Pelasgiotis ( grc, Πελασγιῶτις, Pelasgiōtis) was an elongated district of

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 ...

, extending from the

Vale of Tempe The Vale of Tempe ( el, Κοιλάδα των Τεμπών) is a gorge in the Tempi municipality of northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south, and between the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. The ...

in the north to the city of

Pherae Pherae (Greek: Φεραί) was a city and polis (city-state) in southeastern Ancient Thessaly. One of the oldest Thessalian cities, it was located in the southeast corner of Pelasgiotis. According to Strabo, it was near Lake Boebeïs 90 stadia ...

in the south. The Pelasgiotis included the following localities:

Argos Pelasgikon Argos Pelasgikon ( grc, Ἄργος Πελασγικόν) is a Homeric location of Thessaly mentioned in the "Catalogue of Ships" passage: It has been interpreted to be a city in the Pelasgiotis district or an alternative name of Phthia, the king ...

, Argyra,

Armenium Armenium or Armenion ( grc, Ἀρμένιον) was a town of Pelasgiotis in ancient Thessaly, situated between Pherae and Larissa, near Boebeis Lake, said to have been the birthplace of Armenus, who accompanied Jason to Asia, and gave his name t ...

Atrax ''Atrax'' is a genus of venomous Australian funnel web spiders that was first described by O. Pickard-Cambridge in 1877 from the type species ''Atrax robustus''. it contains only three species: ''A. robustus'', '' A. sutherlandi'', and '' A. ...

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 differ ...

Cynoscephalae Cynoscephalae ( grc, Κυνὸς κεφαλαί, meaning "dog's heads") may refer to: Geography * Cynoscephalae (Boeotia), a town of ancient Boeotia * Cynoscephalae (Thessaly), a town of ancient Thessaly * Cynoscephalae Hills (Boeotia), a range of ...

Elateia Elateia ( el, Ελάτεια; grc, Ἐλάτεια) was an ancient Greek city of Phthiotis, and the most important place in that region after Delphi. It is also a modern-day town that is a former municipality in the southeastern part of Phthiotis ...

, Gyrton,

Mopsion Mopsium or Mopsion ( grc, Μόψιον) was a town and polis (city-state) of Pelasgiotis in ancient Thessaly, situated upon a hill of the same name; which, according to Livy, was situated midway between Larissa and the Vale of Tempe. Strabo relat ...

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 ...

Kondaia Kondaia or Kondaea or Condaea ( grc, Κονδαία) was a city and polis (city-state) in the district of Pelasgiotis of ancient Thessaly. It is mentioned by Herodotus as the birthplace of Cineas, king of Thessaly who sent a thousand horsemen in a ...

Onchestos Onchestos or Onchestus ( el, Ογχηστός) was a Greek town in ancient Boeotia northwest of Thebes, Greece, Thebes. In ancient times it was famous for its sanctuary of Poseidon. The site has been excavated intermittently since the 1960s. It w ...

river and town,

Phayttos Phayttos ( grc, Φάυττος) was a town in Pelasgiotis, ancient Thessaly, closely set with Atrax and Larissa. An inscription to Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of ...

Scotussa Scotussa or Skotoussa ( grc, Σκοτοῦσσα or Σκοτοῦσα or Σκοτοτοῦσαι) was a town and polis (city-state) of Pelasgiotis in ancient Thessaly, lying between Pherae and Pharsalus, near the frontiers of Phthiotis. Scotu ...

, and Sykourion. The

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

of the district's inhabitants is Pelasgiotae or Pelasgiotes (Πελασγιῶται, ''Pelasgiōtai''). Along with

Achaea Phthiotis Achaea Phthiotis ( grc, Ἀχαΐα Φθιῶτις, "Achaea of Phthia") or simply Phthiotis (Φθιῶτις) was a historical region of ancient Thessaly in ancient Greece. It lay in southeastern Thessaly, between Mount Othrys and the northern s ...

Thessaliotis Thessaliotis ( grc, Θεσσαλιῶτις) was one of the four districts into which ancient Thessaly was divided. The others were Pelasgiotis, Histiaeotis, and Phthiotis. Thessaliotis corresponded to the central plain of Thessaly and the upper c ...

and

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 ...

, the Pelasgiotis comprised the

Thessalian tetrarchy 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 ...

, governed by a ''

tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...

'', when occasion required. The territory is mentioned by

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 ...

but not by

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 ...

, who seems to include it in the district of Thessaliotis. In epigraphy, Pelasgiotes are mentioned among other Thessalian ambassadors in Athens . A fragment of a marble stele at Larissa records that on request of the

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

Quintus Caecilius Metellus, son of Quintus, "friend and benefactor of our country 'ethnei hēmōn'' in return for services rendered by him, his family and the Roman Senate and People, the

Thessalian League The Thessalian League (Thessalian Aeolic: , ''Koinòn toûn Petthaloûn''; Attic: , ''Koinòn tôn Thettalôn''; Ionic and Koine Greek: , ''Koinòn tôn Thessalôn'') was a ''koinon'' or loose confederacy of feudal-like ''poleis'' and tribes in a ...

decreed to send 43,000 coffers of wheat to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, to be taxed from different regions under the league. The Pelasgiotes and the Phthiotes are to provide 32,000 while the Histiaeotes and Thessaliotes must provide the remaining 11,000, with 25% going to the army, all in different months. The regional and ethnic toponym is a reminiscent

Pelasgian The name Pelasgians ( grc, Πελασγοί, ''Pelasgoí'', singular: Πελασγός, ''Pelasgós'') was used by classical Greek writers to refer either to the predecessors of the Greeks, or to all the inhabitants of Greece before the emergenc ...

element from the Thessalian past. As in other parts of Thessaly, Aeolic Greek inscriptions are attested and after 2nd century BC,

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. During the Thessalian Games at Larissa to

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

Eleuthereus in the 1st century BC, several winner athletes are described as "Thessalian from Larissa of Pelasgis" (, ''Thessalos apo Larisēs tēs Pelasgidos''). The 3rd-century BC funerary epigram for Erilaos of Kalchedon mentions also , ''Larisa tai Pelasgidi''.SEG 47:735
/ref>

References

*An inventory of archaic and classical poleis By Mogens Herman Hansen, Thomas Heine Nielse
Page 682
(2004) {{reflist

External links

Epigraphical locations of Pelasgiotis
Larissa (regional unit) Geography of ancient Thessaly Pelasgians

See also

References

External links