Macistus or Makistos (), or Macistum or Makiston (Μάκιστον), was a city of ancient Elis, in
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 with ...
. It is one of the six cities (along with
Lepreum
Lepreum or Lepreon ( grc, Λέπρεον), alternately named Lepreus or Lepreos (Λέπρεος) was an Ancient Greek city-state in Triphylia, a district of Elis (now part of the Elis regional unit). It was located 40 stadia away from the sea at t ...
,
Phrixae
Phrixa ( grc, Φρίξα) or Phrixae or Phrixai (Φρίξαι) was a town of Triphylia in ancient Elis, situated upon the left bank of the Alpheius, at the distance of 30 stadia from Olympia. It is one of the six cities (along with Lepreum, Mac ...
,
Pyrgus
''Pyrgus'' is a genus in the skippers butterfly family, Hesperiidae, known as the grizzled skippers. The name "checkered" or "chequered skipper" may also be applied to some species, but also refers to species in the genera '' Burnsius'' and '' ...
,
Epium
Epeium or Epeion ( grc, Ἤπειον or Ήπειον) or Epium or Epion (Ἔπιον or Ήπιον) or Aepion or Aipion (Αἰπίον or Αἴπιον) was a town of Triphylia in ancient Elis, which stood between Makistos and Heraea, and may hav ...
, and
Nudium Nudium or Noudion ( grc, Νούδιον) was one of the six cities (along with Lepreum, Phrixae, Pyrgus, Epium, and Macistus) founded by the Minyans in the territory of the and Caucones, in Triphylia in ancient Elis, but which was destroyed by t ...
) founded by the
Minyans
According to Greek mythology and legendary prehistory of the Aegean region, the Minyans or Minyae ( el, Μινύες, ''Minyes'') were an autochthonous group inhabiting the Aegean region. The extent to which the prehistory of the Aegean world ...
Caucones
The Caucones ( grc-gre, Καύκωνες ''Kaukônes'') were an autochthonous tribe of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), who later migrated to parts of the Greek mainland ( Arcadia, Triphylian Pylos and Elis).
The phonology of the name Caucones ...
.
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to:
*Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium''
*Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC
* Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, Macistus,
Scillus
Scillus or Skillous ( grc, Σκιλλοῦς) was a town of Triphylia, a district of ancient Elis, situated 20 stadia south of Olympia. In 572 BCE the Scilluntians assisted Pyrrhus, king of Pisa, in making war upon the Eleians; but they wer ...
, and Dyspontium rebelled against the Eleans because of the organization of the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
. Pisa and its allies were defeated and their cities were destroyed ().
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
comments that, in his time, most of the cities founded by the Minyans were ravaged by the Eleans. It is supposed that this happened around 460 BCE, after the
Third Messenian War
The helots (; el, εἵλωτες, ''heílotes'') were a subjugated population that constituted a majority of the population of Laconia and Messenia – the territories ruled by Sparta. There has been controversy since antiquity as to their exa ...
. The town is also cited by
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...
in the framework of the war between Elis and
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
led by
Agis II
Agis II ( grc-gre, Ἄγις; died c. 399 BC) was the 18th Eurypontid king of Sparta, the eldest son of Archidamus II by his first wife, and half-brother of Agesilaus II. He ruled with his Agiad co-monarch Pausanias.Artemidorus, it was uninhabited since the 2nd century BCE.
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 ...
places it in the region of
Triphylia
Triphylia ( el, Τριφυλία, ''Trifylia'', "the country of the three tribes") was an area of the ancient Peloponnese. Strabo and Pausanias both describe Triphylia as part of Elis, and it fell at times under the domination of the city of Eli ...
and says that it also had the name of Platanistunte. In addition, he calls its territory "Macistia" and indicates that it extended beyond the
Neda River
The Neda () is a river in the western Peloponnese in Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It is unique in the sense that it is the only river in Greece with a feminine name.
It took its name from the nymph Neda.
Geography
The river ...
.
There has been controversy about its exact location and it has even been suggested that it could have been the same city as
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
. However, modern scholars locate Macistus at a site called Mazi within the bounds of the modern town of
Skillounta
Skillounta is a former municipality in Elis, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Andritsaina-Krestena, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 194.409 km2. It is ...