Pythion () or Pythium, also Pythoion (Πύθοιον) was a city 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) of

Perrhaebia Perrhaebia () was the northernmost district of ancient Thessaly, where the tribe of the Perrhaebi lived. Major cities were: Pythion, Doliche, Azorus, Oloosson and Phalanna the capital. Perrhaebia was part of Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), ...

ancient Thessaly Thessaly or Thessalia (Attic Greek: , ''Thessalía'' or , ''Thettalía'') was one of the traditional regions of Ancient Greece. During the Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of ...

, situated at the foot of

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

, and forming a Tripolis with the two neighbouring towns of

Azorus Azorus or Azoros ( or Ἀζώριον) was a town and polis (city-state) in Perrhaebia in ancient Thessaly situated at the foot of Mount Olympus. Azorus, with the two neighbouring towns of Pythium and Doliche, formed a Tripolis. During the Rom ...

and Doliche. Pythion derived its name from a temple of

Apollo Pythius Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

situated on one of the summits of Olympus, as we learn from an epigram of Xeinagoras, a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, who measured the height of Olympus from these parts. Games were also celebrated here in honour of Apollo.

Geography

Pythion commanded an important pass across Mount Olympus. This pass and that of Tempe are the only two leading from

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 ...

ia into the northeast of Thessaly.

History

During the reign of

Amyntas III Amyntas III () was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 393/2 to 388/7 BC and again from 387/6 to 370 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty through his father Arrhidaeus, a son of Amyntas, one of the sons of Alexander I. His mo ...

or Philip II, the Tripolis was annexed to Macedon. According to Theagenes the inhabitants of Balla were relocated to Pythion. So we find in 3rd century BC an epigram regarding Philarchos son of Hellanion, Macedonian Elimiote from Pythion,

proxenos Proxeny or () in ancient Greece was an arrangement whereby a citizen (chosen by the city) hosted foreign ambassadors at his own expense, in return for honorary titles from the state. The citizen was called (; plural: or , "instead of a foreign ...

in Delphi. During the

Roman–Seleucid War The Roman–Seleucid war (192–188 BC), also called the Aetolian war, Antiochene war, Syrian war, and Syrian-Aetolian war was a military conflict between two coalitions, one led by the Roman Republic and the other led by the Seleucid Empi ...

, the Tripolis was ravaged by an army of Aetolians in the year 191 BCE During the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman fe ...

the three towns surrendered to the army of

Perseus of Macedon Perseus (; – 166 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 179 until 168BC. He is widely regarded as the last List of kings of Macedonia, king of Macedonia and the last ruler from th ...

in the year 171 BCE, but that same year the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

reconquered the three. In the year 169 BCE troops arrived from the Roman consul Quintus Marcius Philippus who camped between Azorus and Doliche. The three cities minted a common coin with the inscription "ΤΡΙΠΟΛΙΤΑΝ". Although the site is occupied by a modern town of

Pythio Pythio (Greek: Πύθιο, Turkish: Kuleliburgaz), also referred to as Pythion (Πύθιον), is a village and community in the eastern part of Didymoteicho municipality, Evros regional unit, Greece. It is 16 km east of the centre of Didy ...

, virtually no remains of the ancient town have been discovered there.

References

* Cities in ancient Greece Populated places in ancient Thessaly Former populated places in Greece Apollo Mount Olympus Macedonian colonies in Thessaly Perrhaebia Thessalian city-states Elassona {{AncientThessaly-geo-stub