Scarphe () or Scarpheia (Σκάρφεια) was a town of the
Epicnemidian Locrians
Opuntian Locris or Eastern Locris was an ancient Greek region inhabited by the eastern division of the Locrians, the so-called tribe of the Locri Epicnemidii () or Locri Opuntii (Greek: ).
Geography
Opuntian Locris consisted of a narrow slip u ...
, mentioned by
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
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 ...
in the ''
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 ...
''. According to
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 ...
it was 10 stadia from the sea, 30 stadia from Thronium, and a little less from some other place of which the name is lost, probably Nicaea. Moreover, Scarphe was reported to be occupying the territory of Augeiae, which had disappeared by his time. It appears from Pausanias that it lay on the direct road from
Elateia
Elateia (; ) was an ancient Greek city of Phthiotis, and the most important place in that region after Delphi. It is also a modern-day town that is a former municipality in the southeastern part of Phthiotis. Since the 2011 local government reform ...
to
Thermopylae
Thermopylae (; ; Ancient: , Katharevousa: ; ; "hot gates") is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia (city), Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its Mineral spring, hot sulphur springs."Thermopylae" in: S. Hornblower & A. Spaw ...
by Thronium, and likewise from
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...
, who states that
Lucius Quinctius Flamininus
Lucius Quinctius Flamininus (died 170 BC) was a Roman politician and general who served as consul in 192 BC alongside Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. He was eventually expelled from the Senate by Cato the Elder.
Early career and the Second Macedoni ...
marched from Elateia by Thronium and Scarpheia to Heraclea. It was also the site of the
Battle of Scarpheia
The Battle of Scarpheia took place in 146 BC between forces of the Roman Republic, led by the praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, and an Achaean League force led by Critolaos of Megalopolis. The battle was a resounding Roman victory, ...
in 146 BCE. Scarpheia is said by Strabo to have been destroyed by an inundation of the sea (
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
) caused by an earthquake in 426 BCE, but it must have been afterwards rebuilt, as it is mentioned by subsequent writers down to a late period, including
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 ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
, and the
Geographer of Ravenna
The ''Ravenna Cosmography'' (, "The Cosmography of the Unknown Ravennese") is a work describing the known world from India to Ireland, compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around 700 AD. It consists of five books describing Asia, ...
. Scarpheia is also mentioned by
Lycophron
Lycophron ( ; ; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely).
Life and miscellaneous works
He was born at Chalcis in Euboea, a ...
,
Appian
Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.
He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...
, and Pausanias.
It was, together with Thronium, one of the only cities of Epicnemidian Locris that minted coins.
The site of the ancient town is tentatively identified as near
Molos
Molos (, meaning “Jetty”) is a town and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been a part of the municipality Kamena Vourla, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of ...