The Malians ( grc, Μαλιεῖς, ''Malieis'') were a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

tribe that resided at the mouth of the river Spercheios in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. The Malian Gulf is named after them. In the western valley of the Spercheios, their land was adjacent to the

Aenianes Ainis ( Ancient Greek Αἰνίς, , Modern Greek Αινίδα, ) or Aeniania, was a region of ancient Greece located near Lamia in modern Central Greece, roughly corresponding to the upper Valley of Spercheios. Name The region takes its name fr ...

. Their main town was Trachis. In the town of Anthele, the Malians had an important temple of

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, ...

, an early centre of the Delphinian

Amphictiony In Archaic Greece, an amphictyony ( grc-gre, ἀμφικτυονία, a "league of neighbors"), or amphictyonic league, was an ancient religious association of tribes formed before the rise of the Greek ''poleis''. The six Dorian cities of coasta ...

. According to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

, the Malian

Ephialtes of Trachis Ephialtes (; el, Ἐφιάλτης, ''Ephialtēs''; although Herodotus spelled it as , ''Epialtes'') was the son of Eurydemus ( el, Εὐρύδημος) of Malis. He betrayed his homeland, in hope of receiving some kind of reward from the Persian ...

, betrayed the Spartans and their allies in the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label= Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lastin ...

, helping the Persians surround the Greek army. In 426 BCE, the Malians asked

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

for help in their war against the Oetaeans. The Spartans then founded the town

Heraclea Trachis Heraclea (Herakleia) in Trachis ( grc, Ἡράκλεια ἡ ἐν Τραχῖνι), also called Heraclea Trachinia (), was a colony founded by the Spartans in 426 BC, the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War. It was also a polis (city-state). Sit ...

in place of Trachis. In the following decades, the Malians were under the hegemony of Sparta until they revolted against Sparta in the

Corinthian War The Corinthian War (395–387 BC) was a conflict in ancient Greece which pitted Sparta against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos, backed by the Achaemenid Empire. The war was caused by dissatisfaction with ...

. In this war, they lost their land south of the Spercheios, Herakleia Trachis was given to the Oitaians, and Lamia became the new capital of the Malians. Together with the Oitaians and the Ainians, the Malians became members of the

Corinthian League The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (from Greek Ἑλληνικός ''Hellenikos'', "pertaining to Greece and Greeks"), was a confederation of Greek states created by Philip II in 338–337 BC. The League was created ...

and, in 235 BCE, the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...

. In 189 BCE they were joined to Achaea Phthiotis and since that time the Malians were regarded as Thessalians.

Notes and references

Aetolian League Ancient Thessalians Ancient tribes in central Greece Greek tribes History of Phthiotis Spercheios Valley {{AncientGreece-stub