Lilaea or Lilaia (), also Lilaeum or Lilaion (Λίλαιον), was one of the most important ancient

Phocian 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 ...

towns, and a

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

(city-state), built on the north slopes of

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; , ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is, and historically has been, especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers scenic views of the c ...

, and at the sources of the Cephissus.

Description

The name Lilaea appears for the first time in Homer's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' (in the

Catalogue of Ships The Catalogue of Ships (, ''neōn katálogos'') is an epic catalogue in Book 2 of Homer's ''Iliad'' (2.494–759), which lists the contingents of the Achaean army that sailed to Troy. The catalogue gives the names of the leaders of each conting ...

) as one of the nine Phocian towns which had participated at the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

. Lilaea was named after the Naiad Lilaea, the daughter of the river-god Cephissus, since the city itself was situated close to the sources of the river. A sanctuary dedicated to

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

and another one, dedicated to the deified river stood there in antiquity. The inhabitants of Lilaea believed that the water of Castalian spring in Delphi was a gift of Cephissus, so some days in the year they threw sweets in the river, thinking that they would surface in Castalia.

History

The broader region of Lilaea had been inhabited since the 3rd millennium BCE.

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

does not mention it among the Phocian cities which had been destroyed by the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

, possibly because in those days it was attached to Doris, which made its submission to

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a List of monarchs of Persia, Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was ...

, or because it was so well fortified that the Persians never subdued it. Based upon numismatic and epigraphic evidence, the latter appears the more likely. The city is also mentioned by

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 ...

, Pausanias,

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, and

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 ...

. Lilaea was destroyed during the

Third Sacred War The Third Sacred War ( 356– 346 BC) was fought between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon, and the Phocians. The war was caused by a large fine imposed in 35 ...

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 ...

in 346 BCE, but it was rebuilt during the following years in the course of the project for the reconstruction of the Phocian citadels. It was besieged by

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

and the city had to accept that a Macedonian garrison but soon after an uprising, led by Patron, managed to defeat the Macedonians and they withdrew after the formalization of a pact.

Description

When Pausanias visited Lilaea, in the second century, he reported seeing a theatre, an agora, and baths, with temples of Apollo and Artemis, containing statues of Athenian workmanship and of Pentelic marble.

Archaeology

Lilaea is located near the modern namesake village of Lilaia. Its walls and gates are to the east of the modern settlement. Among the visible antiquities of the region count the architectural members by the springs of Agia Eleoussa, where a fountain and the temple of Cephissus lay, as well as the early Byzantine remains of a basilica dedicated to St. Christopher. Another Byzantine church, dated to the 10th-11th century was dedicated to St. Eleoussa. The fortification of the city is evident on the hill "Pyrgos" or "Palaeokastro". During the Frankish period the site was fortified with a new wall.

Attribution

References

External links

{{coord, 38.62687, N, 22.50592, E, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/22755.html, display=title, format=dms Places in the Iliad Cities in ancient Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Central Greece Phocian city-states Mount Parnassus