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Thessalia Θεσσαλία
Region
Ancient theatre inLarissa
Map of ancient Thessaly
Location	Thessaly
Major cities	Larissa,Pherae
Dialects	Aeolic
Key periods	Pheraean Ascendancy

Thessaly orThessalia (Attic Greek:Θεσσαλία,Thessalía orΘετταλία,Thettalía^[1]) was one of the traditional regions ofAncient Greece. During theMycenaean period, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, a name that continued to be used for one of the major tribes of Greece, theAeolians, and their dialect of Greek,Aeolic.

At its greatest extent, ancient Thessaly was a wide area stretching fromMount Olympus to the north to theSpercheios Valley to the south. Thessaly is a geographically diverse region, consisting ofbroad central plains surrounded by mountains. The plains are bounded by thePindos Mountains to the west,Mount Othrys to the south, thePelion andOssa ranges to the east, and Mount Olympos to the North. The central plains consist of two basins, theLarisa basin and theKarditsa basin, drained by thePineios River into theVale of Tempe. ThePagasetic Gulf in southeastern Thessaly was and is the only body of water suitable for harbours in the region.

Strictly speaking, Thessaly refers primarily to the central plains inhabited by the Thessalians in antiquity. The plains were divided into four administrative regions called tetrads:Pelasgiotis,Phthiotis,Thessaliotis, andHistiaeotis. In its broader sense, Thessaly also included the surrounding regions called theperioikoi, which were regions inhabited by different ethnic groups that were closely tied to the Thessalians either as subordinates, dependents, or allies. Theperioikoi were composed ofPerrhaibia,Magnesia,Achaea Phthiotis,Dolopia,Ainis,Malis, andOitaia. The three largest cities in Thessaly wereLarisa (Pelasgiotis),Pherai (Pelasgiotis), andPharsalos (Phthiotis).

The Thessalian plains were ideally suited for cultivating grains and cereals, and were known in antiquity for horse-rearing.Alexander the Great's horse,Bucephalus, was originally from Pharsalos. The surrounding mountainous regions, however, were less suitable foragriculture and relied more heavily onpastoralism.

Thessaly was home to extensiveNeolithic andChalcolithic cultures around6000 BC–2500 BC (seeCardium pottery,Dimini andSesklo).Mycenaean settlements have also been discovered in Thessaly unearthing, at the Kastron of Palaia Hill, inVolos, tablets bearingMycenaean Greek inscriptions, written inLinear B.

In mythology, Thessaly was homeland of the heroesAchilles andJason, as well of mythological creatures and peoples,Centaurs,Lapiths,Phlegyans andMyrmidons. Ancient tribes in Thessaly mentioned by Homer or other poets were:Aeolians,Magnetes,Perrhaebi andPelasgians.

The name of Thessaly recorded epigraphically inAeolic variants*Πετταλία, Πετθαλία, Φετταλία, Θετταλία.^[1]

The Thessalians were aThesprotian tribe (according toHerodotus, vii. 176; Veil. Pat. i. 3), and originally came from the ThesprotianEphyra. Under the guidance of leaders, who are said to have been descendants ofHeracles, they invaded the western part of the country afterwards called Thessaly, and drove out or reduced to the condition ofPenestae, or bondsmen, the ancient Aeolian inhabitants.^[2] Afterwards, the Thessalians spread over the other parts of the country, taking possession of the most fertile districts and compelling thePeraebi,Magnetes,Achaean Phthiotians and other neighbouring people to submit to their authority and to pay them tribute.^[3] Like Laconia, the population of Thessaly therefore consisted of three distinct classes:

1. ThePenestae, whose condition was nearly the same as that of theHelots.
2. The subject people, who inhabited the districts not occupied by the Thessalian invaders. They paid tribute, as stated above, but were personally free, though they had no share in the government. They corresponded to thePerioeci of Laconia, by which name they are called by Xenophon.^[4]
3. The Thessalian conquerors, who alone had any share in the public administration, and whose lands were cultivated by the Penestae.

For some time after the conquest, Thessaly seems to have been governed by kings of the race ofHeracleidae, who may however have been only the heads of the great aristocratic families, invested with the supreme power for a certain time. Under one of these princes, namedAleuas, the country was divided into four districts – Phthiotis, Plistiaeotis, Thessaliotis and Pelasgiotis:^[5] This division continued throughout Thessalian history, and it may therefore be concluded that it was not merely a nominal one. Each district may have regulated its affairs by some kind of provincial council, but we are almost entirely in the dark concerning the internal government of each district.^[6]

When occasion required, a chiefmagistrate was elected under the name oftagus, whose commands were obeyed by all four districts. He is sometimes called king (basileus, Herod, v. 63), and sometimesarchon (Dionys. v. 74.) He levied soldiers from the states in each district, and seems to have fixed the amount of tribute to be paid by the allies. (Xenoph. Hell. vi. 1. § 19.) WhenJason of Pherae wastagus, he had an army of more than 8,000 cavalry and not less than 20,000hoplites (Xenoph../. c.), and Jason himself says that when Thessaly is under atagus, there is an army of 6,000 cavalry and 10,000 hoplites.^[7] The tribute Jason levied from the subject towns was the same as had been previously paid by one of theScopadae family, whom Buttmann supposes to be the same Scopas as the one mentioned byAelian ( V. H. xii. 1) as a contemporary ofCyrus the younger. When Thessaly was not united under the government of atagus, the subject towns possessed more independence. (Xenoph. Hell. vi. 1. § 9.) In later times, some states called their ordinary magistratestagoi (Bockh, Corp. Liscr. n. 1770), which may have been done however, as Hermann suggests, only out of affectation.

However, Thessaly was hardly ever united under one government. The different cities administered their own affairs independently of one another, though the smaller towns seem to have frequently "been under the influence of the more important ones (Xenoph. Hell. vi. 1. § 8). In almost all the cities, the form of government wasaristocratical ("dynastic rule rather thanisonomy", according to Thucyd. iv. 78), and it was chiefly in the hands of a few great families, who were descended from the ancient kings. Thus Larissa was subject to theAleuadae, whence Herodotus (vii. 6) calls them kings of Thessaly ; Cranon or Crannon to the Scopadae, and Pharsalus to theCreondae. (Compare Theocr. xvi. -34, &c.) These nobles had vast estates cultivated by the Penestae; they were celebrated for their hospitality and lived in a princely manner ("hospitable, magnificent, the Thessalian way" Xenoph. Hell. vi. 1. § 3), and they attracted to their courts many of the poets and artists of southern Greece. However, the Thessalian commonality did not submit quietly to the exclusive rule of the nobles. Contests between the two classes seem to have arisen early, and the conjecture ofThirlwall (vol. i. p. 438), that the election of atagus, like that of aRoman dictator, was sometimes used as an expedient for keeping the commonalty under, appears very probable. At Larissa, the Aleuadae made some concessions to the popular party. Aristotle (Pol. v. 5) speaks, though we do not know at what time he refers to, of certain magistrates at Larissa, who bore the name ofpolitophylakes and exercised a superintendence over the admission of freemen, and were elected themselves out of the body of the people whence they were led to court the people in a way unfavourable to the interests of the aristocracy. There were also other magistrates at Larissa of a democratic kind, calledLarissopoioi. (Aristot. Pol. iii. 1.) Besides the contests between the oligarchical and democratical parties, there were feuds among the oligarchs themselves; and such was the state of parties at Larissa under the government of the Aleuadae two generations before the Persian wars, that a magistrate was chosen by mutual consent, perhaps from the commonalty, to mediate between the parties (archon mesidios, Aristot. Pol. v. 5). AtPharsalus too at the close of thePeloponnesian War, the state was torn asunder by internecine commotions and, for the sake of quiet and security, the citizens entrusted the acropolis and the whole direction of the government toPolydamas of Pharsalus, who discharged his trust with the strictest integrity. (Xenoph. Hell. vi. 1. § 2, 3.)

In the summer of 480 BC, during theSecond Persian invasion of Greece, the Persians invaded Thessaly. The Greek army that guarded theVale of Tempe, evacuated the road before the enemy arrived. Not much later, Thessaly surrendered and the Aleuadae joined the Persians. (SeeThorax of Larissa,Thargelia (hetaera))

However, the power of the aristocratical families seems to have continued with little diminution until towards the close of the Peloponnesian War, when decidedly democratic movements first begin to appear. At this time, the Aleuadae and the Scopadae had lost much of their ancient influence.Pherae and Pharsalus then became the two leading states in Thessaly. At Pherae, a tyranny, probably arising from a democracy, was established by Lycophron, who opposed the great aristocratical families and aimed at the dominion of all Thessaly. (Xenoph. Hell. ii. 3. § 4 ; ^Diod. xiv. 82.) The latter object was accomplished byJason of Pherae, the successor, and probably the son, of Lycophron, who effected an alliance with Polydamas of Pharsalus and caused himself to be electedtagus about in 374 BC. While he lived, the whole of Thessaly was united as one political power but, after his murder in 370 BC, his family was torn asunder by internecine discords and did not maintain its dominion for long. The office oftagus became a tyranny under his successors, Polydorus, Polyphron,Alexander,Tisiphonus, and Lycophron; until, at length, the old aristocratical families called in the assistance ofPhilip II of Macedon, who deprived Lycophron of his power in 353 BC, and restored the ancient government in the different towns. At Pherae, he is said to have restored popular, or at least republican, government.(Diod. xvi. 38.) The Thessalian people elected Philiparchon tagus of theThessalian League for life; a few years later (344 BC), he re-established the tetrarchies (or tetradarchie), installing governors devoted to his interests and who were probably members of the ancient noble families. (Demosthen. Philip, ii. p. 71, iii. p. 117; Harpocrat. s. v.). TheThessalian cavalry became also part of the Macedonian army and many Thessalians took part in the campaign of Alexander the Great. At the close of theFirst Macedonian War, 197 BC, underFlamininus, it was declared free along withOrestis;^[8] but ultimately it was incorporated in theRoman province of Macedonia along withEpirus vetus.

• 
  Silver hemidrachm ofPharsalos struck 450–400 BC
• 
  Silver hemidrachm ofTrikka struck 440–400 BC
• 
  Bronze coin of Ekkarra struck 325–320 BC
• 
  Bronze coin ofKrannon struck 400–344 BC
• 
  Hemidrachm coin ofPelinna struck 460–420 BC

• Photinaion
• Thessalian League

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Tagus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (2nd ed.). London: James Walton. pp. 1093–1094.

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