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AMARYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Amarynthus (Amarunphos: Eth. Amarunphios, Amarusios), a town upon
the coast of Euboea, only 7 stadia from Eretria, to which it belonged. It possessed
a celebrated temple of Artemis, who was hence called Amarynthia or Amarysia, amid
in whose honour there was a festival of this name celebrated, both in Eutboea
and Attica. (Strab. p. 448; Paus. i. 31. § 5 ; Liv. xxxv. 38; Steph. B. s. v.;
Dict. of Ant. art. Amarynthia.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ANTHIDON (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Eth. Anthedonious, Anthedonius. A town of Boeotia, and one of the cities of the
League, was situated on the Euripus or the Euboean sea at the foot of Mt. Messapius,
and was distant, according to Dicaearchus, 70 stadia from Chalcis and 160 from
Thebes. Anthedon is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 508) as the furthermost town of
Boeotia. The inhabitants derived their origin from the sea-god Glaucus, who is
said to have been originally a native of the place. They appear to have been a
different race from the other people of Boeotia, and are described by one writer
(Lycophr, 754) as Thracians. Dicaearchus informs us that they were chiefly mariners,
shipwrights and fishermen, who derived their subsistence from trading in fish,
purple, and sponges. He adds that the agora was surrounded with a double stoa,
and planted with trees. We learn from Pausanias that there was a sacred grove
of the Cabeiri in the middle of the town, surrounding a temple of those deities,
and near it a temple of Demeter. Outside the walls was a temple of Dionysus, and
a spot called the leap of Glaucus. The wine of Anthedon was celebrated in antiquity.
The ruins of the town are situated 1 1/2 mile from Lukisi.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
Eth. Aulideus fem. Aulidis. A town of Boeotia, situated on the Euripus,
and celebrated as the place at which the Grecian fleet assembled, when they were
about to sail against Troy. Strabo says that the harbour of Aulis could only hold
fifty ships, and that therefore the Grecian fleet must have assembled in the large
port in the neighbourhood, called Bathus limen. (Strab. ix. p. 403.) Livy states
(xlv. 27) that Aulis was distant three miles from Chalcis. Aulis appears to have
stood upon a rocky height, since it is called by Homer (Il. ii. 303) Aulis petreessa,
and by Strabo petrodes chorion. These statements agree with the position assigned
to Aulis by modern travellers. About three miles south of Chaletis on the Boeotian
coast are two bays separated from each other by a rocky peninsula; the northern
is small and winding, the southern spreads out at the end of a channel into a
large circular basin. The latter harbour, as well as a village situated a mile
to the southward of it, is called Vathy, a name evidently derived from Bathus
limen. (Leake.) We may therefore conclude that Aulis was situated on the rocky
peninsula between these two bays.
Aulis was in the territory of Tanagra. It is called a kome by Strabo.
In the time of Pausanias it had only a few inhabitants, who were potters. Its
temple of Artemis, which Agamemnon is said to have founded, was still standing
when Pausanias visited the place. (Dicaearch. 88; Paus. ix. 19. § 6, seq.; Plin.
iv. 7. s. 12)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
Chalkis: Eth. Chalkideus, Chalcidensis. (Egripo, Negropont). The chief
town of Euboea, separated from the opposite coast of Boeotia by the narrow strait
of the Euripus, which is at this spot only 40 yards across. The Euripus is here
divided into two channels by a rock in the middle of the strait. This rock is
at present occupied by a square castle; a stone bridge, 60 or 70 feet in length,
connects the Boeotian shore with this castle; and another wooden bridge, about
35 feet long, reaches from the castle to the Euboean coast. In antiquity also,
as we shall presently see, a bridge also connected Chalcis with the Boeotian coast.
The channel between the Boeotian coast and the rock is very shallow, being not
more than three feet in depth; but the channel between the rock and Chalcis is
about seven or eight feet in depth. It is in the latter channel that the extraordinary
tides take place, which are frequently mentioned by the ancient writers. According
to the common account the tide changed seven times in the day, and seven times
in the night; but Livy states that there was no regularity in the change, and
that the flux and reflux constantly varied,--a phaenomenon which he ascribes to
the sudden squalls of wind from the mountains. (Strab. x. p. 403; Mela, ii. 7;
Plin. ii. 97; Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 1. 0; Liv. xxviii. 6.)
An intelligent modern traveller observes that at times the water runs
as much as eight miles an hour, with a fall under the bridge of about 1 1/2 feet;
but what is most singular is the fact, that vessels lying 150 yards from the bridge
are not in the least affected by this rapid. It remains but a short time in a
quiescent state, changing its direction in a few minutes, and almost immediately
resuming its velocity, which is generally from four to five miles an hour either
way, its greatest rapidity being however always to the southward. The results
of three months' observation, in which the above phaenomena were noted, afforded
no sufficient data for reducing them to any regularity. (Penny Cyclopaedia, vol.
x. p. 59.)
Chalcis was a city of great antiquity, and continued to be an important
place from the earliest to the latest times. It is said to have been founded before
the Trojan war by an Ionic colony from Athens, under the conduct of Pandorus,
the son of Erechtheus. (Strab. x. p. 447; Scymn. Ch. 573.) It is mentioned by
Homer. (Il. ii. 537.) After the Trojan war Cothus settled in the city another
Ionic colony from Athens. (Strab. l. c.) Chalcis soon became one of the greatest
of the Ionic cities, and at an early period carried on an extensive commerce with
almost all parts of the Hellenic world. Its greatness at this early period is
attested by the numerous colonies which it planted upon the coasts of Macedonia,
Italy, Sicily, and in the islands of the Aegaean. It gave its name to the peninsula
of Chalcidice between the Thermaic and Singitic gulfs, in consequence of the large
number of cities which it founded in this district. Its first colony, and the
earliest of the Greek settlements in the west, was Cumae in Campania, which it
is said to have founded as early as B.C. 1050, in conjunction with the Aeolians
of Cume and the Eretrians. Rhegium in Italy, and Naxos, Zancle, Tauromenium and
other cities in Sicily, are also mentioned as Chalcidian colonies.
During the early period of its history, the government of Chalcis
was in the hands of an aristocracy, called Hippobotae (Hippobotai, i. e. the feeders
of horses), who corresponded to the Hippeis in other Grecian states. (Herod. v.
77, vi. 100; Strab. x. p. 447 ; Plut. Pericl. 23; Aelian, V. H. vi. 1.) These
Hippobotae were probably proprietors of the fertile plain of Lelantum, which lay
between Chalcis and Eretria. The possession of this plain was a frequent subject
of dispute between these two cities (Strab. x. p. 448), and probably occasioned
the war between them at an early period, in which some of the most powerful states
of Greece, such as Samos and Miletus, took part. (Thuc. i. 15; Herod. v. 99)
Soon after the expulsion of the Peisistratidae from Athens, the Chalcidians
joined the Boeotians in making war upon the Athenians; but the latter crossed
over into Euboea with a great force, defeated the Chalcidians in a decisive battle,
and divided the lands of the wealthy Hippobotae among 4000 Athenian citizens as
clernchs B.C. 506. (Her. v. 77.) These settlers, however, abandoned their possessions
when the Persians, under Datis and Artaphernes, landed at Eretria. (Herod. vi.
100.) After the Persian wars, Chalcis, with the rest of Euboea, became a tributary
of Athens, and continued under her rule, with the exception of a few months, till
the downfal of the Athenian empire at the close of the Peloponnesian war. In B.C.
445, Chalcis joined the other Euboeans in their revolt from Athens; but the whole
island was speedily reconquered by Pericles, who altered the government of Chalcis
by the expulsion of the Hippobotae from the city. (Plut. Per. 23.)
In the 21st year of the Peloponnesian war, B.C. 411, Euboea revolted
from Athens (Thuc. viii. 95), and on this occasion we first read of the construction
of a bridge across the Euripus. Anxious to secure an uninterrupted communication
with the Boeotians, the Chalcidians built a mole from either shore, leaving a
passage in the centre for only a single ship: and fortifying by towers each side
of the opening in the mole. (Diod. xiii. 47.) Chalcis was now independent for
a short time; but when the Athenians had recovered a portion of their former power,
it again came under their supremacy, together with the other cities in the island.
(Diod. xv. 30.) In later times it was successively occupied by the Macedonians,
Antiochus, Mithridates, and the Romans. It was a place of great military importance,
commanding, as it did, the navigation between the north and south of Greece, and
hence was often taken and retaken by the different parties contending. for the
supremacy of Greece. Chalcis, Corinth, and Demetrias in Thessaly, were called
by the last Philip of Macedon the fetters of Greece, which could not possibly
be free, as long as these fortresses were in the possession of a foreign power.
(Pol. xvii. 11; Liv. xxxii. 37.)
Dicaearchus, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, describes Chalcis
as 70 stadia (nearly 9 miles) in circumference, situated upon the slope of a hill,
and abounding in gymnasia, temples, theatres, and other public buildings. It was
well supplied with water from the fountain Arethusa. The surrounding country was
planted with olives. (Dicaearch. Bios tes Hellados, p. 146, ed. Fuhr.) When Alexander
crossed over into Asia, the Chalcidians strengthened the fortifications of their
city by inclosing within their walls a hill on the Boeotian side, called Canethus,
which thus formed a fortified bridge-head. At the same time they fortified the
bridge with towers, a wall, and gates. (Strab. x. p. 447.) Canethus, which is
also mentioned by Apollonius Rhodius (i. 77), is probably the hill of Karababa,
which rises to the height of 130 feet immediately above the modern bridge, and
is the citadel of the present town.
In the second Punic war, B.C. 207, the Romans, under Sulpicius and
Attains, made an unsuccessful attack upon Chalcis, which was then subject to Philip.
(Liv. xxviii. 6.) A few years afterwards, B.C. 192, when the war was resumed with
Philip, the Romans surprised Chalcis and slew the inhabitants, but they had not
a sufficient force with them to occupy it permanently. (Liv. xxxi. 23.) In the
war between the Romans and Aetolians, Chalcis was in alliance with the former
(Liv. xxxv. 37--39); but when Antiochus passed over into Greece, at the invitation
of the Aetolians, the Chalcidians deserted the Romans, and received this king
into their city. During his residence at Chalcis, Antiochus became enamoured of
the daughter of one of the principal citizens of the place, and made her his queen.
(Liv. xxxv. 50, 51, xxxvi. 11; Pol. xx. 3, 8; Dion Cass. Fragm. ex libr. xxxiv.
p. 29, ed. Reimar.) Chalcis joined the Achaeans in their last war against the
Romans; and their town was in consequence destroyed by Mummius. (Liv. Epit. lii.;
comp. Pol. xl. 11.)
In the time of Strabo Chalcis was still the principal town of Euboea,
and must therefore have been rebuilt after its destruction by Mummius. (Strab.
x. p. 448.) Strabo describes the bridge across the Euripus as two plethra, or
200 Greek feet in length, with a tower at either end; and a canal (surinx) constructed
through the Euripus. (Strab. x. p. 403.) Strabo appears never to have visited
the Euripus himself; and it is not improbable that his description refers to the
same bridge, or rather mole, of which an account has been preserved by Diodorus
(xiii. 47). In this case the surinx would be the narrow channel between the mole.
Chalcis was one of the towns restored by Justinian. (Procop. de Aedif. iv. 3.)
The orator Isaeus and the poet Lycophron were natives of Chalcis,
and Aristotle died here. In the middle ages Chalcis was called Euripus, whence
its modern name Egripo. It was for some time in the hands of the Venetians, who
called it Negropont, probably a corruption of Egripo and ponte, a bridge. It was
taken by the Turks in 1470. It is now the principal, and indeed the only place
of importance in the island. There are no remains of the ancient city, with the
exception of some fragments of white marble in the walls of houses.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
EGES (Ancient city) EVIA
Aegae Eth. Aigaios, Aigeates, Aigaieus. A town in Euboea on the
western coast N. of Chalcis, and a little S. of Orobiae. Strabo says that it was
120 stadia from Anthedon in Boeotia. It is mentioned by Homer, but had disappeared
in the time of Strabo. It was celebrated for its worship of Poseidon from the
earliest times; and its temple of this god still continued to exist when Strabo
wrote, being situated upon a lofty mountain. The latter writer derives the name
of the Aegaean Sea from this town. Leake supposes it to have stood near Limni.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
Eth. Erteieus, fem. Epetpis, Eretrias: Adj. Eretrikos, Eretriakos.
One of the most ancient, and next to Chalcis the most powerful city in Euboea,
was situated upon the western coast of the island, a little south of Chalcis,
and at the south-western extremity of the extensive and fertile plain of Lelantum.
The Eretrians are represented as Ionians (Herod. viii. 46), and were supposed
to have come from Eretria in Attica. (Strab. viii.) It seems, however, that the
population was not purely Ionic, and, accordingly, some writers related that it
had been colonised from the Triphylian Macistus in Elis. (Strab. l. c.) Strabo
relates that it was formerly called Melaneis and Arotria.
At an early period Eretria was one of the chief maritime states in
Greece, and attained a high degree of prosperity and power. Andros, Tenos, and
Ceos, as well as other islands, were at one time subject to Eretria. (Strab. viii.)
According to some accounts, they took part in the colonisation of Cromae, and
they founded some colonies upon the peninsula of Chalcidice. Eretria is mentioned
by Homer. (Il. ii. 537.). The military strength of the state was attested by an
inscription, preserved in the temple of the Amarynthian Artemis, about a mile
from the city, recording that in the procession to that temple the Eretrians had
been accustomed to march with 3000 hoplites, 600 horsemen, and 60 chariots. (Strab.
l. c.)
Eretria and Chalcis were early engaged in war with each other. These
wars seem to have been occasioned by disputes respecting the division of the plain
of Lelantum, which lay between the two cities. (Strab. l. c.) In one of these
early wars some of the most powerful states of Greece, such as Miletus and Samos,
took part. (Thuc. i. 15; Herod. v. 99; Spanheim, ad Callim. Del. 289.) In gratitude
for the assistance which the Eretrians had received on this occasion from Miletus,
they sent five ships to the Athenian fleet which sailed to support Miletus and
the other Ionic cities in their revolt from Persia, B.C. 500. (Herod. l. c.) But
this step caused their ruin; for, in B.C. 490, a Persian force, under Datis and
Artaphernes, sent to punish the Athenians and Eretrians, laid siege to Eretria,
which was betrayed to the Persians after they had invested the place for six days.
The town was razed to the ground, and the inhabitants carried away to Persia;
but their lives were spared by Darius, who allowed them to settle in the Cissian
territory. (Herod. vi. 125.) The old town continued in ruins, but a new town was
rebuilt a little more to the south, which soon became a place of considerable
importance. In B.C. 411, the Athenians were defeated by the Spartans in a sea-fight
off the harbour of Eretria; and those of the Athenians who took refuge in Eretria,
as a city in alliance with them, were put to death by the Eretrians, who therefore
joined the rest of the Euboeans in their revolt from Athens. (Thuc. viii. 95.)
After the Peloponnesian War we find Eretria in the hands of tyrants.
One of these, named Themison, assisted the exiles of Oropus in recovering possession
of their native city from the Athenians in B.C. 366. (Diod. xv. 76; comp. Dem.
de Cor. p. 256; Xen. Hell. vii. 4. 1) Themison appears to have been succeeded
in the tyranny by Plutarchus, who applied to the Athenians in B.C. 354 for aid
against his rival, Callias of Chalcis, who had allied himself with Philip of Macedon.
The Athenians sent a force to his assistance under the command of Phocion, who
defeated Callias at Tamynae; but Phocion, suspecting Plutarchus of treachery,
expelled him from Eretria. Popular government was then established; but shortly
afterwards Philip sent a force, which destroyed Porthmus, the harbour of Eretria,
and made Cleitarchus tyrant of the city. Cleitarchus governed the city in Philip's
interests till B.C. 341, when Cleitarchus was expelled by Phocion, who had been
sent into Euboea on the proposition of Demosthenes for the purpose of putting
down the Macedonian interest in the island. Eretria was subsequently subject to
Macedonia; but in the war with Philip V. it was taken by the combined fleets of
the Romans, Attalus, and Rhodians, upon which occasion a great number of paintings,
statues, and other works of art fell into the hands of the victors. (Liv. xxxii.
16.) After the battle of Cynoscephalae, Eretria was de. clared free by the Roman
senate. (Polyb. xviii. 30.) Eretria was the seat of a celebrated school of philosophy
founded by Menedemus, a native of this city, and a disciple of Plato. The philosophers
of this school were called Eretrici (Eretrikoi, Strab. x. p. 448; Diog. Laert.
i. 17, ii. 126; Athen. ii. p. 55, d.; Cic. Acad. ii. 4. 2, de Orat. iii. 17, Tusc.
v. 39.) The tragic poet Achaeus, a contemporary of Aeschylus, was a native of
Eretria. It appears from the comic poet Sopater that Eretria was celebrated for
the excellence of its flour (ap. Athen. iv. p. 160).
Strabo says that Old Eretria was opposite Oropus, and the passage
across the strait 60 stadia; and that New Eretria was opposite Delphinium, and
the passage across 40 stadia (ix.). Thucydides makes the passage from Oropus to
New Eretria 60 stadia (viii. 95). New Eretria stood at Kastri, and Old Eretria
in the neighbourhood of Vathy. There are considerable remains of New Eretria.
The entire circuit of the ruined walls and towers of the Acropolis still subsist
on a rocky height, which is separated from the shore by a marshy plain. At the
foot of the hill are remains of the theatre, and in the plain a large portion
of the town walls, with many foundations of buildings in the inclosed place. The
situation was defended to the west by a river, and on the opposite side by a marsh.
The territory of Eretria extended from sea to sea.: Between Old Eretria
and New Eretria was Amaynthus; south of Old Eretria, Tamynae; and further south,
Porthmus. In the interior were Dystus and Oechalia.
The annexed coin represents on the obverse the head of Artemis, who
was worshipped in the neighbouring town of Amarynthus: the bull on the. reverse
probably has reference to the brazen bull which the Eretrians dedicated at Olympia.
(Paus. v. 27. § 9)
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KIRINTHOS (Village) CHALKIDA
Cerinthus (Kerinthos: Eth. Kerinthios), a town upon the north-eastern
coast of Euboea, and near the small river Budorus, said to have been founded by
the Athenian Cothus. It is mentioned by Homer, and was still extant in the time
of Strabo, who speaks of it as a small place. (Hom. Il. ii. 538 ; Scymn.
Ch. 576; Strab. x. p. 446; Apoll. Rhod. i. 79; Ptol. iii. 1,5. § 25; Plin. iv.
12. s. 21.)
KIRYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Kerinthos: Eth. Kerinthios. A town upon the north-eastern coast of Euboea, and
near the small river Budorus, said to have been founded by the Athenian Cothus.
It is mentioned by Homer, and was still extant in the time of Strabo, who speaks
of it as a small place.
LILANTIO PLAIN (Plain) EVIA
Lelantus Campus (to Lelanton pedion), a fertile plain in Euboea, between
Chalcis and Eretria, which was an object of frequent contention between those
cities. It was the subject of volcanic action. Strabo relates that on one occasion
a torrent of hot mud issued from it ; and it contained some warm springs, which
were used by the dictator Sulla. The plain was also celebrated for its vineyards
; and in it there were mines of copper and iron. (Strab. i. p. 58, x. p. 447,
seq.; Hon. Hymn. in Apoll. 219 ; Theogn. 888; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii.
p. 265.) Pliny mentions a river Lelantus in Euboea, which must have flowed through
this plain, if it really existed. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21.)
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MYKALISSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
Mukalessos: Eth. Mukalessios. An ancient town of Boeotia, mentioned
by Homer. (Il. ii. 498, Hymn. Apoll. 224.) It was said to have been so called,
because the cow, which was guiding Cadmus and his comrades to Thebes, lowed (emukesato)
in this place. (Paus. ix. 19. § 4.) In B.C. 413, some Thracians, whom the Athenians
were sending home to their own country, were landed on the Euripus, and surprised
Mycalessus. They not only sacked the town, but put all the inhabitants to the
sword, not sparing even the women and children. Thucydides says that this was
one of the greatest calamities that had ever befallen any city. (Thuc. vii. 29;
Paus. i. 23. § 3.) Strabo (ix. p. 404) calls Mycalessus a village in the territory
of Tanagra, and places it upon the road from Thebes to Chalcis. In the time of
Pausanias it had ceased to exist; and this writer saw the ruins of Harma and Mycalessus
on his road to Chalcis. (Paus. ix. 19. § 4.) Pausanias mentions a temple of Demeter
Mycalessia, standing in the territory of the city upon the sea-coast, and situated
to the right of the Euripus, by which he evidently meant south of the strait.
The only other indication of the position of Mycalessus is the statement of Thucydides
(l. c.), that it was 16 stadia distant from the Hermaeum, which was on the sea-shore
near the Euripus. It is evident from these accounts, that Mycalessus stood near
the Euripus; and Leake places it, with great probability, upon the height immediately
above the southern bay of Egripo, where the ruined walls of an ancient city still
remain. (Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 249, seq., 264.) It is true, as Leake remarks,
that this position does not agree with the statement of Strabo, that Mycalessus
was on the road from Thebes to Chalcis, since the above-mentioned ruins are nearly
two miles to the right of that road; but Strabo writes loosely of places which
he had never seen. Mycalessus is also mentioned in Strab. ix. pp. 405, 410; Paus.
iv. 7. s. 12.
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PORTHMOS (Ancient port) EVIA
Porthmus (Porthmos), a harbour in Euboea, belonging to Eretria, described
by Demosthenes as opposite to Attica, is the modern Porto Bufalo, immediately
opposite to Rhamnus, in the narrowest part of the Euboean channel, where the breadth
is only two miles. It was destroyed by Philip, after expelling the Eretrians;
but its advantageous position close to the coast of Attica gave it importance
for many centuries afterwards. (Dem. Phil. iii. pp. 119, 125, iv. p. 133, de Cor.
p. 248; Plin. iv. 12. s. 21; Hierocl. p. 645; Harpocrat. Phot. Suid. s. u. Porthmos;
Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 435.)
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YRIA (Ancient city) AVLIDA
Huria: Eth. Huriates. A Boeotian town, mentioned by Homer along with Aulis. Hence
it was placed near Aulis; but its position was quite uncertain, and some of the
ancient critics identified it, though without sufficient reason, with Hysiae.
Strabo placed it in the territory of Tanagra.
AMARYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
A town in Euboea, seven stadia distant from Eretria, and noted for its splendid temple of Artemis, who is hence called Amarynthia or Amarysia.
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
A harbour in Boeotia on the Euripus, where the Greek forces assembled before sailing for Troy.
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
The modern Egripo or Negroponte; the principal town of Euboea,
situated on the narrowest part of the Euripus, and united with the mainland by
a bridge. It was a very ancient town, originally inhabited by Abantes or Curetes,
and colonized by Attic Ionians. Its flourishing condition at an early period is
attested by the numerous colonies which it planted in various parts of the Mediterranean.
It founded so many cities in the peninsula in Macedonia, between the Strymonic
and Thermaic gulfs, that the whole peninsula was called Chalcidice. In Italy it
founded Cumae, and in Sicily, Naxos. Chalcis was usually subject to Athens during
the greatness of the latter city. The orator Isaeus and the poet Lycophron were
born at Chalcis, and Aristotle died there.
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EGES (Ancient city) EVIA
A town in Euboea, with a celebrated temple of Poseidon, who was hence called Aegaeus.
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
A town of the island of Euboea, situated on the coast of the
Euripus southeast of Chalcis. It was said by some to have been founded by a colony
from Triphylia in Peloponnesus; by others its origin was ascribed to a party of
Athenians belonging to the deme of Eretria. The latter opinion is far more probable,
as this city was doubtless of Ionic origin. We learn from Strabo that Eretria
was formerly called Melaneis and Arotria, and that at an early period it had attained
to a considerable degree of prosperity and power. The Eretrians conquered the
islands of Ceos, Teos, Tenos, and others; and in their festival of Artemis, which
was celebrated with great splendour, three thousand soldiers on foot, with six
hundred cavalry and sixty chariots, were often employed to attend the procession.
Eretria, at this period, was frequently engaged in war with Chalcis, and Thucydides
reports that on one occasion most of the Grecian States took part in the contest.
The assistance which Eretria then received from the Milesians induced that city
to cooperate with the Athenians in sending a fleet and troops to the support of
the Ionians, who had revolted from Persia at the instigation of Aristagoras, by
which measure it became exposed, in conjunction with Athens, to the vengeance
of Darius. That monarch accordingly gave orders to his commanders, Datis and Artaphernes,
to subdue both Eretria and Athens and bring the inhabitants captive before him.
Eretria was taken after six days' siege, and the captive inhabitants brought to
Asia. Darius treated the prisoners kindly, and settled them in the district of
Cissia. Eretria recovered from the effects of this disaster and was rebuilt soon
after. We find it mentioned by Thucydides, towards the close of his history, as
revolting from Athens on the approach of a Spartan fleet under Hegesandridas,
and mainly contributing to the success obtained by that commander. After the death
of Alexander, this city surrendered to Ptolemy, a general in the service of Antigonus;
and in the Macedonian War, to the combined fleets of the Romans, the Rhodians,
and Attalus. It was subsequently declared free by order of the Roman Senate. This
place, as we learn from Athenaeus, was noted for the excellence of its flour and
bread. At one time it possessed a distinguished school of philosophy and dialectics.
The ruins of Eretria are still to be observed close to a headland which lies opposite
to the mouth of the Asopus in Boeotia.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MYKALISSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
(Mukalessos). An ancient city in Boeotia, on the road from Aulis to Thebes. In B.C. 413 it was sacked by some Thracian mercenaries in the pay of Athens. Here was a famous temple of Demeter, who was in consequence called Mycalessia.
YRIA (Ancient city) AVLIDA
A town in Boeotia near Tanagra.
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
City of Boeotia
along the shore facing Euboea.
Aulis is the location where the Greek fleet gathered under the leadership
of Agamemnon to undertake the expedition against Troy,
and where Agamemnon had to sacrifice his own daughter Iphigenia to the goddess
Artemis to put an end to the lack of wind that was holding the fleet there.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
City on the western coast of the island of Euboea,
facing mainland Greece, north
of Athens.
Chalcis was the homeland of settlers who founded cities in several
parts of the Mediterranean during the VIIIth and VIIth centuries B. C., epecially
in Sicily and Italy
(Naxos, Cumae,
Zancle, ...).
This is the place where Aristotle died in 322, having fled Athens
some time earlier for fear of being tried as pro-Macedonian.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
AMARYNTHOS (Municipality) CHALKIDA
MESSAPIES (Municipality) CHALKIDA
AMARYNTHOS (Municipality) CHALKIDA
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
In earlier times Eretria was called Melaneis and Arotria.
ANTHIDON (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
AMARYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
ANTHIDON (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
A Boiotian harbor on the Gulf of Euboia, 13 km W of Chalkis and 2
km N of the village of Loukisia, at the foot of Mt. Messapios.
Included in the catalogue of ships of the Iliad (2.508), it belonged
to the Theban districts until 387 B.C. when it became independent in the Boiotian
Confederacy. Destroyed by Sulla at the same time as Larymna and Halai in 86 B.C.,
it was restored and its harbor rebuilt in the 4th c. A.D.
The site of Anthedon was occupied from Mycenaean times and was still
inhabited in the 6th c. A.D. According to ancient testimony, the city was fortified;
its agora was planted with trees and flanked with a double portico. Inside the
city was a Kabeirian temple and, close by, another dedicated to Demeter and Kore,
while outside the city walls to the SE, was a Temple of Dionysos. The gymnasium
was consecrated to Zeus Karaios and to Anthas, the eponym of the city. Partial
excavations have been conducted.
The rampart, which no doubt is Hellenistic, started from the N mole
then ran along the coast for 225 m going W, circled the city to the W and 5, reached
the coastline NE of the acropolis and followed the slope of the acropolis N down
to the mole E of the port. The city covered an area ca. 550-650 m from N to S
and 600 m from E to W. To the NE the acropolis overlooks the sea and the harbor
from a height of some 20 m. Excavations there have yielded only two small crude
walls and some bronze objects of the 12th-11th c. The port, which doubtless is
very old, was rebuilt under the Late Empire. Its nearly circular basin (130 x
120 m) is protected to the N and E by two moles built of large blocks, and surrounded
to the N, W, and S by quays along a 370 m length. The S quay is porticocd. To
the S of the portico the remains of an Early Christian basilica have been excavated;
it is apsed and paved with polychinome marble. The little temple (ca. 10 x 6 m)
discovered SE of the city in 1889 may be that of Dionysos.
P. Roesch, 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.
AVLIS (Ancient city) STEREA HELLAS
Situated on the Boiotian shore of the Euripos, between the bay of
Mikro Vathy to the N and the bay and village of Vathy to the S. According to legend
it was here that the Greek fleet gathered before setting sail for Troy and awaited
the favorable winds that Againeinnon obtained by sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia
to Arteinis (Eur., Iphigeneia at Aulis). Remains of a Mycenaean settlement have
been located on the rocky Yeladhovouni promontory separating the two bays. Never
a city, Aulis was part of the Theban districts up to 387 B.C., then of the territory
of Tanagra. Agelisaus, king of Sparta, the new Agamemnon, sacrificed here before
setting off for Asia in 397 B.C. Aulis depended for its livelihood on the sanctuary,
its potters' workshops, and fishing.
The Sanctuary of Artemis Aulideia was excavated from 1955 to 1961
by I. Threpsiadis. Open to the SE, the temple is built on the oblong archaic plan
(31 x 9.70 m). In front of the two columns in antis of the 5th c. temple a prostoon
of four Doric columns was added in the Hellenistic period. Inside the sekos were
two rows of four columns; in the rear a double door, whose marble threshold has
been preserved, led to the adyton; two statues of Arteinis and Apollo flanked
the doorway, and in front of the N statue was a round altar for libations, with
a drain. A large base found in the sekos may have been used to support the 1000-year-old
plane tree mentioned by Pausanias (9.19.7). Inside the adyton, which measured
3.70 x 7.55 m, was the offering table, part of which has been recovered, along
with a triangular tripod base and two round altars. Underneath the pronaos were
found the remains of a circular building assumed to date from the 8th c. B.C.
In Roman times all the columns were replaced; later the prostoon was incorporated
into some small therinae covering part of the sekos.
In front of the temple a square fountain was excavated which measured
1.8 m square inside; six steps led down inside it. Close by are the remains of
an altar. SW of the temple were found two or three potters' establishments, with
a store of clay and a kiln. A large hostelry for pilgrims was immediately to the
S.
P. Roesch, 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.
CHALKIS (Ancient city) EVIA
The chief city of the region, situated at the narrowest part of the
Euripos, where the island lies closest to Boiotia. It was a flourishing trade
center throughout antiquity, known especially for pottery and metalwork. Its citizens
founded colonies in Sicily in the 8th c. B.C. and along the N Aegean coasts in
the 7th. Eretria to the E was a long-standing rival for control of the rich Lelantine
Plain which lay between them. Chalkis supported the Greek cities against Xerxes,
but turned against Athens in 446, only to be defeated and remain a tributary until
411 B.C. It was then that the Euboians and Boiotians combined to block the Euripos
with moles, leaving only a narrow channel spanned by a wooden bridge, the first
of many built at various times in later history. Philip II of Macedon garrisoned
the city in 338 B.C. as one of his chief control points; it remained an important
center until it was partly destroyed for siding with the Achaian League against
Rome in 146 B.C. Few remains of the ancient city have been uncovered, but quarrying
activities N of the acropolis have revealed the walls of some Late Classical structures.
Dikaiarchos (26f) described Chalkis as enclosed by a wall 70 stades in length;
the trace is still clear on air photographs. Among many brackish springs, that
of Arethusa alone provided sufficient healthful water for all the people. There
were gymnasia, theaters, sanctuaries, including that of Apollo Delphinios, squares,
and stoas; an inscription mentions the Temple of Zeus Olympios. The port on the
Euripos was connected by a gate to the commercial agora, which had stoas on three
sides. A mile S of the town, Leake saw the ruined arches of a Roman aqueduct.
M. H. Mc Allister, 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.
ERETRIA (Ancient city) EVIA
The ancient city is partially covered by the modern village of the
same name, some 18 km SE of Chalkis on the S-central coast of the island. The
site is dominated by a prominent acropolis at the N and extends over an area of
more than 80 ha, roughly delimited by the course of the ancient city walls. The
archaeological remains are the most extensive in Euboia.
First mentioned in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships (Il. 2.537: Eretria),
there is a growing body of evidence to indicate that the site was occupied throughout
most of the Bronze Age. Problems related to the location of Strabo's Old Eretria
(9.2.6)--now thought by some to be at the nearby site of Lefkandi--still remain
unsettled. With the dawn of the historical period, Eretria--along with its neighbor,
Chalkis--appears among the leading cities of Greece in establishing colonies abroad.
This contributed to a bitter rivalry between Chalkis and Eretria, manifested at
home in a war over the control of the fertile coastal strip centering upon the
Lelantine plain. The Lelantine War, which seems to have taken place at or near
the end of the 8th c. B.C., may have resulted in a certain decline in the status
of Eretria. But recent excavations have brought to light considerable evidence
of occupation on the site in the 7th and 6th c. Near the end of the 6th c., Eretria
supported the revolt of the Ionian Greek cities from Persian subjugation. This
resulted in the destruction of the city at the hands of the vengeful Persians
in 490 (Hdt. 6.43-44). Herodotos (6.99-101, 119) tells us that the temples were
plundered and burned and many of the inhabitants taken captive and carried off
to Persia. The city seems to have recovered somewhat for it managed to contribute
both ships and men to the Greek forces in 480-479. After the Persian Wars, Eretria
became a member of the Delian Confederacy and generally remained loyal to Athens
until 411. At that time the Euboian cities revolted, and there is some evidence
to indicate that they formed a league with Eretria at its head. Eretria supported
Sparta through the balance of the Peloponnesian War but was back on good terms
with Athens by the early 4th c. Thereafter its allegiance vacillated between Athens
and Thebes until--by the end of the 4th c.--it had come under the thumb of the
Macedonians and was to remain so for the next 100 years or more. Eretria came
to be the most important city in Euboia in the late 4th and early 3d c., by which
time its influence extended over most of S Euboia. The city flourished in the
3d c. and was the home of a well-known school of philosophy under the direction
of Menedemos. But the great days of Eretria came to an end with a major destruction
at the hands of a Roman-Pergamene coalition in 198 B.C. (Livy 32.16). Although
the city was rebuilt and the site continued to be occupied for some time thereafter,
no major monuments can be assigned to this period and it does not seem to have
regained its old importance.
Sporadic excavation has been carried out since the later 19th c. These
investigations have uncovered the remains of numerous graves (including a well-built
tomb of the Macedonian period a short distance to the W of the ancient town),
large stretches of the city wall, a theater, a gymnasium, a Thesmophorion, a bathing
establishment, a fountain-house, a tholos, a number of houses, and several temples
or shrines (dedicated to Apollo Daphnephoros, Dionysos, and Isis), as well as
lesser monuments. No clear-cut remains of the agora have yet been reported.
The current excavations have been largely confined to the areas of
the temple of Apollo Daphnephoros near the center of the ancient town and a major
gate in the NW sector of the city. The Temple of Apollo--now visible only in its
foundations--was first exposed around the turn of the century, but recent investigations
have clarified its chronology and many details of construction. A peripteral temple
of the Doric order, it seems to have been erected in the late archaic period (530-520
B.C.) but was razed shortly thereafter in the Persian destruction of 490. It is
to this structure that the well-known pedimental group of Theseus and Antiope
in the Chalkis Museum belongs. Recent excavation has shown that the 6th c. temple
had several precursors including an early archaic hecatompedon of the Ionic order
(670-650 B.C.), and a small apsidal shrine of the 8th c. The latter is the earliest
building yet found at Eretria. All of the structures in this sequence are thought
to have served in the worship of Apollo Daphnephoros.
One of the most striking monuments at Eretria is the ancient theater,
lying at the SW foot of the acropolis. A noteworthy feature of the complex is
a subterranean vaulted passage which led by means of a stairway from the center
of the orchestra to the stage building. It is thought that such an arrangement
facilitated the sudden appearance of actors from the underworld. This structure
seems to have been erected in the late 4th c. and serves as one of the best examples
of the Greek theater during the Hellenistic period. The remains of a small temple
and altar of Dionysos lie a short distance to the S of the theater.
The site is dominated by the acropolis, from which the visitor gains
a magnificent view of the S Euboian Gulf and the mainland beyond. Of particular
interest here are the walls and towers which represent some of the best preserved
examples of Classical Greek masonry. Although there is some evidence of the use
of the acropolis during the Mycenaean period, the fortifications probably range
in date from no earlier than the archaic period through Hellenistic times.
A line of fortification can be traced intermittently from the acropolis
along the W side of the city to a point just SW of the theater. Here lies a major
gateway (W Gate) through which the ancient road to Chalkis and the Lelantine plain
must have passed. The most recent excavators have concentrated much of their efforts
upon the investigation of the W Gate and its environs. These investigations have
shown that the major gate of the early Classical period (ca. 480 B.C.) overlay
a gate and fortifications of the 7th c., which are among the earliest known fortifications
of post-Bronze Age Greece. To the S of the W Gate, a complex of burials (both
inhumation and cremation) within a modest architectural setting has been identified
as a heroon. The rich finds from this area, whose foundation goes back to the
8th c., testify to the far-flung commercial activities of Eretria at that time.
The heroon seems to have been incorporated into a Hellenistic structure of palatial
proportions (Palace I), which may have belonged to the descendants of those who
were buried in the heroon. An even larger and more impressive complex (Palace
II), probably of the 4th c. B.C., has been exposed farther to the S.
Apart from the pedimental sculpture from the Temple of Apollo Daphnephoros
in the Chalkis Museum, all of the finds from the excavations at Eretria are now
housed in a small museum on the site.
T. W. Jacobsen, 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 32 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KIRYNTHOS (Ancient city) CHALKIDA
Listed in Homer's catalogue of ships, the city was known to Ptolemy
and Strabo, though it was no longer of any importance, having early lost its independence
to Histiaia. The site has been identified with a hill N of modern Mantudi, near
the Bay of Peleki, at the mouth of the Boudoros river. The acropolis drops abruptly
to the sea in a 30 m cliff. The fortification wall on the N side is of irregular
polygonal blocks roughly dressed, and probably belongs to the 6th c. city, the
destruction of which Theognis attributed to the Kypselids. The wall on the S side
is double-faced, of trapezoidal blocks in courses, with a square tower of regular
isodomic masonry: these sections are probably Hellenistic. Pernier reported the
remains of a large rectangular building on the highest ground, with other buildings
of rough limestone blocks, along streets laid out according to the cardinal points
of the compass. No finds have been reported from the Roman period.
M. H. Mc Allister, 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.
MYKALISSOS (Ancient city) EVIA
A town belonging to the earliest Boiotian League, flourishing from
the 6th c. until its destruction and the massacre of its inhabitants by the Athenians
in 413 B.C. Strabo classed it as a village belonging to Tanagra. There are a few
remains of undated walls at Rhitsona, which is generally accepted as the site
of Mykalessos. Excavations have concentrated on graves, largely of the 6th c.,
but also 5th c. and Hellenistic, which produced material of considerable importance
for the history of Greek ceramics. Pausanias mentions a Sanctuary of Mykalessian
Demeter on the shore of the Euripos, which was probably near the modern village
of Megalovouno above Aulis. The ancient wall which appears on both sides of the
road through the Anaghoritis pass marks the Chalkis-Thebes boundary. Frazer suggested
a nearby location for the Hermaion mentioned in Thucydides' account of the Athenian
attack, while locating Livy's Hermaion on the Euripos at a ferry terminus.
M. H. Mc Allister, 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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