Pharae (), otherwise known as Phara (Φᾶρα), and Pherae, was a town and
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),
situated by the
Peiros
The Peiros (, formerly also ''Kamenitza'' and ''Achelous'') is a river in the central and the northwestern parts of Achaea, Greece. It is long.
Geography
The Peiros is the second longest river in Achaea, after Selinountas (river), Selinountas. I ...
River, approximately from the sea and from the town of
Patras
Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...
, in what is now 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 ...
. It was one of the twelve Achaean cities, and one of the four major cities which spearheaded the restoration of the
Achaean League
The Achaean League () was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era confederation of polis, Greek city-states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea (ancient region), Achaea in the northwestern Pelopon ...
in 280 BC.
In an event called the
Social War (220–217 BC)
The Social War, also War of the Allies and the Aetolian War, was fought from 220 BC to 217 BC between the Hellenic League under Philip V of Macedon and the Aetolian League, Sparta and Elis. It was ended with the Peace of Naupactus.
Backg ...
, it suffered from various setbacks caused by the attacks of the
Aetolians and
Eleans. Its territory was later annexed by
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
, and after the
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...
, it was made a colony of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
As of the 19th century, Pharae still contained a large agora with a statue of Hermes.
The modern village
Fares was named after Pharae.
See also
*
List of ancient Greek cities
This is an incomplete list of ancient Greek cities, including colonies outside Greece, and including settlements that were not sovereign '' poleis''.
Many colonies outside Greece were soon assimilated to some other language but a city is included h ...
*
Fares (village)
References
Attribution
External links
{{coord, 38.082, N, 21.73, E, source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/31042.html, display=title, format=dms
Populated places in ancient Achaea
Former populated places in Greece
Cities in ancient Greece
Achaean city-states