Elis Ἦλις | |
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Region ofAncient Greece | |
 Ruins of theTemple of Zeus,Olympia | |
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| Location | Peloponnese |
| Major cities | Elis,Olympia |
| Dialects | Doric |
Elis (/ˈiːlɪs/[1]) orEleia/ɪˈlaɪ.ə/ (Greek:Ήλιδα,romanized: Ilida,Attic Greek:Ἦλις,romanized: Ēlis/ɛ̂ːlis/;Elean:Ϝᾶλις/wâːlis/,ethnonym:Ϝᾱλείοι[2]) is an ancient district inGreece that corresponds to the modernregional unit of Elis.
Elis is in southernGreece on thePeloponnese, bounded on the north byAchaea, east byArcadia, south byMessenia, and west by theIonian Sea. Over the course of the archaic and classical periods, thepolis "city-state" ofElis controlled much of the region of Elis, most probably through unequal treaties with other cities; many inhabitants of Elis werePerioeci—autonomous free non-citizens. Perioeci, unlike other Spartans, could travel freely between cities.[3] Thus the polis of Elis was formed.
The local form of the name was Valis, or Valeia, and its meaning, in all probability was, "the lowland" (compare with the word "valley").[4] In its physical constitution Elis is similar to Achaea and Arcadia; its mountains are mere offshoots of the Arcadian highlands, and its principal rivers are fed by Arcadian springs.[5]
According toStrabo,[6] the first settlement was created byOxylus theAetolian who invaded there and subjugated the residents. The city of Elis underwentsynoecism—as Strabo notes—in 471 BC.[7] Elis held authority over the site of Olympia and theOlympic games.
The spirit of the games had influenced the formation of the market: apart from thebouleuterion, the place theboule "citizen's council" met, which was in one of thegymnasia, most of the other buildings were related to the games, including two gymnasia, apalaestra, and the House of theHellanodikai.[citation needed]
The original inhabitants of Elis were calledCaucones and Paroreatae. They are mentioned byHomer[8] for the first time in Greek history under the title of Epeians (Epeii), as setting out for the Trojan War, and they are described by him as living in a state of constant hostility with their neighbours the Pylians. At the close of the 11th century BC theDorians invaded thePeloponnese, and Elis fell to the share ofOxylus and theAetolians.[5]
These people, amalgamating with the Epeians, formed a powerful kingdom in the north of Elis. After this many changes took place in the political distribution of the country, till at length it came to acknowledge only three tribes, each independent of the others. These tribes were the Epeians,Minyae and Eleans. Before the end of the 8th century BC, however, the Eleans had vanquished both their rivals, and established their supremacy over the whole country. Among the other advantages which they thus gained was the right of celebrating theOlympic games, which had formerly been the prerogative of thePisatans.[5]Olympia was in Elian land, and tradition dates the first recorded games to 776 BC. TheHellanodikai, the judges of the Games, were of Elian origin.[citation needed] The attempts which the Pisatans made to recover their lost privilege, during a period of nearly two hundred years, ended at length in the total destruction of their city by the Eleans. From the time of this event in 572 BC until thePeloponnesian War, the peace of Elis remained undisturbed.[5]
In the war, Elis sided at first withSparta. But Sparta, jealous of the increasing prosperity of its ally, availed itself of the first pretext to pick a quarrel. At theBattle of Mantinea (418 BC), the Eleans fought against the Spartans, who later took vengeance upon them by depriving them ofTriphylia and the towns of theAcroreia.The Eleans made no attempt to re-establish their authority over these places until Thebes rose in importance after theBattle of Leuctra (371 BC). However, theArcadian confederacy came to the assistance of the Triphylians. In 366 BC, hostilities broke out between them, and though the Eleans were at first successful, they were soon overpowered; their capital very nearly fell into the hands of the enemy,[5] and the territory of Triphylia was permanently ceded to Arcadia in 369 BC.[9] Unable to make headway against their opponents, they applied for assistance to the Spartans, who invaded Arcadia and forced the Arcadians to recall their troops from Elis. The general result of this war was the restoration of their territory to the Eleans, who were also again invested with the right of holding the Olympic games.[5]
During theMacedonian supremacy in Greece they sided with the victors, but refused to fight against their countrymen. After the death ofAlexander the Great in 323 BC they renounced the Macedonian alliance. At a subsequent period they joined theAetolian League. When the whole of Greece fell to Rome, the sanctity of Olympia secured for the Eleans a certain amount of indulgence. The games still continued to attract large numbers of visitors, until they were finally ended byTheodosius in 394 AD, two years before the utter destruction of the country by theGothic invasion underAlaric I.[5]
Elis was a traditional ally ofSparta, but the city state joinedArgos andAthens in an alliance against Sparta around 420 BC during thePeloponnesian War. This was due to Spartan support for the independence ofLepreum. As punishment following the surrender of Athens, Elis was forced to surrender Triphylia in 399 BCEric W. Robinson has argued that Elis was a democracy by around 500 BC, on the basis of early inscriptions which suggest that the people (thedāmos) could make and change laws.[10] Robinson further believes that literary sources imply that Elis continued to be democratic until 365, when an oligarchic faction seems to have taken control (Xen.Hell. 7.4.16, 26).[11]: 29–31 At some point in the mid-fourth century, democracy may have been restored; at least, we hear that a particularly narrow oligarchy was replaced by a new constitution designed by Phormio of Elis, a student ofPlato (Arist.Pol. 1306a12-16; Plut.Mor. 805d, 1126c).
The classical democracy at Elis seems to have functioned mainly through a popular Assembly and a Council, the two main institutions of mostpoleis. The Council initially had 500 members, but grew to 600 members by the end of the fifth century (Thuc. 5.47.9). There was also a range of public officials such as thedemiourgoi who regularly submitted to public audits.[11]: 32
As described by Strabo,[12] Elis was divided into three districts:
Koilē Elis, the largest and most northern of the three, was watered by the river Peneus and its tributary, the Ladon. The district was famous during antiquity for its cattle and horses. Pisatis extended south from Koilē Elis to the right bank of the riverAlpheios, and was divided into eight departments named after as many towns. Triphylia stretched south from the Alpheios to the river Neda.[5]
The city of Elis (Ancient Greek:Ἦλις) was the capital of the city state of Elis. It was located at the exit of the riverPeneios from the mountains into the plain in the area of today'sIlida Municipality north of Kalyvia. It is said to have been founded in 471 BC bysynoecism, however it is unclear what the ancient sources mean by this, the city already existed in the same place before and there were separate communities in the region of Elis before and after.[13]
The first excavations in Elis were carried out from 1910 to 1914 by the Austrian Archaeological Institute under the direction ofOtto Walter. From 1960 to 1981 theArchaeological Society of Athens carried out further excavations under the direction of Nikolaos Yalouris with Austrian participation.[14] Some of the finds are exhibited in the local archaeological museum founded in 1981, for which a new building was built in 2003.[15]
Nowadays Elis is a small village of 150 citizens located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) NE ofAmaliada, built over the ruins of the ancient town. It has one of the most well-preserved ancient theaters in Greece. Built in the fourth century BC, the theater had a capacity of 8,000 people; below it,Early Helladic,sub-Mycenaean andProtogeometric graves have been found.[16][17]
Athletes
In mythology
Intellectuals
Eleans were labelled as the greatestbarbariansbarbarotatoi by musicianStratonicus of Athens[19]
And when he was once asked by some one who were the wickedest people, he said, "That inPamphylia, the people ofPhaselis were the worst; but that theSidetae were the worst in the whole world." And when he was asked again, according to the account given byHegesander, which were the greatestbarbarians, theBoeotians or theThessalians he said, "The Eleans."
InHesychius (s.v.βαρβαρόφωνοι) and other ancient lexica,[20] Eleans are also listed asbarbarophones. Indeed, theNorth-West Doric dialect of Elis is, after theAeolic dialects, one of the most difficult for the modern reader of epigraphic texts.[21]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Elis".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 278.
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