![Thessaly](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Thessaly.jpg)
Thaumaci or Thaumacus ( grc, Θαυμακοί or Θαυμακός, Thaumakoi/Thaumakos), 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
Phthiotis
Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is borde ...
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 ...
,
was situated on the pass called Coela, on the road from
Thermopylae
Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...
and the
Maliac Gulf passing through
Lamia
LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
. The modern city of
Domokos
Domokos ( el, Δομοκός), the ancient Thaumacus or Thaumace (Θαυμακός, Θαυμάκη), is a town and a municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. The town Domokos is the seat of the municipality of Domokos and of the former Domokos Province. ...
occupies its site.
At this place, says
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
, the traveller, after traversing rugged mountains and intricate valleys, comes suddenly in sight of an immense plain like a vast sea, the extremity of which is scarcely visible. From the astonishment which it excited in the traveller, the city was supposed to have derived its name. It stood upon a lofty and precipitous rock. It was besieged 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 ...
in 199 BCE; but a reinforcement of
Aetolians having made their way into the town, the king was obliged to abandon the siege. Thaumaci was taken by the consul
Acilius in the war with
Antiochus, 191 BCE. The modern town of
Domokos
Domokos ( el, Δομοκός), the ancient Thaumacus or Thaumace (Θαυμακός, Θαυμάκη), is a town and a municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. The town Domokos is the seat of the municipality of Domokos and of the former Domokos Province. ...
occupies the site of Thaumaci, and at this place inscriptions were found containing the ancient name. Its situation and prospect are in exact accordance with the description of Livy, who copied from
Polybius, an eye-witness.
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 ...
observes that "at the southern end of the town a rocky point, overtopping the other heights, commands a magnificent prospect of the immense plain watered by the
Peneius
In Greek mythology, Peneus (; Ancient Greek: Πηνειός) was a Thessalian river god, one of the three thousand Rivers (Potamoi), a child of Oceanus and Tethys.
Family
The nymph Creusa bore him one son, Hypseus, who was King of the Lapi ...
and its branches."
[Leake, ''Northern Greece'', vol. i. p. 458.] The town was Christianised at an early date and a bishopric was set up (see
Thaumacensis).
References
Populated places in ancient Thessaly
Cities in ancient Greece
Former populated places in Greece
Achaea Phthiotis
Thessalian city-states
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