Elateia (; ) was an

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

city of

Phthiotis Phthiotis (, ''Fthiótida'' ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece (administrative region), Central Greece. The capital is the city of La ...

, and the most important place in that region after

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

. It is also a modern-day town that is a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the southeastern part of

. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is a municipal unit of the municipality Amfikleia-Elateia. Its population is 2,804 inhabitants (2021 census) and its land area is 154.361 km². The municipal seat was the town of Eláteia (pop. 2,002); other communities are Zeli (466), Panagítsa (148), Lefkochóri (99) and Sfáka (89).

History

Ancient Elateia was situated about the middle of the great fertile basin that extends nearly 20 miles, from the narrows of the Cephissus River below Amphicleia, to the entrance into

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...

. Hence it was admirably placed for commanding the passes into southern

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

from

Mount Oeta Mount Oeta (; , polytonic , ''Oiti'', also transcribed as ''Oite'') is a mountain in Central Greece. A southeastern offshoot of the Pindus range, it is high. Since 1966, the core area of the mountain is a national park, and much of the rest has ...

, and became a post of great military importance. Pausanias describes it as situated over against Amphicleia, at the distance of 180 '' stadia'' from the latter town, on a gently rising slope in the plain of the Cephissus.Pausanias, ''Description of Greece''
x. 34
/ref> Elateia is not mentioned by

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

. Its inhabitants claimed they were Arcadians, deriving their name from Elatus, the son of Arcas. It was burnt, along with the other Phocian towns, by the Persian army of Xerxes during the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC. When

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

entered Phocis in 339 BC, with the professed object of conducting war against Amphissa, he seized Elateia and began to restore its fortifications. The alarm this caused at

Athens 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 ...

shows that they regarded Phocis as a key of southern Greece. The subsequent history of Elateia is given in some detail by Pausanias. It successfully resisted Cassander in 301 BC, but it was taken by the king of

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

Philip V, the son of Demetrius II Aetolicus. It remained faithful to Philip V when the Romans invaded Greece, and was taken by assault by the Romans in 198 BC. At a later time, the Romans declared the town free, because the inhabitants had repulsed an 86 BC attack by Taxiles, the general of Mithridates VI. Among noteworthy sites in Elateia, Pausanias mentions the ''

agora The agora (; , romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Ancient Greece, Greek polis, city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center ...

'', a temple of

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

that contained a beardless statue of the god, a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

, and an ancient brazen statue of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

. He also mentions a temple of Athena Cranaea, situated 20 ''stadia'' from Elateia: the road to it was a very gentle ascent, but the temple stood upon a steep hill of small size. The ancient city has been repeatedly sacked and destroyed in its history, and also subject to several earthquakes. For these reasons the one modern excavation of the classical site has not been much successful; the one exception was the Temple of Athena Cranaea. What has been attested is continuous occupation of the valley, that goes back to as far as 6000 BC.''Princeton Encyclopedia'', "Elateia"

Notes

References

* Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister (editors);
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
'
"Elateia"
Princeton, (1976). *

External links

Elateia
{{Authority control Populated places in Phthiotis Amfikleia-Elateia Cities in ancient Greece Populated places in ancient Phocis Ancient Greek cities

History

See also

Notes

References

External links