Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for destination: "ORCHOMENOS Ancient city LEVIDI".
The site is located N of Mantinea on an acropolis dominating the plains of Levidi and Candyla from an elevation of 936 m. The name Orchomenos appears in the Catalogue of Ships (Iliad) and in the Odyssey. At the time of Pausanias the higher part of the city had already been abandoned (Paus. 8.13.2), a fact confirmed also by the lack of Roman remains in that zone. A wall in polygonal masonry with a perimeter of ca. 2300 m enclosed the upper part of the acropolis. It appears to have undergone repeated renovation. The earliest wall must have been erected at the end of the 5th c. B.C. (Thuc. 5.61), though those parts actually visible are from the 4th and 3d c. and appear to be interrupted every 30 or 50 m by square towers. There were two gates, one opening to the W and the other to the SE toward the Charadra, the principal fountain of the city. Inside the walled area a quadrangular agora has been found, flanked on the N by a portico and on the E by a bouleuterion. S of the agora is the Temple of Artemis Mesopolitis, the major sanctuary of the city, datable to the second half of the 6th c. B.C. In Ionic style, with foundation and socle in limestone, the upper section was probably of brick. To the NE of the agora was the theater, of which there remains part of the skene and proskenion, as well as a marble seat from the proedria with an inscription from the 4th-3d c. The lower city, seat of the modern village, was inhabited from the Geometric age until Roman times. There are recognizable remains of a peripteral temple from the end of the 6th c. B.C., which may be identified as one of the two temples mentioned by Pausanias and dedicated respectively to Poseidon and Aphrodite. Also found are cisterns, fountains, and private houses from both Greek and Roman epochs, one of which is served by thermal springs.
L. Vlad Borrelli, 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 29 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
An ancient city of Arcadia, called by Thucydides (v. 61) the Arcadian
(ho Arkadikos), to distinguish it from the Boeotian town. It was situated in a
plain surrounded on every side by mountains. This plain was bounded on the S.
by a low range of hills, called Anchisia, which separated it from the territory
of Mantineia; on the N. by a lofty chain, called Oligyrtus, through which lie
the passes into the territories of Pheneus and Stymphalus; and on the E. and W.
by two parallel chains running from N. to S., which bore no specific name in antiquity:
the eastern range is in one part 5400 feet high, and the western about 4000 feet.
The plain is divided into two by hills projecting on either side from the eastern
and western ranges, and which approach so close as to allow space for only a narrow
ravine between them. The western hill, on account of its rough and rugged form,
was called Trachy (Trachu) in antiquity; upon the summit of the western mountain
stood the acropolis of Orchomenus. The northern plain is lower than the southern;
the waters of the latter run through the ravine between Mount Trachy and that
upon which Orchomenus stands into the northern plain, where, as there is no outlet
for the waters, they form a considerable lake. (Paus. viii. 13. § 4.)
The acropolis of Orchomenus, stood upon a lofty, steep, and insulated
hill, nearly 3000 feet high, resembling the strong fortress of the Messenian Ithome,
and, like the latter, commanding two plains. From its situation and its legendary
history, we may conclude that it was one of the most powerful cities of Arcadia
in early times. Pausanias relates that Orchomenus was founded by an eponymous
hero, the son of Lycaon (viii. 3. § 3); but there was a tradition that, on the
death of Areas, his dominions were divided among his three sons, of whom Elatus
obtained Orchomenus as his portion. (Schol. ad. Dionys. Per. 415.) The kings of
Orchomenus are said to have ruled over nearly all Arcadia. (Heraclid. Pont. ap.
Diog. Laert. i. 94.) Pausanias also gives a list of the kings of Orchomenus, whom
he represents at the same time as kings of Arcadia. One of these kings, Aristocrates,
the son of Aechmis, was stoned to death by his people for violating the virgin
priestess of Artemis Hymnia. Aristocrates was succeeded by his son Hicetas, and
Hicetas by his son Aristocrates II., who, having abandoned the Messenians at the
battle of the Trench in the second war against Sparta, experienced the fate of
his grandfather, being stoned to death by the Arcadians. He appears to have been
the last king of Orchomenus, who reigned over Arcadia, but his family was not
deprived of the kingdom of Orchomenus, as is stated in some authorities, since
we find his son Aristodemus represented as king of the city. (Paus. viii. 5; Polyb.
iv. 3; Heracl. Pont. l. c.) It would appear, indeed, that royalty continued to
exist at Orchomenus long after its abolition in most other Grecian cities, since
Theophilus related that Peisistratus, king of Orchomenus, was put to death by
the aristocracy in the Peloponnesian War. (Plut. Parall. 32.)
Orchomenus is mentioned by Homer, who gives it the epithet of polumelos
(Il. ii. 605); and it is also called ferax by Ovid (Met. vi. 416), and aphneos
by Apollonius Rhodius (iii. 512). In the Persian wars Orchomenus sent 120 men
to Thermopylae (Herod. viii. 102), and 600 to Plataeae (ix. 28). In the Peloponnesian
War, the Lacedaemonians deposited in Orchomenus the hostages they had taken from
the Arcadians; but the walls of the city were then in a dilapidated state; and
accordingly, when the Athenians and their Peloponnesian allies advanced against
the city in B.C. 418, the Orchomenians dared not offer resistance, and surrendered
the hostages. (Thuc. v. 61.) At the time of the foundation of Megalopolis, we
find the Orchomenians exercising supremacy over Theisoa, Methydrium, and Teuthis;
but the inhabitants of these cities were then transferred to Megalopolis, and
their territories assigned to the latter. (Paus.viii.27. §4.) The Orchomenians,
through their enmity to the Mantineians, refused to join the Arcadian confederacy,
and made war upon the Mantineians. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 11, seq.; Diod. xv. 62.)
Henceforth Orchomenus lost its political importance; but, from its commanding
situation, its possession was frequently an object of the belligerent powers in
later times. In the war between Cassander and Polysperchon, it fell into the power
of the former, B.C. 313. (Diod. xix. 63.) It subsequently espoused the side of
the Aetolians, was taken by Cleomenes (Polyb. ii. 46), and was afterwards retaken
by Antigonus Doson, who placed there a Macedonian garrison. (Polyb. ii. 54, iv.
6; Plut. Arat. 5.) It was given back by Philip to the Achaeans. (Liv. xxxii. 5.)
Strabo mentions it among the Arcadian cities, which had either disappeared, or
of which there were scarcely any traces left (viii. p. 338); but this appears
from Pausanias to have been an exaggeration. When this writer visited the place,
the old city upon the summit of the mountain was in ruins, and there were only
some vestiges of the agora and the town walls; but at the foot of the mountain
there was still an inhabited town. The upper town was probably deserted at a very
early period; for such is the natural strength of its position, that we can hardly
suppose that the Orchomenians were dwelling there in the Peloponnesian War, when
they were unable to resist an invading force. Pausanias mentions, as the most
remarkable objects in the place, a source of water, and temples of Poseidon and
Aphrodite, with statues of stone. Close to the city was a wooden statue of Artemis,
enclosed in a great cedar tree, and hence called Cedreatis. Below the city were
several heaps of stones, said to have been erected to some persons slain in battle.
(Paus. viii. 13.)
The village of Kalpaki stands on the site of the lower Orchomenus.
On approaching the place from the south the traveller sees, on his left, tumuli,
chiefly composed of collections of stones, as described by Pausanias. Just above
Kalpaki are several pieces of white marble columns, belonging to an ancient temple.
There are also some remains of a temple at a ruined church below the village,
near which is a copious fountain, which is evidently the one described by Pausanias.
On the summit of the hill are some remains of the walls of the more ancient Orchomenus.
In the territory of Orchomenus, but adjoining that of Mantineia, consequently
on the northern slope of Mt. Anchisia, was the temple of Artemis Hymnia, which
was held in high veneration by all the Arcadians in the most ancient times. (Paus.
viii. 5. § 11.) Its site is probably indicated by a chapel of the Virgin Mary,
which stands east of Levidhi.
In the southern plain is an ancient canal, which conducts the waters
from the surrounding mountains through the ravine into the lower or northern plain,
which is the other Orchomnenian plain of Pausanias (viii. 13. § 4). After passing
the ravine, at the distance of 3 stadia from Orchomenus, the road divides into
two. One turns to the left along the northern side of the Orchomenian acropolis
to Caphyae, the other crosses the torrent, and passes under Mt. Trachy to the
tomb of Aristocrates, beyond which are the fountains called Teneiae (Teneiai).
Seven stadia further is a place called Amilus (Amilos). Here, in ancient times,
the road divided into two, one leading to Stymphalus and the other to Pheneus.
(Paus. viii. 13. § 4, seq.) The above-mentioned fountains are visible just beyond
Trachy, and a little further are some Hellenic ruins, which are those of Amilus.
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
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