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Ancient Arcadia
Arcadia ( el, Ἀρκαδία) is a region in the central Peloponnese. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas, and in Greek mythology it was the home of the gods Hermes and Pan. In European Renaissance arts, Arcadia was celebrated as an unspoiled, harmonious wilderness; as such, it was referenced in popular culture. The modern regional unit of the same name more or less overlaps with the historical region, but is slightly larger. History Arcadia was gradually linked in a loose confederation that included all the Arcadian towns and was named League of the Arcadians. In the 7th century BC, it successfully faced the threat of Sparta and the Arcadians managed to maintain their independence. They participated in the Persian Wars alongside other Greeks by sending forces to Thermopylae and Plataea. During the Peloponnesian War, Arcadia allied with Sparta and Corinth. In the following years, during the period of the Hegemony of Thebes, the Theban general Epaminond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the Geography of Greece, mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin, featuring List of islands of Greece, thousands of islands. The country consists of nine Geographic regions of Greece, traditional geographic regions, and has a population of approximately 10.4 million. Athens is the nation's capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras. Greece is considered the cradle of Western culture, Western civilization, being the birthplace of Athenian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label=Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it was one of the most prominent battles of both the second Persian invasion of Greece and the wider Greco-Persian Wars. The engagement at Thermopylae occurred simultaneously with the Battle of Artemisium: between July and September 480 BC. The second Persian invasion under Xerxes I was a delayed response to the failure of the first Persian invasion, which had been initiated by Darius I and ended in 490 BC by an Athenian-led Greek victory at the Battle of Marathon. By 480 BC, a decade after the Persian defeat at Marathon, Xerxes had amassed a massive land and naval force, and subsequently set out to conquer all of Greece. In response, the Athenian politician and general Themistocles proposed that the allie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aroania (mountain)
Aroania ( el, Αροάνια), also known as Helmos or Chelmos (Χελμός, from South Slavic , "summit"), is a mountain range in Achaea, Peloponnese, Greece. At 2,355 m elevation, Aroania is the third highest mountain of the Peloponnese, after Taygetus and Kyllini, and the highest in Achaea. The largest town near the mountain is Kalavryta. The municipal unit Aroania took its name from the mountain. Geography Aroania is situated in southeastern Achaea, near the border with Corinthia. The slightly higher Kyllini mountain is about 15 km to its east, separated from Aroania by the valley of the river Olvios. The mountain Erymanthos is about 30 km to the west, across the valley of the river Vouraikos. The rivers Krios, Krathis and Vouraikos drain the mountain towards the Gulf of Corinth in the north. The river Aroanios drains the mountain towards the southwest, to the Ionian Sea. The mountain is the site of the Aristarchos telescope and of a ski resort. Points of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Kyllini
Mount Kyllini or Mount Cyllene (; grc, Κυλλήνη , ; sometimes , ), is a mountain on the Peloponnese in Greece famous for its association with the god Hermes. It rises to above sea level, making it the second highest point on the peninsula. It is located near the border between the historic regions of Arcadia (ancient region), Arcadia and Achaea—in the northeast of Arcadia, and entirely within modern Corinthia. It is located west of Corinth, northwest of Stymfalia, north of Tripoli, Greece, Tripoli, and south of Derveni, Corinthia, Derveni. Several modern places are also named ''Kyllini (other), Kyllini''. Description Much of the mountain is barren and rocky, although the area below is largely forested. There is an observatory at , at 22.67 east longitude and 37.97 north latitude. From the top a large portion of northeastern Peloponnesus is visible, including the eastern part of Achaia and Chelmos, the Gulf of Corinth and most of Corinthia, the southern par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Erymanthos
Mount Erymanthos ( el, Ερύμανθος, Latin: ''Erymanthus'') overall is an irregular massif of peaks connected by ridges embedded in the mountains located in the north of the Peloponnese, Greece. Erymanthos is on the west side. Its highest peak, Olenos or Olonos (Ωλενός or Ωλονός), Olenos original and preferred, elevation , is often called Mount Erymanthus, and conversely, Mount Olenos can be used for the entire range, although the customary usage is Erymanthos for the range and Olenos for the peak. Olenos is not a single peak. The topography close-up depicts a three-peak complex, three main peaks, of course, as any terrain presents many bumps under various descriptions. The summit is a N-S directed ridge with Olenos on the north, and another peak, Granitis, elevation , lower, on the south. Olenos is at . Granitis is at . The horizontal difference between peaks is . The key colLow point of highest connecting ridge. of Granitis is to the NE. The prominence of G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lykaion Looking East
Mount Lykaion ( grc, Λύκαιον ὄρος, ''Lýkaion Óros''; la, Mons Lycaeus) is a mountain in Arcadia, Greece. Lykaion has two peaks: ''Stefani'' to the north and St. Ilias (, ''Agios Īlías'') to the south where the altar of Zeus is located.Cook, A.B. ''Zeus'', 81. 1914. The northern peak is higher, 1,421 m, than the southern, 1,382 m (). Mount Lykaion was sacred to Zeus Lykaios, who was said to have been born and brought up on it, and was the home of Pelasgus and his son Lycaon, who were said to have founded the ritual of Zeus practiced on its summit. This seems to have involved a human sacrifice and a feast in which the man who received the portion of a human victim was changed to a wolf, as Lycaon had been after sacrificing a child. The altar of Zeus consists of a great mound of ashes with a retaining wall. It was said that no shadows fell within the precincts and that any who entered it died within the year. The sanctuary of Zeus played host to athletic games ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achaean League
The Achaean League (Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern Peloponnese, which formed its original core. The first league was formed in the fifth century BC. The second Achaean League was established in 280 BC. As a rival of Antigonid Macedon and an ally of Rome, the league played a major role in the expansion of the Roman Republic into Greece. This process eventually led to the League's conquest and dissolution by the Romans in 146 BC. The League represents the most successful attempt by the Greek city states to develop a form of federalism, which balanced the need for collective action with the desire for local autonomy. Through the writings of the Achaean statesman Polybius, this structure has had an influence on the constitution of the United States and other modern federal states. History Cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macedonians (Greeks)
Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes''), also known as Greek Macedonians or Macedonian Greeks, are a regional and historical population group of ethnic Greeks, inhabiting or originating from the Macedonia (Greece), Greek region of Macedonia, in Geography of Greece, Northern Greece. Today, most Macedonians live in or around the regional capital city of Thessaloniki and other cities and towns in Macedonia (Greece), while many have spread across Greece and in the Greek diaspora, diaspora. Name The name Macedonia ( el, Μακεδονία, ') comes from the ancient Greek word ('). It is commonly explained as having originally meant "a tall one" or "highlander", possibly descriptive of the Ancient Macedonians, people. The shorter English name variant ''Macedon'' developed in Middle English, based on a borrowing from the French form of the name, ''Macédoine''. History Preface: Ancient Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman periods Greeks, Greek populations have in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalopolis, Greece
Megalopoli ( el, Μεγαλόπολη) is a town in the southwestern part of the regional unit of Arcadia, southern Greece. It is located in the same site as ancient Megalopolis ( grc, Μεγαλόπολις, literally ''large/great city''). When it was founded in 371 BC, it was the first large urbanization in rustic Arcadia. Its theater had a capacity of 20,000 visitors, making it one of the largest ancient Greek theaters. Today Megalopoli has several schools, shops, churches, hotels and other services. The population of Megalopoli in 2011 was 5,779 residents. Geography Megalopoli is situated in a wide valley, surrounded by mountains: the Taygetus to the south, the Mainalo to the north, the Tsemperou to the southeast and the Lykaion to the west. Its elevation is 430 m above sea level. The river Alfeios flows through this valley, coming from the east and flowing to the north, passing south and west of the town. Its tributary Elissonas passes north of the town. The large ligni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epaminondas
Epaminondas (; grc-gre, Ἐπαμεινώνδας; 419/411–362 BC) was a Greek general of Thebes and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a pre-eminent position in Greek politics called the Theban Hegemony. In the process, he broke Spartan military power with his victory at Leuctra and liberated the Messenian helots, a group of Peloponnesian Greeks who had been enslaved under Spartan rule for some 230 years after being defeated in the Messenian War ending in 600 BC. Epaminondas reshaped the political map of Greece, fragmented old alliances, created new ones, and supervised the construction of entire cities. He was also militarily influential and invented and implemented several major battlefield tactics. Xenophon, the historian and contemporary, is the main source for Epaminondas' military prowess, and Xenophon describes his admiration for him in his major work '' Hellenica'' (book VII, chap. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thebes, Greece
Thebes (; ell, Θήβα, ''Thíva'' ; grc, Θῆβαι, ''Thêbai'' .) 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, Heracles and others. Archaeological excavations in and around Thebes have revealed a Mycenaean settlement and clay tablets written in the Linear B script, indicating the importance of the site in the Bronze Age. Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia and was the leader of the Boeotian confederacy. It was a major rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes I. Theban forces under the command of Epaminondas ended Spartan hegemony at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, with the Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite military unit of male lovers celebrated as instrumental there. Macedonia would rise in power at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, bringing decisive victory to Philip II over an alliance of Thebes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
