DYME
DYME (
Δύμη, Dymae,
Liv. 27.31: Eth.
Δυμαῖος, also
Δύμιος,
Steph. B. sub voce Dymaeus, Cic.
ad Att. 16.1; the territory
ἡ Δυμαία, Pol. 5.17: nr.
Karavostási),a town of Achaia, and the most westerly of the 12 Achaean cities, from which circumstance it is said to have derived its name. (
Hdt. 1.145; Pol. 2.41;
Strab. viii. p.387.)
It was situated near the coast, according to Strabo 60 stadia from the promontory Araxus, and according to Pausanias
30 stadia from the river Larisus, which separated its territory from Elis.
It is further said by Strabo (
viii. p.337) to have been formed out of an union of 8 villages, one of which was called Teuthea (
Τευθέα); and it is probable, that some of the different names, by which the city is said to have been called, were originally the names of the separate villages. Thus, its more ancient name is stated by Pausanias to have been Paleia (
Πάλεια), and by Strabo to have been Stratus (
Στρατός).
The poet Antimachus gave it the epithet Cauconis, which was derived by some from the iron Caucon in the neighbourhood, and by others from the Caucones, who were supposed to have originally inhabited this district. (Strab. pp. 337, 341, 342, 388;
Paus. 7.17.5, seq.)
After the death of Alexander the Great, Dyme fell into the hands of Cassander, but his troops were driven out of the city by Aristodemus, the general of Antigonus, B.C. 314. (
Diod. 19.66.)
This city had the honour, along with Patrae, of reviving the Achaean League in 280; and about this time or shortly afterwards its population received an accession from some of the inhabitants of Olenus, who abandoned their town. (Pol. 2.41.) [
OLENUS] In the Social War (B.C. 220, seq.), the territory of Dyme, from its proximity to Elis, was frequently laid waste by the Eleans. (Pol. 4.59, 60, 5.17.)
It is mentioned by Livy in the history of the war between Philip and the Romans, and Pausanias says that, in consequence of its being the only one of the Achaean cities which espoused the cause of the Macedonian king, it was plundered by the Romans (Paus.
l.c.). From this blow it never recovered; and it is said to have been without inhabitants when Pompey settled here a large number of Cilician pirates.
In the civil wars which followed, some of these new inhabitants were expelled from their lands, and resumed in consequence their old occupation. (Strab. pp. 387, 665; Appian
App. Mith. 96;
Plut. Pomp. 28;
Cic. Att. 16.1, “Dymaeos agro pulses mare infestum habere, nil miruim.” ) Both Strabo (p. 665) and Pliny (
4.6) call Dyme a colony; but this statement appears to be a mistake, since we know that Dyme was one of the towns placed under the authority of Patrae, when it was made a Roman colony by Augustus (Paus.
l.c.); and we are expressly told that no other Achaean town except Patrae was allowed the privilege of self-government.
The remains of Dyme are to be seen near the modern village of
Karavostási. (Leake,
Morea, vol. ii. p. 160.)
In the territory of Dyme, near the promontory Araxus, there was a fortress, called TEICHOS (
Τεῖχος), which was said to have been built by Hercules, when he made war upon the Eleans.
It was only a stadium and a half in circumference, but its walls were 30 cubits high.
It was taken by the Eleans under Euripides in the Social War, B.C. 220, but it was recovered by Philip and restored to the Dymaeans in the following year. Its site is perhaps occupied by the castle of
Kallogriá. (Pol. 4.59, 88; Leake, vol. ii. p. 164.)
There were also two other places in the territory of Dyme, between the city and the frontiers of Elis, named HECATOMBAEON (
Ἑκατόμβαιον) and LANGON (
Λάγγων, the latter of which, however, appears properly to have belonged to the Eleans. Near Hecatombaeon Aratus and the Achaeans were defeated by Cleomenes, who followed up his victory by gaining possession of Langon, B.C. 224. (Pol. 2.51;
Plut. Cleom. 14.)
