Caphyae or Kaphyai () was a city of
ancient Arcadia
Arcadia (; ) is a region in the central Peloponnese, Greece. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas, and in Greek mythology it was the home of the gods Hermes and Pan (god), Pan. In European Renaissance arts, Arcadia (utopia), Ar ...
situated in a small plain, northwest of the lake of
Orchomenus. It was protected against inundations from this lake by a mound or dyke, raised by the inhabitants of Caphyae. The city is said to have been founded by King Cepheus of Tegea, the son of
Aleus, and pretended to be of
Athenian
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
origin.
Caphyae subsequently belonged to 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 ...
, and was one of the cities of the league, of which
Cleomenes III obtained possession. In its neighborhood a great battle was fought in 220 BC, in which the
Aetolians, gained a decisive victory over the Achaeans and
Aratus of Sicyon
Aratus of Sicyon (Ancient Greek: Ἄρατος ὁ Σικυώνιος; 271–213 BC) was a politician and military commander of Hellenistic period, Hellenistic Ancient Greece, Greece. He was elected strategos of the Achaean League 17 times, lead ...
. The name of Caphyae also occurs in the subsequent events of this war.
Strabo speaks of the town as in ruins in his time; but it still contained some temples when visited by Pausanias (''l. c.''). The remains of the walls of Caphyae are visible upon a small insulated height at the village of Chotoussa, which stands near the edge of the lake. Polybius, in his description of the battle of Caphyae, refers to a plain in front of Caphyae, traversed by a river, beyond which were trenches (), a description of the place which does not correspond with present appearances. The were evidently ditches for the purpose of draining the marshy plain, by conducting the water towards the Katavóthra, around which there was, probably, a small lake. In the time of Pausanias we find that the lake covered the greater part of the plain; and that exactly in the situation in which Polybius describes the ditches, there was a mound of earth.
It is probable that during the four centuries that elapsed between the battle of Caphyae and the visit of Pausanias, a diminution of population should have caused a neglect of the drainage which had formerly ensured the cultivation of the whole plain, and that in the time of 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 ...
an embankment of earth had been thrown up to preserve the part nearest to Caphyae, leaving the rest uncultivated and marshy.
Pausanias says that on the inner side of the embankment there flows a river, which, descending into a chasm of the earth, issues again at a place called
Nasi (); and that the name of the village where it issues is named
Rheunus (). From this place it forms the perennial river
Tragus () (modern
Tara or Daraiiko). He also speaks of a mountain named Cnacalos () (modern Kastania) in the neighbourhood of the city, on which the inhabitants celebrate a yearly festival to
Artemis Cnacalesia.
Its site is located near the modern
Chotoussa.
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References
Sources
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Arcadian city-states
Populated places in ancient Arcadia
Former populated places in Greece