Location information

Hestiaeotis

  Hestiaeotis or Histiaeotis (Hestiaiotis, Histiaiotis), inhabited by the Hestiaeotae (Hestiaiotai), was the northern part of Thessaly, of which the Peneius may be described in general as its southern boundary. It occupied the passes of Olympus, and extended westward as far as Pindus. (Plin. iv. 1; Strab. ix. pp. 430, 437, 438.) It was the seat of the Perrhaebi (Perrhaibai), a warlike and powerful tribe, who possessed in historical times several towns strongly situated upon the mountains. They are mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 749) as taking part in the Trojan War, and were regarded as genuine Hellenes, being one of the Amphictyonic states (Aeschin. de Fals. Leg. p. 122). The part of Hestiaeotis inhabited by them was frequently called Perrhaebia, but it never formed a separate Thessalian province. The Perrhaebi are said at one time to have extended south of the Peneius as far as the lake Boebeis, but to have been driven out of this district by the mythical race of the Lapithae. (Strab. ix. pp. 439, 440.) It is probable that at an early period the Perrhaebi occupied the whole of Hestiaeotis, but were subsequently driven out of the plain and confined to the mountains by the Thessalian conquerors from Thesprotia. Strabo states that Hestiaeotis, was formerly, according to some authorities, called Doris (ix. p. 437), and Herodotus relates that the Dorians once dwelt in this district at the foot of Mts. Ossa and Olympus (i. 56). It is said to have derived the name of Hestiaeotis from the district of this name in Euboea, the inhabitants of which were transplanted to Thessaly by the Perrhaebi (Strab. ix. p. 437); but this is an uncertified statement, probably founded alone upon similarity of name. Homer mentions another ancient tribe in this part of Thessaly called the Aethices, who are placed by Strabo upon the Thessalian side of Pindus near the sources of the Peneius. They are described as a barbarous tribe, living by plunder and robbery. (Horn. Il. ii. 744; Strab. vii. p. 327, ix. p. 434; Steph. B. s. v. Aithikia.)

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

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD)
• http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...