LEFKADIA
(Emathia) Macedonia, Greece.
Village about 18 km N of Verroia, near Naoussa. Between the town of Naoussa and the villages of Kopanos
and Lefkadia stretch the ruins of a town previously
thought to have been Citium, referred to once in Livy
(
42.51), but lately attributed with great probability to
Mieza. This town, the cave with stalactites near it, and the
nymphaion (in which was located Aristotle's “school,”
where he taught Alexander and his fellow students
from 343/342 B.C.) are referred to by Stephanos Byzantios (q.v. Mieza; see also Veres and Verroia), by
Ptolemy (3.13.39), by Plutarch (
Alex. 7), by Pliny (
HN
31.30 & 4.34), and others. In a Delphic catalogue of city
ambassadors, dated 190 to 180 B.C., Mieza is mentioned
between Verroia and Edessa. From Arrian we learn
about the Miezan trierarch Peukestas and his brother
Amyntas, son of Alexander.
The ancient remains of the region are mostly artificially
constructed tombs of the Hellenistic period, the socalled Macedonian type, some carved out of the rock
in the shape of a chamber, and others simpler. They have
been known only partially for many years. Among the
sculpture found in the area, a Roman marble bust of the
mythical hero Olganos is most valuable. Of the inscriptions, the most important is one recording deeds of
purchase and sale of property, dating from the second
half of the 3d c. B.C. Ruins of buildings, houses and
villas with mosaic floors, a Christian basilica, a bathhouse, workshops, etc. were found and partly excavated
in the areas of Tsifliki and Baltaneno in the early 1960s.
They belong to the Roman and Early Christian periods.
Ruins of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, more or
less contemporary with the above-mentioned Macedonian
tombs, were uncovered from 1966 on in the area of
Kefalobryso, where there are gushing springs, between
Naoussa and Kopanos. But the most important of the
known monuments of the region remain the Macedonian
tombs, subterranean, vaulted, and tumulus-type monuments. One of these, long known and excavated during
the Turkish occupation, is dated in the 3d c. B.C., and is
best known for its fresco representing a Macedonian on
horseback spearing a barbarian on foot.
Another Macedonian tomb was excavated in 1942. Its
importance is also based on the painted decoration of
the interior and on the inscriptions, from which we
learn the names of three dead brothers (Evïppos, Lyson, Kallikles), sons of Aristophanes, of their wives,
and even of the descendants of Lyson and Kallikles
down to the third generation. This tomb is dated ca.
200 B.C.
The third and most important of the great Macedonian
tombs was discovered by chance ca. 1954. It is the
largest and, as a monument of architecture, painting,
and sculpture, the most important of all the Macedonian
monuments in existence. The construction materials are
poros stone and mortar. The tomb has a two-story facade
with pediment which conceals a high, wide prothalamos
and smaller death chamber, both arched. The height and
width of the facade is ca. 8.65 m. It is about the same
as the total length of the two chambers combined. The
facade below has four engaged half-columns of Doric
style between pilasters on either side and a simple wide
entrance opening in the center. The Doric entablature
ends in a cornice with a sima. The metopes have a
painted representation of centaur battles. On the second
level six engaged half-columns stand on a continuous
base, also between pilasters. They support an Ionic
entablature with cornice. Between the columns and the
pilasters seven representations of windows are carved in
relief. Only portions of the pediment have been preserved, but it is possible to restore it by reconstructlon.
Additional importance is given to this architectural
monument by the painted and written ornamentation of
the architectural details (triglyphs, cornices, moldings,
simas, etc.).
The movable finds of the region are kept in the Museums of Thessalonika and Verroia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
K. F. Kinch, “Le tombeau de Niaousta,
tombeau Macédonien,”
D. Kgl. Danske Vidensk. Selsk.
Schr., 7 Raekke, Hist. og Filos. Afd. IV.3 (1920) 283ff
PI;
I. Leak, “Mieza,”
RE 15 (1932) 1548; B. Kallipolitis,
“Buste d'Olganos, héros éponyme dun fleuve macédonien,”
Mon Piot 46 (1952) 85-91;
Χ. Ι. Μακαρόνας, Χρονικά Ἀρχαιολογικά, Μακεδονικά 2 (1941-52 [1953]) 634-36
PI;
Εὐστ. Στίκας, Ἀνασκαφή Λευκαδίων Ναούσης,
Praktika (1959) 85-89
PI; Ph. M. Petsas, “Macedonian
Tombs,”
Atti Sett. Congr. Intern. de Arch. Classica I
(1961) 401ff
PI; id.,
Ὠναί ἐκ τῆς Ἠμαθίας,
ArchEph (1961) 1-55
I; id.,
Ἀνασκαφαί Ναούσης,
Praktika (1963) 58-79
PI; (1964) 24-34
PI; (1965) 36-46
MPI; id.,
Ὁ τάφος τῶν Λευκαδίων, ἔκδ. Ἀρχαιολογικῆς Ἑταιρείας (1966)
MPI;
id.,
Χρονικά Ἀρχαιολογικά, Μακεδονικά 7 (1967) 333-41
PI;
9 (1969) 196-97
PI.
PH. M. PETSAS