ELIS
Peloponnesos, Greece.
The city lies
in the NW part of the region, in the middle of the E
Peneios plain, where the river emerges from the mountainous interior into the plain, between the modern
villages of Paliopolis and Kalyvia. In the NE section
of the city rises the hill Kaloskopi (mediaeval Belvedere)
or Paliopyrgos (400 m), where the ancient acropolis
was. The site was inhabited from at least as early as
the Early Helladic period and from then on through to
the end of the Byzantine period. According to some
ancient philological sources, Elis in the Mycenaean period was one of the four or five most notable towns in
the realm of the Epeioi (
Il. 2.615f, 11.671f;
Od. 4.635)
and controlled only the area around the city. Excavation of the site was undertaken in 1910-14, and has
continued since 1960.
In the Early Helladic to Geometric period, judging
by the extent of the finds and the numerous tombs of
this period, the settlement was located on the peak of
the acropolis and on its NW slope toward the Peneios,
where the theater was later placed. In the archaic period the city was extended to the SW. At that time the
Temple of Athena was probably erected on the acropolis (
Paus. 6.26.2). Numerous painted terracotta simas
and stone architectural fragments indicate the existence
at that time of many monumental structures.
In the Classical and Hellenistic period the city area
was extended to surround the acropolis over an area
bounded by Paliopolis to the S, the village of Kalyvia
to the W, and as far as the outskirts of the village of
Bouchioti and the banks of the Peneios. Part of the city
extended to the right bank opposite. The principal necropolis of this period was discovered SW of Kalyvia.
Another was found at the NW foot of the acropolis.
The city, or at least the acropolis, was fortified at the
end of the 5th c. B.C. (
Paus. 3.8.5). In 313 B.C. Telesphoros, the general of Antigonos, refortified the acropolis
(
Diod. 19.74.2, 87). At its N foot a substantial section
of this wall was uncovered, and other remains of the
ancient wall have been found on the W slope. In this
period were constructed numerous civic buildings, as
well as temples and shrines in the agora and the area
around, where they stood quite close together (
Paus.
6.23. lf). Some of these have been uncovered and identified by the excavations to date: the agora, including
a part of the stoa of the Hellanodikai which is Doric,
with a triple colonnade, the Hellanodikaion which is a
small rectangular building to the N of the stoa, two gymnasia and the palaestra in the W section, and in the S
section of the agora the Korkyraion or South Stoa, which
is a double stoa in the Doric style. The whole theater
has been uncovered to the N of the agora. Its first phase
dates to the 4th c. B.C., with alterations in the Hellenistic
and Roman periods. Other buildings which Pausanias
saw, but which have not yet been located, are: the
Temple of Aphrodite with a chryselephantine statue of
the goddess by Phidias, the Temenos of Aphrodite Pandemos with a statue of her with a goat by Skopas, the
Temple of Hades, the Sanctuary of Artemis Philomeirax, the Cenotaph of Achilles, the Temple of Tyche
and Sosipolis, the Temple of Silenos, etc.
In the Roman period the city extended to the E, S,
and W. In the S and W parts of the agora several new
villas and baths were constructed, many on the foundations of older, Classical buildings. These buildings are
close to each other, with rather narrow roads between
and a complete water and drainage system. In the Late
Roman and Early Christian periods only a part of the
city was inhabited, while other sections, such as the
agora and the area around it, were transformed into
a large cemetery, apparently after a major destruction
of the city, possibly by the Herulians (A.D. 267).
In the Byzantine period some settlement remained as
indicated by an Early Christian basilica with noteworthy
mosaics which was built over the South Stoa, and by
numerous Christian graves in various parts of the ancient city. In the Frankish period the kastro (castle) was
built on the acropolis with material from ancient buildings.
Elis: the state
The first organization of Elis into a
city-state probably came about after the Dorian invasion, according to ancient tradition under Oxylos, who
at the head of the Aitolo-Dorian tribes created the first
synoecism in Elis (Ephor. frg. 29; Strab. 463f;
Paus.
5.4.1-4). After Oxylos, the name of the settlers remained Eleians. In the 11-10th c. B.C. the state of Elis
spread into the plain of the Peneios, so-called Koile-Elis
(Hollow Elis). Shortly afterwards Elis annexed neighboring Akroreia and part of Pisa with the sanctuary of
Olympia, and thereafter took over direction of the
Olympic Games. From the 26th Olympiad (676 B.C.)
and throughout the 7th c. it appears the Pisans with
the help of powerful allies (Pheidon of Argos and the
Dymaians) recovered their independence and with it the
management of the Olympian sanctuary. But after the
second Messenian war Elis, with Sparta as an ally, recovered Pisa and the sanctuary (580 B.C.). After that
Elis must have annexed a part of Triphylia (
Paus. 5.6.4,
6.22.4). From then to the late Hellenistic period the
boundaries of Elis appear at times as the river Neda to
the S (the boundary of Messenia), the foothills of Erymanthos and the river of the same name to the E (the
boundary of Arkadia) and the Larisos river to the N
(the boundary of Achaia). To the N and NE the boundary was the Ionian Sea. In 570 B.C. the state was reorganized and the oligarchic ruling body which had now
become more moderate, took on more members (the
kingship had been abolished early, possibly at the beginning of the 8th c.). The city of Elis was the main
political and religious center, but nevertheless the demes
appear to have retained considerable self-govemment.
The peaceful existence which Elis led thereafter, its
neutrality in the quarrels of the other Greek states, the
“truce” and the designation of the country as sacred
ground, were the cause of her prosperity and good laws
(
Paus. 4.28.4, 5.6.2; Polyb. 4.73.6f; Ephor. frg. 15, in
Strab. 8.358, see also 8.333). Elis took no active part
in the Persian wars and participated only in the fortification of the Isthmus in 480 B.C. (
Hdt. 8.72, 9.77). In
471 B.C. a new synoecism was achieved in Elis (
Diod.
11.54;
Strab. 8.336;
Paus. 5.9.5), which thereafter continued as one of the largest cities of the Peloponnesos.
Under pressure of the period's democratic tendencies the
oligarchs made considerable concessions, and by degrees lost their absolute authority to a popular government. The life of the country was now directed entirely
from Elis, with its council (boule) and assembly (demos) and the higher officers who were elected from
among all the free citizens. In the Peloponnesian War
Elis abandoned her former neutrality and the “Sacred
Life” she had led up to that time (Polyb. 4.73.9f) and
allied herself first with Sparta, then Athens, and later
with other cities. The subsequent involvement of Elis
in the collisions of the Greek world cost her dear by
invasions and plundering of her territory and repeated
fluctuations of her boundaries. In 191 B.C. the incorporation of Elis in the Achaian League put an end to
her independent political life. In 146 B.C., after the surrender of Greece to Rome, Elis was included in the
Provincia Romana.
The territory of Elis was one of the most thickly
settled areas in Greece. Finds of the last decade throughout the Eleian land (Hollow Elis, Akroreia, Pisatis,
Triphylia) have brought 120 settlements to light, and
surface finds have allowed the location of 160 more sites.
Nevertheless, most of these settlements and sites, which
date from the Paleolithic to the Byzantine period with
no break, must have belonged to small villages, hamlets,
or isolated farms since Strabo tells us (8.336) that the
land was settled in a pattern of small villages. But even
the small settlements of the Eleia (ancient sources tell us
of 49 together with the sanctuaries) were wealthy communities although the only urban center was the capital,
Elis. This was due to the self-sufficiency of a country
rich in rivers and springs (annual rainfall 90-110 cm)
and blessed with a mild climate (temperature extremes
10°-11° C.), which pushed the Eleians into a life of
agriculture and herding rather than one of craftsmanship and trade (Polyb. 4.73.7f).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Elis, city-state: U. Kahrstedt,
Das wirtschaftliche
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N. YALOURIS