Biannus or Biannos ( grc, Βιάννος), or Biennus or Biennos (Βίεννος), also Bienna (Βίεννα), was an inland 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 appears, under the form Βίεννα, in the list of 22 cities of Crete of the sixth-century Byzantine geographer Hierocles. According to the ''

Stadiasmus Maris Magni The ''Stadiasmus Maris Magni'' ( grc, Σταδιασμός ήτοι περίπλους της μεγάλης θαλάσσης) is an ancient Roman periplus or guidebook detailing the ports sailors encounter on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. ...

'', it was 170

stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

from

Hierapytna Hierapytna ( grc, Ἱεράπυτνα or Ἱερὰ Πύτνα), also Hierapydna (Ἱεράπυδνα), Hierapydnes (Ἱερά Πύδνης), or Hiera, was a town of ancient Crete. Strabo says that it stood in the narrowest part of the island, opp ...

and 270 stadia from Leben. The Blenna of the ''

Peutinger Table ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-cen ...

'', which is placed at 30 M. P. from

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

, and 20 M. P. from Hierapytna, is no doubt the same place. In Hierocles, the name of this city occurs under the form of Bienna. The contest of

Otus Otus may refer to: * Otus (education), a K-12 educational technology company * HMS ''Otus'', two ships in the Royal Navy * ''Otus'' (bird), genus of owls * Otus (mythology), giant in Greek mythology, brother of Ephialtes, one of Aloadae * Otus ...

and

Ephialtes Ephialtes ( grc-gre, Ἐφιάλτης, ''Ephialtēs'') was an ancient Athenian politician and an early leader of the democratic movement there. In the late 460s BC, he oversaw reforms that diminished the power of the Areopagus, a traditional ba ...

with

Ares Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...

is said to have taken place near this city. From this violent conflict the city is said to have derived its name. The town minted coins in the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

, some of which survive. Its site is located near modern Khorakia, Ano Viannos, a hill northwest of modern

Viannos Viannos ( el, Βιάννος) is a municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. The municipality has an area of . Population 5,563 (2011). The seat of the municipality is in Ano Viannos. In September 1943, German occupation forces ...

, where remains have been found from the Orientalizing period to

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times.

References

Populated places in ancient Crete Former populated places in Greece Cretan city-states Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece Roman sites in Greece Archaeological sites in Crete Locations in the Iliad {{AncientCrete-geo-stub