Eva or Eua () was an ancient village of

Cynuria Cynuria ( – ''Kynouria'' or – ''Kynouriake'') is an ancient district on the eastern coast of the Peloponnese, between the Argolis and Laconia, so called from the Cynurians, one of the most ancient tribes in the peninsula. It was believed to ...

(part of Arcadia in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

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 ...

), located inland not far from

Neris The river Neris () or Vilija (, ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman) from the right bank, at Kaunas, as its ma ...

. Pausanias, who visited the region in the 2nd century, on leaving Thyrea, came first to

Anthene ''Anthene'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae, commonly called the ciliate blues or hairtails. The genus was erected by Edward Doubleday in 1847. ''Anthene'' are small to medium-sized (wingspan 16–40 millimetres), slender but ...

, next to Neris, and lastly to Eva, which he describes as the largest of the three villages, containing a sanctuary of Polemocrates, son of Machaon, who was honoured here as a god or hero of the healing art. Above these villages was the range of

Mount Parnon Parnon or Parnonas () or Malevos (Μαλεβός) is a mountain range, or massif, on the east of the Laconian plain and the Evrotas Valley. It is visible from Athens above the top of the Argive mountains. The western part is in the Laconia pre ...

, where, not far from the sources of the Tanus or Tanaus, the boundaries of the

Lacedaemonians Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern Pe ...

Argives Argos (; ; ) is a city and former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the oldest in Europe. It is the largest city in Argolis and a major center in the same pr ...

, and

Tegea Tegea (; ) was a settlement in ancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the Tripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit with an area o ...

tae joined, and were marked by stone Hermae. This Eva is probably also meant by

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 ...

, though he calls it a city of Arcadia. Its site is tentatively associated with an ancient fortification on Teichio ridge above the hamlet of Elliniko (Astros). Excavations in 1980 revealed the ruins of the villa of

Herodes Atticus Herodes Atticus (; AD 101–177) was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned many Athenian public w ...

(2nd century AD) near the Byzantine Monastery of Loukou, 4 km north of Elliniko. Spectacular finds came to light, among them mosaics, inscriptions, statues and other works of art.Sykka Iota, Herod’s villa becomes outdoor museum. Kathimerini, 26-3-2005.
/ref> Pausanias does not mention the villa, whether because he had not actually visited the area or because he tended to ignore private monuments erected by his contemporaries.

References

* Spyropoulos, G. (2001). ''Drei Meisterwerke Der Griechischen Plastik Aus Der Villa Des Herodes Atticus Zu Eva/Loukou''. P. Lang. . Populated places in ancient Argolis Populated places in ancient Laconia Former populated places in Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Peloponnese (region) Buildings and structures in Arcadia, Peloponnese Geography of Peloponnese (region) {{AncientArgolis-geo-stub