Arcades or Arkades ( grc, Ἀρκάδες), also Arcadia or Arkadia (Ἀρκαδία), was a town and ''
polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
'' (city-state)
of
ancient Crete
The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe.
After the Minoan civilization was devastat ...
.
It disputed the claims of
Mount Ida
In Greek mythology, two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida, the "Mountain of the Goddess": Mount Ida in Crete, and Mount Ida in the ancient Troad region of western Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which was also known as the '' Phrygian Ida'' ...
to be the birthplace of
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
.
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was born in ...
collects a fragment of
Theophrastus
Theophrastus (; grc-gre, Θεόφραστος ; c. 371c. 287 BC), a Greek philosopher and the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He was a native of Eresos in Lesbos.Gavin Hardy and Laurence Totelin, ''Ancient Botany'', Routledge ...
in which he says that in Crete there was a city called Arcadia where the springs and lakes dried up because they stopped cultivating the land after the destruction of the city. As a consequence, the terrain became harder and therefore it did not give way to the rains. He adds that they later re-cultivated the land and the waters returned. During the
Lyttian War
The Lyttian War was an internal conflict fought from around 220 BC to about 216 BC between two coalitions of Cretan city-states, led by Cnossus and Polyrrhenia respectively. The events of the war are recorded by the historian Polybius. It is con ...
about 220 BCE, at first all the Cretans were fighting against
Lyctus
Lyctus or Lyttos (Greek: or ), was one of the most considerable cities in ancient Crete, which appears in the Homeric catalogue. Lyttos is now a village in the municipality of Minoa Pediada.
Lyctus in mythology
According to Hesiod, ''Theogony' ...
, but then disagreements arose among the Cretans and some, like the people of Arcades, together with the inhabitants of
Polyrrhenia
Polyrrhenia or Polyrrenia ( grc, Πολυρρηνία; modern el, Πολυρρηνία, Polyrrinia), Polyrrhen or Polyrren (Πολύρρην) or Polyren (Πολύρην), or Pollyrrhenia or Pollyrrenia (Πολλύρρηνα),''Periplus of Pseudo- ...
,
Ceraea
Ceraea or Keraia ( grc, Κεραία), also known as Cerea or Kerea (Κερέα), Ceraeae or Keraiai (Κεραῖαι), was a town of ancient Crete. It is mentioned by Polybius, and minted coins similar to those of Polyrrhenia
Polyrrhenia or Poly ...
,
Orus and
Lappa allied with Lyctus. Arcades is mentioned in the list of Cretan cities that signed an alliance with
Eumenes II
Eumenes II Soter (; grc-gre, Εὐμένης Σωτήρ; ruled 197–159 BC) was a ruler of Pergamon, and a son of Attalus I Soter and queen Apollonis and a member of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon.
Biography
The eldest son of king Attalus I a ...
of
Pergamon
Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...
in the year 183 BCE, and also appears in the list of 22 cities of Crete by the Byzantine geographer of the 6th century
Hierocles. Arcades minted coins from approximately 330-280/70 BCE where the inscription «ΑΡΚΑΔΩΝ» appears. There is also epigraphic evidence that
Asclepius
Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of ...
was worshiped in the city.
[
The site of Arcades is located near modern Kefala, Inion.][
]
References
Populated places in ancient Crete
Former populated places in Greece
Locations in Greek mythology
Cretan city-states
{{AncientCrete-geo-stub