Atrax ( grc, Ἄτραξ, or Ἄτραγϕϛ or Ἄτρακοϛ) or Atracia (Ἀτρακία) was a Perrhaebian town in

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 ...

, described by

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 ...

as situated above the river

Peneius In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers (Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys. Family The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapith ...

, at the distance of about from

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

says that the Peneius passed by the cities of

Tricca Tricca or Trikka ( grc, Τρίκκη or Τρίκκα) was a city and polis (city-state) of ancient Thessaly in the district Histiaeotis, standing upon the left bank of the Peneius, and near a small stream called Lethaeus. This city is said to ha ...

Pelinnaeum Pelinna (Πέλιννα) or Pelinnaeum ( gr, Πελινναῖον) Arrian, ''Anabasis'', 1.7. was an ancient Greek polis (city-state) of Ancient Thessaly, in the district Histiaeotis, a little above the left bank of the Peneius. The city had a ...

and

Pharcadon Pharcadon or Pharkadon ( grc, Φαρκαδών or Φαρκηδών) was a city and polis (city-state) of Histiaeotis in ancient Thessaly, situated to the left of the Peneius, between Pelinnaeum and Atrax. In 200 BCE, during the Second Macedo ...

, on its left, on its course to Atrax and Larissa. The town is attested as Ἆδρακος in the

nominative In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...

in a catalog of ''

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 ...

'' of

Epidaurus Epidaurus ( gr, Ἐπίδαυρος) was a small city (''polis'') in ancient Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros: ''Palaia Epidavros'' and ''Nea Epidavros''. Since 2010 they belong to the ...

, dating from 363-359 BCE. 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 antiquity.

History

The town was located in the district of

Pelasgiotis Pelasgiotis ( grc, Πελασγιῶτις, Pelasgiōtis) was an elongated district of ancient Thessaly, extending from the Vale of Tempe in the north to the city of Pherae in the south. The Pelasgiotis included the following localities: Argos Pela ...

and its territory was bordered on the north by

Phalanna Phalanna ( grc, Φάλαννα), was a town and polis (city-state) of the Perrhaebi in ancient Thessaly, situated on the left bank of the Peneius, southwest of Gonnus. Strabo says that the Homeric Orthe became the acropolis of Phalanna; but in ...

, the northeast by Argura, and to the south by

Crannon Cranon ( grc, Κρανών) or Crannon (Κραννών) was a town and polis (city-state) of Pelasgiotis, in ancient Thessaly, situated southwest of Larissa, and at the distance of 100 stadia from Gyrton, according to Strabo. Spelling differs am ...

. In the 5th century BCE, the

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

and the slope of the hill were enclosed in a polygonal enclosure. In the 4th century BCE the acropolis was rebuilt: a quadrangular tower was built and fortified with a new wall with five towers, one of them with a fortified gate. The eastern part of the wall of the hill was reinforced in the 4th century BCE, And bears similarity to the defensive constructions of Halos. The lower part was enclosed in the 4th century BCE by an

opus isodomum ''Opus isodomum'' ("work of equal height") is an ancient technique of wall construction with ashlars. It uses perfectly cut, completely regular squared stone blocks of equal height, and sometimes of the same length. Etymology ''opus'', work + ''is ...

wall with four quadrangular towers. It was long and surrounded an area of . The main gate was in the northwest, and was accessed by a polygonal stone ramp. During the food crisis of 330-326 BCE Atrax received 10,000 ''

medimnoi A medimnos ( el, μέδιμνος, ''médimnos'', plural μέδιμνοι, ''médimnoi'') was an Ancient Greek unit of volume, which was generally used to measure dry food grain.In ancient Greece, measures of capacity varied depending on whether th ...

'' of wheat from Cyrene, in Africa. Atrax minted silver and bronze coins at the beginning of the 4th century BCE, With the legends «ΑΤΡΑ», «ΑΤΡΑΓΙΟΝ», and «ΑΤΡΑΓΙΩΝ».

Location

Modern scholars locate Atrax at a ''kastro'' called Alifaka in the modern village of Koutsochero ( el, Κουτσόχερο), in the municipal unit of

Koilada Koilada ( el, Κοιλάδα) is a village and a former municipality in the Larissa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the sout ...

, in the municipality of

References

Populated places in ancient Thessaly Former populated places in Greece Pelasgiotis Larissa (regional unit) Perrhaebia Thessalian city-states {{AncientThessaly-geo-stub