Caphyae or Kaphyai ( grc, Καφύαι) was a city of

ancient Arcadia Arcadia ( el, Ἀρκαδία) is a region in the central Peloponnese. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas, and in Greek mythology it was the home of the gods Hermes and Pan. In European Renaissance arts, Arcadia was celebr ...

situated in a small plain, northwest of the lake of Orchomenus. It was protected against inundations from this lake by a mound or dyke, raised by the inhabitants of Caphyae. The city is said to have been founded by King Cepheus of Tegea, the son of

Aleus In Greek mythology, Aleus (or Aleos) ( grc, Ἀλεός) was the king of Arcadia, eponym of Alea, and founder of the cult of Athena Alea. He was the grandson of Arcas. His daughter Auge was the mother of the hero Telephus, by Heracles. Aleus' s ...

, and pretended to be of

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

origin. Caphyae subsequently belonged to 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 ...

, and was one of the cities of the league, of which

Cleomenes III Cleomenes III ( grc, Κλεομένης) was one of the two kings of Sparta from 235 to 222 BC. He was a member of the Agiad dynasty and succeeded his father, Leonidas II. He is known for his attempts to reform the Spartan state. From 229 to ...

obtained possession. In its neighborhood a great battle was fought in 220 BC, in which the

Aetolia Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetoli ...

ns, gained a decisive victory over the Achaeans and

Aratus of Sicyon Aratus of Sicyon (Ancient Greek: Ἄρατος ὁ Σικυώνιος; 271–213 BC) was a politician and military commander of Hellenistic Greece. He was elected strategos of the Achaean League 17 times, leading the League through numerous m ...

. The name of Caphyae also occurs in the subsequent events of this war. Strabo speaks of the town as in ruins in his time; but it still contained some temples when visited by Pausanias (''l. c.''). The remains of the walls of Caphyae are visible upon a small insulated height at the village of Chotoussa, which stands near the edge of the lake. Polybius, in his description of the battle of Caphyae, refers to a plain in front of Caphyae, traversed by a river, beyond which were trenches (), a description of the place which does not correspond with present appearances. The were evidently ditches for the purpose of draining the marshy plain, by conducting the water towards the Katavóthra, around which there was, probably, a small lake. In the time of Pausanias we find that the lake covered the greater part of the plain; and that exactly in the situation in which Polybius describes the ditches, there was a mound of earth. It is probable that during the four centuries that elapsed between the battle of Caphyae and the visit of Pausanias, a diminution of population should have caused a neglect of the drainage which had formerly ensured the cultivation of the whole plain, and that in the time of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

an embankment of earth had been thrown up to preserve the part nearest to Caphyae, leaving the rest uncultivated and marshy. Pausanias says that on the inner side of the embankment there flows a river, which, descending into a chasm of the earth, issues again at a place called Nasi (); and that the name of the village where it issues is named Rheunus (). From this place it forms the perennial river Tragus () (modern Tara or Daraiiko). He also speaks of a mountain named Cnacalos () (modern Kastania) in the neighbourhood of the city, on which the inhabitants celebrate a yearly festival to Artemis Cnacalesia. Its site is located near the modern Chotoussa.
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References

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* Arcadian city-states Populated places in ancient Arcadia Former populated places in Greece {{AncientArcadia-geo-stub