Ampheia () was a town of

ancient Messenia Messenia () was an ancient district of the southwestern Peloponnese, more or less overlapping the modern Messenia region of Greece. To the north it had a border with Elis along the Neda river. From there the border with Arcadia ran along the to ...

, situated on the frontiers of

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

, upon a hill well supplied with water. It was surprised and taken by the

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

at the beginning of the

First Messenian War The First Messenian War was a war between Messenia_(ancient_region), Messenia and Sparta. It began in 743 BC and ended in 724 BC, according to the dates given by Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias. The war continued the rivalry between the Achae ...

, and was made their headquarters in conducting their operations against the Messenians. Its capture was the first act of open hostilities between the two peoples. Its site is located near the modern Gardiki.

References

Populated places in ancient Messenia Former populated places in Greece {{AncientMessenia-geo-stub