Asterium or Asterion () was a city in

ancient Thessaly Thessaly or Thessalia (Attic Greek: , ''Thessalía'' or , ''Thettalía'') was one of the traditional regions of Ancient Greece. During the Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of ...

mentioned in the

Catalogue of Ships The Catalogue of Ships (, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the names of the leaders of each conting ...

in Homer's ''

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 ...

'' as belonging to

Eurypylus In Greek mythology, Eurypylus (; ) was the name of several different people: * Eurypylus, was a Thessalian king, son of Euaemon and Ops. He was a former suitor of Helen thus he led the Thessalians during Trojan War. * Eurypylus, was son of T ...

. Homer speaks of "Asterium and the white summits of

Titanus Titanus (also called Titanus Distribuzione) is an Italian film production and distribution company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Vi ...

– Ἀστέριον Τιτάνοιό τε λευκὰ κάρηνα.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

places the city in the neighbourhood of

Cierium Cierium or Kierion () was a town and polis (city-state) in the district of Thessaliotis in ancient Thessaly, which according to some ancient commentators, such as Stephanus of Byzantium was the successor to the Homer, Homeric Arne (Thessaly), Arn ...

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

relates that the place was later called Peiresia (Πειρεσία), no doubt from the ''

Argonautica The ''Argonautica'' () is a Greek literature, Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic civilization, Hellenistic epic (though Aetia (Callimachus), Callim ...

'' of

Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; ; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek author, best known for the ''Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Go ...

who describes the place as near the junction of rivers Apidanus (the modern Pharsalitis) and Enipeus. Strabo, who places Titanus near

Arne Arne may refer to: Places * Arne, Dorset, England, a village ** Arne RSPB reserve, a nature reserve adjacent to the village * Arné, Hautes-Pyrénées, Midi-Pyrénées, France * Arne (Boeotia), an ancient city in Boeotia, Greece * Arne (Thess ...

, also speaks of its white colour. Peiresiae is said by Apollonius to have been near Mount Phylleium. Near Mount Phylleium Strabo places a city

Phyllus Phyllus or Phylos () was a city near Mount Phylleium in the district of Thessaliotis, in ancient Thessaly. Strabo says the city was noted for a temple of Apollo Phylleius. Statius calls this city Phylli. The city is also cited by Stephanus of By ...

, noted for a temple of Apollo Phylleius.

Statius Publius Papinius Statius (Greek language, Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; , ; ) was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid (Latin poem), Theb ...

calls this city Phylli.

William Smith William, Willie, Will, Bill, or Billy Smith may refer to: Academics * William Smith (Master of Clare College, Cambridge) (1556–1615), English academic * William Smith (antiquary) (c. 1653–1735), English antiquary and historian of University C ...

conjectures that the town of Iresiae mentioned by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

, is perhaps a false reading for Peiresiae; however, modern scholars treat the town as distinct from Peiresiae and suggest the site is to be found in Magnesia not at Peiresiae. Under its later name, Peiresia, the town was a

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), and minted silver coins with the legend «ΠΕΙΡΑΣΙΕΩΝ». The editors of the ''

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World The ''Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World'' is a large-format English language atlas of ancient Europe, Asia, and North Africa, edited by Richard Talbert, Richard J. A. Talbert. The time period depicted is roughly from Archaic Greece, ...

'' identify Asterium's location at the modern village of

Sykies Sykies () or Sykeai (Συκεαί) is a suburb of the Thessaloniki Urban Area and was a former municipality in the regional unit of Thessaloniki, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Neapoli-Sykies, of ...

(Συκιές) in the municipal unit of

Fyllo Fyllo () is a village and a former municipality in the Karditsa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land ...

, municipality of Palamas,

Karditsa Karditsa ( ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of the region of Thessaly. Climate Karditsa has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: '' ...

References

Former populated places in Greece Places in the Iliad Populated places in ancient Thessaly Thessaliotis Thessalian city-states Cities in ancient Greece {{AncientThessaly-geo-stub