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Kassope or ''Cassope'' ( grc, Κασσώπη - ''Kassōpē'', also Κασσωπία - ''Kassōpia'' and Κασσιόπη - ''Kassiopē'') was an
of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture Kassope was abandoned in 31 B.C. when the remaining inhabitants resettled to Nikopolis the region's new capital.
Kassope or ''Cassope'' ( grc, Κασσώπη - ''Kassōpē'', also Κασσωπία - ''Kassōpia'' and Κασσιόπη - ''Kassiopē'') was an ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
cityAn Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 346 in Epirus
sq, Epiri rup, Epiru
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Historical region
, image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
.
Kassope occupies a magnificent and remote site on a high platform overlooking the sea, the Ambracian Gulf and the fertile lands to the south, and with the slopes of the Zalongo mountain to the north.
It is considered one of the best remaining examples of a city built on a rectilinear street grid of a Hippodamian plan in Greece.Guide Bleu, ''Greece''. Hachette Livre, 2000. p. 627.
History
The first settlements on the site are from thePaleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...
. However the city of Kassope was founded in the middle of the 4th century BC as the capital of the Kassopaeans, a sub-tribe of the Thesprotians
The Thesprotians ( grc, Θεσπρωτοί, Thesprōtoí) were an ancient Greek tribe, akin to the Molossians, inhabiting the kingdom of Thesprotis in Epirus. Together with the Molossians and the Chaonians, they formed the main tribes of the n ...
. It belonged to the Aetolian League
The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...
. Cassope or Cassopia is mentioned in the war carried on by Cassander
Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death.
A son of Antipater and a contem ...
against Alcetas II of Epirus, in 312 BC. The city flourished in the 3rd century BC, when large public buildings were built. Kassope also minted its own coins.
It was destroyed by Roman forces in 168-167 BCCassope pageof the Hellenic Ministry of Culture Kassope was abandoned in 31 B.C. when the remaining inhabitants resettled to Nikopolis the region's new capital.
Archaeology
The ruins of Kassope were visited and described by William Martin Leake in the early 19th century. Extensive excavations were performed by a Greek team under Sotiris Dakaris in 1952 and 1955, and in 1977-1983 by a team from the University of Ioannina together with theGerman Archaeological Institute
The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...
, co-led by Dakaris, Wolfram Hoepfner Wolfram Hoepfner (born 16 March 1937, in Breslau) is a German classicist, archaeologist, architectural historian, and Professor of Ancient Architectural History, at the Free University of Berlin.
Life
He studied at the Free University of Berlin, ...
, Konstantina Gravani, and Ernst-Ludwig Schwandner. The visible remains include Cyclopean walls, an agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order ...
, a theatre, civic buildings, and private houses.
See also
*List of cities in ancient Epirus
This is a list of cities in ancient Epirus. These were Greek poleis, komes or fortresses except for Nicopolis, which was founded by Octavian. Classical Epirus was divided into three regions: Chaonia, Molossia, Thesprotia, each named afte ...
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20160611190950/http://www.gtp.gr/TDirectoryDetails.asp?ID=14713 {{Coord, 39, 08, 43, N, 20, 40, 32, E, display=title, region:GR-PV_type:landmark_source:dewiki Populated places established in the 4th century BC Cities in ancient Epirus Populated places in ancient Epirus Former populated places in Greece Archaeological sites in Epirus (region) Cities in ancient Greece