Pyrgus or Pyrgos ( grc, Πύργος) or Pyrgi or Pyrgoi () was the most southerly town of

Triphylia Triphylia ( el, Τριφυλία, ''Trifylia'', "the country of the three tribes") was an area of the ancient Peloponnese. Strabo and Pausanias both describe Triphylia as part of Elis, and it fell at times under the domination of the city of E ...

in ancient Elis, at the mouth of the river Neda, upon the Messenian frontier, and hence described by

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

as a Messenian town. It is one of the six cities (along with

Lepreum Lepreum or Lepreon ( grc, Λέπρεον), alternately named Lepreus or Lepreos (Λέπρεος) was an Ancient Greek city-state in Triphylia, a district of Elis (now part of the Elis regional unit). It was located 40 stadia away from the sea at ...

, Phrixae, Macistus, Epium, and Nudium) founded by the

Minyans According to Greek mythology and legendary prehistory of the Aegean region, the Minyans or Minyae ( el, Μινύες, ''Minyes'') were an autochthonous group inhabiting the Aegean region. The extent to which the prehistory of the Aegean world ...

in the territory of the and

Caucones The Caucones ( grc-gre, Καύκωνες ''Kaukônes'') were an autochthonous tribe of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), who later migrated to parts of the Greek mainland ( Arcadia, Triphylian Pylos and Elis). The phonology of the name Caucones m ...

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...

comments that, in his time, most of the cities founded by the Minyans were ravaged by the Eleans. It is supposed that this happened around 460 BCE, after the Third Messenian War.

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

reports that it was among the towns of Triphylia that decided to ally with

Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon aga ...

in the Social War (219 BCE), after he took Samicum. Its site is located at Agios Elias near modern

Pyrgos, Elis Pyrgos ( el, Πύργος, meaning "tower") is a city in the northwestern Peloponnese, Greece, capital of the regional unit of Elis and the seat of the Municipality of Pyrgos. The city is located in the middle of a plain, from the Ionian Sea. The ...

, although other locations have been proposed.

References

Populated places in ancient Elis Triphylia Former populated places in Greece {{ancientElis-geo-stub