Demetrias ( grc, Δημητριάς) was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
city in
Magnesia 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 ...
(east central
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 ...
), situated at the head of the
Pagasaean Gulf
The Pagasetic Gulf ( el, Παγασητικός κόλπος, Pagasitikós kólpos) is a rounded gulf (max. depth 102 metres) in the Magnesia regional unit (east central Greece) that is formed by the Mount Pelion peninsula. It is connected with ...
, near the modern city of
Volos
Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...
.
History
It was founded in 294 BCE by
Demetrius Poliorcetes
Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty ...
, who removed thither the inhabitants of
Nelia
Nelia or Neleia ( grc, Νηλία or Νήλεια) was a town of Magnesia in ancient Thessaly; Demetrias was situated between it and Iolcus. Strabo reports that when Demetrios Poliorketes
Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), ...
,
Pagasae
Pagasae or Pagases ( el, Παγασαί, Pagasaí), also Pagasa, was a town and polis (city-state) of Magnesia in ancient Thessaly, currently a suburb of Volos. It is situated at the northern extremity of the bay named after it (Παγασητι ...
,
Ormenium Ormenium ( grc, Ὀρμένιον) was a town of ancient Thessaly, mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships in Homer's ''Iliad'', along with Hypereia and Asterium, as belonging to Eurypylus. In Greek mythology, it was said to have been founded by Orm ...
,
Rhizus
:''Rhizus may also refer to Ριζαίον on the Black Sea, modern Rize.''
Rhizus or Rhizous ( el, Ριζούς (ο)) was a town and polis of ancient Magnesia, Magnesia in ancient Thessaly, whose inhabitants were transported by Demetrios Poliork ...
,
Sepias
Sepias ( grc, Σηπιάς) was a town of Magnesia in ancient Thessaly, near the cape of the same name. Strabo relates that Sepias was one of the towns, along with Nelia, Pagasae, Ormenium, Rhizus, Olizon, Boebe, and Iolcus that were redu ...
,
Olizon
Olizon ( grc, Ὀλιζών) was an ancient Greek town and polis (city-state) of Magnesia located in the region of Thessaly.. Olizon is mentioned by Homer, who gives it the epithet of "rugged"; and in the Catalogue of Ships in the ''Iliad'', Oli ...
,
Boebe and
Iolcos
Iolcus (; also rendered ''Iolkos'' ; grc, Ἰωλκός and Ἰαωλκός; grc-x-doric, Ἰαλκός; ell, Ιωλκός) is an ancient city, a modern village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local gove ...
, all of which were afterwards included in the territory of Demetrias. It soon became an important place, and the favourite residence of the Macedonian kings. It was favourably situated for commanding the interior of Thessaly, as well as the neighbouring seas; and such was the importance of its position that it was called 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 ...
one of the three fetters of Greece, the other two being
Chalcis and
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...
.
In 196 BCE, the Romans, victorious in the
Battle of Cynoscephalae
The Battle of Cynoscephalae ( el, Μάχη τῶν Κυνὸς Κεφαλῶν) was an encounter battle fought in Thessaly in 197 BC between the Roman army, led by Titus Quinctius Flamininus, and the Antigonid dynasty of Macedon, led by Phil ...
over Philip V in the previous year, took possession of Demetrias and garrisoned the town. Four years later 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 ...
captured it by surprise. The Aetolians allied themselves with
Antiochus III
Antiochus III the Great (; grc-gre, Ἀντίoχoς Μέγας ; c. 2413 July 187 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king and the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 222 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the r ...
of the
Seleucid Empire in the
Roman–Seleucid War
The Seleucid War (192–188 BC), also known as the War of Antiochos or the Syrian War, was a military conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire. The fighting took place in modern day southern Greece, the A ...
. This ended in the defeat of Antiochus. After the return of Antiochus to Asia in 191 BCE, Demetrias surrendered to Philip, who was allowed by the Romans to retain possession of the place. It continued in the hands of Philip and his successor till the over-throw of the Macedonian monarchy at the
Battle of Pydna
The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to ...
, 169 BCE.
During Roman times it lost importance, but it was the capital of the
Magnesian League
Magnesia may refer to:
* Magnesia (hypothetical city), a future colony of Knossos, imagined in Plato's ''Laws''
*Magnesia (regional unit), the southeastern area of Thessaly in central Greece
*Ancient Magnesia, a historical region of Greece with bo ...
. In Christian times some buildings were built, especially two churches, one in the northern port, called Basilica of Damokratia, and another one to the south of the city, outside the walls, known as the Cemetery Basilica. Under Roman Emperor
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...
(ruled 306–337) it became a Christian
episcopal see and is now a
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...
of the Catholic Church.
According to
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...
(''De Aedificiis'', 4.3.5), Demetrias was rebuilt by
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
(r. 527–565), but other evidence points to the possibility that "ancient urban life may have already come to an end by the beginning of the 6th century" (T.E. Gregory). Demetrias is mentioned by
Hierocles in the sixth century. Its territory was settled by the
Slavic tribe of the
Belegezitai in the 7th/8th centuries, raided and sacked by the
Saracens in 901/2, and by rebels during the
Uprising of Peter Delyan
The Uprising of Peter Delyan ( bg, Въстанието на Петър Делян, el, Επανάσταση του Πέτρου Δελεάνου), which took place in 1040–1041, was a major Bulgarian rebellion against the Byzantine Empire in ...
in 1040.
Following the
Fourth Crusade, the town was granted to the exiled Byzantine empress
Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera
Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera ( el, Εὐφροσύνη Δούκαινα Καματερίνα ἢ Καματηρά, – 1211) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos.
Euphrosyne was ...
, and after her death in 1210 to
Margaret of Hungary
Margaret of Hungary (''Margit'' in Hungarian; born 1175, living 1223) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to Isaac II Angelos and Queen of Thessalonica by marriage to Boniface of Montferrat. She was regent of Thessalonica during the minority of he ...
, the widow of the
King of Thessalonica
The King of Thessalonica was the ruler of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). The King of Thessalonica was not an independent ruler; the Kingdom of Thess ...
,
Boniface of Montferrat
Boniface I, usually known as Boniface of Montferrat ( it, Bonifacio del Monferrato, link=no; el, Βονιφάτιος Μομφερρατικός, ''Vonifatios Momferratikos'') (c. 1150 – 4 September 1207), was the ninth Marquis of Montferrat ( ...
.
The city came under the rule of
Manuel Komnenos Doukas
Manuel Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Ducas ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός Δούκας, ''Manouēl Komnēnos Doukas''; c. 1187 – c. 1241), commonly simply Manuel Doukas (Μανουήλ Δούκας) and rarely also called Manuel Angelos ...
ca. 1240, but was ''de facto'' controlled by a branch of the
Melissenos Melissenos ( el, Μελισσηνός), latinized Melissenus, feminine form Melissene (Μελισσηνή), latinized Melissena, was the name of a noble Byzantine family that flourished from the late 8th century on until the end of the Byzantine Emp ...
family.
In the 1270s, the Byzantines scored an important victory against the
Venetians and the
Lombard barons of Euboea at the
Battle of Demetrias
The Battle of Demetrias was a sea engagement fought at Volos in Greece in the early 1270s between a Byzantine fleet and the assembled forces of the Latin barons of Euboea (Negroponte) and Crete. The battle was fierce, and initially in favour of ...
.
The
Catalan Company
The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (Spanish: ''Compañía Catalana'', Catalan: ''Gran Companyia Catalana'', Latin: ''Exercitus francorum'', ''Societas exercitus catalanorum'', ''Societas cathalanorum'', ''Magna Societas Catalanorum' ...
sacked the town in 1310 and kept it until 1381 at least, but from 1333 on, it began to be abandoned for neighbouring
Volos
Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...
. It was finally captured by the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in 1393.
Archaeology
The site of Demetrias is at a place called
Aivaliotika (Αϊβαλιώτικα) in the municipality of
Volos
Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...
.
The ancient town was described by
William Martin Leake
William Martin Leake (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English military man, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British military, spending much of his career in the
Mediterrane ...
, who visited the site in the early 19th century, as occupying "the southern or maritime face of a height, now called Gorítza, which projects from the coast of Magnesia, between 2 and 3 miles
to 5 kmto the southward of the middle of Volo. Though little more than foundations remains, the inclosure of the city, which was less than 2 miles
kmin circumference, is traceable in almost every part. On three sides the walls followed the crest of a declivity which falls steeply to the east and west, as well as towards the sea. To the north the summit of the hill, together with an oblong space below it, formed a small citadel, of which the foundations still subsist. A level space in the middle elevation of the height was conveniently placed for the central part of the city. The
acropolis contained a large cistern cut in the rock, which is now partly filled with earth . . . . Many of the ancient streets of the town are traceable in the level which lies midway to the sea, and even the foundations of private houses: the space between one street and the next parallel to it, is little more than 15 feet
m About the centre of the town is a hollow, now called the lagúmi or mine, where a long rectangular excavation in the rock, 2 feet wide
.6 m 7 deep
.1 m
Tenth may refer to:
Numbers
* 10th, the ordinal form of the number ten
* One tenth, , or 0.1, a fraction, one part of a unit divided equally into ten parts.
** the SI prefix deci-
** tithe, a one-tenth part of something
* 1/10 of any unit of me ...
and covered with flat stones, shows by marks of the action of water in the interior of the channel that it was part of an aqueduct, probably for the purpose of conducting some source in the height upon which stood the citadel, into the middle of the city."
The site, about 3 km south of
Volos
Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...
, was excavated from the end of the 19th century. Remains of the walls (about 11 km) and the
acropolis that was to the northwest in the highest point of the city are preserved. Also uncovered were the theater, the ''Heroon'' (a temple above the theater), an aqueduct, the sacred
agora (with a temple and the administrative center of the city), and the ''Anaktoron'' (royal palace) east of the city on the top of a hill, which was occupied until the middle of second century BCE, and later used by the Romans as a cemetery.
See also
*
List of ancient Greek cities
References
{{DGRG, title=Demetrias
External links
History of Demetrias
294 BC
290s BC establishments in Europe
Populated places established in the 3rd century BC
Cities in ancient Greece
Ancient Magnesia
Former populated places in Greece
Antigonid colonies
Macedonian colonies in Thessaly
Volos
Populated places of the Byzantine Empire
Populated places in ancient Thessaly
Byzantine sites in Thessaly
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Thessaly