Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "LAMIA Ancient city FTHIOTIDA" .
LAMIA (Ancient city) FTHIOTIDA
Eth. Lamieus: Zituini. A town of the Malienses, though afterwards
separated from them, situated in the district Phthiotis in Thessaly. Strabo describes
Lamia as situated above the plain which lies at the foot of the Maliac gulf, at
the distance of 30 stadia from the Spercheius, and 50 stadia from the sea (ix.).
Livy says that it was placed on a height distant seven miles from Heracleia, of
which it commnanded the prospect (xxxvi. 25), and on the route which led from
Thermopylae through the passes of Phthiotis to Thaumaci (xxxii. 4). Strabo further
relates that it was subject to earthquakes (i.). Lamia is celebrated in history
on account of the war which the Athenians and the confederate Greeks carried on
against Antipater in B.C. 323. Antipater was at first unsuccessful, and took refuge
in Lamia, where he was besieged for some time by the allies. From this circumstance
this contest is usually called the Lamian war. Having afterwards received suecours
from Graterus, Antipater retreated northwards, and defeated the allies at the
battle of Crannon in the following year. (Diod. xviii. 9, seq.; Polyb. ix. 29.)
In B.C. 208 Philip, son of Demetrius, defeated the Aetolians near Lamia. (Liv.
xxvii. 30.) In 192 Lamia opened its gates to Antiochus (Liv. xxxv. 43), and was
in consequence besieged in the following year by Philip, who was then acting in
conjunction with the Romans. (Liv. xxxvi. 25.) On this occasion Livy mentions
the difficulty which the Macedonians experienced in mining the rock, which was
siliceous ( in asperis locis silex saepe impenetrabilis ferro occurrebat ). In
190 the town was taken by the Romans. (Liv. xxxvii. 4,5.) Lamia is mentioned by
Pliny (iv. 7. s. 14), and was also in existence in the sixth century. (Hierocl.
p. 642, ed. Wesseling.) The site of Lamia is fixed at Zituni, both by the description
of the ancient writers of the position of Lamia, and by an inscription which Paul
Lucas copied at this place. Zituni is situated on a hill, and is by nature a strongly
fortified position. The only remains of the ancient city which Leake discovered
were some pieces of the walls of the Acropolis, forming a part of those of the
modern castle, and some small remains of the town walls at the foot of the hill,
beyond the extreme modern houses to the eastward. On the opposite side of the
town Leake noticed a small river, which, we learn from Strabo (ix.), was called
Achelous. The port of Malia was named Phalara (ta Phalara, Strab. ix. ; Polyb.
xx. 11; Liv. xxvii. 30, xxxv. 43; Plin. iv. 7. s. 12), now Stylidha. Zituni has
been compared to Athens, with its old castle, or acropolis, above, and its Peiraeeus
at Stylidha, on the shore below. There is a fine view from the castle, commanding
the whole country adjacent to the head of the Maliac gulf.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A town in Phthiotis, in Thessaly, situated on the small river Achelous, fifty stadia inland from the Maliac Gulf. It has given its name to the war which was carried on by the confederate Greeks against Antipater after the death of Alexander, B.C. 323. When Antipater was defeated by the confederates under the command of Leosthenes, the Athenian, he took refuge in Lamia, where he was besieged for some months. During the siege Leosthenes was killed, and soon after Antipater, being joined by Craterus, defeated the confederates at Cranon, ending the war.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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