Aegium or Aigion (), or Aegeium or Aigeion (Αἴγειον), was a town and

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

(city-state) of ancient Achaea, and one of the twelve Achaean cities. It was situated upon the coast west of the river Selinus, 30 stadia from Rhypae, and 40 stadia from Helice. The city stood between two promontories in the corner of a bay, which formed the best harbour in Achaea next to that of Patrae. It is said to have been formed out of a union of seven or eight villages. It was already mentioned in the

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

ic Catalogue of Ships in the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

''. When the neighbouring city of Helice sank into the sea following an earthquake in 373 BCE, Aegium annexed its territory and became the chief city of the

Achaean League The Achaean League () was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era confederation of polis, Greek city-states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea (ancient region), Achaea in the northwestern Pelopon ...

. When the League dissolved later in the same century, however, Aegium came for some time under Macedonian rule. Eventually, the Achaean League was refounded by the cities of Dyme and

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

in 280 BC, and the citizens of Aegium, taking courage to expel the Macedonian garrison, joined in 275 BC. From this time on Aegium served as the capital of the Achaean League. It was the meeting place for the assembly of the Achaeans and retained this distinction until Philopoemen carried a law that the meeting might be held in any of the towns of the confederacy. Even under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

the Achaeans were allowed to keep up the form of their periodical meetings at Aegium, just as the Amphictyons were permitted to meet at Thermopylae and Delphi. The meetings were held in a grove near the sea, called Homagyrium or Homarium, sacred to Zeus Homagyrius or Homarius (Ὁμαγύριον, Ὁμάριον); a temple was also there called

Homarium The Homarium, Homagyrium or Amarion (Ancient Greek: Ἀμάριον) was the common sanctuary of the Achaean League, built at Aegium. It was so named as it was dedicated to Zeus Amarios (Ancient Greek: Ἀμάριος) or Homarios (Ὁμάρι ...

. Close to this grove was a temple of Demeter Panchaea. The words Homagyrium, 'assembly', and Homarium, 'union', refer to those meetings, though in later times they were explained as indicating the spot where

Agamemnon In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of C ...

assembled the Grecian chieftains before the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

. There were several other temples and public buildings at Aegium, of which an account is given by Pausanias. Aegium had several Olympic winners including

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, Ladas (stadion race), Athenodorus (Αθηνόδωρος) (stadion race), Straton (Στράτων) (pancration and wrestling). Its site is located near the modern city of

Aigio Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' (, ; ), is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the mun ...

References

Populated places in ancient Achaea Former populated places in Greece Places in the Iliad Achaean city-states Achaean League {{AncientAchaea-geo-stub

See also

References