Daphnus or Daphnous () was a city on the Euboean Sea, originally belonging to

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 ...

, which thus extended from the

Corinthian Gulf The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (, ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and ...

to the Euboean sea. Its narrow territory separated the

Locri Epicnemidii Opuntian Locris or Eastern Locris was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek region inhabited by the eastern division of the Locrians, the so-called tribe of the Locri Epicnemidii () or Locri Opuntii (Greek: ). Geography Opuntian Locris consisted of ...

from the Locri Opuntii; but it was afterwards assigned to the Opuntii. The town was in ruins in the time of

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 ...

, who fixes its site by describing it as 20 stadia distant from

Cynus Cynus () was the principal sea-port of the Opuntian Locrians, situated on a cape at the northern extremity of the Opuntian Gulf in Greece. Historical mentions Cynus was an ancient town, being mentioned in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships in the ''Il ...

and 120 from

Elateia Elateia (; ) was an ancient Greek city of Phthiotis, and the most important place in that region after Delphi. It is also a modern-day town that is a former municipality in the southeastern part of Phthiotis. Since the 2011 local government reform ...

, and as having a harbour. Daphnus appears in an inscription dated to 407 BCE. Daphnus lay at the head of a pass that was one of the major arteries from northern to central Greece.

Archaeology

The site of Daphnus is near the modern village of Agios Konstantinos. The ruins of Daphnus were first noted in 1844 by

Ludwig Ross Ludwig Ross (22 July 1806 – 6 August 1859) was a German Classical archaeology, classical archaeologist. He is chiefly remembered for the rediscovery and reconstruction of the Temple of Athena Nike in 1835–1836, and for his other excavati ...

. The ancient site was re-discovered in 2005-2007 during the construction of the main road above the modern town in the area of the Malian Gulf. The most important discovery is the very well preserved but previously unknown Sanctuary of

Asklepios Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his ...

, containing a group of statues, and which has turned out to be one of the earliest Asklepieia on the Greek mainland, dating from the 5th century BC.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in ancient Phocis Populated places in Opuntian Locris Former populated places in Greece Cities in ancient Greece Ancient Greek cities