Astacus or Astakos ( grc, Ἄστακος) was a town on the west coast of

ancient Acarnania Acarnania ( el, Ἀκαρνανία) is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today i ...

, on a bay, one side of which is formed by the promontory anciently named

Crithote ''Crithote'' is a genus of moths of the family Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many ...

. Astacus is said to have been a colony of

Cephallenia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. ...

. At the commencement of the Peloponnesian War, it was governed by a

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to re ...

, named Evarchus, who was deposed by the Athenians in 431 BCE, but was shortly afterwards restored by the

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

. It is mentioned as one of the towns of Acarnania in a Greek inscription, the date of which is subsequent to 219 BCE. Its site is located near the modern Astakos.

References

Populated places in ancient Acarnania Former populated places in Greece Cephalonian colonies {{AncientAcarnania-geo-stub