Ambrysus (Phocis)
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Ambrysus or Ambrysos () or Ambrosus or Ambrosos (Ἄμβροσσος) or Amphrysus or Amphrysos (Ἄμφρυσος) was a town of
ancient Phocis Phocis was an ancient region in the central part of ancient Greece, which included Delphi. A modern administrative unit, also called Phocis, is named after the ancient region, although the modern region is substantially larger than the ancient o ...
, situated 60 stadia from Stiris, northeast of Anticyra, at the southern foot of Mount Cirphis (not at the foot of Parnassus, as Pausanias states), and in a fertile valley, producing abundance of wine and the coccus, or kermes berry, used to dye scarlet. It was located in the southern part of Phocis, bordering on the territory of Parapotamii. It was destroyed by order of the Amphictyons, but was rebuilt and fortified by the Thebans with a double wall, in their war against
Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
, who had during the
Third Sacred War The Third Sacred War ( 356– 346 BC) was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians. The war was caused by a large fine imposed in 35 ...
taken Ambrysus among other cities in Phocis (346 BCE). In , it was attacked by the Aetolians, like the city of Daulis. Its fortifications were considered by Pausanias the strongest in Greece, next to those of
Messene Messene (Greek language, Greek: Μεσσήνη 𐀕𐀼𐀙 ''Messini''), officially Ancient Messene, is a local community within the regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') of Messenia in the region (''perifereia'') of Peloponnese (region), P ...
. It was taken by the Romans in the
Second Macedonian War The Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC) was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. Philip was defeated and was forced to abandon all possessions in southern Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor. ...
, 198 BCE. During the visit of Pausanias, in the second century, the town had an
agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...
of small size and statues of stone, most of which were broken. The site of Ambrysus is located near the modern village of Distomo (Distomon).


References

Populated places in ancient Phocis Former populated places in Greece {{AncientPhocis-geo-stub