Hēmeroskopeion ( grc, Ἡμεροσκοπεῖον) was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

city. Its location is unknown but it has been suggested by some scholars (and rejected by others) that it existed on what is now the city of

Dénia Dénia ( es, Denia) is a historical coastal city in the province of Alicante, Spain, on the Costa Blanca halfway between Alicante and Valencia, and the capital and judicial seat of the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta. Denia's historical heritage ...

, the judicial seat of the ''comarca'' of

Marina Alta Marina Alta (, "Upper Marina") is a central and coastal ''comarca'' of the autonomous community of Valencia, Spain. The ''comarca'' is located in the area of Alicante and its capital and largest settlement is the city of Dénia. Marina Alta bord ...

in the province of Alicante, which is a division of the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

, Spain. Its name means

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

in Greek and it reflects the first use of the lofty promontory as such. According to Strabo, it was a small city and was founded by the Massaliot Greeks together with another two neighbouring and equally small cities, the names of which have not survived. The city was later conquered by the Romans and it was named Dianium, whence the modern name. This town was situated on the cape then called Artemisium ( grc, Ἀρτεμίσιον) or Dianium ( grc, Διάνιον), named from a temple of Ephesia Artemis built upon it (goddess

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

was called Diana in Latin). Apart from its strategic location the city was equally important for the iron mines that existed nearby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemeroskopeion Massalian colonies Alicante Marina Alta Populated places of the Byzantine Empire

See also

References