Stratos (, ) is a settlement in central

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania (, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Central Greece (geographic region), Central Greece and the administrative regions of Greece, ...

Western Greece Western Greece Region (, ) is one of the thirteen Modern regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of Central Greece (geographic region), continental Greece and the northwestern part of the Peloponnese pen ...

. It is best known for its remains of the namesake

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

city and capital of

Acarnania Acarnania () is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part ...

, which lie on a hillside about 500m north of the modern village. Stratos is situated on the right bank of the river Acheloos, 9 km northwest of the town of

Agrinio Agrinio (Greek language, Greek: Αγρίνιο, ; Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 89,691 inhabitants (2021) as well as the seco ...

. The area north of Stratos is mountainous, whereas the south is flat. It is now an Aromanian (

Vlach Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula) ...

) village and a municipal unit of the Agrinio municipality.

History

Its situation at the northern edge of the fertile

Achelous River The Achelous (, ''Akhelôios''), also Acheloos, is a river in Epirus, western Greece. It is long. It formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia of antiquity. It empties into the Ionian Sea. In ancient times its spirit was venerated as ...

plain and on the strategic maritime route to Italy as well as the navigability of the river up to city made it a place of great military importance and Stratos emerged as the largest and best fortified city of Acarnania. It was where judicial proceedings common to all the Arcananians took place, and by Thucydides' time Stratos was the capital of Acarnania and the federal assemblies were held there. As a result, it prospered greatly in the 5th century BC. As capital of

Acarnanian League The Acarnanian League (, ''to koinon tōn Akarnanōn'') was the tribal confederation, and later a fully-fledged federation ('' koinon''), of the Acarnanians in Classical, Hellenistic, and early Roman-era Greece. History The League existed sinc ...

, Stratos was involved in many wars. In the 5th century BC, the Corinthians were forced out of their Acarnanian settlements by Athens. In 429 BC in the Pelopponesian War, the Pelopponesians under the

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n Knemos attacked Stratos and were defeated "with great slaughter". In about 390 BC the cities of Acarnania surrendered to the Spartans under King

Agesilaus Agesilaus II (; ; 445/4 – 360/59 BC) was king of Sparta from 400 to 360 BC. Generally considered the most important king in the history of Sparta, Agesilaus was the main actor during the period of Spartan hegemony that followed the Peloponn ...

, and continued to be Spartan allies until joining the Second Athenian Empire in 375 BC. The Acarnanians later sided with the

Boeotians Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern: ; ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its largest city is Thebes. Boeotia was also a ...

in their fight against Sparta, and with Athens against

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon (; 382 BC – October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

Chaeronea Chaeronea ( English: , ) is a village and a former municipality in Boeotia, Greece, located about 35 kilometers east of Delphi. The settlement was formerly known as (), and renamed to () in 1916. Since the 2011 local government reform it is pa ...

. In 314 BC, King

Cassander Cassander (; ; 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and '' de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the ...

of Macedon took the city to use as a military base against the Aetolians. After 252 BC however, Stratos fell to the Aetolians. During the march of

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Sp ...

Thermos A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an thermal insulation, insulating storage vessel that slows the speed at which its contents change in temperature. It greatly lengthens the time over which its contents r ...

in the Social War in 218 BC, he marched along the Achelous and on to Stratos where he unsuccessfully challenged the citizens to fight. In 169 BC, Stratos invited the Romans into Greece as allies against

Perseus of Macedon Perseus (; – 166 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 179 until 168BC. He is widely regarded as the last List of kings of Macedonia, king of Macedonia and the last ruler from th ...

. With the founding of

Nicopolis Nicopolis () or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus (Roman province), Epirus. Its site, near Preveza, Greece, still contains impressive ruins. The city was founded in 29 BC by Octavian in commemoration of his ...

in 28BC, much of the population was obliged to move to the new city and Stratos fell into decline.

Monuments

The main excavations are of the Agora and Stoa, the Temple of Zeus, the theatre, and the city walls.City of Agrinio

Temple of Zeus

The temple stands on the top of a fortified hill at the remote northwest end of the city. It is one of the most important Early Hellenistic buildings in mainland Greece. It was of the

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

, with Corinthian columns in the

cella In Classical architecture, a or naos () is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings: of a hermit's or monk's cell, and (since the 17th century) of a biological cell ...

. In addition to this combination of architectural orders, the monument shows several more structural and planning innovations. Construction of the temple began in 321 BC but was never finished, probably due to fights against the Aetolians. For example, the fluting of the columns was never completed and the column drums retain their bosses (used for maneuvering the heavy blocks during the critical lifting phase). The remains of the temple show the exquisite detail of sculpture in its construction, and also the excellent state of preservation of the base and many constituent blocks despite almost 2500 years of weathering.

Walls

The area enclosed by the city walls of 7.5 km length including four long hills and three valleys is alone impressive, their height and strength also. They are constructed of massive blocks and include towers at intervals.

Modern village

Before 1928 the village was named Sorovigli ().Name changes of settlements in Greece
/ref> Before the 2011 local government reform Stratos was an independent municipality. The municipal unit has an area of 153.307 km², the community 30.313 km². The municipal unit had a population of 4,369 in 2021, the community 860.

References

External links

* The Temple of Zeus at Stratos: New Observations on the Building Design: Jari Pakkanen, ARCTOS ACTA PHILOLOGICA FENNICA VOL. XXXVIII (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275730226_The_Temple_of_Zeus_at_Stratos_New_Observations_on_the_Building_Design) *http://www.finninstitute.gr/en/stratos
Municipality of Stratos
{{Authority control Populated places in Aetolia-Acarnania Agrinio Aromanian settlements in Greece Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece