Stiris () or Steiris (Στείρις) was a town of

ancient Phocis 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 ...

situated 120 '' stadia'' from

Chaeroneia Chaeronea ( English: , ) is a village and a former municipality in Boeotia, Greece, located about 35 kilometers east of Delphi. The settlement was formerly known as (), and renamed to () in 1916. Since the 2011 local government reform it is pa ...

, the road between the two places running across the mountains. The inhabitants of Stiris claimed descent from an

Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

colony of the Attic demus of Steiria, led by

Peteus In Greek mythology, Peteus or Peteos (Ancient Greek: Πετεώς or Πετεώο) or Petes (Πέτην) was a member of the Athenian royal family as the son of Orneus, Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 2.25.6; Plutarch, ''Theseus'' 32.1; Eusebius ...

, when he was driven out of

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

Aegeus Aegeus (, ; ) was one of the List of kings of Athens, kings of Athens in Greek mythology, who gave his name to the Aegean Sea, was the father of Theseus, and founded Athenian institutions. Family Aegeus was the son of Pandion II, king of Athe ...

. Pausanias describes the city as situated upon a rocky summit, with only a few wells, which did not supply water fit for drinking, which the inhabitants obtained from a fountain, four stadia below the city, to which fountain there was a descent excavated among the rocks. The city contained in the time of Pausanias a temple of Demeter Stiritis, made of crude brick, containing two statues, one of Pentelic marble, the other of ancient workmanship, covered with bandages. Stiris was one of the Phocian cities destroyed by

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 ...

at the close of 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 ...

; but it was afterwards rebuilt and was inhabited at the time of the visit of Pausanias. An inscription is preserved dating from the 2nd century BCE regarding a political and religious union (''

sympoliteia A ''sympoliteia'' (), anglicized as sympolity, was a type of treaty for political organization in ancient Greece. By the time of the Hellenistic period, it occurred in two forms. In mainland Greece, the term was often used for a federal state co ...

'') between

Medeon Medeon () is a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality of Aktio-Vonitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 213.217 ...

and Stiris, in which both cities had the approval of the Phocian League. The agreement was inscribed on a

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

inside the temple of Athena Cranea, in the city of

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 ...

. The stele preserves the name of the League's ''

strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...

'', Zeuxis; in addition a sealed copy was to be guarded by a citizen of

Lilaea In Greek mythology, Lilaea or Lilaia (Ancient Greek: Λίλαια) may refer to two different women: * Lilaea, a Naiad of a spring of the same name. She was the daughter of the river god Cephissus. The ancient ''polis'' of Lilaea, and the moder ...

named Trason and there were three persons who acted as witnesses from different Phocian cities:

Tithorea Tithorea (), is an ancient place with more than 4,000 years of human history. A part of the municipality of Amfikleia-Elateia, in Phthiotis, Greece, it had a population of 561 in 2021, and is situated 156 km from Athens. Geography Tithore ...

, Elateia, and Lilaea. The union included the sanctuaries, the territory, the ''

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 ...

'' and the ports. From the formalization of the treaty the Medeonites will be with the Stirisians in conditions of equality and will have assemblies and common magistrates. It is not a complete merger of both cities: Stiris is the main city but the citizens of Medeon could designate a '' hierotamias'' who would make sacrifices according to the law of Medeon and who would have judicial competency together with the

archon ''Archon'' (, plural: , ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem , meaning "to be first, to rule", derived from the same ...

s of Stiris and could vote. Those who have been magistrates in Medeon will not be required to be so in Stiris unless they decided voluntarily. The administration of the Medeonite sanctuaries will be carried out according to the law of Medeon, and the territory will be common. The location of ancient Stiris is near the modern village of

Steiri Steiri () is a village in Boeotia, Greece. It is situated at the western end of Mount Helicon, the mythical mountain of the Muses, at 450 m elevation. The 10th century Hosios Loukas monastery, a World Heritage Site, is situated near Steiri. Steiri ...

, where its remains are found on a hill called

Palaiochora Palaiochora () is a small town in Chania regional unit, Greece. It is located 70 km south of Chania, on the southwest coast of Crete and occupies a small peninsula 400 m wide and 700 m long. The town is set along 11 km of coastline bor ...

, located southwest of

Livadeia Livadeia ( ''Livadiá'', ; or , ''Lebadia'') is a town in central Greece. It is the capital of the Boeotia Regional units of Greece, regional district. Livadeia lies north-west of Athens, west of Chalkida, south-east of Lamia (city), Lamia, ...

and southeast of

Distomo :"Distomo" ''may also refer to a work by Federico García Lorca'' Distomo () is a town in western Boeotia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Distomo-Arachova-Antikyra, of which it is the seat and a muni ...

References

{{Authority control Populated places in ancient Phocis Former populated places in Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Central Greece