SAMIKON
Triphylia, Greece.
A few km from
Olympia. The ruins of the city have been identified on
a broad upland to the S of Mt. Makistos (or Lapithos).
Inhabited by the Epeans who named it Samos, and then by
the Pylians, from whom it took the name Arene, the city
later passed to the Minii who called it Makistos; only
under the Eleans did it retake the original name of Samia
or Samikon (cf.
Paus. 5.6.1; Ptol. 4.80.12;
Strab. 8.148;
Herod. 4.148). It was the seat of the religious confederation of the six cities of Triphylia, and there was
erected a Temple to Poseidon, whose cult was greatly
renowned. A vast wall enclosed the S, where two types
of masonry are found: polygonal blocks already in the
5th c. B.C., which were also used in several towers; and
a trapezoidal technique with squared face, perhaps dating
prior to the 3d c. B.C. In 1825, Fort Klidi (The Key),
taking advantage of the ancient foundations, was erected
on the site. A tumulus with pottery from the Middle
Helladic period to Mycenaean II has been found at the
NE base of the rocky hill on which stands Klidi.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
H. Bisbee,
Hesperia 6 (1937); R. L.
Scranton, Greek Walls (1941); N. Yalouris in
Deltion
20, 1965 (1966).
N. BONACASA
