Palaepharsalus or Palaipharsalos ( grc, Παλαιοφάρσαλος - meaning "Old Pharsalus") was a town of
ancient Thessaly, from which the town moved to the later location of
Pharsalus.
The geographer
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 s ...
writes of two towns, Palaepharsalus and Pharsalus, existing in historical times. His statement that the
Thetideion, the temple to
Thetis south of
Scotussa, was "near both the Pharsaloi, the Old and the New," seems to imply that Palaeopharsalus was not itself close by Pharsalus. Although the battle of 48 BCE between
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
and
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
is often called the
Battle of Pharsalus
The Battle of Pharsalus was the decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War fought on 9 August 48 BC near Pharsalus in central Greece. Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the Roman Republic under the command of Pompey ...
by modern historians, four ancient writers – the author of the ''Bellum Alexandrinum'',
Frontinus,
Eutropius, and
Orosius
Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in ''Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...
– place it specifically at Palaepharsalus. In 198 BCE
Philip V sacked Palaepharsalus but apparently spared Pharsalus itself.
Location
John D. Morgan in his article “Palae-pharsalus – the Battle and the Town”, discusses the various locations which have been proposed for the location of Palaepharsalus. He rules out the hill of Fatih-Dzami within the walls of Pharsalus itself, proposed by Kromayer (1903, 1931) and Gwatkin (1956), since the attack by Philip V did not affect the new town. He also shows that it is unlikely to have been at Palaiokastro, 19 miles north-west of Pharsalus, proposed by Béquignon, since the site was abandoned c. 500 BC.
A possibility, proposed by Holmes (1908) and Lucas (1921), is the hill of Khtouri (Ktouri, Koutouri), some 7 miles north-west of Pharsalus on the south bank of the Enipeus. However, Morgan believes it is more likely to have been the hill just east of the village of Krini (formerly Driskoli) very close to the ancient highway from Larisa to Pharsalus.
[See Google maps.] This site, which is some six miles (10km) north of Pharsalus, and three miles north of the river Enipeus, not only has remains dating back to neolithic times but also signs of habitation in the 1st century BC and later. The identification seems to be confirmed by the location of a place misspelled "Palfari" or "Falaphari" shown on a medieval route map of the Pharsalus-Larissa road just north of Pharsalus. This site also more closely matches the description of the battle of 48 BC (which is now held to have taken place north of the river Enipeus) as being close to Palaepharsalus.
References
Populated places in ancient Thessaly
Former populated places in Greece
{{AncientThessaly-geo-stub