Listed 100 (total found 649) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "STEREA HELLAS Region GREECE".
ALOPI (Ancient city) OZOLEA LOKRIS
It was situated at the borders of Locris and Phocis, near Delphi (Steph. Byz.).
FTEROLAKKA (Ski centre) PARNASSOS
As of June 2000, Parnassos Ski Centre is owned and managed by the Tourism Development Co., which is based in Athens (Voulis Str. no 7, Postal Code 105 62).
The ski centre is situated at an altitude of 1.600 to 2.300 metres; there is one cabin lift, 6 over-ground and 7 pull up lifts which cater for 20 ski runs that total 14km in length.
The Ski Centre includes a parking lot, a heliport, reception areas, a cafeteria, a bar, a restaurant, a first aid centre, road assistance and a Baby Sitting facility with an experienced child minder.
There are also ski and snowboarding schools, equipment rental stores and stores where one can also purchase ski and snowboarding equipment and clothing.
The text has been cited in February 2005 from the following webpage of Parnassos Ski Centre.
KELLARIA (Ski centre) PARNASSOS
As of June 2000, Parnassos Ski Centre is owned and managed by the Tourism Development Co., which is based in Athens (Voulis Str. no 7, Postal Code 105 62).
The ski centre is situated at an altitude of 1.600 to 2.300 metres; there is one cabin lift, 6 over-ground and 7 pull up lifts which cater for 20 ski runs that total 14km in length.
The Ski Centre includes a parking lot, a heliport, reception areas, a cafeteria, a bar, a restaurant, a first aid centre, road assistance and a Baby Sitting facility with an experienced child minder.
There are also ski and snowboarding schools, equipment rental stores and stores where one can also purchase ski and snowboarding equipment and clothing.
The text has been cited in February 2005 from the following webpage of Parnassos Ski Centre.
KALLIDROMO (Mountain) FTHIOTIDA
The Asopos river flows to the W of the Mt. Kallidromon.
PARNASSOS (Mountain) VIOTIA
To the NW the stream Seno that flows through Gravia To the W the ancient river Hylaethus (the stream Skitsa of today). To the SW the plain of Amfissa. To the S of Xeropotamos and the gap of the Zemenos narrows where the Charocopos stream flows. To the E the plain of Copais. To the N the plain of Kyfissos.
FOKIDA (Prefecture) STEREA HELLAS
VIOTIA (Ancient area) GREECE
A region of central Greece,
north-west of Attica, between
the Gulf of Corinth west
and the Aegean coast facing the Island of Euboea
east.
Boeotia remained split between several cities that shared the same
dialect during classical times. The most important of these cities was Thebes,
the largest and richest of them all, in no small part due to the fertility of
its territory.
The Boeotian cities joined in a confederacy under the leadership of
Thebes toward the later part
of the VIth century B. C. and, from then on, the history of Boeotia is mostly
that of Thebes and of the
ups and downs of this confederacy, at times strong, at times dissolved by neighbouring
victors such as Athens. Another
Boeotian city worthy of mention is Plataea,
wich remained a faithful ally of Athens
even when Thebes and the
rest of Boeotia was against it, until it was finally razed by the Lacedemonians
upon request by their Theban allies at the beginning of the Peloponesian war,
in 427.
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.
TIFA (Ancient city) VIOTIA
. . .At the E end of the bay of Domvraina is the port of Siphai (Aliki) whose fortress, built on a steep rock, is well preserved. At the summit (Mavrovouni) of the coastal chain, on the road from Thespiai to Siphai, is a square 4th c. tower; close by, inside a surrounding wall of partly polygonal masonry are the remains of an archaic temple, possibly dedicated to Artemis Agrotera. . . . From 447 to 423 Thespiai headed two of the 11 Boiotian districts; they included the Sanctuary of the Muses, Eutresis, Leuktra, Kreusis, and three independent cities from 338: Thisbe and the ports of Siphai and Chorsiai.
This extract is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites, Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
AKREFNION (Ancient city) THIVES
Akraiphia (Steph. B. s. v.; Herod. viii. 135), Acraephia (Liv. xxxiii. 29; Plin.
iv. 7. s. 12), Akraiphiai (Strab. p. 410), Akraiphion (Strab. p. 413), Akraiphnion
(Paus. ix. 23. § 5: Ta Akaiphnia, Theopomp. ap. Steph. B. s. v.), Eth. Akraiphiaios,
Akraiphios, Akraiphnios, Akraiphniotes, Akraiphnieus, (Steph. B. s. v.), Akraiphieus
(Bockh, Inscr. 1587: nr. Kardhitza). A town of Boeotia on the slope of Mt. Ptoum
(Ptoon) and on the eastern bank of the lake Copais, which was here called Akraiphis
limne from the town. Acraephia is said to have been founded by Athamas or Acraepheus,
son of Apollo; and according to some writers it was the same as the Homeric Arne.
Here the Thebans took refuge, when their city was destroyed by Alexander. It contained
a temple of Dionysus. (Steph. B. s. v.; Strab. p. 413; Paus. l. c.) At the distance
of 15 stadia from the town, on the right of the road, and upon Mt. Ptoum, was
a celebrated sanctuary and oracle of Apollo Ptous. This oracle was consulted by
Mardonius before the battle of Plataea, and is said to have answered his emissary,
who was a Carian, in the language of the latter. The name of the mountain was
derived by some from Ptous, a son of Apollo and Euxippe, and by others from Leto
having been frightened ptoeo by a boar, when she was about to bring forth in this
place. Both Acraephia and the oracle belonged to Thebes. There was no temple of
the Ptoan Apollo, properly so called; Plutarch (Gryllus, 7) mentions a tholos,
but other writers speak only of a temenos, hieron, Chresterion or manteion. (Steph.
B. s. v.; /Strab. l. c.; Paus. l. c., iv. 32. § 5; Herod. viii. 135; Plut. Pelop.
16.) According to Pausanias the oracle ceased after the capture of Thebes by Alexander;
but the sanctuary still continued to retain its celebrity, as we see from the
great Acraephian inscription, which Bockh places in the time of M. Aurelius and
his son Commodus after A.D. 177. It appears from this inscription that a festival
was celebrated in honour of the Ptoan Apollo every four years. (Bockh, Inscr.
No. 1625.) The ruins of Acraephia are situated at a short distance to the S. of
Kardhitza. The remains of the acropolis are visible on an isolated hill, a spur
of Mt. Ptoum, above the Copaic sea, and at its foot on the N. and W. are traces
of the ancient town. Here stands the church of St. George built out of the stones
of the old town, and containing many fragments of antiquity. In this church Leake
discovered the great inscription alluded to above, which is in honour of one of
the citizens of the place called Epaminondas. The ruins near the fountain, which
is now called Perdikobrysis, probably belong to the sanctuary of the Ptoan Apollo.
The poet Alcaeus (ap. Strab. p. 413) gave the epithet trikaranon to Mt. Ptoum,
and the three summits now bear the names of Palea, Strutzina, and Skroponeri respectively.
These form the central part of Mt. Ptoum, which in a wider signification extended
from the Tenerian plain as far as Larymna and the Euboean sea, separating the
Copaic lake on the E. from the lakes of Hylae and Harma.
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
AKYFAS (Ancient city) PARNASSOS
Pindus (Pindos), one of the towns of the tetrapolis of Doris, situated
upon a river of the same name, which flows into the Cephissus near Lilaea. It
was also called Akuphas, as we learn from Strabo and from Theopompus (ap. Steph.
B. s. v. Akuphas). In one passage Strabo says that Pindus lay above Erineus, and
in another he places it in the district of Oetaea; it is, therefore, probable
that the town stood in the upper part of the valley, near the sources of the river
in the mountain. (Strab. ix. pp. 427, 434; Scymn. Ch. 591; Schol, ad Pind. Pyth.
i. 121; Mel. ii. 3 ; Plin. iv. 7. s. 13; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 92.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ALALKOMENES (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Alalkomenai (Strab., Paus.), Alalkomenion (Steph. B.), Eth. Alalkomenieus, Alalkomenaios,
Alalkomenios. An ancient town in Boeotia, situated at the foot of Mt. Tilphossium,
a little to the E. of Coroneia, and near the lake Copais. It was celebrated for
the worship of Athena, who was said to have been born there, and who is hence
called Alalcomeneis (Alalkomeneis) in Homer. The temple of the goddess stood,
at a little distance from the town, on the Triton, a small stream flowing into
the lake Copais. Beyond the modern village of Sulinari, the site of Alalcomenae,
are some polygonal foundations, apparently those of a single building, which are
probably remains of the peribolus of the temple. Both the town and the temple
were plundered by Sulla, who carried off the statue of the goddess.
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
ALES (Ancient city) FTHIOTIDA
A town situated upon the Opuntian gulf, but belonging to Boeotia in the time of
Strabo and Pausanias. It is described by Pausanias as situated to the right of
the river Platanius, and as the last town of Boeotia. It probably derived its
name from some salt springs which are still found in its neighbourhood. Leake
places it on the cape which projects to the northward beyond Malesina and Proskyna,
where some ruins are said to exist at a church of St. John Theologus.
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
ALIARTOS (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Haliartos: Eth. Haliartios. A town of Boeotia, and one of the cities
of the confederation, was situated on the southern side of the lake Copais in
a pass between the mountain and the lake. (Strab. ix. p. 411.) It is mentioned
by Homer, who gives it the epithet poieeis in consequence of its well-watered
meadows. (Hom. Il. ii. 503, Hymn. in Apoll. 243.) In the invasion of Greece by
Xerxes (B.C. 484) it was the only town that remained true to the cause of Greece,
and was in consequence destroyed by the Persians. (Paus. ix. 32. § 5.) It was,
however, soon rebuilt, and in the Peloponnesian War appears as one of the chief
cities of Boeotia. (Thuc. iv. 95.) It is chiefly memorable in history on account
of the battle fought under its walls between Lysander and the Thebans, in which
the former was slain, B.C. 395. (Xen. Hell. iii. 5. 17, seq.; Diod. xiv. 81; Plut.
Lys. 28, 29; Paus. iii. 5. §3, ix. 32. § 5). In B.C. 171 Haliartus was destroyed
a second time. Having espoused the cause of Perseus, it was taken by the Roman
praetor Lucretius, who sold the inhabitants as slaves, carried off its statues,
paintings, and other works of art, and razed it to the ground. Its territory was
afterwards given to the Athenians, and it never recovered its former prosperity.
(Polyb. xxx. 18; Liv. xlii. 63; Strab. ix. p. 411.) Strabo speaks of it as no
longer in existence in his time, and Pausanias, in his account of the place, mentions
only a heroum of Lysander, and some ruined temples which had been burnt by the
Persians and had been purposely left in that state. (Paus. ix. 33. § § 1,3, x.
35. §2.).
The Haliartia, or territory of Haliartus, was a very fertile plain,
watered by numerous streams flowing into the lake Copais, which in this part was
hence called the Haliartian marsh. (Strab. ix. pp. 407, 411.) These streams, which
bore the names of Ocalea, Lophis, Hoplites, Permessus, and Olmeius, have been
spoken of elselwhere. The territory of Haliartus extended westward to Mt. Tilphossium,
since Pausanias says that the Haliartians had a sanctuary of the goddesses called
Praxidicae situated near this mountain. (Paus. ix. 33. § 3.) The towns Peteon,
Medeon, Ocalea, and Onchestus were situated in the territory of Haliartus.
The remains of Haliartus are situated upon a hill about a mile from
the village of Mazi, on the road from Thebes to Lebadeia, and at the distance
of about 15 miles from either place. The hill of Haliartus is. not more than 50
feet above the lake. Leake says, that towards the lake the hill of Haliartus terminates
in rocky cliffs, but on the other sides has a gradual acclivity. Some remains
of the walls of the Acropolis, chiefly of polygonal masonry, are found on the
summit of the hill; and there are several sepulchral crypts in the cliffs, below
which, to the north, issues a copious source of water, flowing to the marsh, like
all the other streams near the site of Haliartus. Although the walls of the exterior
town are scarcely anywhere traceable, its extent is naturally marked to the east
and west by two small rivers, of which that to the west issues from the foot of
the hill of Mazi; the eastern, called the Kefalari, has its origin in Mount Helicon.
Near the left bank of this stream, at a distance of 500 yards from the Acropolis,
are a ruined mosque and two ruined churches, on the site of a village which, though
long since abandoned, is shown by these remains to have been once inhabited by
both Greeks and Turks. Here are many fragments of architecture and of inscribed
stones, collected formerly from the ruins of Haliartus. From this spot there is
a distance of about three-quarters of a mile to a tumulus westward of the Acropolis,
where are several sarcophagi and ancient foundations near some sources of waters,
marking probably the site. of the western entrance of the city.
The stream which flowed on the western side of the city is the one
called Hoplites by Plutarch, where Lysander fell, and is apparently the same as
the Lophis of Pausanias. (Plut. Lys. 29; Paus. ix. 33. § 4.) The stream on the
eastern side, called Kefalari, is formed by the union of two rivulets, which appear
to be the Permessus and Olmeius, which are described by Strabo as flowing from
Helicon, and after their union entering the. lake Copais near Haliartus. (Strab.
ix. pp. 407, 411.) The tumulus, of which Leake speaks, perhaps covers those who
were killed along with Lysander, since it was near this spot that the battle was
fought.
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
ALOPI (Ancient city) LOKRIDA
Eth. Alopites, Alopeus. A town of the Opuntian Locrians on the coast between Daphnus
and Cynus. Its ruins have been discovered by Gell on an insulated hill near the
shore.
ALOPI (Ancient city) FTHIOTIDA
Eth. Alopites, Alopeus. A town of Phthiotis in Thessaly, placed by Stephanus between
Larissa Cremaste and Echinus. There was a dispute among the ancient critics whether
this town was the same as the Alope in Homer.
ALPINI (Ancient city) FTHIOTIDA
Alpeni (Alpenoi, Herod. vii. 176; Alpenos polis, Herod. vii. 216: Eth. Alpenos),
a town of the Epicnemidii Locri at the E. entrance of the pass of Thermopylae.
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
AMFIKLIA (Ancient city) LOKRIDA
Amphicaea or Amphicleia (Amphikaia, Herod., Steph. B.; Amphikleia,
Paus.: Eth. Amphikaieus, Amphikleieus, a town in the N. of Phocis, distant 60
stadia from Lilaea, and 15 stadia from Tithronium. It was destroyed by the army
of Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. Although Herodotus calls it Amphicaea, following
the most ancient traditions, the Amphictyons gave it the name of Amphicleia in
their decree respecting rebuilding the town. It also bore for some time the name
of Ophiteia (Ophiteia), in consequence of a legend, which Pausanias relates. The
place was celebrated in the time of Pausanias for the worship of Dionysus, to
which an inscription refers, found at Dhadhi, the site of the ancient town. (Herod.
viii. 33; Paus. x. 3. § 2, x. 33. § 9, seq.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii.
pp. 75, 86.)
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
AMFISSA (Ancient city) PARNASSOS
Amphissaios, Amphisseus: Amphissensis: Adj. Amphissius: Salona. The chief town
of the Locri Ozolae, situated in a pass at the head of the Crissaean plain, and
surrounded by mountains, from which circumstance it is said to have derived its
name. (Steph. B. s. v.) Pausanias (x. 38. § 4) places it at the distance of 120
stadia from Delphi, and Aeschines (in Ctesiph. p. 71) at 60 stadia: the latter
statement is the correct one, since we learn from modern travellers that the real
distance between the two towns is 7 miles. According to tradition, Amphissa was
called after a nymph of this name, the daughter of Macar and granddaughter of
Aeolus, who was beloved by Apollo. (Paus. l. c.) On the invasion of Greece by
Xerxes, many of the Locrians removed to Amphissa. (Herod. viii. 32.) At a later
period the Amphictyons declared war against the town, because its inhabitants
had dared to cultivate the Crissaean plain, which was sacred to the god, and had
molested the pilgrims who had come to consult the oracle at Delphi. The decree
by which war was declared against the Amphissians was moved by Aeschines, the
Athenian Pylagoras, at the Amphictyonic Council. The Amphictyons entrusted the
conduct of the war to Philip of Macedon, who took Amphissa, and razed it to the
ground, B.C. 338. (Aesch. in Ctesiph. p. 71, seq.; Strab. p. 419.) The city, however,
was afterwards rebuilt, and was sufficiently populous in B.C. 279 to supply 400
hoplites in the war against Brennus. (Paus. x. 23. § 1.) It was besieged by the
Romans in B.C. 190, when the inhabitants took refuge in the citadel, which was
deemed impregnable. (Liv. xxxvii. 5, 6.) When Augustus founded Nicopolis after
the battle of Actium, a great many Aetolians, to escape being removed to the new
city, took up their abode in Amphissa, which was thus reckoned an Aetolian city
in the time of Pausanias (x. 38. § 4). This writer describes it as a flourishing
place, and well adorned with public buildings. It occupied the site of the modern
Salona, where the walls of the ancient acropolis are almost the only remains of
the ancient city. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 588, seq.)
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
AMVROSSOS (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Ambrysus or Amphrysus (Ambrusos, Strab.; Ambrossos, Paus.; Amphrusos,
Steph. B. s.v.: Eth. Ambrusios, Ambruseus, and in Inscr. Ambrosseus Dhistomo).
a town of Phocis, was situated 60 stadia from Stiris, NE. of Anticyra, at the
southern foot of Mt. Cirphis (not at the foot of Parnassus, as Pausanias states),
and in a fertile valley, producing abundance of wine and the coccus, or kermes
berry, used to dye scarlet. It was destroyed by order of the Amphictyons, but
was rebuilt and fortified by the Thebans with a double wall, in their war against
Philip. Its fortifications were considered by Pausanias the strongest in Greece,
next to those of Messene. (Paus. x. 3. § 2, x. 36. § 1, seq., iv. 31. § 5; Strab.
p. 423.) It was taken by the Romans in the Macedonian war, B.C. 198. (Liv. xxxii.
18.) The site of Ambrysus is fixed at the modern village of Dhistomo, by an inscription
which Chandler found at the latter place. The remains of the ancient city are
few and inconsiderable. (Dodwell, Tour through Greece, vol. i. p. 196, seq.; Leake,
Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 535, 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
ANEMORIA (Ancient city) FOKIDA
subsequently Anemoleia (Aemoleia: Eth. Anemoreus). A town of Phocis
mentioned by Homer, was situated on a height on the borders of Phocis and Delphi,
and is said to have derived its name from the gusts of wind which blew on the
place from the tops of Mt. Parnassus.
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
ANTIKYRA (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Anticyra, Antikirrha, Dicaearch., Strab., perhaps the most ancient form; next
Antikurrha, Eustath. ad Il. ii. 520; Ptol. iii. 15. § 4; and lastly Antikura,
which the Latin writers use: Eth. Anti-kureus, Antikuraios.
Aspra Spitia. A town in Phocis, situated on a peninsula (which Pliny
and A. Gellius erroneously call an island), on a bay (Sinus Anticyranus) of the
Corinthian gulf. It owed its importance to the excellence of its harbour on this
sheltered gulf, and to its convenient situation for communications with the interior.
(Dicaearch. 77; Strab. p. 418; Plin. xxv. 5. s. 21; Gell. xvii. 13; Liv. xxxii.
18; Paus. x. 36. § 5, seq.) It is said to have been originally called Cyparissus,
a name which Homer mentions (Il. ii. 519; Paus. l. c.) Like the other towns of
Phocis it was destroyed by Philip of Macedon at the close of the Sacred War (Paus.
x. 3. § 1, x. 36. § 6); but it soon recovered from its ruins. It was taken by
the consul T. Flamininus in the war with Philip B.C. 198, on account of its convenient
situation for military purposes (Liv. l. c.) It continued to be a place of importance
in the time both of Strabo and of Pausanias, the latter of whom has described
some of its public buildings. Anticyra was chiefly celebrated for the production
and preparation of the best hellebore in Greece, the chief remedy in antiquity
for madness. Many persons came to reside at Anticyra for the sake of a more perfect
cure. (Strab. l. c.) Hence the proverb Antikirrhas se dei, and Naviget Anticyram,
when a person acted foolishly. (Hor. Sat. ii. 3. 83, 166; comp. Ov. e Pont. iv.
3 53; Pers. iv. 16; Juv. xiii. 97.) The hellebore grew in great quantities around
the town: Pausanias mentions two kinds, of which the root of the black was used
as a cathartic, and that of the white as an emetic. (Strab. l. c.; Paus. x. 36.
§ 7.) There are very few ancient remains at Aspra Spitia, but Leake discovered
here an inscription containing the name of Anticyra.
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
ANTRON (Ancient city) FTHIOTIDA
Antron (Hom. Strab.), Antrones (Dem.): Eth. Antronios. A town of Thessaly in the
district Phthiotis, at the entrance of the Maliac gulf, and opposite Oreus in
Euboea. It is mentioned in the Iliad (ii. 697) as one of the cities of Protesilaus,
and also in the Homeric hymn to Demeter (489) as under the protection of that
goddess. It was purchased by Philip of Macedon, and was taken by the Romans in
their war with Perseus. (Dem. Phil. iv. p. 133, Reiske; Liv. xlii. 42, 67.) It
probably owed its long existence to the composition of its rocks, which furnished
some of the best millstones in Greece; hence the epithet of petreeis given to
it in the hymn to Demeter. Off Antron was a sunken rock (herma nphalon) called
the Onos Antronos, or mill-stone of Antron. (Strab. p. 435; Steph. B. s. v.; Hesych.
s. v. Mnle; Eustath. in Il. l. c.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 349.)
This extract 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
ARMA (Ancient city) TANAGRA
Harma (Harma: Eth. Harmateus). An ancient town of Boeotia, mentioned
by Homer, which is said to have been so called, either because the chariot of
Adrastus broke down here, or because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared in
the earth at this place. (Didym. and Eustath. ad Il. l. c.; Strab. ix. p. 404;
Paus. ix. 19. § 4, comp. i. 34. § 2; Steph. B. s. v.) Strabo describes it as a
deserted village in the territory of Tanagra near Mycalessus; and Pausanias speaks
of the ruins of Harma and Mycalessus as situated on the road from Thebes to Chalcis.
Aelian (V. H. iii. 45) speaks of a lake called Harma, which is probably the one
now called Moritzi or Paralimni, to the east of Hylica. The exact site of Harma
is uncertain. It is supposed by Leake to have occupied the important pass on the
road from Thebes to Chalcis, leading into the maritime plain. (Leake, Northern
Greece, vol. ii. p. 251.) is said to have been so called, either because the chariot
of Adrastus broke down here, or because the chariot of Amphiaraus disappeared
in the earth at this place. (Didym. and Eustath. ad Il. l. c.; Strab. ix. p. 404;
Paus. ix. 19. § 4, comp. i. 34. § 2; Steph. B. s. v.) Strabo describes it as a
deserted village in the territory of Tanagra near Mycalessus; and Pausanias speaks
of the ruins of Harma and Mycalessus as situated on the road from Thebes to Chalcis.
Aelian (V. H. iii. 45) speaks of a lake called Harma, which is probably the one
now called Moritzi or Paralimni, to the east of Hylica. The exact site of Harma
is uncertain. It is supposed by Leake to have occupied the important pass on the
road from Thebes to Chalcis, leading into the maritime plain.
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ARNI (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Arne. A town of Boeotia, mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 507), and probably founded by the Boeotians after their expulsion from Thessaly. Some of the ancients identified this Boeotian Arne with Chaeroneia (Paus. ix. 40. § 5), others with Acraephium (Strab. ix. p. 413); and others again supposed that it had been swallowed up by the waters of the lake Copais. (Strab. i. p. 59, ix. p. 413.)
ASKRA (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Ascra (Askra: Eth. Askraios). A town of Boeotia on Mount Helicon, and in the
territory of Thespiae, from which it was 40 stadia distant. (Strab. ix. p. 409.)
It is celebrated as the residence of Hesiod, whose father settled here after leaving
Cyme in Aeolis. Hesiod complains of it as a disagreeable residence both in summer
and winter. (Hes. Op. 638, seq.); and Eudoxus found still more fault with it.
(Strab. ix. p. 413.) But other writers speak of it as abounding in corn (poluleios,
Paus. ix. 38. § 4), and in wine. (Zenod. ap. Strab. p. 413.) According to the
poet Hegesinus, who is quoted by Pausanias, Ascra was founded by Ephialtes and
Otus, the sons of Aloeus. In the time of Pausanias a single tower was all that
remained of the town. (Paus. ix. 29. § § 1, 2.) The remains of Ascra are found
on the summit of a high conical hill, or rather rock, which is connected to the
NW. with Mount Zagara, and more to the westward with the proper Helicon. The distance
of these ruins from Lefka corresponds exactly to the 40 stades which Strabo places
between Thespiae and Ascra; and it is further remarkable, that a single tower
is the only portion of the ruins conspicuously preserved, just as Pausanias describes
Ascra in his time, though there are also some vestiges of the walls surrounding
the summit of the hill, and inclosing a space of no great extent. The place is
now called Pyrgaki from the tower, which is formed of equal and regular layers
of masonry, and is uncommonly large. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 491.)
The Roman poets frequently use the adjective Ascraeus in the sense of Hesiodic.
Hence we find Ascraeum carmen (Virg. Georg. ii. 176), and similar phrases.
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ASPLIDON (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Eth. Aspledonios. Also called Spledon, an ancient city of Boeotia,
mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 510), distant 20 stadia from Orchomenus. The river
Melas flowed between the two cities. (Strab. ix. p. 416; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12; Steph.
B. s. v.; Etym. M. s. v.) Strabo says (l. c.) that it was subsequently called
Eudeilus (Eudeielos), from its sunny situation; but Pausanias (ix. 38. § 9) relates
that it was abandoned in his time from a want of water. The town is said to have
derived its name from Aspledon, a son of Poseidon and the nymph Mideia. The site
of Aspledon is uncertain. Leake places it at Tzamali (Northern Greece, vol. ii.),
but Forchhammer (Hellenica), with more probability, at Avro-Kastro.
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ASSOPOS (River) VIOTIA
Asopus (Asopos). A river of Boeotia, flowing through the southern
part of this country, in an easterly direction, and falling into the Euripus
in the territory of Attica, near Oropus. It is formed by the confluence of several
small streams, one rising near Thespiae, and the others in Mount Cithaeron.
Its principal sources are at a spot just under the village of Kriakuki, where
are two trees, a well, and several, springs. In the upper part of its course
it forms the boundary between the territories of Thebes and Plataeae, flowing
through a plain called Parasopia. (Strab. ix. p. 409.) It then forces its way
through a rocky ravine of no great length into the plain of Tanagra, after flowing
through which it again traverses a rocky defile, and enters the maritime plain
of Oropus. In the upper part of its course the river is now called Vuriemi,
in the lower Vuriendi. Homer describes it as deep grown with rushes, and grassy
(bathuchoinon, lechepoien, Il. iv. 383). It is frequently dry in summer, but
after heavy rains was not easy to ford. (Thuc. ii. 5.) It was on the banks of
the Asopus that the memorable battle of Plataeae was fought, B.C. 479. (Herod.
vi. 108, ix. 51; Strab. ix. p. 408, seq.; Paus. v. 14. § 3 ; Ov. Am. iii. 6
33 ; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 326, 424, 442, 448.)
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ATALANTI (Island) FTHIOTIDA
Atalanta (Atalante: Eth. Atalantaios.) (Talandonisi), a small island
off Locris, in the Opuntian gulf, said to have been torn asunder from the mainland
by an earthquake. In the first year of the Peloponnesian war it was fortified
by the Athenians for the purpose of checking the Locrians in their attacks upon
Euboea. In the sixth year of the war a part of the Athenian works was destroyed
by a great inundation of the sea. (Strab. i. p. 61, ix. pp. 395, 425; Thuc. ii.
32, iii. 89; Diod. xii. 44, 59; Paus. x. 20. § 3; Liv. xxxv. 37; Plin. ii. 88,
iv. 12; Sen. Q. N. vi. 24; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p.
172.)
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AVES (Ancient city) ATALANTI
Abae (Abai. Eth. Abaios: near Exarkho, Ru.), an ancient town of Phocis,
near the frontiers of the Opuntian Locrians, said to have been built by the Argive
Abas, son of Lynceus and. Hypermnestra, and grandson of Danaus. Near the town
and on the road towards Hyampolis was an ancient temple and oracle of Apollo,
who hence derived the surname of Abaeus. So celebrated was this oracle, that it
was consulted both by Croesus and by Mardonius. Before the Persian invasion the
temple was richly adorned with treasuries and votive offerings. It was twice destroyed
by fire; the first time by the Persians in their march through Phocis (B.C. 480),
and a second time by the Boeotians in the Sacred or Phocian war (B.C. 346). Hadrian
caused a smaller temple to be built near the ruins of the former one. In the new
temple there were three ancient statues in brass of Apollo, Leto, and Artemis,
which had been dedicated by the Abaei, and had perhaps been saved from the former
temple. The ancient agora and the ancient theatre still existed in the town in
the time of Pausanias. According to the statement; of Aristotle, as preserved
by Strabo, Thracians from the Phocian town of Abae emigrated to Euboea, and gave
to the inhabitants the name of Abantes. The ruins of Abae are on a peaked hill
to the W. of Exarkho. There are now no remains on the summit of the peak; but
the walls and some of the gates may still be traced on the SW. side. There are
also remains of the walls, which formed the inclosure of the temple. (Paus. x.
35; Herod. i. 46, viii. 134, 33; Diod. xvi. 530; Strab. pp. 423, 445; Steph. Byz.
s. v.; Gell, Itinerary, p. 226; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 163, seq.)
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AVGIES (Ancient city) LOKRIDA
Augeiae (Augeiai: Etth. Augeates). A town of Locris Epicnemidia, near Scarpheia, mentioned by Homer, but which had disappeared in the time of Strabo. (Hom. Il. ii. 532; Strab. ix. p. 426; Steph. B. s. v.)
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)
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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.
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CHARADRA (Ancient city) PARNASSOS
Eth. Charadraios. A city of Phocis, and one of the Phocian towns destroyed
by Xerxes, is described by Pausanias as situated 20 stadia from Lilaea, upon a
lofty and precipitous rock. He further states that the inhabitants suffered from
a scarcity of water, which they obtained from the torrent Charadrus, a tributary
of the Cephissus, distant three stadia from the town. Dodwell and Gell place Charadra
at Mariolates, at the foot of Parnassus, but Leake places it at Suvala, for two
reasons:--1. Because the distance of 20 stadia is nearly that of Suvala from Paleokastro,
the site of Lilaea, whereas Mariolates is more distant; and 2. The torrent at
the latter does not join the Cephissus.
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CHERONIA (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Eth. Chaironeus, fem. Chaironis: Adj. Chaironikos: Kapurna. A town
of Boeotia, situated near the Cephissus, upon the borders of Phocis. The town
itself does not appear to have been of much importance; but it has obtained great
celebrity in consequence of the battles which were fought in its neighbourhood.
Its position naturally rendered it the scene of military operations, since it
stood in a small plain, which commanded the entrance from Phocis into Boeotia,
and which accordingly would be occupied by an army desirous of protecting Boeotia
from an invading force. Chaeroneia was situated at the head of the plain, shut
in by a high projecting rock, which formed, in ancient times, the citadel of the
town, and was called Petrachus or Petrochus (Petrachos, Paus. ix. 41. § 6 ; Petrochos,
Plut. Sull. 17). The town lay at the foot of the hill, and is said to have derived
its name from Chaeron, who, according to the statement of Plutarch, built it towards
the east, whereas it had previously faced the west. (Paus. ix. 40. § 5; Steph.
B. s. v.; Plut. de Curiosit. 1.)
Chaeroneia is not mentioned by Homer; but by some of the ancient writers
it was supposed to be the same town as the Boeotian Arne. (Hom. Il. ii. 507.)
In the historical period it was dependent upon Orchomenus (Thuc. iv. 67). It is
first mentioned in B.C. 447, when an important battle was fought near the town,
in consequence of which the Athenians lost the supremacy which they had exercised
for a short period in Boeotia. Chaeroneia had previously been in the hands of
the party favourable to the Athenians; but having been seized by the opposite
party, Tolmides, at the head of a small Athenian force, marched against it. He
succeeded in taking the town, but was shortly afterwards defeated by the Boeotians
in the neighbourhood, and fell in the battle. (Thuc. i. 113; Diod. xii. 6.) In
B.C. 424 a plot was formed to betray the town to the Athenians, but the project
was betrayed, and the place was occupied by a strong Boeotian force. (Thuc. iv.
76, 89.) In the Phocian war Chaeroneia was unsuccessfully besieged by Onomarchus,
the Phocian leader, but it was afterwards taken by his son Phalaecus. (Diod. xvi.
33, 39.)
Another and much more celebrated battle was fought at Chaeroneia on
the 7th of August, B.C. 338, in which Philip, by defeating the united forces of
the Athenians and Boeotians, crushed the liberties of Greece. Of the details of
this battle we have no account, but an interesting memorial of it still remains.
We learn from Pausanias (ix. 40. § 10) and Strabo (ix. p. 414) that the sepulchre
of the Thebans who fell in the battle, was near Chaeroneia; and the former writer
states that this sepulchre was surmounted by a lion, as an emblem of the spirit
of the Thebans. The site of the monument is marked by a tumulus about a mile,
or a little more, from the khan of Kapurna, on the right side of the road towards
Orchomenus; but when the spot was visited by Leake, Dodwell and Gell, the lion
had completely disappeared. A few years ago, however, the mound of earth was excavated,
and a colossal lion discovered, deeply imbedded in its interior. This noble piece
of sculpture, though now strewed in detached masses about the sides and interior
of the excavation, may still be said to exist nearly in its original integrity.
It is evident, from the appearance of the fragments, that it was composed from
the first of more than one block, although not certainly of so many as its remains
now exhibit... This lion may, upon the whole, be pronounced the most interesting
sepulchral monument in Greece. It is the only one dating from the better days
of Hellas--with the exception perhaps of the tumulus of Marathon--the identity
of which is beyond dispute.
The third great battle fought at Chaeroneia was the one in which Sulla
defeated the generals of Mithridates in B.C. 86. Of this engagement a long account
is given by Plutarch, probably taken almost verbatim from the commentaries of
Sulla. (Plut. Sull. 17, seq,) The narrative of Plutarch is illustrated by Col.
Leake with his usual accuracy and sagacity. Mount Thurium, called in the time
of Plutarch, Orthophagium, the summit of which was seized by Sulla, is supposed
by Leake to be the highest point of the hills behind Chaeroneia; and the torrent
Morius, below Mount Thurium, is probably the rivulet which joins the left bank
of the Cephissus, and which separates Mt. Hedylium from Mt. Acontium. Chaeroneia
continued to exist under the Roman empire, and is memorable at that period as
the birthplace of Plutarch, who spent the later years of his life in his native
town. In the time of Pausanias Chaeroneia was noted for the manufacture of perfumed
oils, extracted from flowers, which were used as a remedy against pain. (Paus.
ix. 41. § 6.)
Chaeroneia stood upon the site of the modern village of Kapurna. There
are not many remains of the ancient city upon the plain; but there are some ruins
of the citadel upon the projecting rock already described; and on the face of
this rock, fronting the plain, are traces of the ancient theatre. In the church
of the Panaghia, in the village, are several remains of ancient art, and inscriptions.
From the latter we learn that Serapis was worshipped in the town. Pausanias does
not mention the temple of this deity; but he states that the principal object
of veneration in his time was the sceptre of Zeus, once borne by Agamemnon, and
which was considered to be the undoubted work of the god Hephaestus. At the foot
of the theatre there rises a small torrent, which flows into the Cephissus. It
was called in ancient times Haemon or Thermodon, and its water was dyed by the
blood of the Thebans and Boeotians in their memorable defeat by Philip. (Plut.
Dem. 19)
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CHIN (Ancient city) FTHIOTIDA
Chen (Steph. B. s. v.), Chenai (Paus., Diod.): Eth. Cheneus, Chenieus.
The birthplace of Myson, whom Plato and others mention as one of the Seven Sages
of Greece. (Plat. Protag. p. 343, a.) There was a dispute among the ancients respecting
this place, some placing it in Thessaly at the foot of Mt. Oeta, and others in
Laconia (Diog. Laert. i. 106); but the balance of authorities is in favour of
the former of these two situations. Pausanias (x. 24. § 1) calls it a village
on Mt. Oeta; and Diodorus (Excerpt. de Virt. et Vit. p. 235) describes Myson as
a Malian, who dwelt in the village of Chenae. Stephanus B., on the other hand,
places Chen in Laconia. It has been conjectured that this confusion may have arisen
from the colony which the Lacedaemonians founded in the district of Oeta. (Thuc.
iii. 92.)
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DAFNOUS (Ancient city) LOKRIDA
Daphnous: Eth. Daphnountios, Daphnousios. A city on the Euboean sea, originally
belonging to Phocis, which thus extended from the Corinthian gulf to the Euboean
sea. Its narrow territory separated the Locri Epicnemidii from the Locri Opuntii;
but it was afterwards assigned to the Opuntii. The town was in ruins in the time
of Strabo, who fixes its site by describing it as distant 20 stadia from Cynus
and 120 from Elateia, and as having a harbour.
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DAVLIS (Ancient city) VIOTIA
At a later time Daulia, (Strab. ix. p. 423) and Daulion, (Polyb. iv.
25): Eth. Daulios, (Herod. viii. 35); Daulieus, (Aesch. Choeph. 6740): Dhavlia.
A very ancient town of Phocis, near the frontiers of Boeotia, and on the road
from Orchomenus and Chaeroneia to Delphi. It is said to have derived its name
from the woody character of the district, since daulos was used by the inhabitants
instead of dalos, while others sought for the origin of the name in the mythical
nymph Daulis, a daughter of Cephissus. (Strab. ix. p. 423; Paus. x. 4. § 7.) Daulis
is mentioned by Homer as a Phocian town along with Crissa and Panopeus. (Il. ii.
520.) It is celebrated in mythology as the residence of the Thracian king, Tereus,
who married Procne, the daughter of Pandion, king of Athens, and as the scene
of those horrible deeds in consequence of which Procne was changed into a swallow,
and her sister Philomele into a nightingale. Hence the latter was called by the
poets the Daulian bird. (Thuc. ii. 29; Paus. l. c.) The woody district round the
town is still a favourite haunt of the nightingale.
Daulis was destroyed by the Persians in the invasion of Xerxes. (Herod.
viii. 35.) It was destroyed a second time by Philip, at the end of the Sacred
War (Paus. x 3. § 1); but it was subsequently rebuilt, and is mentioned in later
times as a town almost impregnable in consequence of its situation upon a lofty
hill ( Daulis, quia in tumulo excelso sita est, nec scalis nec operibus capi poterat,
Liv. xxxii. 18). Pausanias relates (x. 4. § 7) that the inhabitants of Daulis
were few in number, but surpassed all the other Phocians in stature and strength.
The only building in the town mentioned by him was a temple of Athena; but in
the neighbourhood he speaks of a district called Tronis, in which was the chapel
of a hero called the Archegetes.
The name of Daulis is still preserved in that of the modern village
of Dhavlia, situated in a narrow valley, through which flows a branch of the Cephissus,
called Platania. The walls of the acropolis may be traced on the summit of the
height rising opposite the modern village, and connected with the foot of Parnassus
by a narrow isthmus. Within the enclosure is an ancient church of St. Theodore.
Here an inscription has been found in which mention is made of the worship of
Athena Polias and of Serapis. Before the door of the church in the modern village
is another ancient inscription, of considerable length, recording an arbitration
made at Chaeroneia in the reign of Hadrian, concerning certain property in Daulis.
It is given by Leake, and in Bockh's collection (No. 1732). In this inscription
we read of a road leading to the Archagetes, which is evidently the chapel of
the hero spoken of by Pausanias. One of the plots of land in the inscription is
called Platanus, from which probably comes the name of the river Platania.
On one of the heights above Dhavlia lies the monastery of Jerusalem.
The road leading to it from the village, and from it to the upper heights of Parnassus,
is no doubt the same as the road from Daulis to Parnassus correctly described
by Pausanias as longer than the one from Delphi, but less difficult.
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DELFI (Ancient sanctuary) FOKIDA
Delphoi: Eth. Delphos, fem. Delphis, Delphe; Adj. Delphikos (Kastri).
A town in Phocis, and one of the most celebrated places in the Hellenic world
in consequence of its oracle of Apollo.
I. SITUATION. The situation of Delphi is one of the most striking and sublime
in all Greece. It lies in the narrow vale of the Pleistus, which is shut in on
one side by Mount Parnassus, and on the other by Mount Cirphis. At the foot of
Parnassus is a lofty wall of rocks, called Phaedriades in antiquity, and rising
2000 feet above the level of the sea. This rocky barrier faces the south, and
from its extremity two lower ridges descend towards the Pleistus. The rocky ground
between these two ridges also slopes down towards the river, and in about the
middle of the semicircular recess thus formed lay the town of Delphi, occupying
the central area of a great natural theatre, to which its site is compared by
the ancient writers. (Hoi Delphoi, petrodes chorion, theatroeides, kata kornphen
echon to manteion kai ten polin, Strab. ix. p. 418; media saxi rupes in formam
theatri recessit, Justin, xxiv. 6.) The northern barrier of the Phaedriades is
cleft towards the middle into two stupendous cliffs, between which issues the
far-famed Castalian spring, which flows down the hill into the Pleistus. The ancient
town lay on both sides of the stream, but the greater part of it on the left or
western bank, on which stands the modern village of Kastri. Above the town was
the sanctuary of the god, immediately under the Phaedriades.
Delphi was, so to speak, shut in on all sides from the rest of the
world, and could not have been seen by any of the numerous pilgrims who visited
it, till they had crossed one of its rocky barriers, when all its glories burst
suddenly upon their view. On its northern side were the Phaedriades; on its eastern
and western sides, the two lower ridges projecting from the Phaedriades towards
the Pleistus; while on the other side of the river towards the south rose the
range of Mt. Cirphis. Three roads led to Delphi; one from Boeotia,- the celebrated
Schiste,- which passed through the eastern of two ridges mentioned above; and
two others from the west, crossing the only two openings in the western ridge.
Of these two the more northerly led from Amphissa, and the more southerly from
Crissa, the modern Chryso, which was the one taken by the pilgrims coming from
Cirrha. Traces of the ancient carriage-road from Crissa to Delphi may still be
seen. Delphi was fortified by nature, on the north, east, and west, by the Phaedriades
and the two projecting ridges: it was only undefended on the south. On this side
it was first fortified by a line of walls by Philomelus, who also erected two
fortresses to command its two approaches from the west. The circuit of the city
was only 16 stadia, or a little more than two miles. (Strab. l. c.) A topographical
description of the city is given below.
The Delphian valley, or that part of the vale of the Pleistus lying
at the foot of the town, is mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (284), under
the name of koile bessa; and is called by Pindar koilopedon napos (Pyth. v. 50),
and Apollonia napa (Pyth. vi. 10), and by Strabo also nape (Strab. l. c.).
II. HISTORY. The town of Delphi owes its origin as well as its importance
to the oracle of Apollo. According to some traditions, it had belonged to other
divinities before it passed into the hands of Apollo. In Aeschylus it is represented
as held in succession by Gaia, Themis, and the Titanian Phoebe, the last of whom
gave it to Phoebus, when he came from Delos. (Eum. 1, seq.) Pausanias says that
it was originally the joint oracle of Poseidon and Ge; that Ge gave her share
to Themis, and Themis to Apollo; and that the latter obtained from Poseidon the
other half by giving him in exchange the island of Calaureia. (Paus. x. 5.. §
6, seq.) The proper name of the oracle was Pytho (Putho); and in Homer that of
Delphi, which was subsequently the name of the town, does not occur. In the Iliad
the temple of Phoebus Apollo at the rocky Pytho is already filled with treasures
(Il. ix. 405); and in the catalogue of the ships the inhabitants of Pytho are
mentioned in the same line with those of Cyparissus (Il. ix. 405). In the Odyssey
Agamemnon consults the oracle at Pytho (Od. viii. 80). It thus appears in the
most ancient times as a sacred spot; but the legend of its foundation is first
related in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. In this poem Apollo, seeking for a spot
where he may found an oracle, comes at last, to Crissa under Mount Parnassus.
He is charmed with the solitude and sublimity of the place, and forthwith commences
the erection of a temple, which is finished under the superintendence of the two
brothers Trophonius and Agamedes. He then slays the huge serpent which infested
the place; and from the monster rotting (from puthein) in the ground, the temple
was called Pytho, and the god the Pythian:
ex ou nun Putho kiklesetai: hoi de anakta
Puthion kaleousin eponumon, houneka keithi
thutou puse pelor menos oxeos eelioio.
(Hymn. in Apoll. 372.)
The temple now wanted priests; and the god, beholding a Cretan ship
sailing from Cnossus, metamorphosed himself into a dolphin, and brought the vessel
into the Crissaean gulf. Here the Cretans landed, and, conducted by the god, founded
the town of Crissa, and became the priests of the temple. He taught them to worship
him under the name of Apollo Delphinius, because he had met them in the form of
a dolphin (Delphis). Muller (Dorians, vol. i. p. 238), and many other writers,
suppose that this temple was really founded by colonists from Crete, and that
the very name Crissa points to a Cretan origin. We, however, are disposed to think
that in this, as in so many other cases, the legend has sprung out of an attempt
to explain the names; and that it was simply the names of Crissa and Delphi which
suggested the story of the Cretan colonists and of the metamorphosis of the god
into the dolphin. It is useless to speculate as to what is the real origin of
the names of Crissa and Pytho. Many writers derive the latter from puthesthai,
to inquire, in spite of the difference of the quantity (Putho, phuthesthai); but
the similarity of sound between the two words is probably only accidental. Whatever
may be thought of the origin of the places, the historical fact worthy of notice
is, that Crissa had at first the superintendence of the sanctuary of Pytho, and
continued to claim jurisdiction over it even after the Amphictyonic Council held
its spring meeting at the temple, and began to regard itself as the guardian of
the place. A town gradually sprung up round the sanctuary, the inhabitants of
which claimed to administer the affairs of the temple independently of the Crissaeans.
Meantime Cirrha, which was originally the sea-port of Crissa, increased at the
expense of the latter; and thus Crissa declined in importance, as Cirrha and Delphi
augmented, It is probable that Crissa had already sunk into insignificance before
the Sacred War in B.C. 595, which ended in the destruction of Cirrha by the order
of the Amphictyonic Council, and in the dedication of the Cirrhaean plain to the
town; and it is only necessary to repeat here, that the spoils of Cirrha were
employed by the Amphictyons in founding the Pythian games, which were henceforwards
celebrated under the superintendence of the council every four years,- in the
former half of every third Olympiad. The first celebration of the Pythian games
took place in B.C. 586. The horse races and foot races were celebrated in the
maritime plain near the site of Cirrha. The hippodrome continued to be in this
spot down to the latest times (Pans. x. 37. § 4); but the stadium, which was still
in the maritime plain in the time of Pindar (Pyth. xi. 20, 23), was subsequently
removed to the city, where the musical and poetical matches seem to have been
always held.
From the time of the destruction of Cirrha, Delphi was indisputably
an independent state, whatever may have been its political condition before that
time. From this time it appears as the town of Delphi, governed by its own magistrates.
The name of Delphi first occurs in one of the most recent of the Homeric hymns
(xxvii. 14.), and in a fragment of Heraclitus. (Plut. de Pyth. Orac., c. 21, p.
404.) The population of Delphi came from Lycoreia (Lukoreia), a town situated
upon one of the heights of Parnassus above the sanctuary. This town is said to
have been founded by Deucalion, and from it the Delphian nobles, at all events,
derived their origin. Hence, Plutarch tells us that the five chief-priests of
the god, called Hosioi, were chosen by lot from a number of families who derived
their descent from Deucalion. (Strab. ix. pp. 418, 423; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod.
ii. 711; Paus. x. 6. § 2; Plut. Quaest. Graec. 9, p. 380.) The remains of Lycoreia
are found at the village of Liakura. Muller conjectures, with much probability,
that the inhabitants of Lycoreia were Dorians, who had spread from the Dorian
Tetrapolis over the heights of Parnassus. At all events, we know that a Doric
dialect was spoken at Delphi; and the oracle always showed a leaning towards the
Greeks of the Doric race. Moreover, that the Delphians were of a different race
from the Phocians is clear from the antipathy which always existed between the
two peoples.
The government of Delphi appears at first to have been in the exclusive
possession of a few noble families. They had the entire management of the oracle,
and from them were chosen the five Hosioi, or chief-priests of the god, as is
mentioned above. These are the persons whom Euripides describes as sitting near
the tripod, the Delphian nobles, chosen by lot (hoi plesion thassousi tripodos
. . . Delphon aristes, hous eklerosen palos, Ion, 415). They are also called by
the poet the lords and princes of the Delphians, and formed a criminal court,
which sentenced by the Pythian decision all offenders against the temple to be
hurled from a precipice. (Koiranoi Puthikoi, 1219; Delphon anaktes, 1222; Puthia
psephos, 1250; from Muller, Dorians, vol. i. p. 240.) From the noble families
the chief magistrates were chosen, among whom in early times a king (Plut. Quaest.
Graec. 12. p. 383), and afterwards a prytanis, was supreme (Paus. x. 2. § 2).
We also find in inscriptions mention of archons who gave their names to the year,
of a senate (Boule), and in later times of an agora. (Bockh, Inscr. No. 1687-1724;
Muller, Dor. vol. i. p. 192.) The constitution of Delphi and its general condition
offered a striking contrast with what we find in other Grecian states. Owing not
only its prosperity, but even its very existence, to its oracle, the government
was of a theocratic nature. The god possessed large domains, which were cultivated
by the slaves of the temple, who are frequently mentioned in inscriptions. (Muller,
vol. i. p. 283.) In addition to this, the Delphian citizens received numerous
presents from the monarchs and wealthy men who consulted the oracle, while at
the same time the numerous sacrifices offered by strangers were sufficient for
their support. (Comp. Athen. iv. p. 173.) Hence they became a lazy, ignorant,
and sensual people; and their early degeneracy is implied in the tradition of
Aesop's death.
An account of the Delphic oracle, of the mode in which it was consulted,
and of its influence in Greece, is given in the Dict. of Ant. (art. Oraculum).
It only remains here to trace its history. In the eighth century before the Christian
era its reputation was established, not only throughout Hellas, but even among
the surrounding nations, which sometimes sent solemn embassies to ask the advice
of the god. This wide extension of the influence of the oracle was owing to the
fact that almost all Greek colonies were founded with the sanction, and frequently
by the express command, of the Pythian Apollo; and thus the colonists carried
with them a natural reverence for the patron god of their enterprise. Gyges, the
founder of the last Lydian dynasty, who reigned B.C. 716-678, presented valuable
gifts to the god (Herod. i. 13, 14); and Croesus, the last monarch of this race,
was one of the greatest benefactors which the god ever had. His numerous and costly
presents are specified at length by Herodotus (i. 50. seq.). The colonies in Magna
Graecia also spread among the inhabitants of Italy a reverence for the Delphic
oracle. The Etruscan town of Aylla (Caere) had at Delphi a thesaurus belonging
to their state; and the last king of Rome sent to consult the oracle.
In B.C. 548 the temple was destroyed by fire (Paus. x. 5. § 13), when
many of its votive offerings perished or were greatly injured (Herod. i. 50).
The Amphictyons determined that the temple should be rebuilt on a scale of magnificence
commensurate with the sanctity of the spot. They decreed that one-fourth of the
expense should be borne by the Delphians themselves, and that the remainder should
be collected from the other parts of the Hellenic world. The sum required for
the building was 300 talents, or 115,0001. sterling; and when it was at length
collected, the family of the Alcmaeonidae, then exiles from Athens, took the contract
for the execution of the work. They employed as architect Spintharus, the Corinthian,
and gained great reputation for their liberality in using Parian marble for the
front of the temple in place of. the coarse stone prescribed in the contract.
(Herod. ii. 180, v. 62; Paus. l. c.)
In B.C. 480 Xerxes sent a detachment of his army to plunder the temple.
The Delphians' in alarm sought safety on the heights of Mt. Parnassus, but were
forbidden by the god to remove the treasures from his temple. Only sixty Delphians
remained behind, but they were encouraged by divine portents; and when the Persians,
who came from Phocis by the road Schiste, began to climb the rugged path leading
up to the shrine, and had already reached the temple of Athena Pronaea, on a sudden
thunder was heard to roll, the warshout sounded from the temple of Athena, and
two huge crags rolled down from the mountains, and crushed many to death. Seized
with a sudden panic the Persians turned and fled, pursued by two warriors of superhuman
size, whom the Delphians affirmed were the two heroes Phylacus and Autonous, whose
sanctuaries were near the spot. Herodotus, when he visited Delphi, saw in the
sacred enclosure of Athena Pronaea the identical crags which had crushed the Persians;
and Ulrichs noticed near the spot large blocks of stone which have rolled down
from the summit. (Herod. viii. 35-39; [p. 763] Diod. xi. 14; Ulrichs, p. 46.)
In B.C. 357 the Phocians, who had been sentenced by the Amphictyonic Council to
pay a heavy fine on the pretext of their having cultivated a portion of the Cirrhaean
plain, were persuaded by Philomelus to complete the sacrilege with which they
had been branded by seizing the temple of Delphi itself. The enterprise was successful,
and Delphi with all its treasures passed into the hands of the Phocians. Hence
arose the celebrated Sacred War, which will be found related in all histories
of Greece. The Phocians at first abstained from touching the riches of the temple;
but being hard pressed by the Thebans and Locrians, they soon converted the treasures
into money for the purpose of paying their troops. When the war was at length
brought to a conclusion by Philip of. Macedon, and the temple restored to the
custody of the Amphictyons (B.C. 346), its more valuable treasures had disappeared,
though it still contained numerous works of art. The Phocians were sentenced to
replace, by yearly payments, these treasures, estimated at the sum of 10,000 talents,
or nearly two millions and a half sterling. The Phocians, however, were far too
poor ever to be able to restore to the shrine any considerable portion of its
former wealth. In B.C. 279 the report of its riches tempted the cupidity of Brennus
and the Gauls; but they probably were ignorant of the loss it had sustained in
the Sacred War. They advanced to the attack by the same road which the Persians
had taken, but were repulsed in like manner by almost the some supernatural agency.
While the thunder rolled and an earthquake rent the rocks, huge masses of stone
rolled down from the mountains and crushed the foe. (Justin, xxiv. 6-8; Pans.
x. 23.) The temple was plundered by Sulla, when he robbed those of Olympia and
Epidaurus. (Dion Cass. vol. i. p. 49, ed. Reimar.; Died. Exc. p. 614, ed. Wess.)
Strabo describes the temple as very poor in his time (ix. p. 420). It was again
rifled by Nero, who carried off 500 brazen statues (Paus. x. 7. § 1). This emperor,
angry with the god, deprived the temple of the Cirrhaean territory, which he distributed
among his soldiers, and abolished the oracle. (Dion Cass. lxiii. 14.) But Hadrian,
who did so much for the restoration of the Grecian cities and temples, did not
neglect Delphi; and under his reign and that of the Antonines it appeared probably
in a state of greater splendour than had been the case from the time of the Sacred
War. In this condition it was seen and described by Pausanias; and we learn from
Plutarch that the Pythia still continued to give answers (de Pyth. Orac. c. 24).
Coins of Delphi are found down to the time of Caracalla. Constantine carried off
several of its works of art to adorn his new capital. (Sozom. H. E. ii. 15.) The
oracle was consulted by Julian, but was finally silenced by Theodosius.
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DELION (Ancient city) VIOTIA
Delium (Delion: Eth. Delieus), a small place with a celebrated temple
of Apollo, situated upon the sea-coast in the territory of Tanagra in Boeotia,
and at the distance of about a mile from the territory of Oropus. This temple,
which took its name from the island of Delos, is described by Livy (xxxv. 51)
as overhanging the sea, and distant five miles from Tanagra, at the spot where
the passage to the nearest parts of Euboea is less than four miles. Strabo (ix.
p. 403) speaks of Delium as a temple of Apollo and a small town (polichnion) of
the Tanagraei, distant 40 stadia from Aulis. It was here that the Athenians suffered
a signal defeat from the Boeotians in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian War,
B.C. 424. Hippocrates, the Athenian commander, had seized the temple at Delium,
which he converted into a fortress by some temporary works, and after leaving
there a garrison, was on his march homewards, and had already reached the territory
of Oropus at the distance of 10 stadia from Delium, when he met the Boeotian army
advancing to cut off his retreat. In the battle which ensued the Athenians were
defeated with great loss; and on the seventeenth day after the battle the Boeotians
retook the temple. (Thuc. iv. 90.) Socrates fought at this battle among the hoplites,
and, according to one account, saved the life of Xenophon (Strab. ix. p. 403;
Diog. Laert. ii. 22), while, according to another, his own retreat was protected
by Alcibiades, who was serving in the cavalry (Plut. Alc. 7). A detachment of
the Roman army was likewise defeated at Delium by the troops of Antiochus, B.C.
192. (Liv. xxxv. 51.) (Comp. Strab. viii. p. 368; Paus. ix. 20. § 1; Ptol. iii.
15. § 20; Liv. xxxi. 45.)
The modern village of Dhilissi, which has taken its name from Delium,
is at some little distance from the sea. It is clear, however, from the testimony
of Livy already referred to, that the temple of Apollo was upon the coast; and
hence the modern village of Dhilissi may, as Leake suggests, be the site of the
polichnion, a small town of Delium. A few Hellenic fragments have been found at
the village. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 449, seq.)
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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.)
DRYMEA (Ancient city) LOKRIDA
Drumaia, (Paus), Drumos (Herod.), Drumia (Steph. B. (Drymiae, Liv.).
A frontier town of Phocis, on the side of Doris, whence it is included in the
limits of Doris by Livy. It was one of the Phocian towns destroyed by the army
of Xerxes. Pausanias describes it as 80 stadia from Amphicleia: but this number
appears to be an error of the copyists, since in the same passage he says that
Amphicleia was only 15 stadia from Tithronium, and Tithronium 15 stadia from Drymaea,
which would make Drymaea only 35 stadia from Amphicleia. He also speaks of an
ancient temple of Demeter at Drymaea, containing an upright statue of the goddess
in stone, in whose honour the annual festival of the Thesmophoria was celebrated.
Its more ancient name is said to have been Nauboleis, which was derived from Naubolus,
an ancient Phocian hero, father of Iphitus. (Hom. Il. ii. 518.) According to Leake
the site of Drymaea is indicated by some ruins, situated midway between Kamares
and Glunista, and occupying a rocky point of the mountain on the edge of the plain.
Some of the towers remain nearly entire. The masonry is generally of the third
order, but contains some pieces of the polygonal kind; the space enclosed is a
triangle, of which none of the sides is more than 250 yards. At the summit is
a circular acropolis of about two acres, preserving the remains of an opening
into the town.
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DRYOPIS (Ancient country) FTHIOTIDA
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.
ECHINOUS (Ancient city) FTHIOTIDA
Echinos: Eth. Echinaieus (Polyb. ix. 41). A town of Phthiotis in Thessaly,
situated upon the Maliac gulf, between Lamia and Larissa Cremaste, in a fertile
district. (Strab. ix.; Polyb. ix. 41; comp. Aristoph. Lysist. 1169.) It was said
to derive its name from Echion, who sprang from the dragon's teeth. (Scymn. Ch.
602; comp. Steph. B. s. v.) Demosthenes says that Echinus was taken by Philip,
the father of Alexander the Great, from the Thebans (Dem. Phil. iii. p. 120);
but whether he means the Thessalian town, or the one in Acarnania of the same
name, is uncertain. At a later time we find the Thessalian Echinus in the hands
of the Aetolians, from whom it was taken by the last Philip, after a siege of
some length. (Polyb. ix. 41, seq., xvii. 3, xviii. 21; Liv. xxxii. 33, xxxiv.
23.) Strabo mentions it as one of the Grecian cities which had been destroyed
by an earthquake. (Strab. i.) Its site is marked by the modern village of Akhino,
which is only a slight, corruption of the ancient name. The modern village stands
upon the side of a hill, the summit of which was occupied by the ancient Acropolis.
Dodwell remarks that it appears as well from its situation as its works, to have
been a place of great strength, Opposite the Acropolis, at the distance of a few
hundred paces, is a hill, where there are some ruins, and foundations of large
blocks, probably a temple.
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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.
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