Triphylia

Triphylia ( el, Τριφυλία, ''Trifylia'', "the country of the three tribes") was an area of the ancient

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge whi ...

. Strabo and Pausanias both describe Triphylia as part of

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

, and it fell at times under the domination of the city of

, but Pausanias claims they reckoned themselves Arcadian, not Elean. They fell under the rule of Elis in the 8th century BC, and remained under Elean rule until the

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 referred ...

ns asserted their control in 402 BC. When the Spartans were defeated by the Thebans at the

Battle of Leuctra The Battle of Leuctra ( grc-gre, Λεῦκτρα, ) was a battle fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by the Thebans, and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the vi ...

in 371 BC, the Eleans attempted to reassert their control, but the Triphylians, in order to maintain their independence from Elis, joined the Arcadian League in 368 BC. In this period, their political fortunes were often shared by the areas on the border between Elis and Arcadia but in to the north of the

River Alpheus The Alfeiós or Alpheios ( el, Αλφειός, grc, Ἀλφειός, Latin Alpheus) is the main stream of the Alpheios Valley drainage system, a dendritic type, originating on the north slopes of Mount Taygetus, located in the center of the Pel ...

; Xenophon mentions the

Amphidolians Amphidolis ( grc, Ἀμφιδολίς) or Amphidolia (Ἀμφιδολία) was a town of the Pisatis district in ancient Elis. Its territory was probably to the west of Acroreia, and included the town of Marganeae (or Margalae). Amphidolis is menti ...

and

Acrorians Acroreia or Akroreia ( grc, Ἀκρώρεια) was a mountainous district of ancient Elis on the borders of Arcadia, in which the rivers Peneius and Ladon take their rise. The inhabitants of the district were called Acrocreii (Ἀκρωρεῖοι) ...

and the city-states of Lasion, Margana, and Letrini in this context. The Amphidolians, Marganians, and Letrinians are remarkable in Xenophon for fielding slingers for the Peloponnesian army. The most important city in Triphylia was Lepreum, which maintained its self-government in the 5th century BC. In his accounts of wars between the Eleans and their enemies in Sparta and Arcadia in this period, Xenophon also mentions Scillus, Macistus, Epium, Phrixa, and

Epitalium Epitalium or Epitalion ( grc, Ἐπιτάλιον) was a town of Triphylia in ancient Elis, near the coast and a little south of the river Alpheius. It was identified with the Homeric Thryon (Θρύον) or Thryoessa (Θρυόεσσα), a town l ...

as cities in Triphylia. Historical regions in Greece Geography of ancient Elis {{AncientElis-geo-stub