LEPREON
Triphylia, Arkadia, Greece.
About
7 km from the coast, on a steep hill N of Strovitsi village.
The hill falls sharply to the N. It is said to have been
founded by Minyans, who drove out the original Kaukonians (
Hdt. 4.148). Although the Triphylians claimed to
be part of Arkadia, Lepreon was dependent upon Elis
through much of its history (
Paus. 5.5.3). From the early
4th to the mid 2d c. it was drawn at various times into
the orbits of Sparta, the Arkadian League, Philip V, and,
finally, the Achaian League. In 146 it was permanently
assigned to Elis, and was of little importance in Pausanias' day. Men of Lepreon fought at Plataia (
Hdt.
9.28,31;
Paus. 5.23.2).
There are considerable remains of the fortified citadel,
with several towers, and an enclosed “keep” at the NE
corner. On the W, traces of a wall descend towards the
valley. The walls include several styles of masonry, but
probably only two periods are represented; the earlier of
these may be 4th c. work, but the remains are mostly
Hellenistic.
Rectangular foundations, probably of two temples,
have been observed on the citadel hill. Numerous tombs
have been found by peasants in the valley to the S around
Strovitsi; and there is an ancient well below the “keep”
to the N.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blouet,
Expédition de Morée I (1831)
pls. 50-52
MPI; J. G. Frazer,
Paus. Des. Gr. (1898) III
473ff; Fiehn,
RE Suppl. V (1931) 550ff; R. L. Scranton,
Greek Walls (1941) 106, 169, 172, 180.
F. E. WINTER
