T 11 I- 



356 



THE 



with the different chiefs I>y wlioni (hoy were eovemed : 

 it i from Homer (//UK/, ii. 7<*h that we derive the 

 i-arhcst information about this part at 



.r\y time* Thessaly was divided into lour 



.re'liies. These tetrarcliies were, according 



p. 430), Hestia-otis, Pelasgiotis, '1 



and Phthiotis : uiul the division, ttunnrh it was a 



mticnt institution, existed in the PeloponiMMM) war 



The first of these tetrarchies, Ilrittia-ntix, was the 

 mountainous country between Pindus and Olvmpus; 

 having generally lor its southern limit tin- river Peneus, 

 though tliis rivi-f did not form an exact boundary through 

 all its course. Herodotus (i. 150) applies this name to the 

 country in the neighbourhood of Ossa and Olympus, the 



ial abode of the Dorians before they settled in Pelo- 



. sus. From a statement in Strabo (ix., p. 4:t7). it 

 would seem that the name of Hesti:rotis was denved from 



ict in Kiibcra, whose inhabitants were transplanted 

 to this part of Thessaly by the I'errhsrbi. The Perrlncbi 

 themselves however only occupied a small part ol'the ter- 

 ritory, and as they are mid to have been the oiiirinal in- 

 habitants of the country of the Lapitha-. they must at one 

 time have been established in the lower valley of the Peneus. 

 (Strabo, p. 441.) In historical times they dwelt in the 



\ of the Titaresius under Olympus, where they had 

 shrunk into a small mountain-people. The north-'.. 

 part of Hestiseotis was in ante-historical times (Homer, //., 

 ii. 774) occupied by a mountain-tribe of uncertain origin. 

 called the .ithices. In the time of Strabo (ix., p. I'M) 

 scarcely any trace remained of them. 



The most remarkable towns of Hestiirotis were as fol- 

 low s: Phaleria, or Phaloria, the first town of any im- 

 portance on entering Thessaly from Epinis by the passes 

 of Pindus (Liv., xxxii. 15) ; Oxyneia and ^ginium, the 

 latter of which Livy describes as a place of great strength, 

 ar.d almost impregnable. Gomphi (the Wedges), an an- 

 tient fortress, situated on the Peneus to the south of Pha- 

 loria : it was a place of great strength, and might he suid 

 to be the key of Thessaly on the side of Epirus to the 

 north: it commanded the 'communication by the gorge of 

 Clinovo, between this part of Thessaly and the Ambr.u-mn 

 Gulf. In the time of Caesar (Bel. Civ., iii. 80) it was a larjre 

 and opulent city: it is supposed to be represented by the 

 modern Stagous. Tricca, now Trikhala, on the left bank of 

 the Peneus, about 12 miles south of Gomphi : it is celebrated 

 by Homer (//., ii. 729), and placed by him under the rule 

 of the sons of ^sculapius, who was said to have been born 

 in the neighbourhood. According to Strabo 'ix. 4:i7 . 

 there was a temple of yEsculapius there, which was held 

 Jn great veneration : about 12 miles to the north of it is 



-ituated the convent of Meteora, whose name (the 

 Hanging) is descriptive of its situation upon lofty columns 

 of roek. Metropolis, a town to the north of the Peneus. 

 which contained within its territory the lands of three 

 other places not so famous, but more antient, and which 

 contributed to the formation of the new city. Metropolis, 

 with Gomphi to the north-west, Tricca to the south-west, 

 and Pelinna to the south-east, formed a square of fort 

 in the middle of which was the antient It home, called by 

 Homer the ' precipitous.' Pelinna, more commonly Pelin- 

 naeum. was an important city on the north of the Peneus, 

 and about 10 miles east of Tricca. Ithome has been sup- 

 posed to have oeeiipied the site of the convents of Meteora : 

 but it seems to have been farther south. (Kchalia, a city 

 celebrated in nntholoiry. is coupled by Homer with Tricca 

 and Ithome. (Jonnus, or (ionni, was a town of considerable 

 importance and antiquity. It was situated on the left or 

 north bank of the river Penens, about 20 miles from the 

 great city of Larissa, and clone to the entrance of the irorge 

 u\ Teinpc. (Jonnocondylon, a stronghold in the windings 

 of the valley, vf as situated in the defile above Gonnus, pro- 

 bably not far from the fortress of Roman construction called 



ieo-Castro. The Pelagonian Tripolis, also, a <!. 



!i included the three towns of Pvthmm, Azorus, and 

 l)ohehe, was situated in the north-east of 1 I< -IM otis, and 

 i also reckoned under Perrhsebia by I.ivy. 



Pekugioti* wa in the southern part of the lower valley 

 of the 1'encus, and includes the Pelasgian plains which 

 ii from Larissa to Pherae, near Pelion, having for its 

 boundary on the cast the range of Pelion and Ossa. 

 According to Strabo (ix., p. 441) thin part of Thessalv was 

 originally occupied by the Perrhaebi, an antient tribe 01 



apparently Pelasinc origin. It was 1. from 



them by the I.iipith.. 



original abode w; me of the 



IVrrha-bi t> ;irds and across Pindus. while 



those who remained in the plan. with 



under the common name I 1 The 



principal towns of 1'ela-^iotis wire as i'o!'.. 



^ one of the most antient and flourishing town* of 

 Thessaly, though not mentioned by II 



in the most fertile part of the old count r\ of the I'errba-bi. 

 The constitution of (he city was democrat ical. the in 

 (rates beim; elected and rcmoveablc by th. 



;., I'nhiir.. \.c.) Accordingly in the Peloponne- 



sian war. the l.arissa'ans supported the Athenians against 

 the Laccd-.cmonians. T| u . Alenadir, mentioned by Hero- 

 dotus as princes of Thessaly at the time of t : 



in, and one of the most distinguished and antient 

 families of the country, were natives of I.aris-a. The 

 territory of this city was extremely rich and fertile, but it 

 frequently suffered by the inundations of the I'em us. Mo- 

 dern travellers are of 0])inion that the present 1 

 stands on the site of the old town. The name is Pcla-irian. 

 Cranon, or (.'rannoii. to the south of Larissfi ('the 



most antient and considerable towns of this pait ot'Thcs-aly. 

 The inhabitants of this town are supposed by the antient 

 commentators to be designated by Homer //.. xiii. 

 301) as the Kphyri. The Scopadee, a distinguished and 

 princely family of Thessaly, belonged to it. Tl\c' inhabit- 

 ants supjHirted the Athenian! in the Peloponni'sian war, 

 and therefore they may be supposed to have been under a 

 democratical form of government. Scutussa, to tli 

 of Cranon, thouirh noticed by antient an' s not 



appear to have been known to Homer. Stiv.ho. i\.. \i. 

 \\ithin its territory was the hill of ('ynoscei)halK', 

 or Don'-Heada, where a \ b :aned by the Homans 



over Philip of Macedon (B.C. 197;. It is one of the hills 

 which separate the plain of I.ariss.i from that of Pharsalia. 

 According to some authors, the Thessalian Dodona w;us 

 also within the district of Scotussa. I'lu kt the 



southern extremity of the lake Boebeis. In the 1'elo- 

 ponnesian war the Pherri'ans assi^teil the Athenians, 

 whence it is probable that they then had a republican form 

 of government. Subsequently Jason made himself master 

 of Pliers 1 , his native town, and was succeeded in his 

 authority by his brothers. In later times it fell into the 

 hands of Alexander, who continued for eleven years to be 

 the scourge of his native citv. and the whole of Thessaly, till 

 lie was checked by the Tbebans, under Pelopidas and 

 Kpaminondas. He was at last assassinated by bis wile 

 and her brothers, who continued to tyrannise over the 

 country till it was liberated by Philip of Macedon. (Dio- 

 dorus, xvi. ">17.1 After many chansres of fortune, it was 

 taken by the Romans under the consul Acilhis. Li\\, 

 xxxvi. 14.) Strabo says of it, that the continued tyranny 

 under which it had laboured hastened its decav. Its terri- 

 tory, according toPolybius xviii. '- . was most fertile, and 

 the suburbs were surrounded by irardens and walled enelo- 

 . Its port was 1'a^asa-. about II or 12 miles distant. 

 With respect to its modern leatures. Phera'.' sa\s Dodwcll, 

 has hardly ]ircservcd any traces of antiquity : a few scat- 

 tered blocks of stone and some Doric frusta are the only 

 antiquities remaining.' The fountain TI\ pereia, mentioned 

 by Homer Iliml. \'\. \~<~i . 'is in the suburbs of (he modern 

 town of Helestina, at the foot ol'the antient Aciopolis. A 

 small lake of about KNI yards ill diameter, and with water 

 as clear as crystal, bubbles up out of the ground.' Sir \V. 



iKIs. that it runs through a coffeehouse, or kiosk. 

 The Dotius Campus is also in Pelasciotis, on its eastern 

 side: it is a considerable plain encircled by hills to the 

 north, and terminated to the south by the lake liocbeis. the 

 most ( \leiiM\e in Thessaly. and included within the limits 

 of Pelasgiotis. 



\lit was MI .inline to '- 'in its 



having been first occupied byThessalians, who came tmm 

 Thesprotia, and inhabited the plains In 

 having the district of Pelasgiotis on the ca-t. Tnis te- 

 trarchy contained towards the sonlb-rast the city ol'Phar- 

 salus, celebrated for the hat tic fought in tU plains between 

 Pompey and Ciesar. It is situated not far irom the junc- 

 tion of" the Knipens and the Apidanns. and was a city of 

 great size and importance, tboneh no mention is made of 

 it previous t<> the Persian invasion of Greece. During 

 the Peloponnesian war, the 1'harsahans generally favoured 



