1.
Antigonus II Mattathias
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Antigonus II Mattathias, also known as Antigonus the Hasmonean was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. He was the son of King Aristobulus II of Judea, in 37 BCE Herod handed him over to the Romans for execution, after Antigonuss three-year reign during which he led the Jews fierce struggle for independence against the Romans. Antigonus the Hasmonean was the son of Aristobulus II. He escaped and returned to Judea in 57 BCE, despite an unsuccessful attempt to oppose the Roman forces there, the senate released him, but he refused to surrender his dynastic rights. He visited Julius Cæsar, who was in Syria in 47, in 42, he attempted to seize the government of Judea by force with the assistance of his brother-in-law, Ptolemy Mennei but was defeated by Herod. The excessive taxation wrung from the people to pay for the extravagances of Antony, Antigonus gained the adherence of both the aristocratic class in Jerusalem and the leaders of the Pharisees. The Parthians, who invaded Syria in 40 BCE, preferred to see an anti-Roman ruler on the throne of Judea, when Antigonus promised them large sums of gold and five hundred female slaves besides, they put a troop of five hundred warriors at his disposal. Hyrcanus was sent to Babylon after suffering the mutilation of his ears, in 40 BCE Antigonus was officially proclaimed king and high priest by the Parthians. His three-year reign was a continuous struggle, Herod succeeded in having himself declared king of Judea by Rome. On Herods return from Rome in 39 BCE he opened a campaign against Antigonus, in the spring of 38 BCE, Herod wrested control of the province of Galilee and eventually all of Judea as far as Jerusalem. Due to the approach of winter, Herod postponed his siege of Jerusalem, where Antigonus, Herod was held off for 3–5 months but the Romans did eventually capture the city, however, the supporters of Antigonus fought until the Romans reached the inner courtyard of the Temple. Antigonus was taken to Antioch and executed, ending Hasmonean rule, josephus states that Marc Antony beheaded Antigonus (Antiquities, XV1,2. In his Life of Antony, Plutarch claims that Antony had Antigonus beheaded, biblical scholar Gregory Doudna proposed in 2013 that Antigonus II Mattathias was the figure known as the Wicked Priest in the Qumran Scrolls. According to Doudna, Antigonus was the underlying the Wicked Priest of Pesher Habakkuk, and the doomed ruler of Pesher Nahum. List of Hasmonean and Herodian rulers Antigonus entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
2.
Pyrrhus of Epirus
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Pyrrhus was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic period. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house and he was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome. Some of his battles, though successful, caused him heavy losses and he is the subject of one of Plutarchs Parallel Lives. Pyrrhus was the son of Aeacides and Phthia, a Thessalian woman, and he had two sisters, Deidamia and Troias. In 317 BC, when Pyrrhus was only two, his father was dethroned, Pyrrhus family took refuge with Glaukias of the Taulantians, one of the largest Illyrian tribes. Pyrrhus was raised by Beroea, Glaukiass wife and a Molossian of the Aeacidae dynasty, Glaukias restored Pyrrhus to the throne in 306 BC until the latter was banished again, four years later, by his enemy, Cassander. Thus, he went on to serve as an officer, in the wars of the Diadochi, in 298 BC, Pyrrhus was taken hostage to Alexandria, under the terms of a peace treaty made between Demetrius and Ptolemy I Soter. There, he married Ptolemy Is stepdaughter Antigone and restored his kingdom in Epirus in 297 BC with financial, Pyrrhus had his co-ruler Neoptolemus II of Epirus murdered. In 295 BC, Pyrrhus transferred the capital of his kingdom to Ambrakia, next, he went to war against his former ally and brother-in-law Demetrius and in 292 BC he invaded Thessaly while Demetrius was besieging Thebes but was repulsed. By 286 BC, Pyrrhus had taken control over the kingdom of Macedon, the Greek city of Tarentum, in southern Italy, fell out with Rome due to a violation of an old treaty that specified Rome was not to send warships into the Tarentine Gulf. In 282 BC, the Romans installed garrisons in the Greek cities of Thurii, Locri, and Rhegium, Tarentum was now faced with a Roman attack and certain defeat, unless they could enlist the aid of greater powers. Rome had already made itself into a power, and was poised to subdue all the Greek cities in Magna Graecia. The Tarentines asked Pyrrhus to lead their war against the Romans, Pyrrhus was encouraged to aid the Tarentines by the Oracle of Delphi. His goals were not, however, selfless and he recognized the possibility of carving out an empire for himself in Italy. He made an alliance with Ptolemy Ceraunus, King of Macedon and his most powerful neighbor, and arrived in Italy in 280 BC. Pyrrhus entered Italy with an army consisting of 20,000 infantry,3,000 cavalry,2,000 archers,500 slingers, and 20 war elephants in a bid to subdue the Romans. The elephants had been loaned to him by Ptolemy II, who had also promised 9,000 soldiers, there are conflicting sources about casualties. Hieronymus of Cardia reports the Romans lost about 7,000 while Pyrrhus lost 3,000 soldiers, dionysius gives a bloodier view of 15,000 Roman dead and 13,000 Epirot
3.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
4.
Antigonid dynasty
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The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Hellenistic kings descended from Alexander the Greats general Antigonus I Monophthalmus. Succeeding the Antipatrid dynasty in much of Macedonia, Antigonus ruled mostly over Asia Minor and his attempts to take control of the whole of Alexanders empire led to his defeat and death at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. After a period of confusion, Demetriuss son Antigonus II Gonatas was able to establish the control over the old Kingdom of Macedon, as well as over most of the Greek city-states. It was one of four established by Alexanders successors, the others being the Seleucid dynasty, Ptolemaic dynasty. The ruling members of the Antigonid dynasty were, The Greek rebel against Rome and last King of Macedonia, Andriscus, claimed to be the son of Perseus
5.
Demetrius I of Macedon
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Demetrius I, called Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice, was a Macedonian Greek nobleman, military leader, and finally king of Macedon. He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty and was its first member to rule Macedonia, at the age of twenty-two he was left by his father to defend Syria against Ptolemy the son of Lagus. He was defeated at the Battle of Gaza, but soon partially repaired his loss by a victory in the neighbourhood of Myus. In the spring of 310, he was defeated when he tried to expel Seleucus I Nicator from Babylon. As a result of this Babylonian War, Antigonus lost almost two thirds of his empire, all eastern satrapies fell to Seleucus, after several campaigns against Ptolemy on the coasts of Cilicia and Cyprus, Demetrius sailed with a fleet of 250 ships to Athens. He freed the city from the power of Cassander and Ptolemy, expelled the garrison which had been stationed there under Demetrius of Phalerum, after these victories he was worshipped by the Athenians as a tutelary deity under the title of Soter. In the campaign of 306 BC he defeated Ptolemy and Menelaus, Ptolemys brother, in the naval Battle of Salamis, Demetrius conquered Cyprus in 306 BC, capturing one of Ptolemys sons. Following the victory Antigonus assumed the title king and bestowed the same upon his son Demetrius, in 302 BC he returned a second time to Greece as liberator, and reinstated the Corinthian League, but his licentiousness and extravagance made the Athenians long for the government of Cassander. Among his outrages was his courtship of a boy named Democles the Handsome. The youth kept on refusing his attention but one day found himself cornered at the baths, having no way out and being unable to physically resist his suitor, he took the lid off the hot water cauldron and jumped in. His death was seen as a mark of honor for himself, in another instance, Demetrius waived a fine of 50 talents imposed on a citizen in exchange for the favors of Cleaenetus, that mans son. He also sought the attention of Lamia, a Greek courtesan and he demanded 250 talents from the Athenians, which he then gave to Lamia and other courtesans to buy soap and cosmetics. He also roused the jealousy of Alexanders Diadochi, Seleucus, Cassander and Lysimachus united to destroy him, the hostile armies met at the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia. Antigonus was killed, and Demetrius, after sustaining severe losses and this reversal of fortune stirred up many enemies against him—the Athenians refused even to admit him into their city. But he soon afterwards ravaged the territory of Lysimachus and effected a reconciliation with Seleucus, in 294 he established himself on the throne of Macedonia by murdering Alexander V, the son of Cassander. He faced rebellion from the Boeotians but secured the region after capturing Thebes in 291 BC, after besieging Athens without success he passed into Asia and attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus with varying success. Famine and pestilence destroyed the part of his army, and he solicited Seleucus support. His son Antigonus offered all his possessions, and even his own person, in order to procure his fathers liberty, but all proved unavailing and his remains were given to Antigonus and honoured with a splendid funeral at Corinth
6.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
7.
Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
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Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and at first ruled by the royal Argead dynasty, the reign of Philip II saw the rise of Macedonia, during which the kingdom rose to control the entire Greek world. With a reformed army containing phalanxes wielding the sarissa pike, Philip II defeated the old powers of Athens and Thebes in the decisive Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, Sparta was kept isolated and was occupied a century later by Antigonus III Doson. Alexander then led a roughly decade-long campaign of conquest against the Achaemenid Empire, in the ensuing wars of Alexander the Great, he overthrew the Achaemenid Empire and conquered a territory that stretched as far as the Indus River. For a brief period, his Macedonian empire was the most powerful in the world – the definitive Hellenistic state, Greek arts and literature flourished in the new conquered lands and advances in philosophy, engineering, and science were spread throughout much of the ancient world. Of particular importance were the contributions of Aristotle, who had been imported as tutor to Alexander, important cities such as Pella, Pydna, and Amphipolis were involved in power struggles for control of the territory. New cities were founded, such as Thessalonica by the usurper Cassander, Macedonias decline began with the Macedonian Wars and the rise of Rome as the leading Mediterranean power. At the end of the Second Macedonian War in 168 BC, a short-lived revival of the monarchy during the Third Macedonian War in 150–148 BC ended with the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia. The name Macedonia comes from the ethnonym Μακεδόνες, which itself is derived from the ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός, meaning tall and it also shares the same root as the noun μάκρος, meaning length in both ancient and modern Greek. The name is believed to have meant either highlanders, the tall ones. Robert S. P. Beekes supports that both terms are of Pre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology. Contradictory legends state that either Perdiccas I of Macedon or Caranus of Macedon were the founders of the Argead dynasty, the kingdom of Macedonia was situated along the Haliacmon and Axius rivers in Lower Macedonia, north of Mount Olympus. Historian Malcolm Errington posits the theory one of the earliest Argead kings must have established Aigai as their capital in the mid-7th century BC. Prior to the 4th century BC, the kingdom covered a region corresponding to the western. Achaemenid Persian hegemony over Macedonia was briefly interrupted by the Ionian Revolt, although Macedonia enjoyed a large degree of autonomy and was never made a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, it was expected to provide troops for the Achaemenid army. Following the Greek victory at Salamis in 480 BC, Alexander I was employed as an Achaemenid diplomat to strike a treaty and alliance with Athens. Soon afterwards the Achaemenid forces were forced to withdraw from mainland Europe, although initially a Persian vassal, Alexander I of Macedon fostered friendly diplomatic relations with his former Greek enemies, the Athenian and Spartan-led coalition of Greek city-states. Two separate wars were fought against Athens between 433 and 431 BC, spurred by an Athenian alliance with a brother and cousin of Perdiccas II who had rebelled against him
8.
Gaul
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It covered an area of 190,800 sq mi. According to the testimony of Julius Caesar, Gaul was divided into three parts, Gallia Celtica, Belgica and Aquitania, during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Gaul fell under Roman rule, Gallia Cisalpina was conquered in 203 BC and Gallia Narbonensis in 123 BC. Gaul was invaded after 120 BC by the Cimbri and the Teutons, Gallia remains a name of France in modern Greek and modern Latin. The Greek and Latin names Galatia, and Gallia are ultimately derived from a Celtic ethnic term or clan Gal-to-. Galli of Gallia Celtica were reported to refer to themselves as Celtae by Caesar. Hellenistic folk etymology connected the name of the Galatians to the supposedly milk-white skin of the Gauls, modern researchers say it is related to Welsh gallu, Cornish galloes, capacity, power, thus meaning powerful people. The English Gaul is from French Gaule and is unrelated to Latin Gallia, as adjectives, English has the two variants, Gaulish and Gallic. The two adjectives are used synonymously, as pertaining to Gaul or the Gauls, although the Celtic language or languages spoken in Gaul is predominantly known as Gaulish. The Germanic w- is regularly rendered as gu- / g- in French, also unrelated in spite of superficial similarity is the name Gael. The Irish word gall did originally mean a Gaul, i. e. an inhabitant of Gaul, but its meaning was later widened to foreigner, to describe the Vikings, and later still the Normans. The dichotomic words gael and gall are sometimes used together for contrast, by 500 BC, there is strong Hallstatt influence throughout most of France. By the late 5th century BC, La Tène influence spreads rapidly across the territory of Gaul. The La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, southwest Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, farther north extended the contemporary pre-Roman Iron Age culture of northern Germany and Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the Romans described Gallia Transalpina as distinct from Gallia Cisalpina, while some scholars believe the Belgae south of the Somme were a mixture of Celtic and Germanic elements, their ethnic affiliations have not been definitively resolved. One of the reasons is political interference upon the French historical interpretation during the 19th century, in addition to the Gauls, there were other peoples living in Gaul, such as the Greeks and Phoenicians who had established outposts such as Massilia along the Mediterranean coast. Also, along the southeastern Mediterranean coast, the Ligures had merged with the Celts to form a Celto-Ligurian culture, the prosperity of Mediterranean Gaul encouraged Rome to respond to pleas for assistance from the inhabitants of Massilia, who were under attack by a coalition of Ligures and Gauls. The Romans intervened in Gaul in 154 BC and again in 125 BC, whereas on the first occasion they came and went, on the second they stayed. Massilia was allowed to keep its lands, but Rome added to its territories the lands of the conquered tribes. The direct result of conquests was that by now, Rome controlled an area extending from the Pyrenees to the lower Rhône river
9.
Balkans
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The Balkan Peninsula, or the Balkans, is a peninsula and a cultural area in Eastern and Southeastern Europe with various and disputed borders. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the Serbia-Bulgaria border to the Black Sea, the highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala 2,925 metres in the Rila mountain range. In Turkish, Balkan means a chain of wooded mountains, the name is still preserved in Central Asia with the Balkan Daglary and the Balkan Province of Turkmenistan. A less popular hypothesis regarding its etymology is that it derived from the Persian Balā-Khāna, from Antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Balkan Mountains had been called by the local Thracian name Haemus. According to Greek mythology, the Thracian king Haemus was turned into a mountain by Zeus as a punishment, a reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus is derived from a Thracian word *saimon, a third possibility is that Haemus derives from the Greek word haema meaning blood. The myth relates to a fight between Zeus and the monster/titan Typhon, Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhons blood fell on the mountains, from which they got their name. The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, the Ottomans first mention it in a document dated from 1565. There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, there is also a claim about an earlier Bulgar Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion. The word was used by the Ottomans in Rumelia in its meaning of mountain, as in Kod̲j̲a-Balkan, Čatal-Balkan, and Ungurus-Balkani̊. The concept of the Balkans was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, during the 1820s, Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers. Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term, zeunes goal was to have a geographical parallel term to the Italic and Iberian Peninsula, and seemingly nothing more. The gradually acquired political connotations are newer and, to a large extent, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the term Balkans again received a negative meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, even in casual usage. A European Union initiative of 1999 is called the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and its northern boundary is often given as the Danube, Sava and Kupa Rivers. The Balkan Peninsula has an area of about 470,000 km2. It is more or less identical to the known as Southeastern Europe. As of 1920 until World War II, Italy included Istria, the current territory of Italy includes only the small area around Trieste inside the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the Balkans by Italian geographers, the Western Balkans is a neologism coined to describe the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Albania
10.
Thessaly
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Thessaly is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, Thessaly became part of the modern Greek state in 1881, after four and a half centuries of Ottoman rule. Since 1987 it has formed one of the countrys 13 regions and is further sub-divided into 5 regional units and 25 municipalities, the capital of the region is Larissa. Thessaly lies in central Greece and borders the regions of Macedonia on the north, Epirus on the west, Central Greece on the south, the Thessaly region also includes the Sporades islands. In Homers epic, the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus visited the kingdom of Aeolus, the Plain of Thessaly, which lies between Mount Oeta/Othrys and Mount Olympus, was the site of the battle between the Titans and the Olympians. According to legend, Jason and the Argonauts launched their search for the Golden Fleece from the Magnesia Peninsula, Thessaly was home to extensive Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures around 6000–2500 BC. Mycenaean settlements have also discovered, for example at the sites of Iolcos, Dimini. In Archaic and Classical times, the lowlands of Thessaly became the home of baronial families, in the summer of 480 BC, the Persians invaded Thessaly. The Greek army that guarded the Vale of Tempe evacuated the road before the enemy arrived, not much later, Thessaly surrendered to the Persians. The Thessalian family of Aleuadae joined the Persians subsequently, in the 4th century BC, after the Greco-Persian Wars had long ended, Jason of Pherae transformed the region into a significant military power, recalling the glory of Early Archaic times. Shortly after, Philip II of Macedon was appointed Archon of Thessaly, the Avars had arrived in Europe in the late 550s. They asserted their authority over many Slavs, who were divided into numerous petty tribes, many Slavs were galvanized into an effective infantry force, by the Avars. In the 7th century the Avar-Slav alliance began to raid the Byzantine Empire, laying siege to Thessalonica, relations between the Slavs and Greeks were probably peaceful apart from the initial settlement and intermittent uprisings. Being agriculturalists, the Slavs probably traded with the Greeks inside towns and it is likely that the re-Hellenization had already begun by way of this contact. This process would be completed by a newly reinvigorated Byzantine Empire, with the abatement of Arab-Byzantine Wars, the Byzantine Empire began to consolidate its power in those areas of mainland Greece occupied by Proto-Slavic tribes. Following the campaigns of the Byzantine general Staurakios in 782–783, the Byzantine Empire recovered Thessaly, apart from military expeditions against Slavs, the re-Hellenization process begun under Nicephorus I involved transfer of peoples. Many Slavs were moved to other parts of the such as Anatolia. In return, many Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor were brought to the interior of Greece, to increase the number of defenders at the Emperors disposal, even non-Greeks such as Armenians were transferred to the Balkans
11.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
12.
Diadochi
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The Diadochi were the rival generals, families and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period, an army on campaign changes its leadership at any level frequently for replacement of casualties and distribution of talent to the current operations. The institution of the Hetairoi gave the Macedonian army a flexible capability in this regard, there were no fixed ranks of Hetairoi, except as the term meant a special unit of cavalry. The Hetairoi were simply a pool of de facto general officers, without any or with changing de jure rank. They were typically from the nobility, many related to Alexander, a parallel flexible structure in the Persian army facilitated combined units. Staff meetings to adjust command structure were nearly a daily event in Alexanders army and they created an ongoing expectation among the Hetairoi of receiving an important and powerful command, if only for a short term. At the moment of Alexanders death, all possibilities were suddenly suspended, the Hetairoi vanished with Alexander, to be replaced instantaneously by the Diadochi, men who knew where they had stood, but not where they would stand now. As there had no definite ranks or positions of Hetairoi. They expected appointments, but without Alexander they would have to make their own, for purposes of this presentation, the Diadochi are grouped by their rank and social standing at the time of Alexanders death. These were their initial positions as Diadochi and they are not necessarily significant or determinative of what happened next. In Hellenistic times the title Diadoch was actually the lowest in a system of official rank titles and it was first used in the 19th century to denote the immediate successors of Alexander. Craterus was an infantry and naval commander under Alexander during his conquest of Persia, after the revolt of his army at Opis on the Tigris River in 324, Alexander ordered Craterus to command the veterans as they returned home to Macedonia. When Craeterus arrived at Cilicia in 323 BC, news reached him of Alexanders death, though his distance from Babylon prevented him from participating in the distribution of power, Craterus hastened to Macedonia to assume the protection of Alexanders family. The news of Alexanders death caused the Greeks to rebel in the Lamian War, Craeterus and Antipater defeated the rebellion in 322 BC. Despite his absence, the gathered at Babylon confirmed Craterus as Guardian of the Royal Family. However, with the family in Babylon, the Regent Perdiccas assumed this responsibility until the royal household could return to Macedonia. Antipater was an adviser to King Philip II, Alexanders father, when Alexander left Macedon to conquer Persia in 334 BC, Antipater was named Regent of Macedon and General of Greece in Alexanders absence. In 323 BC, Craterus was ordered by Alexander to march his veterans back to Macedon, Alexanders death that year, however, prevented the order from being carried out
13.
Alexander the Great
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Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty and he was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of historys most successful military commanders. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16, after Philips assassination in 336 BC, he succeeded his father to the throne and inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his fathers Panhellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia, in 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Following the conquest of Anatolia, Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of battles, most notably the battles of Issus. He subsequently overthrew Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety, at that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He sought to reach the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea and invaded India in 326 BC and he eventually turned back at the demand of his homesick troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexanders surviving generals, Alexanders legacy includes the cultural diffusion which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt, Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and he is often ranked among the most influential people in human history. He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his wife, Olympias. Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his wife for some time. Several legends surround Alexanders birth and childhood, sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wifes womb with a seal engraved with a lions image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations of dreams, that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and it was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception
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Antigonus I Monophthalmus
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Antigonus I Monophthalmus, son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great. During his early life he served under Philip II, and he was a figure in the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexanders death, declaring himself king in 306 BC. Antigonus was appointed governor of Greater Phrygia in 333 BC and he was primarily responsible for defending Alexanders lines of supply and communication during the latters extended campaign against the Achaemenid Persian Empire. As part of the division of the provinces after Alexanders death in 323 BC, Antigonus also received Pamphylia and Lycia from Perdiccas, regent of the empire, at the Partition of Babylon. He incurred the enmity of Perdiccas, the regent, by refusing to assist Eumenes to obtain possession of the allotted to him. Leonnatus had left with his army for Greece, leaving Antigonus alone to deal with Cappadocia, Perdiccas seems to have viewed this as a direct affront to his authority and went up with the royal army himself to conquer the area. Eumenes was defeated and forced to retire to the fortress of Nora in Cappadocia, when Antipater died in 319 BC, he gave the regentship to Polyperchon, excluding Cassander, his son. Antigonus and the other refused to recognize Polyperchon, since it would undermine their own ambitions. He entered into negotiations with Eumenes, but Eumenes had already been swayed by Polyperchon, effecting his escape from Nora, he raised an army and built a fleet in Cilicia and Phoenicia, and soon after formed a coalition with the satraps of the eastern provinces. Antigonus fought against Eumenes in two battles at Paraitacene in 317 BC and Gabiene in 316 BC. After some deliberation, Antigonus had Eumenes executed, as a result, Antigonus now was in possession of the empires Asian territories, his authority stretching from the eastern satrapies to Syria and Asia Minor in the west. He seized the treasures at Susa and entered Babylon, the governor of the city, Seleucus, fled to Ptolemy and entered into a league with him, Lysimachus and Cassander against Antigonus. In 314 BC Antigonus invaded Phoenicia, under Ptolemys control, and his son Demetrius was defeated at the Battle of Gaza by Ptolemy in 312 BC, and after the battle, Seleucus made his way back to Babylonia. Seleucus returned to Babylon in order to build up a base of his own, the Babylonian War began between Antigonus and Seleucus, where Seleucus defeated both Demetrius and Antigonus, and secured Babylonia. After the war had been carried on with varying success from 315 to 311, peace was concluded, by which the government of Asia Minor and Syria was provisionally secured to Antigonus. This agreement was violated on the pretext that garrisons had been placed in some of the free Greek cities by Antigonus. Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, wrested part of Greece from Cassander, after defeating Ptolemy at the naval Battle of Salamis in 306 BC, Demetrius conquered Cyprus. Following the victory Antigonus assumed the title king and bestowed the same upon his son, the other dynasts, Cassander, Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Seleucus, soon followed
15.
Battle of Ipsus
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The Battle of Ipsus was fought between some of the Diadochi in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia. Diodorus Siculus is the source for the history of the Diadochi. Diodorus is often derided by modern historians for his style and inaccuracies, unfortunately, from book XXI onwards, including the actual Battle of Ipsus, the Bibliotheca only exists in fragments. Nevertheless, Diodorus provides extensive details of the Fourth War of the Diadochi leading up to Ipsus and it is generally thought that Diodoruss source for much of this period was the now-lost history of the Diadochi written by Hieronymus of Cardia. The only full description of the battle available is in Plutarchs Life of Demetrius, Plutarch was writing some 400 years after the events in question, and is therefore a secondary source, but he often names his sources, which allows some degree of verification of his statements. Plutarch was also interested in moral lessons from history, rather than actually detailing history in depth. In the aftermath of the Second War of the Diadochi, the aging satrap Antigonus Monophthalmus had been left in undisputed control of the Asian territories of the Macedonian empire and this left Antigonus in prime position to claim overall rule over the Macedonian empire. This war ended in a peace in 311 BC, after which Antigonus attacked Seleucus. The resulting Babylonian War lasted from 311-309 BC, and resulted in defeat for Antigonus, allowing Seleucus to re-claim the satrapy of Babylonia, while Antigonus was distracted elsewhere, Ptolemy had been expanding his power into the Aegean Sea and to Cyprus. Antigonus thus resumed the war with Ptolemy in 308 BC, beginning the Fourth War of the Diadochi. Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to regain control of Greece, and in 307 BC he took Athens, expelling Demetrius of Phaleron, Cassanders governor, Demetrius then turned his attention to Ptolemy, invading Cyprus and defeating Ptolemys fleet at the Battle of Salamis-in-Cyprus. In the aftermath of victory, Antigonus and Demetrius both assumed the crown of Macedon, in which they were shortly followed by Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus. In 306, Antigonus attempted to invade Egypt, but storms prevented Demetriuss fleet from supplying him, the island was reinforced by troops from Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Cassander. Ultimately, the Rhodians reached a compromise with Demetrius – they would support Antigonus and Demetrius against all enemies, save their ally Ptolemy. Ptolemy took the title of Soter for his role in preventing the fall of Rhodes, Demetrius thus returned to Greece and set about liberating the cities of Greece, expelling Cassanders garrisons, and the pro-Antipatrid oligarchies. This occupied much of Demetriuss efforts in 303 and 302 BC, seeing that Demetriuss war effort was aimed at destroying his power in Greece, and ultimately in Macedonia, Cassander tried to come to terms with Antigonus. However, Antigonus rejected these advances, intent on forcing Cassanders complete surrender, Cassander therefore held counsel with Lysimachus, and they agreed on a joint strategy that included sending envoys to Ptolemy and Seleucus, asking them to join in combatting the Antigonid threat. Seeking to take the initiative, Cassander sent a significant portion of the Macedonian army under Prepelaus to Lysimachus, meanwhile, Cassander took the rest of the Macedonian army into Thessaly to confront Demetrius
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Cassander
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Cassander, was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon from 305 BC until 297 BC, and de facto ruler of much of Greece from 317 BC until his death. Eldest son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the Great, in his youth, Cassander was taught by the philosopher Aristotle at the Lyceum in Macedonia. He was educated alongside Alexander the Great in a group that included Hephaestion, Ptolemy and his family were distant collateral relatives to the Argead dynasty. Whatever the truth of this suggestion, Cassander stood out amongst the Diadochi in his hostility to Alexanders memory, cassanders decision to restore Thebes, which had been destroyed under Alexander, was perceived at the time to be a snub to the deceased King. It was later said that he could not pass a statue of Alexander without feeling faint. Cassander has been perceived to be ambitious and unscrupulous, and even members of his own family were estranged from him, Cassander rejected his father’s decision, and immediately went to seek the support of Antigonus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus as his allies. Waging war on Polyperchon, Cassander destroyed his fleet, put Athens under the control of Demetrius of Phaleron, after Olympias’ successful move against Philip III later in the year, Cassander besieged her in Pydna. When the city two years later, Olympias was killed, and Cassander had Alexander IV and Roxanne confined at Amphipolis. Cassander associated himself with the Argead dynasty by marrying Alexander’s half-sister, Thessalonica, by 309 BC, Polyperchon began to claim that Heracles was the true heir to the Macedonian inheritance, at which point Cassander bribed him to have the boy killed. After this, Cassander’s position in Greece and Macedonia was reasonably secure, and he proclaimed himself king in 305 BC. After the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, in which Antigonus was killed, he was undisputed in his control of Macedonia, however, he had time to savour the fact. When Alexander was ousted as joint king by his brother, Demetrius I took up Alexanders appeal for aid and ousted Antipater II, killed Alexander V, the remaining Antipatrids, such as Antipater Etesias, were unable to re-establish the Antipatrids on the throne. Of more lasting significance was Cassander’s refoundation of Therma into Thessalonica, Cassander also founded Cassandreia upon the ruins of Potidaea. In the Oliver Stone film Alexander, he is portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca chapters xviii, xix, xx Green, Peter, Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age, Weidenfeld & Nicolson,2007. ISBN9780297852940 Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Demetrius,18,31, Phocion,31 Franca Landucci Gattinoni, vita e opere di Cassandro di Macedonia. ISBN 3-515-08381-2 A genealogical tree of Cassander
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Ptolemy I Soter
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Ptolemy I Soter I, also known as Ptolemy Lagides, was a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great, one of the three Diadochi who succeeded to his empire. Ptolemy became ruler of Egypt and founded a dynasty which ruled it for the three centuries, turning Egypt into a Hellenistic kingdom and Alexandria into a center of Greek culture. He assimilated some aspects of Egyptian culture, however, assuming the title pharaoh in 305/4 BC. The use of the title of pharaoh was often situational, pharaoh was used for an Egyptian audience, like all Macedonian nobles, Ptolemy I Soter claimed descent from Heracles, the mythical founder of the Argead dynasty that ruled Macedon. Ptolemy was one of Alexanders most trusted generals, and was among the seven somatophylakes attached to his person and he was a few years older than Alexander and had been his intimate friend since childhood. He was succeeded by his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Ptolemy served with Alexander from his first campaigns, and played a principal part in the later campaigns in Afghanistan and India. Ptolemy had his first independent command during the campaign against the rebel Bessus whom Ptolemy captured and handed over to Alexander for execution. During Alexanders campaign in the Indian subcontinent Ptolemy was in command of the guard at the siege of Aornos. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Ptolemy is said to have instigated the resettlement of the made at Babylon. Ptolemy quickly moved, without authorization, to subjugate Cyrenaica, by custom, kings in Macedonia asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Ptolemy then openly joined the coalition against Perdiccas, Perdiccas appears to have suspected Ptolemy of aiming for the throne himself, and may have decided that Ptolemy was his most dangerous rival. Ptolemy executed Cleomenes for spying on behalf of Perdiccas — this removed the check on his authority. In 321 BC, Perdiccas attempted to invade Egypt only to fall at the hands of his own men, Ptolemys decision to defend the Nile against Perdiccass attempt to force it ended in fiasco for Perdiccas, with the loss of 2000 men. This failure was a blow to Perdiccas reputation, and he was murdered in his tent by two of his subordinates. Ptolemy immediately crossed the Nile, to provide supplies to what had the day before been an enemy army, Ptolemy was offered the regency in place of Perdiccas, but he declined. Ptolemy was consistent in his policy of securing a power base and his first occupation of Syria was in 318, and he established at the same time a protectorate over the petty kings of Cyprus. When Antigonus One-Eye, master of Asia in 315, showed dangerous ambitions, Ptolemy joined the coalition against him, in Cyprus, he fought the partisans of Antigonus, and re-conquered the island. A revolt in Cyrene was crushed the same year, in 312, Ptolemy and Seleucus, the fugitive satrap of Babylonia, both invaded Syria, and defeated Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, in the Battle of Gaza
18.
Lysimachus
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Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. Lysimachus was born in 361 BC, to a family of Thessalian Greek stock and his father was a nobleman of high rank who was an intimate friend of Philip II of Macedon, who shared in Philip II’s councils and became a favourite in the Argead court. He was probably appointed Somatophylax during the reign of Philip II, during Alexanders Persian campaigns, in 328 BC he was one of his immediate bodyguards. In 324 BC, in Susa, he was crowned in recognition for his actions in India, after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, he was appointed to the government of Thrace as strategos although he faced some difficulties from the Thracian Dynasty Seuthes. However, he managed to consolidate his power in the east of his territories, in 309 BC, he founded Lysimachia in a commanding situation on the neck connecting the Chersonese with the mainland which formed a bulwark against the Odrysians. In 306/305 BC, Lysimachus followed the example of Antigonus I and assumed the royal title, which he held until his death at Corupedium in 281 BC. In 302 BC, when the alliance between Cassander, Ptolemy I and Seleucus I was made, Lysimachus, reinforced by troops from Cassander, entered Asia Minor. On the approach of Antigonus I he retired into winter quarters near Heraclea, marrying its widowed queen Amastris, Seleucus I joined him in 301 BC, and at the Battle of Ipsus Antigonus I was defeated and slain. Antigonus dominions were divided among the victors, Lysimachus share was Lydia, Ionia, Phrygia and the north coast of Asia Minor. Feeling that Seleucus I was becoming dangerously powerful, Lysimachus now allied himself with Ptolemy I, Amastris, who had divorced herself from him, returned to Heraclea. Demetrius I subsequently threatened Thrace, but had to due to a sudden uprising in Boeotia. In 287 BC, Lysimachus and Pyrrhus in turn invaded Macedonia, Lysimachus left Pyrrhus in possession of Macedonia with the title of king for around seven months before Lysimachus invaded. For a short while the two ruled jointly but in 285 BC Lysimachus expelled Pyrrhus, seizing complete control for himself, domestic troubles embittered the last years of Lysimachus’ life. Amastris had been murdered by her two sons, Lysimachus treacherously put them to death, on his return, Arsinoe II asked the gift of Heraclea, and he granted her request, though he had promised to free the city. This atrocious deed by Lysimachus aroused great indignation, many of the cities of Asia Minor revolted, and his most trusted friends deserted him. The widow of Agathocles and their children fled to Seleucus I, in 281 BC, Lysimachus crossed the Hellespont into Lydia and at the decisive Battle of Corupedium was killed. After some days his body was found on the field, protected birds of prey by his faithful dog. Lysimachus body was given over to another son Alexander, by whom it was interred at Lysimachia, Lysimachus was married three times and his wives were, First marriage, Nicaea a Greek noblewoman and daughter of the powerful Regent Antipater
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Seleucus I Nicator
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Seleucus I Nicator /səˈljuːkəs naɪˈkeɪtər/ was one of the Diadochi. However, after the outbreak of the Wars of the Diadochi in 322, Perdiccas was betrayed and assassinated in a conspiracy by Seleucus, Peithon and Antigenes in Pelusium sometime in either 321 or 320 BC. At the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Seleucus was appointed Satrap of Babylon under the new regent Antipater, but almost immediately, the wars between the Diadochi resumed and Antigonus forced Seleucus to flee Babylon. Seleucus was only able to return to Babylon in 312 BC with the support of Ptolemy, from 312 BC, Seleucus ruthlessly expanded his dominions and eventually conquered the Persian and Median lands. Seleucus ruled not only Babylonia, but the entire eastern part of Alexanders empire. Seleucus victories against Antigonus and Lysimachus left the Seleucid dynasty virtually unopposed in Asia, however, Seleucus also hoped to take control of Lysimachus European territories, primarily Thrace and Macedon itself. But upon arriving in Thrace in 281 BC, Seleucus was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus, the assassination of Seleucus destroyed Seleucid prospects in Thrace and Macedon, and paved the way for Ptolemy Ceraunus to absorb much of Lysimachus former power in Macedon. Seleucus was succeeded by his son Antiochus I as ruler of the Seleucid empire, Seleucus was the son of Antiochus. It is possible that Antiochus was a member of an upper Macedonian noble family, Seleucus mother was supposedly called Laodice, but nothing else is known of her. Later, Seleucus named a number of cities after his parents, Seleucus was born in Europos, located in the northern part of Macedonia. Just a year before his birth, the Paeonians invaded the region, Philip defeated the invaders and only a few years later utterly subdued them under Macedonian rule. Seleucus year of birth is unclear, justin claims he was 77 years old during the battle of Corupedium, which would place his year of birth at 358 BC. Appianus tells us Seleucus was 73 years old during the battle, eusebius of Caesarea, however, mentions the age of 75, and thus the year 356 BC, making Seleucus the same age as Alexander the Great. This is most likely propaganda on Seleucus part to him seem comparable to Alexander. As a teenager, Seleucus was chosen to serve as the kings page and it was customary for all male offspring of noble families to first serve in this position and later as officers in the kings army. A number of legends, similar to those told of Alexander the Great, were told of Seleucus and it was said Antiochus told his son before he left to battle the Persians with Alexander that his real father was actually the god Apollo. The god had left a ring with a picture of an anchor as a gift to Laodice, Seleucus had a birthmark shaped like an anchor. It was told that Seleucus sons and grandsons also had similar birthmarks, the story is similar to the one told about Alexander
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Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
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Boeotia
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Boeotia, sometimes alternatively Latinised as Beotia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece and it was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes, Boeotia lies to the north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It also has a coastline on the Gulf of Euboea. It bordered on Megaris in the south, Attica in the southeast, Euboea in the northeast, Opuntian Locris in the north and Phocis in the west. The main mountain ranges of Boeotia are Mount Parnassus in the west, Mount Helicon in the southwest, Cithaeron in the south and its longest river, the Cephissus, flows in the central part, where most of the low-lying areas of Boeotia are found. Lake Copais was a lake in the center of Boeotia. It was drained in the 19th century, lake Yliki is a large lake near Thebes. The earliest inhabitants of Boeotia, associated with the city of Orchomenus, were called Minyans, pausanias mentions that Minyans established the maritime Ionian city of Teos, and occupied the islands of Lemnos and Thera. The Argonauts were sometimes referred to as Minyans, also, according to legend the citizens of Thebes paid an annual tribute to their king Erginus. The early wealth and power of Boeotia is shown by the reputation and visible Mycenean remains of several of its cities, especially Orchomenus, the origin of the name Boeotians may lie in the mountain Boeon in Epirus. Some toponyms and the common Aeolic dialect indicate that the Boeotians were related to the Thessalians and they moved south and settled in another rich plain, while others filtered across the Aegean and settled on Lesbos and in Aeolis in Asia Minor. Others are said to have stayed in Thessaly, withdrawing into the hill country, many ancient Greek legends originated or are set in this region. The older myths took their form during the Mycenean age when the Mycenean Greeks established themselves in Boeotia. Many of them are related to the myths of Argos, and others indicate connections with Phoenicia, Boeotia was also notable for the ancient oracular shrine of Trophonius at Lebadea. Graea, an ancient city in Boeotia, is thought to be the origin of the Latin word Graecus, from which English derives the words Greece. The major poets Hesiod and Pindar were Boeotians, on the other hand, the lack of good harbours hindered its maritime development. The importance of the legendary Minyae has been confirmed by archaeological remains, the Boeotian population entered the land from the north possibly before the Dorian invasion
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Thrace
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It comprises southeastern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and the European part of Turkey. In antiquity, it was referred to as Europe, prior to the extension of the term to describe the whole continent. The name Thrace comes from the Thracians, an ancient Indo-European people inhabiting Southeastern Europe, the word itself was established by the Greeks for referring to the Thracian tribes, from Ancient Greek Thrake, descending from Thrāix. The name of the continent Europe first referred to Thrace proper, the region obviously took the name of the principal river there, Hebros, probably from the Indo-European arg white river, according to an alternative theory, Hebros means goat in Thracian. In Turkey, it is referred to as Rumeli, Land of the Romans. The name appears to derive from an ancient heroine and sorceress Thrace, who was the daughter of Oceanus and Parthenope, the historical boundaries of Thrace have varied. In one ancient Greek source, the very Earth is divided into Asia, Libya, Europa and this largely coincided with the Thracian Odrysian kingdom, whose borders varied over time. After the Macedonian conquest, this regions former border with Macedonia was shifted from the Struma River to the Mesta River and this usage lasted until the Roman conquest. Henceforth, Thrace referred only to the tract of land covering the same extent of space as the modern geographical region. The medieval Byzantine theme of Thrace contained only what today is Eastern Thrace, the largest cities of Thrace are, İstanbul, Plovdiv, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Haskovo, Yambol, Komotini, Alexandroupoli, Xanthi, Edirne, Çorlu and Tekirdağ. Most of the Bulgarian and Greek population are Christians, while most of the Turkish inhabitants of Thrace are Muslims, Ancient Greek mythology provides them with a mythical ancestor, named Thrax, son of the war-god Ares, who was said to reside in Thrace. The Thracians appear in Homers Iliad as Trojan allies, led by Acamas, later in the Iliad, Rhesus, another Thracian king, makes an appearance. Cisseus, father-in-law to the Trojan elder Antenor, is given as a Thracian king. Homeric Thrace was vaguely defined, and stretched from the River Axios in the west to the Hellespont, Greek mythology is replete with Thracian kings, including Diomedes, Tereus, Lycurgus, Phineus, Tegyrius, Eumolpus, Polymnestor, Poltys, and Oeagrus. In addition to the tribe that Homer calls Thracians, ancient Thrace was home to other tribes, such as the Edones, Bisaltae, Cicones. Thrace is also mentioned in Ovids Metamorphoses in the episode of Philomela, Procne, Tereus, the King of Thrace, lusts after his sister-in-law, Philomela. He kidnaps her, holds her captive, rapes her, Philomela manages to get free, however. She and her sister, Procne, plot to get revenge, by killing Itys, at the end of the myth, all three turn into birds – Procne, a swallow, Philomela, a nightingale, and Tereus, a hoopoe
23.
Dromichaetes
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Dromichaetes was king of the Getae on both sides of the lower Danube around 300 BC. The Getae had been federated in the Odrysian kingdom in the 5th century BC and it is not known how the relations between Getae and Odrysians developed. The Balkan campaigns of Philip II of Macedon between 352 and 340 BC shattered the Odrysian authority and the Getae profited of the situation. By the second half of the 4th century, the Getae occupied sites on both banks of the lower Danube and this region flourished as never before. The new Macedonian conquests, secured with military power, caused uproar in the adjoining territories. There is no consensus on the etymology of the name Δρομιχαίτης and it can be a Greek name, a Thracian name, or a Thracian name formed with Greek elements. The most detailed account is provided by two fragments from the history of Diodorus Siculus, but it must be treated with caution, as the interference of literary motifs lessens its value as historical evidence. According to Diodorus, the residence of Dromichaetes was named Helis. Traditionally, Helis and the kingdom of Dromichaetes have been placed beyond the Danube, the settlement is situated in a natural stronghold, a plateau surrounded like a peninsula by the ravines of Krapinets River. The outer stone wall, up to 4m thick, follows the edges of the peninsula, the inner wall, of similar construction, encloses a roughly quadrilateral area of about 5 hectares. The fortified territory was relatively densely occupied by dwellings connected by a thoroughfare network, dating finds such as amphorae stamps and coins indicate that this settlement existed between c.335 and c.250 BC. The settlement enjoyed economic prosperity and sustained trade relations with the Greek colonies in the Aegean. The imported goods were found in abundance, Attic black-glazed ceramics, amphorae from Thassos, Sinope and Heraclea Pontica and it was also an important production center with metalworking, bone and pottery workshops. Lysimachus besieged successively Odessus and Histria and forced them to capitulate, a peace treaty was drawn up in 311, but the siege of Callatis continued until 310 or 309 BC. No other action of Lysimachus is known north of Haemus until the clash with Dromichaetes in the 290s BC, the evidence for the conflict is incomplete and contradictory, although attested by a number of ancient authors. It was probably provoked by the expansion of Lysimachus and the control of the Greek colonies was perhaps the issue at stake. The two fragments of Diodorus history suggest two separate campaigns, during the first the Getae captured Agathocles, the son of Lysimachus, but later set him free hoping to recover the territories lost to Lysimachus. During the second Lysimachus himself was taken prisoner and then released under similar conditions, however Pausanias, mentioning the same two episodes, implies they are parallel versions of one and the same event
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Getae
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The Getae /ˈdʒiːtiː/ or /ˈɡiːtiː/ or Gets are several Thracian tribes that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Several scholars, especially in the Romanian historiography, posit the identity between the Getae and their neighbours, the Dacians. The ancient geographer also wrote that the Dacians and Getae spoke the language, after stating the same about Getae. Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia, ca, though various races have occupied the adjacent shores, at one spot the Getae, by the Romans called Daci. Justin, the 3rd century AD Latin historian, wrote in his Epitome of Pompeius Trogus that Dacians are spoken of as descendents of the Getae, Daci quoque suboles Getarum sunt. He also shows the Dacians to live on both sides of the Lower Danube, the south of the river, in Moesia. Two of the tribes found among them are those formerly called the Triballi, and the Dardani. There is a dispute among scholars about the relations between the Getae and Dacians, and this also covers the interpretation of ancient sources. Some historians such as Ronald Arthur Crossland state that even Ancient Greeks used the two designations interchangeable or with some confusion, thus, it is generally considered that the two groups were related to a certain degree, while the exact relation is a matter of controversy. Strabo, as well as ancient sources, led some modern historians to consider that, if the Thracian ethnic group should be divided. The linguist Ivan Duridanov also identified a Dacian linguistic area in Dacia, Scythia Minor, Lower Moesia, Romanian scholars generally went further with the identification, historian Constantin C. Giurescu claiming the two were identical, the archaeologist Mircea Babeş spoke of a veritable ethno-cultural unity between the Getae and the Dacians. According to Glanville Price, the account of the Greek geographer Strabo shows that the Getae and the Dacians were one and this same belief is stated by some British historians such as David Sandler Berkowitz and Philip Matyszak. Some scholars consider the Getae and Dacians to be the people at different stages of their history. Ronald Arthur Crossland suggested the two designations may refer to two groups of a homogeneous people that had come to historical prominence at two distinct periods of time. He also compared the probable linguistic situation with the relation between modern Norwegian and Danish languages, paul Lachlan MacKendrick considered the two as branches of the same tribe, speaking two dialects of a common language. The Romanian historian of ideas and historiographer Lucian Boia stated, At a certain point, Lucian Boia took a sceptical position, arguing the ancient writers distinguished among the two people, treating them as two distinct groups of the Thracian ethnos. Boia contended that it would be naive to assume Strabo knew the Thracian dialects so well, the latter claim is contested, some studies attesting Strabos reliability and sources
25.
Thebes, Greece
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Thebes is a city in Boeotia, central Greece. It played an important role in Greek myths, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes. Theban forces ended the power of Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of Epaminondas, the Sacred Band of Thebes famously fell at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC against Philip II and Alexander the Great. Prior to its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Thebes was a force in Greek history. During the Byzantine period, the city was famous for its silks, the modern city contains an Archaeological Museum, the remains of the Cadmea, and scattered ancient remains. Modern Thebes is the largest town of the unit of Boeotia. Thebes is situated in a plain, between Lake Yliki to the north, and the Cithaeron mountains, which divide Boeotia from Attica and its elevation is 215 metres above mean sea level. It is about 50 kilometres northwest of Athens, and 100 kilometres southeast of Lamia, motorway 1 and the Athens–Thessaloniki railway connect Thebes with Athens and northern Greece. The municipality of Thebes covers an area of 830.112 square kilometres, the unit of Thebes 321.015 square kilometres. In 2011, as a consequence of the Kallikratis reform, Thebes was merged with Plataies, Thisvi, and Vagia to form a larger municipality, the other three become units of the larger municipality. Five main cycles of story may be distinguished, The foundation of the citadel Cadmea by Cadmus, the building of a seven-gated wall by Amphion, and the cognate stories of Zethus, Antiope and Dirce. See Theban pederasty and Pederasty in ancient Greece for detailed discussion, the immolation of Semele and the advent of Dionysus. The Greeks attributed the foundation of Thebes to Cadmus, a Phoenician king from Tyre, Cadmus was famous for teaching the Phoenician alphabet and building the Acropolis, which was named the Cadmeia in his honor and was an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural center. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed cist graves dated to Mycenaean times containing weapons, ivory, *Tʰēgʷai in LHIIIB lost contact with Egypt but gained it with Miletus and Cyprus. In the late LHIIIB, according to Palaima, *Tʰēgʷai was able to pull resources from Lamos near Mount Helicon, and from Karystos and Amarynthos on the Greek side of the isle of Euboia. As a fortified community, it attracted attention from the invading Dorians, and this centralizing policy is as much the cardinal fact of Theban history as the counteracting effort of the smaller towns to resist absorption forms the main chapter of the story of Boeotia
26.
Veria
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Even by the standards of Greece, Veria is an old city, first mentioned in the writings of Thucydides in 432 BC, there is evidence that it was populated as early as 1000 BC. Veria was an important possession for Philip II of Macedon and later for the Romans, apostle Paul famously preached in the city, and its inhabitants were among the first Christians in the Empire. Later, under the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, Veria was a center of Greek culture, today Veria is a commercial center of Central Macedonia, the capital of the regional unit of Imathia and the seat of a metropolitan bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of Greece. The extensive archaeological site of Vergina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, lies 12 km south-east of the city center of Veria. The city is reputed to have been named by its mythical creator Beres or from the daughter of the king of Berroia who was thought to be the son of Macedon, Veria surrendered to Rome in 168 BC. During the Roman empire, Veria became a place of worship for the Romans, diocletian made the large and populous city one of two capitals of the Roman province of Macedonia. The Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos promoted the local see to an archbishopric after 1261, berrhoea is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. The city was held by the Bulgarian Empire at some point in the late 9th century. In the Escorial Taktikon of ca,975, the city is mentioned as the seat of a strategos, and it apparently was the capital of a theme in the 11th century. The city is not mentioned again until the late 12th century, after the Fourth Crusade, it briefly became part of Boniface of Montferrats Kingdom of Thessalonica, until the latter was conquered by the Despotate of Epirus in 1224. It changed hands again in 1246, being taken by the Emperor of Nicaea John III Doukas Vatatzes, the 14th century was tumultuous, captured by the Serbian ruler Stephen Dushan in 1343/4, it became part of his Serbian Empire. It was recovered for Byzantium by John VI Kantakouzenos in 1350, with the disintegration of the Serbian Empire, it passed once more to Byzantium by ca. 1375, but was henceforth menaced by the power of the Ottoman Turks. The city changed several times over the next decades, until the final Turkish conquest around 1430. The Ottomans called Veria Karaferye, because of its characteristic morning mist during the winter seasons. Under Ottoman rule, Veria was the seat of a kaza within the Sanjak of Salonica, by 1885, evliya Çelebi reports that the city was peaceful, without walls or garrison, it had 4000 houses,16 Muslim quarters,15 Christian quarters, and 2 Jewish congregations. The city was a center of rice production. During World War II, Veria was under Nazi occupation between 1941 and 1944, the town asked Prokopis Kambitoglou to become the Mayor of Veria during the occupation
27.
Caria
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Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there, the inhabitants of Caria, known as Carians, had arrived there before the Greeks. The Carians did speak an Anatolian language, known as Carian, cramers detailed catalog of Carian towns in classical Greece is based entirely on ancient sources. The multiple names of towns and geomorphic features, such as bays and headlands, coastal Caria begins with Didyma south of Miletus, but Miletus had been placed in the pre-Greek Caria. South of it is the Iassicus Sinus and the towns of Iassus and Bargylia, giving a name of Bargyleticus Sinus to Güllük Körfezi, and nearby Cindye. After Bargylia is Caryanda or Caryinda, and then on the Bodrum Peninsula Myndus,56 miles miles from Miletus, in the vicinity is Naziandus, exact location unknown. On the tip of the Bodrum Peninsula is Termera, and on the other side Ceramicus Sinus and it was formerly crowded with numerous towns. Halicarnassus, a Dorian Greek city, was planted there among six Carian towns, Theangela, Sibde, Medmasa, Euranium, Pedasa or Pedasum and these with Myndus and Synagela constitute the eight Lelege towns. Also on the north coast of the Ceramicus Sinus is Ceramus and Bargasus, on the south of the Ceramicus Sinus is the Carian Chersonnese, or Triopium Promontory, also called Doris after the Dorian colony of Cnidus. At the base of the peninsula is Bybassus or Bybastus from which an earlier names and it was now Acanthus and Doulopolis. South of the Carian Chersonnese is Doridis Sinus, the Gulf of Doris, there are three bays in it, Bubassius, Thymnias and Schoenus, the last enclosing the town of Hyda. In the gulf somewhere are Euthene or Eutane, Pitaeum, on the south shore is the Cynossema, or Onugnathos Promontory, opposite Symi. South of there is the Rhodian Peraea, a section of the coast under Rhodes and it includes Loryma or Larymna in Oedimus Bay, Gelos, Tisanusa, the headland of Paridion, Panydon or Pandion with Physicus, Amos, Physca or Physcus, also called Cressa. Beyond Cressa is the Calbis River, on the other side is Caunus, with Pisilis or Pilisis and Pyrnos between. Then follow some cities that some assign to Lydia and some to Caria, Calynda on the Indus River, Crya, Carya, Carysis or Cari and Alina in the Gulf of Glaucus, other Carian towns in the gulf are Clydae or Lydae and Aenus. At the base of the east end of Latmus near Euromus, the name Chrysaoris once applied to all of Caria, moreover, Euromus was originally settled from Lycia. Its towns are Tauropolis, Plarassa and Chrysaoris and these were all incorporated later into Mylasa. Connected to the latter by a way is Labranda
28.
Lydia
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Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish provinces of Uşak, Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian, at its greatest extent, the Kingdom of Lydia covered all of western Anatolia. Lydia was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, with Sardis as its capital, tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great, was the first satrap. Lydia was later the name of a Roman province, coins are said to have been invented in Lydia around the 7th century BC. The endonym Śfard survives in bilingual and trilingual stone-carved notices of the Achaemenid Empire and these in the Greek tradition are associated with Sardis, the capital city of King Gyges, constructed during the 7th century BC. The region of the Lydian kingdom was during the 15th-14th centuries part of the Arzawa kingdom, the Lydian language is not part of the Luwian subgroup. An Etruscan/Lydian association has long been a subject of conjecture, however, recent decipherment of Lydian and its classification as an Anatolian language mean that Etruscan and Lydian were not even part of the same language family. The boundaries of historical Lydia varied across the centuries and it was bounded first by Mysia, Caria, Phrygia and coastal Ionia. Later, the power of Alyattes II and Croesus expanded Lydia. Lydia never again shrank back into its original dimensions, the Lydian language was an Indo-European language in the Anatolian language family, related to Luwian and Hittite. It used many prefixes and grammatical particles, Lydian finally became extinct during the 1st century BC. Lydia developed after the decline of the Hittite Empire in the 12th century BC, in Hittite times, the name for the region had been Arzawa. According to Greek source, the name of the Lydian kingdom was Maionia, or Maeonia. Homer describes their capital not as Sardis but as Hyde, Hyde may have been the name of the district in which Sardis was located. Later, Herodotus adds that the Meiones were renamed Lydians after their king Lydus, son of Atys and this etiological eponym served to account for the Greek ethnic name Lydoi. During Biblical times, the Lydian warriors were famous archers, some Maeones still existed during historical times in the upland interior along the River Hermus, where a town named Maeonia existed, according to Pliny the Elder and Hierocles. In Greek myth, Lydia had also adopted the symbol, that also appears in the Mycenaean civilization. Omphale, daughter of the river Iardanos, was a ruler of Lydia, all three heroic ancestors indicate a Lydian dynasty claiming Heracles as their ancestor
29.
Anatolia
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Anatolia, in geography known as Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, Anatolian peninsula, or Anatolian plateau, is the westernmost protrusion of Asia, which makes up the majority of modern-day Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Black Sea to the Armenian Highlands, thus, traditionally Anatolia is the territory that comprises approximately the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. The Turkification of Anatolia began under the Seljuk Empire in the late 11th century, however, various non-Turkic languages continue to be spoken by minorities in Anatolia today, including Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Arabic, Laz, Georgian, and Greek. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line running from the Gulf of Alexandretta to the Black Sea. This traditional geographical definition is used, for example, in the latest edition of Merriam-Websters Geographical Dictionary, under this definition, Anatolia is bounded to the east by the Armenian Highlands, and the Euphrates before that river bends to the southeast to enter Mesopotamia. To the southeast, it is bounded by the ranges that separate it from the Orontes valley in Syria, the first name the Greeks used for the Anatolian peninsula was Ἀσία, presumably after the name of the Assuwa league in western Anatolia. As the name of Asia came to be extended to areas east of the Mediterranean. The name Anatolia derives from the Greek ἀνατολή meaning “the East” or more literally “sunrise”, the precise reference of this term has varied over time, perhaps originally referring to the Aeolian, Ionian and Dorian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. In the Byzantine Empire, the Anatolic Theme was a theme covering the western, the modern Turkish form of Anatolia is Anadolu, which again derives from the Greek name Aνατολή. The Russian male name Anatoly and the French Anatole share the same linguistic origin, in English the name of Turkey for ancient Anatolia first appeared c. It is derived from the Medieval Latin Turchia, which was used by the Europeans to define the Seljuk controlled parts of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. Human habitation in Anatolia dates back to the Paleolithic, neolithic Anatolia has been proposed as the homeland of the Indo-European language family, although linguists tend to favour a later origin in the steppes north of the Black Sea. However, it is clear that the Anatolian languages, the oldest branch of Indo-European, have spoken in Anatolia since at least the 19th century BC. The earliest historical records of Anatolia stem from the southeast of the region and are from the Mesopotamian-based Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BC, scholars generally believe the earliest indigenous populations of Anatolia were the Hattians and Hurrians. The region was famous for exporting raw materials, and areas of Hattian-, one of the numerous cuneiform records dated circa 20th century BC, found in Anatolia at the Assyrian colony of Kanesh, uses an advanced system of trading computations and credit lines. They were speakers of an Indo-European language, the Hittite language, originating from Nesa, they conquered Hattusa in the 18th century BC, imposing themselves over Hattian- and Hurrian-speaking populations. According to the most widely accepted Kurgan theory on the Proto-Indo-European homeland, however, the Hittites adopted the cuneiform script, invented in Mesopotamia
30.
Taurus Mountains
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The Taurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the reaches of the Euphrates. It is a part of the Alpide belt in Eurasia, the mountains are a place of many ancient storm-god temples. The Hurrians, probably originators of the various storm-gods of the ancient Near East, were a people whom modern scholars place in the Taurus Mountains at their probable earliest origins, a Bronze Age archaeological site, where early evidence of tin mining was found, is at Kestel. The pass known in antiquity as the Cilician Gates crosses the north of Tarsus. The Amanus range in southern Turkey is where the Taurus Mountains are pushed up as three tectonic plates come together, the Amanus is a natural frontier, west is Cilicia, east is Syria. There are several passes, like the Amanian Gate, which are of great strategical importance, in 333 BCE at the Battle of Issus, Alexander the Great defeated Darius III Codomannus on the foothills along the coast between these two passes. During World War I, the German and Turkish railway system through the Taurus Mountains proved to be a strategic objective of the Allies. This region was mentioned as a strategically controlled objective slated for surrender to the Allies in the Armistice. In the Aladaglar and Bolkar mountains, limestone has eroded to form karstic landscapes of waterfalls, underground rivers, the Manavgat River originates on the southern slopes of the Beydaglari range. The Varda Viaduct, situated on the railway lines Konya-Adana at Hacıkırı village in Adana Province, is a 98 m high railway bridge constructed in the 1910s by Germans, west Taurus and Taurus Mountains form an arc around the Gulf of Antalya. The East Taşeli Plateau and Goksu River divide it from the Central Taurus Mountains and it has many peaks rising above 3, 000–3,700 m. They are also the source of the Euphrates River and Tigris River, map of Eurasia showing Taurus Mountain ranges
31.
Corinth
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Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Corinth, of which it is the seat and it is the capital of Corinthia. It was founded as Nea Korinthos or New Corinth in 1858 after an earthquake destroyed the settlement of Corinth. Corinth derives its name from Ancient Corinth, a city-state of antiquity, in 1858, the old city, now known as Archaia Korinthos, located 3 kilometres SW of the modern city, was totally destroyed by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. Nea Korinthos or New Corinth was then built a few kilometers away on the coast of the Gulf of Corinth, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in 1928 devastated the new city, which was then rebuilt on the same site. It was rebuilt again after a fire in 1933. The Municipality of Corinth had a population of 58,192 according to the 2011 census, the second most populous municipality in the Peloponnese Region after Kalamata. The municipal unit of Corinth had 38,132 inhabitants, of which Corinth itself had 30,176 inhabitants, placing it in place behind Kalamata. The municipal unit of Corinth includes apart from Corinth proper the town of Archaia Korinthos, the town of Examilia, the municipal unit has an area of 102.187 km2. Corinth is an industrial hub at a national level. Corinth Refineries are one of the largest oil refining Industrial complex in Europe, copper cables, petroleum products, leather, medical equipment, marble, gypsum, ceramic tiles, salt, mineral water and beverages, meat products, and gums are produced nearby. As of 2005, a period of deindustrialization has commenced as a large complex, a textile factory. Corinth is a road hub. The A7 toll motorway for Tripoli and Kalamata, branches off the A8/European route E94 toll motorway from Athens at Corinth, Corinth is the main entry point to the Peloponnesian peninsula, the southernmost area of continental Greece. KTEL Korinthias provides intercity bus service in the peninsula and to Athens via the Isthmos station southeast of the city center, local bus service is also available. The city has connected to the Proastiakos, the Athens suburban rail network, since 2005. The port of Corinth, located north of the city centre and close to the northwest entrance of the Corinth Canal, at 3756. 0’ N /2256. 0’ E, serves the needs of industry. It is mainly a cargo exporting facility and it is an artificial harbour (depth approximately 9 metres, protected by a concrete mole
32.
Cyclades
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The Cyclades are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the island of Delos. The Cyclades is where the native Greek breed of cat originated, the largest island of the Cyclades is Naxos. Interest lagged, then picked up in the century, as collectors competed for the modern-looking figures that seemed so similar to sculpture by Jean Arp or Constantin Brâncuși. Sites were looted and a trade in forgeries arose. The context for many of these Cycladic figurines has been mostly destroyed, another intriguing and mysterious object is that of the Cycladic frying pans. More accurate archaeology has revealed the outlines of a farming and seafaring culture that had immigrated from Anatolia c.5000 BCE. Early Cycladic culture evolved in three phases, between c.3300 –2000 BCE, when it was swamped in the rising influence of Minoan Crete. The culture of mainland Greece contemporary with Cycladic culture is known as the Helladic period, in recent decades the Cyclades have become popular with European and other tourists, and as a result there have been problems with erosion, pollution, and water shortages. There are also many islands including Donousa, Eschati, Gyaros, Irakleia, Koufonisia, Makronisos. The name Cyclades refers to the forming a circle around the sacred island of Delos. Most of the islands are uninhabited. Ermoupoli on Syros is the town and administrative center of the former prefecture. The islands are peaks of a mountainous terrain, with the exception of two volcanic islands, Milos and Santorini. The climate is dry and mild, but with the exception of Naxos the soil is not very fertile, agricultural produce includes wine, fruit, wheat, olive oil. Cooler temperatures are in higher elevations and mainly do not receive wintry weather, the Cyclades are bounded to the south by the Sea of Crete. The Cyclades Prefecture was one of the prefectures of Greece and these have been reorganised at the 2011 Kallikratis reform as well
33.
Demetrias
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Demetrias was an ancient Greek city in Magnesia, near the modern city of Volos. It was founded by Demetrius Poliorcetes, and became the residence of the kings of Macedon. The Aetolians allied themselves with Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire in the Roman–Syrian War and this ended in the defeat of Antiochus. The Romans then returned Demetrias to Philip, who had been their ally in this war and it remained a Macedonian possession until the battle of Pydna in 169 B. C. Under Roman Emperor Constantine the Great it became a Christian episcopal see and is now a titular see of the Catholic Church. According to Procopius, Demetrias was rebuilt by Justinian I, and its territory was settled by the Slavic tribe of the Belegezitai in the 7th/8th centuries, raided and sacked by the Saracens in 901/2, and by rebels during the Uprising of Peter Delyan in 1040. The city came under the rule of Manuel Komnenos Doukas ca,1240, but was de facto controlled by a branch of the Melissenos family. In the 1270s, the Byzantines scored an important victory against the Venetians, the Catalan Company sacked the town in 1310 and kept it until 1381 at least, but from 1333 on, it began to be abandoned for neighbouring Volos. It was finally captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1393
34.
Gauls
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The Gauls were Celtic peoples inhabiting Gaul in the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their Gaulish language forms the branch of the Continental Celtic languages. The Gauls emerged around the 5th century BC as the bearers of the La Tène culture north of the Alps, Gaul was never united under a single ruler or government, but the Gallic tribes were capable of uniting their forces in large-scale military operations. They reached the peak of their power in the early 3rd century BC, after this, Gaul became a province of the Roman Empire, and the Gauls were culturally assimilated into a Gallo-Roman culture, losing their tribal identities by the end of the 1st century AD. The Gauls of Gallia Celtica according to the testimony of Caesar called themselves Celtae in their own language, the name Gaul itself may be derived from Latin Galli, or it may be derived from the Germanic word Walha. Gaulish culture developed out of the Celtic cultures over the first millennia BC, the Urnfield culture represents the Celts as a distinct cultural branch of the Indo-European-speaking people. The spread of iron working led to the Hallstatt culture in the 8th century BC, the Hallstatt culture evolved into the La Tène culture in around the 5th century BC. The Greek and Etruscan civilizations and colonies began to influence the Gauls especially in the Mediterranean area, Gauls under Brennus invaded Rome circa 390 BC. Following the climate deterioration in the late Nordic Bronze Age, Celtic Gaul was invaded in the 5th century BC by tribes later called Gauls originating in the Rhine valley. Gallic invaders settled the Po Valley in the 4th century BC, defeated Roman forces in a battle under Brennus in 390 BC and raided Italy as far as Sicily. A large number of Gauls served in the armies of Carthage during the Punic Wars, in the Aegean world, an invasion of Eastern Gauls appeared in Thrace, north of Greece, in 281 BC. However, according to the Roman legend of the gold of Delphi. One king Cerethrius invaded the Thracians, while another Gallic king Bolgios invaded Macedonia and Illyria where he killed the Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos, in 278 BC Gaulish settlers in the Balkans were invited by Nicomedes I of Bithynia to help him in a dynastic struggle against his brother. They numbered about 10,000 fighting men and about the number of women and children. They were eventually defeated by the Seleucid king Antiochus I, in a battle where the Seleucid war elephants shocked the Galatians. While the momentum of the invasion was broken, the Galatians were by no means exterminated and continued to demand tribute from the Hellenistic states of Anatolia to avoid war,4,000 Galatians were hired as mercenaries by the Ptolemaic Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the 270 BC. According to Pausanias, soon after arrival the Celts plotted “to seize Egypt, ”, Galatians also participated at the victorious in 217 BC Battle of Raphia under Ptolemy IV Philopator, and continued to serve as mercenaries for the Ptolemaic Dynasty until its demise in 30 BC. They sided with the renegade Seleucid prince Antiochus Hierax, who reigned in Asia Minor, after the defeat, the Galatians continued to be a serious threat to the states of Asia Minor
35.
Brennus (3rd century BC)
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In 280 BC a great army, comprising about 85,000 warriors, coming from Pannonia and split in three divisions, marched south in a great expedition to Macedonia and central Greece. The division led by Brennus and Acichorius moved against the Paionians, some writers suppose that Brennus and Acichorius are the same person, the former being only a title and the latter the real name. The other two divisions were led by Cerethrius and Bolgios, moving against the Thracians and Triballi, and against the Macedonians and Illyrians, Brennus is said to have belonged to an otherwise unknown tribe called the Prausi. These Gauls had settled in Pannonia because of increases in Gaul. The army was led by Cambaules, who led them as far as Thrace. When they decided to again in 279 BC, they split their forces into three divisions. One division was led by Cerethrius against the Thracians and Triballi, another by Bolgios against the Macedonians and Illyrians, Bolgios expedition inflicted heavy losses on the Macedonians and killed their king, Ptolemy Keraunos, but was repulsed by the Macedonian nobleman Sosthenes. Brennus contingent then attacked Sosthenes and defeated him, and proceeded to ravage the country, after these expeditions returned, Brennus urged a united, and potentially lucrative, attack on Greece, led by himself and Acichorius. The army numbered 152,000 infantry and 24,400 cavalry and they broke down the bridges and camped on the bank, but that night Brennus sent 10,000 men to cross further downriver, where the river formed a marshy lake. The Gauls were strong swimmers, some of them using their shields as floats, the Greeks retreated to the main army, while Brennus forced the locals to rebuild the bridges to allow the rest of his forces to cross. The Gauls attacked the Greeks at Thermopylae, but were forced to retreat by their better armed opponents. The plan worked, but the returning Aetolians inflicted such losses on the Gauls that less than half of them returned to Thermopylae, meanwhile, the locals were intimidated into showing Brennus a mountain pass that would allow him to attack the Greek rear. He led 40,000 men, hidden until the last minute by fog, over the pass, the Athenian fleet evacuated the survivors, and Brennus marched for Delphi, not waiting for Acichorius and the rest of the army to catch up. Both the historians who relate the attack on Delphi, Pausanias and Justin, say the Gauls were defeated and they were overtaken by a violent thunderstorm which made it impossible to manoeuvre or even hear their orders. The night that followed was frosty, and in the morning the Greeks attacked them from both sides, Brennus was wounded and the Gauls fell back, killing their own wounded who were unable to retreat. That night a panic fell on the camp, as the Gauls divided into factions and they were joined by Acichorius and the rest of the army, but the Greeks forced them into a full-scale retreat. Brennus took his own life, by drinking unwatered wine according to Pausanias or by stabbing himself according to Justinus, pressed by the Aetolians, they fell back to the Spercheius, where they were cut to pieces by the waiting Thessalians and Malians. However, despite the evidence against it, Brennus sack of Delphi is presented as fact by some popular historians
36.
Celtic settlement of Eastern Europe
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Gallic groups, originating from the various La Tène chiefdoms, began a southeastern movement into the Balkan peninsula from the 4th century BC. Although Celtic settlements were concentrated in the half of the Carpathian Basin, there were notable incursions. From their new bases in northern Illyria and Pannonia, the Gallic invasions climaxed in the early 3rd century BC, a part of the invasion crossed over to Anatolia and eventually settled in the area that came to be named after them, Galatia. From the 4th century BC, Celtic groups pushed into the Carpathian region, the Boii and Volcae were two large Celtic confederacies who generally cooperated in their campaigns. Splinter groups moved south via two routes, one following the Danube river, another eastward from Italy. According to legend,300,000 Celts moved into Italy, by the 3rd century, the native inhabitants of Pannonia were almost completely Celticized. La Tène remains are found widely in Pannonia, but finds westward beyond the Tisza river and these finds are deemed to have been locally produced Norican-Pannonian variation of Celtic culture. Nevertheless, features are encountered that suggest ongoing contacts with distant provinces such as Iberia, thus, it appears that the Celts had created a new homeland for themselves in the southern part of Central Europe, in a region stretching from Poland to the river Danube. The political situation in the northern Balkans was in constant flux with various tribes dominant over their neighbors at any one time, within tribes, military expeditions were conducted by an enterprising and mobile warrior class able from time to time to conquer large areas and to exploit their population. The political situation in the Balkans during the 4th century BC played to the Celts advantage, the Illyrians had been waging war against the Greeks, leaving their western flank weak. While Alexander ruled Greece, the Celts dared not to push south near Greece, therefore, early Celtic expeditions were concentrated against Illyrian tribes. The first Balkan tribe to be defeated by the Celts was the Illyric Autariatae, an account of Celtic tactics is revealed in their attacks on the Ardiaei. In 335 BC, the Celts sent representatives to pay homage to Alexander the Great, some historians suggest that this diplomatic act was actually an evaluation of Macedonian military might. After the death of Alexander the Great, Celtic armies began to bear down on the regions, threatening the Greek kingdom of Macedonia. In 310 BC, the Celtic general Molistomos attacked deep into Illyrian territory, subduing the Dardanians, Paeonians, the new Macedonian king Cassander felt compelled to take his old Illyrian enemies under his protection. In 298 BC, the Celts attempted an attack into Thrace and Macedon. However, another body of Celts led by the general Cambaules marched on Thrace, the Celtic military pressure toward Greece in the southern Balkans reached its turning point in 281 BC. The collapse of Lysimachus successor kingdom in Thrace opened the way for the migration, the cause for this is explained by Pausanias as greed for loot, by Justin as a result of overpopulation, and by Memnon as the result of famine
37.
Aetolian League
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For the English football league, see Aetolian League. The Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece and it was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in Thermika and Panaetolika and it occupied Delphi from 290 BC and gained territory steadily until, by the end of the 3rd century BC, it controlled the whole of central Greece outside Attica and Boeotia. At its peak, the territory included Locris, Malis, Dolopes, part of Thessaly, Phocis. In the latter part of its power, certain Greek city-states joined the Aetolian League such as the Arcadian cities of Mantineia, Tegea, during the classical period the Aetolians were not highly regarded by other Greeks, who considered them to be semi-barbaric and reckless. Their League had a political and administrative structure, and their armies were easily a match for the other Greek powers. However, during the Hellenistic period, they emerged as a dominant state in central Greece, still, the Aetolian League had to fight against Macedonia and were driven to an alliance with Rome, which resulted in the final conquest of Greece by the Romans. It is uncertain when the League of the Aetolians was founded, there are suggestions of the year 367 B. C. It has also suggested that it may have been founded by Epaminondas. Grainger believes that it was founded later, around the time of the rise of Philip II of Macedon. During the Peloponnesian War, the Aetolians were initially neutral, but they fought against the Athenians, who tried to invade Aetolia in 426 BC. The region of Aetolia emerged as one of the most important Greek states after the formation of its League at the half of the 4th century BC. Its capital city, administrative and religious center was Thermo, in the period following the death of Alexander the Great, the Aetolian League revolted against Antipatros and succeeded in maintaining its independence. As of 290 BC, the League had expanded over its neighboring regions, in 279 BC, they were victorious in battle against the Gauls, who had invaded Greece and were threatening the sanctuary of Delphi. After their win, they earned the appreciation of the rest of the Greeks, in the Social War, the Aetolian League fought against the Kingdom of Macedonia. Philip V of Macedon invaded Aetolia and sacked the city of Thermo as a response to the Aetolians invasion at the city of Dodoni in Epirus. The defeat of Antiochus in 189 BC robbed the league of its principal foreign ally, the league was forced to sign a peace treaty with Rome that made it a subject ally of the republic. Although it continued to exist in name, the power of the league was broken by the treaty, according to Scholten, the Aetolian League consisted of elites at the top, but was fundamentally a society of farmers and herders
38.
Thermopylae
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Thermopylae is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs, the Hot Gates is the place of hot springs and in Greek mythology it is the cavernous entrances to Hades. Thermopylae is the land route large enough to bear any significant traffic between Lokris and Thessaly. This passage from north to south along the east coast of the Balkan peninsula requires use of the pass and for this reason Thermopylae has been the site of several battles. In ancient times it was called Malis which was named after the Malians, the Malian Gulf is also named after them. In the western valley of the Spercheios their land was adjacent to the Aenianes and their main town was named Trachis. In the town of Anthela, the Malians had an important temple of Demeter, the land is dominated by the coastal floodplain of the Spercheios River and is surrounded by sloping forested limestone mountains. There is continuous deposition of sediment from the river and travertine deposits from the hot springs which has altered the landscape during the past few thousand years. The land surface on which the famous Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC is now buried under 20 metres of soil, the shoreline has also advanced over the centuries because of the sedimentary deposition. The level of the Malian Gulf was also higher during prehistoric times. Its shoreline advanced by up to 2 kilometers between 2500 BC and 480 BC but still has several extremely narrow passages between the sea and the mountains. The narrowest point on the plain, where the Battle of Thermopylae was probably fought, a main highway now splits the pass, with a modern-day monument to King Leonidas I of Sparta on the east side of the highway. It is directly across the road from the hill where Simonides of Ceoss epitaph to the fallen is engraved in stone at the top. Thermopylae is part of the horseshoe of Maliakos also known as the horseshoe of death, it is the narrowest part of the highway connecting the north. It has many turns and has been the site of vehicular accidents. The hot springs from which the pass derives its name still exist close to the foot of the hill, Thermopylae translated to English means hot gates and the name is related with its hot sulphur springs. This is also, in Greek mythology, the place of the entrance to Hades. The first mentioned Amphictyony was centered on the cult of Demeter which was located at the city of Anthela near Thermopylae, the river has become hot and stayed that way ever since
