Tritaea or Tritaia ( grc, Τριταία) was a

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 Achaea, and the most inland of the 12 Achaean cities, was distant 120

stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

from

Pharae Pharae ( grc, Φαραί), otherwise known as Phara (Φᾶρα), and Pherae, was a town and polis (city-state), situated by the Peiros River, approximately from the sea and from the town of Patras, in what is now southern Greece. It was one of ...

. According

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 ...

, Tritaea's foundation was said to be due to either: Celbidas, who came from

Cumae Cumae ( grc, Κύμη, (Kumē) or or ; it, Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies. It later became a rich Ro ...

; or

Melanippus :''The name Melanippus is the masculine counterpart of Melanippe.'' In Greek mythology, there were eleven people named Melanippus (): *Melanippus, one of the sons of Agrius and possibly Dia, daughter of King Porthaon of Calydon. Along with his ...

, a son of Ares and Triteia, herself a daughter of

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus' ...

and priestess of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...

, and that Melanippus named the town after his mother. It was one of the four cities that took the lead in reviving the

Achaean League The Achaean League ( Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern P ...

during the 124th Olympiad (). In the Social War it suffered from the attacks of the Aetolians and

Eleians Elis () or Eleia ( el, Ήλιδα, Ilida, grc-att, Ἦλις, Ēlis ; Elean: , ethnonym: ) is an ancient district in Greece that corresponds to the modern regional unit of Elis. Elis is in southern Greece on the Peloponnese, bounded on ...

. Its territory was annexed to

Patrae ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, when he made the latter city a colony after the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet of Octavian led by Marcus Agrippa and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII Philopator. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, ...

. ''et seq.'' Tritaea was home to

Agesarchus of Tritaea Agesarchus ( el, Αγήσαρχος) was an ancient Greek athlete from Tritaea in Achaea. He was the son of Haemostratus, and won in the men's boxing competitions at all the Panhellenic Games. His victories have been dated around the 165th Olympiad ...

, an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

victor around 120 BCE, whose statue graced Olympia. Highlights of Pausanias's visit in the 2nd century included a white marble tomb with paintings by

Nicias Nicias (; Νικίας ''Nikias''; c. 470–413 BC) was an Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War. Nicias was a member of the Athenian aristocracy and had inherited a large fortune from his father, which was inve ...

in the vicinity of the city. Also in the city there was a sanctuary of the gods, with images of clay and in honour of which an annual feast was celebrated, and also a temple of

with a stone image that had replaced another that the Romans had taken to Rome. There sacrifices were celebrated to Ares and to Triteia. In Triteia there was a sanctuary of the gods called Almighty (Μεγίστων θεῶν), and their statues in the sanctuary were made of clay. In honor of these gods every year a festival was held. The site of Tritaea is located at modern Agia Marina.

References

Populated places in ancient Achaea Former populated places in Greece Achaean city-states Greek city-states {{AncientAchaea-geo-stub