Argithea ( el, Αργιθέα) is a village and a historic municipality in the Karditsa regional unit of

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 ...

. The seat of the municipality is in

Anthiro Anthiro ( el, Ανθηρό) is a mountain village in the western part of the Karditsa regional unit, Greece. Anthiro is the seat of the municipality of Argithea. Anthiro had a population of 462 in 2011. Anthiro is located 20 km southwest o ...

. The name derives from ἀργός + θέα (argós + théa, “white view”).

Municipality

The municipality Argithea was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 3 former municipalities, that became municipal units: * Acheloos *

Anatoliki Argithea Anatoliki Argithea ( el, Ανατολική Αργιθέα, "Eastern Argithea", before 2001: Αθαμάνες - ''Athamanes'') is a former community in the Karditsa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is par ...

*Argithea The municipality has an area of 372.877 km², the municipal unit 150.377 km².

History

Anciently, Argithea or Argethia ( grc, Ἀργεθία) was the capital of Athamania straddling the border between

Ancient Epirus Epirus (; Epirote Greek: , ; Attic Greek: , ) was an ancient Greek kingdom, and later republic, located in the geographical region of Epirus, in north-western Greece and southern Albania. Home to the ancient Epirotes, the state was bordered by t ...

and

Ancient Thessaly Thessaly or Thessalia (Attic Greek: , ''Thessalía'' or , ''Thettalía'') was one of the traditional regions of Ancient Greece. During the Mycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of the major tribes ...

, to the left of the main stream of the

Achelous River The Achelous ( el, Αχελώος, grc, Ἀχελῷος ''Akhelôios''), also Acheloos, is a river in western Greece. It is long. It formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia of antiquity. It empties into the Ionian Sea. In ancient ...

. The first evidence we have of the place is

epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. In the fourth century BCE, the appointment of a

proxenos Proxeny or ( grc-gre, προξενία) in ancient Greece was an arrangement whereby a citizen (chosen by the city) hosted foreign ambassadors at his own expense, in return for honorary titles from the state. The citizen was called (; plural: o ...

of Argithea is documented. Circa 230-220 BCE, a

theorodokoi The ''theorodokoi'' (Greek: , ) in ancient Greece were sacred envoy-receivers whose duty was to host and assist the ''theoroi'' (θεωροί, "viewers") before the Panhellenic games and festivals... A ''theorodokos'' was sometimes appointed by th ...

for the city is appointed to receive

theoroi The theoroi ( grc, θεωροί or ) in ancient Greece were sacred ambassadors, messengers sent out by the state which was about to organize a Panhellenic game or festival. Theoroi were both received and hosted by the ''theorodokoi''. In the class ...

from

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

. It was also a

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). In the time of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

it was the capital of Athamania. In the year 189 BCE. there was a rebellion by the

Athamanians Athamanians or Athamanes (, ''Athamanes'') were an ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, Greek tribe that inhabited south-eastern Epirus and west Thessaly. Today, the municipal unit of Athamania, Arta, Athamania in Central Tzoumerka and the community o ...

to try to reestablish

Amynander of Athamania Amynander ( grc-gre, Ἀμύνανδρος, ''Amynandros'', in Polybios also ''Amynas'') was king of the Athamanes in south Epirus, following his predecessor Theodorus of Athamania. He was a brother-in-law of the Illyrian king Scerdilaidas and fi ...

in power, which the help of the

Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...

and this rebellion succeeded in expelling the garrison left by

Philip V of Macedon Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...

. Later Philip sent more troops against Argithea in an attempt to recover the city, but the effort failed. The editors of the

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World The ''Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World'' is a large-format English language atlas of ancient Europe, Asia, and North Africa, edited by Richard Talbert, Richard J. A. Talbert. The time period depicted is roughly from Archaic Greece, ...

and

Mogens Herman Hansen Mogens Herman Hansen FBA (born 20 August 1940, Frederiksberg) is a Danish classical philologist and classical demographer who is one of the leading scholars in Athenian Democracy and the Polis. Academic career Hansen finished his masters at U ...

locate the ancient city at the modern village of Hellenika (or ''Ellinika'') in the community of Hellenika, municipal unit and municipality of Argithea. Hellenika is located at .

References

Populated places in Karditsa (regional unit) Municipalities of Thessaly {{Thessaly-geo-stub