arcadians and Eleians, who were
marching through Nemea to join Epaminondas at the Isthmus, were persuaded by the
Phliasian exiles to assist them in capturing the city. During the night the exiles
stole to the foot of the Acropolis; and in the morning when the scouts stationed
by the citizens on the hill Tricaranum announced that the enemy were in sight,
the exiles seized the opportunity to scale the Acropolis, of which they obtained
possession. They were, however, repulsed in their attempt to force their way into
the town, and were eventually obliged to abandon the citadel also. The Arcadians
and Argives were at the same time repulsed from the walls. (Xen. Hell. vii. 2.
5--9) In the following year Phlius was exposed to a still more formidable attack
from the Theban commander at Sicyon, assisted by Euphron, tyrant of that city.
The main body of the army descended from Tricaranum to the Heraeum which stood
at the foot of the mountain, in order to ravage the Phliasian plain. At the same
time a detachment of Sicyonians and Pellenians were posted NE. of the Acropolis
before the Corinthian gate. to hinder the Phliasians from attacking them in their
rear. But the main body of the troops was repulsed; and being unable to join the
detachment of Sicyonians and Pallenians in consequence of a ravine (Pharanx),
the Phliasians attacked and defeated them with loss. (Xen. Hell. vii. 2. 11, seq.)
After the death of Alexander, Phlius, like many of the other Peloponnesian
cities, became subject to tyrants; but upon the organisation of the Achaean League
by Aratus, Cleonymus, who was then tyrant of Phlius, voluntarily resigned his
power, and the city joined the league. (Polyb. ii. 44.)
Phlius is celebrated in the history of literature as the birthplace
of Pratinas, the inventor of the Satyric drama, and who contended with Aeschylus
for the prize at Athens. In the agora of Phlius was the tomb of Aristias, the
son of Pratinas. (Paus. ii. 13. § 6.)
Pausanias says that on the Acropolis of Phlius was a temple of Hebe
or Ganymeda, in a cypress grove, which enjoyed the right of asylum. (Comp. Strab.
viii. p. 382.) There was also a temple of Demeter on the Acropolis. On descending
from the citadel there stood on the right a temple of Asclepius, and below it
the theatre and another temple of Demeter. In the agora there were also other
public buildings. (Paus. ii. 13. § 3, seq.) The principal place at present in
the Phliasia is the village of St. George, situated at the southern foot of Tricaranum,
a mountain with three summits, which bounds the plain to the NE. The ruins of
Phlius are situated three quarters of an hour further west, on one of the spurs
of Tricaranum, above the right bank of the Asopus. They are of considerable extent,
but present little more than foundations. On the south-western slope of the height
stands the church of our Lady of the Hill (Eanagia Hpachiotissa), from which the
whole spot is now called s ten Hpachiotissan. It probably occupies the site of
the temple of Asclepius. Ross found here the remains of several Doric pillars.
Five stadia from the town on the Asopus are some ruins, which Ross considers to
be those of Celeae (Keleai), where Demeter was worshipped. (Paus. ii. 14. § 1.)
Leake supposed Phlius to be represented by some ruins on the western side of the
mountain, now called Polyfengo; but these are more correctly assigned by Ross
to the ancient city of Araethyrea; and their distance from those already described
corresponds to the 30 stadia which, according to Strabo, was the distance from
Araethyrea to Phlius.
On Mt. Tricaranum are the remains of a small Hellenic fortress called
Paleokastron, which is probably the fortress erected by the Argives on this mountain.
(Xen. Hell. vii. 2. 1, 5, 11, 13; Dem. Megal. p. 206; Harpocrat. s. v. Trikaranon;
Steph. B. s. v. Trikarana.) Thyamia, which the Sicyonians fortified, as already
narrated (Xen. Hell. vii. 2. 1), is placed by Ross on the lofty hill of Spiria,
the northern prolongation of Tricaranum, between the villages Stimanga and Skrapani;
on the summit are the remains of a large round tower, probably built by the Franks
or Byzantines. In the southern part of the Phliasia is the Dioscurion (Dioskourion),
which is mentioned only by Polybius (iv. 67, 68, 73), and which lay on the road
from Corinth over the mountain Apelauron into the Stymphalia.
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
Araethyrea (Araithurea), the ancient capital of Phliasia, is said by Pausanias to have been originally named Arantia (Arantia), after Aras, its founder, and to have been called Araethyrea after a daughter of Aras of this name. The name of its founder was retained in the time of Pausanias in the hill Arantinus, on which it stood. Homer mentions Araethyrea. (Horn. Il. ii. 571; Strab. viii. p. 382; Paus. ii. 12. § § 4, 5.) We learn from Strabo that its inhabitants quitted Araethyrea, and founded Phlius, at the distance of 30 stadia from the former town. Hence the statement of the grammarians, that Araethyrea and Arantia were both ancient names of Phlius. (Steph. B. s. vv. Phlious, Arantia; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 115.) Ross supposes the ruins on Mt. Polyfengo to be those of Araethyrea. Leake had erroneously supposed them to be the ruins of Phlius. (Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, vol. i. p. 27, seq.; Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 339, seq.)
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
KLEONES (Ancient city) NEMEA
Kleonai: Eth. Kleonaios. A city in Peloponnesus, described by writers
of the Roman period as a city of Argolis, but never included in the Argeia or
territory of Argos, in the flourishing period of Greek history. Cleonae was situated
on the road from Argos to Corinth, at the distance of 120 stadia from the former
city, and 80 stadia from the latter. (Strab.viii. p.377.) The narrow pass through
the mountains, called Tretus, leading from Argos to Cleonae, is described elsewhere.
Cleonae stood in a small plain upon a river flowing into the Corinthian gulf a
little westward of Lechaeum. This river is now called Longo: its ancient name
appears to have been Langeia. In its territory was Mt. Apesas, now called Fuka,
connected with the Acro-Corinthus by a rugged range of hills. Both Strabo and
Pausanias describe Cleonae as a small place; and the former writer, who saw it
from the Acrocorinthus, says that it is situated upon a hill surrounded on all
sides by buildings, and well walled, so as to deserve the epithet given to it
by Homer (II. ii. 570):--euktimenas Kleonas. Statius also speaks of ingenti turritae
mole Cleonae. (Theb. iv. 47.) The existing ruins, though scanty, justify these
descriptions. They are found at a hamlet still called Klenes, not far from the
village Kurtesi. According to Dodwell, they occupy a circular and insulated hill,
which seems to have been completely covered with buildings. On the side of the
hill are six ancient terrace walls rising one above another, on which the houses
and streets are situated.
Cleonae possessed only a small territory. It derived its chief importance
from the Nemean games being celebrated in its territory, in the grove of Nemea,
between Cleonae and Phlius. Hence the festival is called by Pindar agon Kleonaios
(Nem. iv. 27). Hercules is said to have slain Eurytus and Cteatus, the sons of
Actor, near Cleonae; and Diodorus mentions a temple of Hercules erected in the
neighbourhood of the city in memory of that event. (Paus. v. 2. § 1, seq.; Pind.
Ol. x. 36; Diod. iv. 33.)
Cleonae is said to have derived its name either from Cleones, the
son of Pelops, or from Cleone, the daughter of the river-god Asopus. (Paus. ii.
15. § 1.) It was conquered by the Dorians, whereupon some of its inhabitants,
together with those of the neighbouring town of Phlius, are said to have founded
Clazomenae in Asia Minor. (Paus. vii. 3. § 9.) In the Dorian conquest, Cleonae
formed part of the lot of Temenus, and in early times was one of the confederated
allies or subordinates of Argos. Indeed in the historical period, Cleonae was
for the most part closely connected with Argos. After the Persian wars, the Cleonaeans
assisted the Argives in subduing Mycenae (Strab. viii.); and they fought as. the
allies of Argos at the battle of Mantineia, B.C. 418. (Thuc. v. 67.) Of their
subsequent history nothing is known, though their city is occasionally mentioned
down to the time of Ptolemy.
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
NEMEA (Ancient sanctuary) CORINTHIA
he Nemea, Ion. Nemee: Adj. Nemeios, Nemeaios, Nemeaeus. The name of
a valley in the territory of Cleonae, where Hercules slew the Nemean lion, and
where the Nemean games were celebrated every other year. It is described by Strabo
as situated between Cleonae and Phlius (viii. p. 377). The valley lies in a direction
nearly north and south, and is about two or three miles long, and from half to
three quarters of a mile in breadth. It is shut in on every side by mountains,
and is hence called by Pindar a deep vale (bathupedos, Nem. iii. 18.) There is
a remarkable mountain on the NE., called in ancient times Apesas, now Fuka, nearly
3000 feet high, with a flat summit, which is visible from Argos and Corinth. On
this mountain Perseus is said to have first sacrificed to Zeus Apesantius. (Paus.
ii. 15. § 3; Steph. B. s. v. Apesas; Stat. Theb. iii. 460, seq.) Theocritus gives
Nemea the epithet of well-watered (euudrou Nemees choros,, Theocr. xxv. 182).
Several rivulets descend from the surrounding mountains, which collect in the
plain, and form a river, which flows northward through the ridges of Apesas, and
falls into the Corinthian gulf, forming in the lower part of its source the boundary
between the territories of Sicyon and Corinth. This river also bore the name of
Nemea (Strab. viii. p. 382; Diod. xiv. 83; Liv. xxxiii. 15); but as it was dependent
for its supply of water upon the season of the year, it was sometimes called the
Nemean Charadra. (Aesch. de Fals. Leg. § 168, ed. Bekker; he Charadra, Xen. Hell.
iv. 2. 15) The mountains, which enclose the valley, have several natural caverns,
one of which, at the distance of 15 stadia from the sacred grove of Nemea, and
on the road named Tretus, from the latter place to Mycenae, was pointed out as
the cave of the Nemean lion. (Paus. ii. 15. § 2.)
The name of Nemea was strictly applied to the sacred grove in which
the games were celebrated. Like Olympia and the sanctuary at the Corinthian Isthmus,
it was not a town. The sacred grove contained only the temple, theatre, stadium,
and other monuments. There was a village in the neighbourhood called Bembina,
of which, however, the exact site is unknown. (Strab. viii. p. 377; Steph. B.
s. v.) The haunts of the Nemean lion are said to have been near Bembina. (Theocr.
xxv. 202.)
The chief building in the sacred grove was the temple of Zeus Nemeius.
the patron god of the place. When visited by Pausanias the roof had fallen, and
the statue no longer remained (ii. 15. § 2). Three columns of the temple are still
standing, amidst a vast heap of ruins. Two of these columns belonged to the pronaos,
and were placed as usual between antae; they are 4 feet 7 inches in diameter at
the base, and still support their architrave. The third column, which belonged
to the outer range, is 5 feet 3 inches in diameter at the base, and about 34 feet
high, including a capital of 2 feet. Its distance from the corresponding column
of the pronaos is 18 feet. The total height of the three members of the entablature
was 8 feet 2 inches. The general intercolumination of the peristyle was 7 feet;
at the angles, 5 feet 10 inches. From the front of the pronaos to the extremity
of the cell within, the length was 95 feet; the breadth of the cell within, 31
feet; the thickness of the walls, 3 feet. The temple was a hexastyle, of about
65 feet in breadth on the upper step of the stylobate, which consisted of three
steps: the number of columns on the sides, and consequently the length of the
temple, I could not ascertain. (Leake.) Though of the Doric order, the columns
are as slender as some of the specimens of the Ionic, and are so different from
the older Doric examples, that we ought probably to ascribe to the temple a date
subsequent to the Persian wars.
Among the other monuments in the sacred grove were the tombs of Opheltes,
and of his father Lycurgus. The former was surrounded with a stone enclosure,
and contained certain altars; the latter was a mound of earth. (Paus. ii. 15.
§ 3.) Pausanias also mentions a fountain called Adrasteia. The latter is, doubtless,
the source of water near the Turkish fountain, which is now without water. At
the foot of the mountain, to the left of this spot, are the remains of the stadium.
Between the stadium and the temple of Zeus, on the left of the path, are some
Hellenic foundations, and two. fragments of Doric columns. Near the temple are
the ruins of a small church, which contains some Doric fragments.
(Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 327, seq.; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. ii. p. 505,
seq.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ORNIES (Ancient city) NEMEA
Orneai: Eth. Orneates. A town in the Argeia, mentioned in the Iliad
(ii 571), which is said to have derived its name from Orneus, the son of Erechtheus.
Orneae retained its ancient Cynurian inhabitants, when Argos was conquered by
the Dorians. It continued independent of Argos for a long time; but it was finally
conquered by the Argives, who removed the Orneatae to their own city. (Paus. ii.
25. § 6, viii. 27. § 1.) Thucydides mentions (v. 67) the Orneatae and Cleonaei
as allies (summachoi) of the Argives in B.C. 418; and the same historian relates
(vi. 7) that Orneae was destroyed by the Argives in B.C. 416. (Comp. Diod. xii.
81.) It might therefore be inferred that the destruction of Orneae by the Argives
in B.C. 416 is the event referred to by Pausanias. But Muller concludes from a
well-known passage of Herodotus (viii. 73) that Orneae had been conquered by Argos
long before; that its inhabitants were reduced to the condition of Perioeci; and
that all the Perioeci in the Argeia were called Orneatae from this place. But
the Orneatae mentioned by Thucydides could not have been Perioeci, since they
are called allies; and the passage of Herodotus does not require, and in fact
hardly admits of, Muller's interpretation. The Cynurians, says Herodotus, have
become Doricized by the Argives and by time, being Orneatae and Perioeci. These
words would seem clearly to mean that, while the other Cynurians became Perioeci,
the Orneatae continued independent,--an interpretation which is in accordance
with the account of Thucydides. (Muller, Aeginetica, p. 48, seq., Dorians, iii.
4. § 2; Arnold, ad Thuc. v. 67.)
With respect to the site of Orneae we learn from Pausariias (v. 25.
§ 5) that it was situated on the confines of Phliasia and Sicyonia, at the distance
of 120 stadia from Argos, being 60 stadia from Lyrceia, which was also 60 stadia
from Argos. Strabo (viii. p. 382) says that Orneae was situated on a river of
the same name above the plain of the Sicyonians; for the other passage of Strabo
(viii. p. 578), which states that Orneae lay between Corinth and Sicyon, and that
it was not mentioned by Homer, is probably an interpolation. Orneae stood on the
northern of the two roads, which led from Argos to Mantineia. This northern road
was called Climax, and followed the course of the Inachus. Ross supposes Orneae
to have been situated on the river, which flows from the south by the village
of Lionti and which helps to form the western arm of the Asopus. Leake places
it too far to the east on the direct road from Argos to Phlius.
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
FLIOUS (Ancient city) NEMEA
The chief town of a small province in the northeast of Peloponnesus, whose territory, Phliasia, was bounded by Sicyonia, Arcadia, and Argos. It was usually allied with Sparta, and under Cleonymus joined the Achaete.
NEMEA (Ancient sanctuary) CORINTHIA
((Nemea) or Nemee (Nemee). A valley in Argolis between Cleonae and Phlius, celebrated in mythical story as the place where Heracles slew the Nemean lion. In this valley there was a splendid temple of Zeus Nemeus surrounded by a sacred grove, in which the Nemean Games were celebrated every other year.
ORNIES (Ancient city) NEMEA
An ancient town of Argolis, near the frontier of the territory of Phlius, subdued by the Argives in the Peloponnesian War, B.C. 418.
DERVENAKIA (Settlement) NEMEA
One of the most important passes leading S from the Corinthia (Polyb.
16.16.4-5). Ptolemy Euergetes recorded that he drank from a spring "colder
than snow" at the top of the pass although his soldiers were afraid of being
frozen if they drank from it (Ptol. apud Athenaeus: FGrH 234 F6). The road through
the pass, which connected Argolis and the Corinthia, was evidently steep in parts
since the Kontoporeia ("staff-road") implies that a walking staff would
be useful.
The Kontoporeia has been identified by most commentators as the pass
of Haghionorion which leads S from ancient Tenea, but that route is in no part
steep. The Kontoporeia is more likely the track that ascends a narrow gorge under
the walls of the Frankish castle of Haghios Vasileios to the W of the pass of
Hagionorion. At the top of the pass is the spring of Kephalari whose copious waters
are cold even in midsummer. Near the spring is a polygonal tower and the ruined
walls of what was probably a small military station or border post in the 5th-4th
c. B.C. The route S descends from the spring to Mycenae and the Argive plain.
J. R. Wiseman, 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.
FLIOUS (Ancient city) NEMEA
Located in the NE part of the region in a broad plain W of the Nemean
valley.
Excavations in 1924 indicated occupation from the Early Neolithic
period to Byzantine times. Mycenaean finds were scanty, confirming the statement
of the ancient authors (Strab. 8.382; Paus. 2.12.4-6) that the city of Homer (Araithyrea)
was not located at the site of the later city. Phlious participated in the Persian
Wars, contributing 200 men to Thermopylai and 1,000 to Plataia (Hdt. 7.202; 9.28.4).
She was constantly an ally of Sparta and no doubt valuable to that state in providing
a route to the Corinthian Gulf which did not pass under the walls of Argos. Her
4th c. history is one of internal strife and defense against various enemies (Xen.
Hell.). Little is known of her political organizations, but a Hellenistic proxeny
decree found on Delos may preserve the name of one of the tribes, Aoris. A Pythagorean
school apparently flourished at Phlious at the end of the 5th c. (Diog. Laert.
8.46) and the city provides the setting for Plato's Phaedo. Pratinas, the composer
of satyr plays, was a native (Suid. s.v. Pratinas). The Roman city as described
by Pausanias (2.13.3-8) was extensive, and he states that Hebe was the principal
deity. Numerous buildings are mentioned, among them a Temple of Asklepios located
above a theater.
Traces of antiquity are abundant at Phlious, both on the acropolis
and in the plain to the S, where the city proper was located. Portions of wall
are visible along the N, E, and W sides of the acropolis and the E city wall can
be traced for some distance in the plain. On one of the terraces at the W end
of the hill stands a modern chapel, almost entirely constructed of ancient blocks,
possibly the site of the Temple of Asklepios. Farther down the hill to the W lie
a fountain-house and a large, partially excavated building with a hypocaust.
Most of the buildings discovered in the early excavations lie at the
SW foot of the hill. An apparent hypostyle hall, explored by only a few test trenches,
yielded pottery and architectural fragments of the late archaic period. East of
this lies a rectangular structure with an interior colonnade (known locally as
the Palati), and to the N a scene building and a theater cavea. Supplementary
excavations reinvestigated the Palati, which appears to date to the 5th c. B.C.,
and the theater, the lower portion of which was excavated. This consists of the
E retaining wall of the cavea, a line of poros benches, and a partially cleared
exedra on the W.
The theater in its present form is Roman and no doubt it is the one
seen by Pausanias below the Temple of Asklepios, which must be located either
immediately above the cavea or farther to the E under the chapel, where most modern
writers have placed it.
W. R. Biers, 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.
NEMEA (Ancient sanctuary) CORINTHIA
The site of the Panhellenic Games, of which the Sanctuary of Nemean
Zeus formed the dominant element, lies at the head of the valley of the Nemea
river, ca. 19 km N of Argos and 18 km from the Gulf of Corinth. Originally the
games were local and under the control of Kleonai. In 573 B.C. the games were
incorporated into the Panhellenic schedule and held every other year. By the middle
of the 5th c. the games were presided over by Argos. In the first half of the
4th c. the games appear to have been transferred to Argos itself. Aratos of Sikyon
tried to restore the games to their original site on the Nemea river in 235 B.C.,
but without success (Plut. Arat. 28). In 145 B.C. Mummius appears to have revived
the games on their original site; Argos succeeded in becoming, however, the home
of the games during the Roman period. There is no archaeological evidence that
winter games were held within the limits of the ancient Nemean sanctuary during
the Hadrianic period. The site of Nemea was reoccupied in the 4th and 5th c. A.D.
by the Christians, when a basilica and baptistery were erected there, largely
with blocks from the Temple of Zeus.
The site has been excavated intermittently since 1884. The pottery
and small finds are stored in the archaeological museum in ancient Corinth; coins
from the early American excavations are in the National Museum of Athens.
The 4th c. Temple of Zeus lies on the E bank of the Nemea river. It
is built of limestone, on the foundations of the S side of an earlier temple,
probably erected in the archaic period. The later temple, of which three columns
still stand, was completed in the twenties of the 4th c. It is peripteral, with
6 columns across the ends, 12 along the flanks. The columns are extremely attenuated,
with a height 7.34 times their lower diameter. The temple had no opisthodomus.
Inside, the cella had freestanding Corinthian columns along both side walls and
across its W end. These were surmounted by Ionic half-columns applied to piers.
The cella had a reserved area or adyton at its W end, in which stairs led down
into a crypt. The floor of the crypt appears to have been the ground level of
the earlier temple. The only marble used in the temple was the sima, in design
slightly resembling that of the Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea. There are other
stylistic resemblances between the two temples; these are not strong enough, however,
to demand the conclusion that a single architect designed both buildings.
To the E of the temple lies the foundation of an altar 41 m long,
which extends N beyond the limits of the N side of the 4th c. temple. The altar
appears to have been built in two phases; apparently the early altar was centered
on the long axis of the earlier temple and then extended S to go with the later
temple.
Between 33 and 42 m S of the temple is a line of three buildings;
the one farthest E has not been completely excavated. Only foundations of these
structures are preserved. The building farthest W, a large rectangular structure
with two interior columns, may have been a lesche. The two buildings at its E
have wide foundations on their N ends, designed to carry columned facades. The
two buildings may have been treasuries facing the temple.
Farther to the S, about 72 m from the temple, is a building 86 m long,
separated by a space of about 9 m from a rectangular building at its W. The W
structure is a three-roomed bath. The SW corner room still has its basins and
plunge preserved. The room has been roofed and now serves as an archaeological
storeroom for the site. The long building at the E appears to have been divided
into five units which opened onto a roadway running along the S. Each of these
units held facilities for drinking and eating; the building probably served as
a xenon. Both bath and xenon were built in the second half of the 4th c., immediately
after the construction of the later Temple of Zeus. (The xenon was built over
a kiln that made the roof tiles for the temple.) Both xenon and bath were aligned
with the roadway rather than with the temple.
A Christian basilica was erected over the remains of the W end of
the xenon. In form the church is a nave with both N and S side aisles, apse at
the E, and narthex with subsidiary rooms at the W. The baptistery lies against
the N wall of the basilica and has a circular baptismal basin in the center of
the floor.
The roadway at the S of the xenon led to the E slope of the valley
on which today stands the ruin of a Turkish fountain-house. Slightly farther up
the E slope is the water source that once fed it and which is identified as the
Fountain of Adrastos. Here, according to legend, Opheltes, a babe yet unable to
walk, was left by his nurse so that she could draw water for the Seven Warriors
on their way to Thebes. The child was killed by a marauding serpent; the Nemean
Games were then initiated in honor of the dead child. Pausanias (2.15.2-3) mentions
a Temenos of Opheltes in which were altars to the hero, close by which was a tumulus
for Lykourgos, his father. These probably stood close to the fountain. No physical
remains, however, have been identified. A pit filled with votive pottery and terracotta
figurines of the archaic period, apparently dedications to Demeter, was found
on the slope farther to the S.
The stadium for the games was built in a hollow in the E slope of
the Nemean valley, SW of the fountain-house and about 500 m SE of the temple.
This is now partially excavated. The long axis of the stadium is N-S, with the
S end of the track dug into the hillside, the N end built out on an artificial
terrace. The course was lined with water channels and settling basins. Seats for
the spectators appear, however, never to have been built.
C. K. Williams, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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