Elis Ἦλις | |
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Region ofAncient Greece | |
 Ruins of theTemple of Zeus,Olympia | |
 Interactive map of Elis | |
| Location | Peloponnese |
| Major cities | Elis,Olympia |
| Dialects | Northwest Greek |
Elis (/ˈiːlɪs/[1]) orEleia (/ɪˈlaɪ.ə/;Attic Greek:Ἦλις,romanized: Ēlis[ɛ̂ːlis];Elean:Ϝᾶλις[wâːlis];[2]Greek:Ήλιδα,romanized: Ilida) was an ancient district in the northwesternPeloponnese inGreece, roughly corresponding to modernregional unit of Elis. It was bounded to the northeast byAchaea, east byArcadia, south byMessenia, and west by theIonian Sea. The region is a fertile lowland with extensive plains, watered by thePeneus,Alpheus and other rivers that flow down from the Arcadian highlands.[3][4] The region's name is probably cognate with the English 'valley'.[5]
The Eleans traced their roots back to the mythicalDorian invasion. They united into a singlepolis ("city-state") centred on the city ofElis in 471 BC. Over the course of the archaic and classical periods, the city gradually gained control of much of the region of Elis, most probably through unequal treaties with other cities; many inhabitants of Elis werePerioeci—autonomous free non-citizens.[6] Elis' main claim to fame was its control over the sanctuary atOlympia and theOlympic games.
The region was probably not the site of a kingdom during theMycenean period.[3] According to myth, the original inhabitants of Elis were calledCaucones and Paroreatae. The people of the region are mentioned byHomer[7] for the first time in Greek history under the title of Epeians (Epeii), as setting out for theTrojan War, and they are described by him as living in a state of constant hostility with their neighbours thePylians. In the mythicalDorian invasion of thePeloponnese, Elis was assigned toOxylus and theAetolians.[4] The dialect spoken in Elis in historical times wasDorian, which might indicate that there had been an influx of people from northwestern Greece.[3] These people, amalgamating with the Epeians, formed a powerful kingdom in the north of Elis. Three independent groups developed in the region: the Epeians,Minyae and Eleans.
Before the end of the 8th century BC, the Eleans had vanquished the Minyans and Epeians. Over the archaic period, they expanded their control of the region through conquest and treaties, reducing many of the surrounding communities toperioeci (non-citizen dependent communities). The Eleans enjoyed the support ofSparta in this process.[3] The sanctuary ofOlympia and theOlympic games, which were re-established in 776 BC, were initially controlled by the city ofPisa, but Elis contested this. They gained control of the sanctuary and games around 576 BC and destroyed the city of Pisa in 572 BC.[4][3]
As an ally of Sparta, Elis joined thePeloponnesian League in the 6th century BC. Elis ostensibly supported the Greek side in thePersian Wars, but played no notable role in the conflict.[3] In 472 BC, the literary sources report a revolution at Elis which established ademocracy modelled on the Athenian one. This also entailed asynoecism, in which the various communities within the Elean orbit merged into a single political unit, with a capital city atElis, located on the river Peneus, where it enters the lowland plain.[3] Elis annexed most ofTriphylia in the mid-fifth century BC, except forLepreum in the south. Sometime afterwards, Lepreum was conquered as well.[3]
When the Peloponesian War broke out betweenAthens andSparta in 431 BC, Elis sided at first with Sparta. But the city state joinedArgos andAthens in an alliance against Sparta in 421 BC due to Spartan support for the independence ofLepreum. The Eleans banned the Spartans from participating in the Olympic Games of 420 BC and defeated them in battle when they tried to participate anyway. The Eleans did not participate in theBattle of Mantinea in 418 BC, at which the Spartans definitively defeated the alliance. After the Peloponnesian War, Elis and Lepreum fought against Sparta in the Spartan-Elean War (402-400 BC), but they were defeated.[8] As a result, in 399 BC, the Spartans forced the Eleans to rejoin the Peloponnesian League and made them give upTriphylia and the peroecic communities inAcroreia.[4][3]
The Eleans attempted to re-establish their authority over these places afterThebes ended theSpartan hegemony at theBattle of Leuctra in 371 BC. They successfully retook the old peroecic communities in the north,[3] but the newly establishedArcadian League came to the assistance of the Triphylians in the south. After an oligarchic revolution in 365 BC, the Eleans launched a war with the Arcadians for the territory, which lasted until 363 BC. In the course of the war, the city of Elis was very nearly sacked by the Arcadians and the Eleans were forced to give up control of Olympia, but the Spartans came to their rescue and forced the Arcadians to withdraw.[4][3] The territory of Triphylia was ceded to Arcadia.[9]
Eric 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] The literary sources refer to a democratic revolution in 472 BC.[3] The literary sources imply that Elis continued to be democratic until 365, when an oligarchic faction took control.[11][12]: 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.[13] 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.[14] There was also a range of public officials such as thedemiourgoi who regularly submitted to public audits.[12]: 32
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 time when most of their Peloponnesian neighbours were joining together as part of theAchaian League, the Eleans chose to join the rivalAetolian League.[3] In 245 BC, Elis and the Aetolians conquered Triphylia andLasion, but they lost the territory again in 219 BC when they entered theSocial War on the Aetolian side and were invaded byPhilip V of Macedon.[3] In 191 BC, Elis was forced to join the Achaian League and it remained a member until the league was disbanded by theRomans in 146 BC at the end of theAchaean War.[3]
According toPolybius, Elis had an unusual agricultural economy for the Peloponnese in this period, which was characterised by large estates. These estates had large numbers of slave labourers and were particularly focussed onanimal husbandry.[15] The owners of these estates spent most of their time in residence and rarely visited the city of Elis, as a result of which the Eleans instituted a system of travelling judges to ensure these people had access to justice.[15]
Elis was freed in 146 BC, following the Roman abolition of the Achaian League. The victorious Roman generalLucius Mummius made gifts to the Eleans at Olympia, but the territory was pillaged bySulla in the 80s BC, and struggled during theRoman Republican civil wars.[15]The Olympic games declined in popularity in the first century BC, due to the unstable political situation, but in the Imperial period, they were patronised by the Roman emperors and maintained their position as the most prestigious - if not the best attended - of the Panhellenic games.[15] The city was a member of the revived Achaian League, which used Olympia as a centre for displaying its own honorific monuments.[15]
Like other parts of the Peloponnese, the number of rural settlements declined in the Imperial period, as small farms were consolidated into larger estates. The city of Elis and other surviving urban centres probably increased in size.[15] The social elite remained stable until the third century AD. Many Elean elite families in this period had roots going back to the Hellenistic Period or earlier. From the late first cenutry BC onwards, prominent families began to receiveRoman citizenship. They often had connections and citizenship in other cities within the province ofAchaia. Many Eleans held important positions in the revived Achaian League. A very few elite Elean individuals entered the overall Imperial elite, becomingequites. But this was rare and no Eleans are known to have risen to the status ofsenator.[15]
The Olympic Games continued in the first stages of theconversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, but were finally ended byTheodosius in 394 AD, two years before the utter destruction of the country by theGothic invasion underAlaric I.[4] According toHierocles'sSynecdemus, Elis was a bishopric in the 6th century AD, subject to the bishop ofCorinth. From the 9th century, the region prospered as part of thetheme of the Peloponnese, with bishoprics atOlenus andMoreas.[3]
The region is one of the most agriculturally fertile regions of the Peloponnese. Elis was able to support herds of cattle and the raising of horses to a greater degree than many other regions.[15] The marshes on the coast were home to a unique form offlax which was used to produce the especially finebyssoslinen and became a substantialcash crop in the Imperial period.[15] It is likely that there weresalt pans on the coast as well, supplying the wider region's need for salt, although there is no direct evidence for this.[15]
As described by Strabo,[16] 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.[4]
The city of Elis (Ancient Greek:Ἦλις) was the capital of the city state of Elis. It was located at the exit of the river Peneus 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.[17]
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.[18] Some of the finds are exhibited in the local archaeological museum founded in 1981, for which a new building was built in 2003.[19]
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.[20][21]
Athletes
In mythology
Intellectuals
Eleans were labelled as the greatestbarbariansbarbarotatoi by musicianStratonicus of Athens[23]
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,[24] 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.[25]
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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