Tegea Τεγέα | |
|---|---|
.jpg) TheTemple of Athena Alea at Tegea | |
 Location within the regional unit | |
  Tegea | |
| Coordinates:37°27.32′N22°25.23′E / 37.45533°N 22.42050°E /37.45533; 22.42050 | |
| Country | Greece |
| Administrative region | Peloponnese |
| Regional unit | Arcadia |
| Municipality | Tripoli |
| Area | |
| • Municipal unit | 118.35 km2 (45.70 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 650 m (2,130 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
| • Municipal unit | 2,959 |
| • Municipal unit density | 25.00/km2 (64.76/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 220 12 |
| Area code | 2710 |
| Vehicle registration | TP |
Tegea (/ˈtiːdʒiə/;Greek:Τεγέα) was a settlement inancient Arcadia, and it is also a former municipality inArcadia,Peloponnese,Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of theTripoli municipality, of which it is a municipal unit[2] with an area of 118.350 km2.[3] It is near the modern villages ofAlea andEpiskopi.
The legendary founder of Tegea wasTegeates, a son ofLycaon.[4]
Tegea (Ancient Greek:Τεγέα;Ionic Greek:Τεγέη) was one of the most ancient and powerful towns ofancient Arcadia, situated in the southeast of the country. Its territory, calledTegeatis (Τεγεᾶτις), was bounded byCynuria andArgolis on the east, from which it was separated byMount Parthenium, byLaconia on the south, by the Arcadian district ofMaenalia on the west, and by the territory ofMantineia on the north. The Tegeatae are said to have derived their name fromTegeates, a son ofLycaon, and to have dwelt originally in eight, afterwards nine,demoi or townships. In the Archaic period the nine demoi that underlie Tegea banded together in asynoecism to form one city; the inhabitants of the demoi were incorporated, byAleus in the city of Tegea, of which this hero was the reputed founder. The names of these nine townships, which are preserved byPausanias, are:Gareatae (Γαρεᾶται),Phylaceis (Φυλακεῖς),Caryatae (Καρυᾶται),Corytheis (Κορυθεῖς),Potachidae (Πωταχίδαι),Oeatae (Οἰᾶται),Manthyreis (Μανθυρεῖς),Echeuetheis (Εχευήθεἱς), to whichApheidantes (Ἀφείδαντες) was added as the ninth in the reign of kingApheidas.[5][6] The Tegeatae were early divided into 4 tribes (phylai) (φυλαί), called respectivelyClareotis (Κλαρεῶτις, in inscriptions Κραριῶτις[7]),Hippothoitis (Ἱπποθοῖτις),Apolloneatis (Ἀπολλωνεᾶτις), andAthoneatis (Ἀθανεᾶτις), to each of which belonged a certain number ofmetoeci (μέτοικοι) or resident aliens.[8]
Tegea is mentioned byHomer in theCatalogue of Ships in theIliad as one of the places whose troops are led byAgapenor.[9] It was probably the most celebrated of all the Arcadian towns in the earliest times. This appears from its heroic renown, since its kingEchemus is said to have slainHyllus, the son ofHeracles, in single combat.[10][11] The Tegeatae offered a long-continued and successful resistance to theSpartans, when the latter attempted to extend their dominion over Arcadia. In one of the wars between the two peoples, Chariläus orCharillus, king of Sparta, deceived by anoracle which appeared to promise victory to the Spartans, invaded Tegeatis, and was not only defeated, but was taken prisoner with all his men who had survived the battle.[12][13] More than two centuries afterwards, in the reign ofLeon andAgesicles, the Spartans again fought unsuccessfully against the Tegeatae; but in the following generation, in the time of their kingAnaxandridas II, the Spartans, having obtained possession of the bones ofOrestes in accordance with an oracle, defeated the Tegeatae and compelled them to acknowledge the supremacy of Sparta, about 560 BC.[14][15] Thus, Tegea's struggle againstSpartan hegemony in Arcadia came to an end, and it was forced into some form of collaboration, maybe as one of the earliest members of what would become the Sparta-centeredPeloponnesian League.[16]
Tegea, however, still retained its independence, though its military force was at the disposal of Sparta; and in theGreco-Persian Wars it appears as the second military power in thePeloponnesus, having the place of honour on the left wing of the allied army. Five hundred of the Tegeatae fought at theBattle of Thermopylae, and 3000 at theBattle of Plataea, half of their force consisting ofhoplites and half of light-armed troops.[17] As it was not usual to send the whole force of a state upon a distant march,William Smith andHenry Fynes Clinton estimate the force of the Tegeatae on this occasion as not more than three-fourths of their whole number. This would give 4000 for the military population of Tegea, and about 17,400 for the whole free population.[18]
Soon after the Battle of Plataea, the Tegeatae were again at war with the Spartans, of the causes of which, however, we have no information. We only know that the Tegeatae fought twice against the Spartans between 479 and 464 BCE, and were each time defeated; first in conjunction with theArgives, and a second time together with the other Arcadians, except theMantineians atDipaea, in theMaenalian district.[19][20] About this time, and also at a subsequent period, Tegea, and especially the temple ofAthena Alea in the city, was a frequent place of refuge for persons who had rendered themselves obnoxious to the Spartan government. Hither fled the seerHegesistratus[21] and the kingsLeotychides, andPausanias, son ofPleistoanax.[22][23][24]
In thePeloponnesian War the Tegeatae were the firm allies of the Spartans, to whom they remained faithful both on account of their possessing an aristocratical constitution, and from their jealousy of the neighbouring democratical city of Mantineia, with which they were frequently at war. Thus the Tegeatae not only refused to join the Argives in the alliance formed against Sparta in 421 BCE, but they accompanied the Lacedaemonians in their expedition againstArgos in 418 BCE.[25] They also fought on the side of the Spartans in theCorinthian War, 394 BCE.[26] TheTemple of Athena Alea burned in 394 BCE and was magnificently rebuilt, to designs byScopas of Paros, with reliefs of theCalydonian boar hunt in the main pediment.[27] After theBattle of Leuctra (371 BCE), however, the Spartan party in Tegea was expelled, and the city joined the other Arcadian towns in the foundation ofMegalopolis and in the formation of theArcadian League.[28] When Mantineia a few years afterwards quarrelled with the supreme Arcadian government, and formed an alliance with its old enemy Sparta, Tegea remained faithful to the new confederacy, and fought underEpaminondas against the Spartans at the greatBattle of Mantineia, 362 BCE.[29]
Tegea at a later period joined theAetolian League, but soon after the accession ofCleomenes III to the Spartan throne it formed an alliance with Sparta, together with Mantineia andOrchomenus. It thus became involved in hostilities with theAchaeans, and in the war which followed, called theCleomenic War, it was taken byAntigonus Doson, the ally of the Achaeans, and annexed to the Achaean League, 222 BCE.[30] In 218 BCE, Tegea was attacked by Spartan kingLycurgus, who obtained possession of the whole city with the exception of theacropolis. It subsequently fell into the hands ofMachanidas, thetyrant of Sparta, but was recovered by the Achaeans after the defeat of Machanidas, who was slain in battle byPhilopoemen.[31] In the time ofStrabo Tegea was the only one of the Arcadian towns which continued to be inhabited,[32] and it was still a place of importance in the time ofPausanias, who has given us a minute account of its public buildings.[33] The "tombs" he saw there were shrines to thechthonic foundingdaemones: "There are also tombs ofTegeates, the son ofLycaon, and of Maira (or Maera), his wife." Maira was a daughter ofAtlas, and Homer makes mention of her in the passage whereOdysseus tells toAlkinous his journey toHades, and of those whose ghosts he beheld there."[34]
Ancient Tegea was an important religious center of ancient Greece,[35] containing theTemple of Athena Alea. Thetemenos was founded byAleus,Pausanias was informed.[36] Votive bronzes at the site from theGeometric andArchaic periods take the forms of horses and deer; there aresealstones andfibulae.
The city retained civic life under theRoman Empire; Tegea survived being sacked by theGoths in AD 395–396. The Roman poets use the adjective Tegĕēus or Tegeaeus as equivalent to Arcadian: thus it is given as an epithet to Pan (Verg. G. 1.18), Callisto, daughter of Lycaon (Ov. Ar. Am. 2.55, Fast. 2.167), Atalanta (Ov. Met. 8.317, 380), Carmenta (Ov. Fast. 1.627), and Mercury (Stat. Silv. 1.54)
In theMiddle Ages, through some unclear process, Tegea received the name of Amyklion (later usually shortened to Amykli and Nikli) by the 10th century.[37] In 1082, it became the seat of theDiocese of Amyclae, asuffragan see of theMetropolis of Lacedaemon.[38][39] Nikli and the rest of Arcadia were captured by theCrusaders inc. 1206–1209, becoming part of the newFrankishPrincipality of Achaea, which soon came to encompass most of thePeloponnese.[40] TheChronicle of the Morea depicts Nikli as a site of some importance and fortified, which fell to the Crusaders only after a siege. It became the seat of asecular barony, while aRoman Catholic bishop was installed in the episcopal see.[41] Nikli was still in Frankish hands in 1280, but was lost to the resurgentByzantines by 1302, who also restored the local see to the Orthodox clergy.[42]
The site of ancient Tegea is now located within the modern village ofAlea (referred to asPiali before 1915). Alea is located about 10 kilometers southeast ofTripoli. The municipality of Tegea has its seat atStadio.
In ancient times, the people of Tegea said that Cydon, Archedius, and Gortys, the surviving sons of their king Tegeates, migrated voluntarily to Crete, and that the citiesKydonia,Gortyna, andCatreus, were named after them. Yet the Cretans denied this; instead they tried to portray these three characters as the offspring of the local heroes Minos and Rhadamantus.[43]
The municipal unit Tegea is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1991 | 4,539 |
| 2001 | 3,858 |
| 2011 | 3,544 |
| 2021 | 2,959 |
Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Tegea".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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