Boium or Boion ( grc, Βοιόν) 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 Doris, and one of the original towns of the

Doric Tetrapolis The Doric Tetrapolis ( gr, Δωρική Τετράπολις) comprised a set of four closely situated cities in the valley of the Pindus River in the region of Doris in ancient Greece. The four cities were Erineus, Boium, Cytinium, and Pindus. ...

(along with

Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metres ...

Cytinium Cytinium or Kytinion ( el, Κυτίνιον or Κυτείνιον) was an ancient city and polis (city-state) of Greece, one of the towns of the tetrapolis of Doris. Its site is within the bounds of the modern village of . Cytinium was more freq ...

, and Erineus). According to Andron of Halicarnassus, the founders of these cities were coming from an area that was also called Doris, in

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

, and that was also called

Histiaeotis Histiaeotis ( grc, Ἱστιαιῶτις, Histiaiōtis) or ''Hestiaeotis'' (Ἑστιαιῶτις - Hestiaiōtis) was a northwest district of ancient Thessaly, part of the Thessalian tetrarchy, roughly corresponding to modern Trikala regiona ...

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...

writes that during

First Peloponnesian War The First Peloponnesian War (460–445 BC) was fought between Sparta as the leaders of the Peloponnesian League and Sparta's other allies, most notably Thebes, and the Delian League led by Athens with support from Argos. This war consisted of ...

, about the year 458 or 457 BCE, the Phocians attacked the cities of Boium, Erineus and Cytinium in Doris. The Lacedemonians came to their defense, with troops commanded by

Nicomedes of Sparta Nicomedes () was a Spartan military commander and a scion of the royal Agiad dynasty. He was a regent of Sparta during the minority of Pleistoanax, the son of his brother Pausanias. Biography Nicomedes was the son of Cleombrotus (died 479 BC), ...

and forced the Phocians to retreat. Boium's site is near the modern

Gravia Gravia ( el, Γραβιά) is a village and a former municipality in the northeastern part of Phocis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Delphi, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has ...

References

Sources

{{SmithDGRG, title=Boium Cities in ancient Greece Populated places in ancient Doris Former populated places in Greece Dorian city-states