Aeginium
Αἰγίνιον | |
 View of Kalambaka, modern city on the spot of Aeginium. The bump in the upper right is the Rock of Great Saint. The Church of Saint John Prodrome is in the dense settlement below it. In the far distance is the Peneius River, flowing down from the right. Upstream is the pass from Epirus outflanking the Vale of Tempe as an entrance into Thessaly from Macedonia. | |
 Map showing ancient Thessaly. Aeginium is to the upper left. | |
| Coordinates | 39°42′32″N 21°37′39″E / 39.70892°N 21.62745°E |
|---|---|
| Part of | Kalambaka |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Fragmentary |
Aeginium (Latin) or Aiginion (Ancient Greek: Αἰγίνιον) was an ancient Greek settlement in the northwest of Thessaly. By the 19th century, evidence of its existence had been reduced to scant mention in several literary fragments from the encyclopedic classical authors: Strabo, Livy, Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder, Stephanus of Byzantium.[1] It appeared to have been troublesome to the Roman Republic. Julius Caesar said it was "over against Thessaly." Strabo said it was at "the confluence of the Ion River with the Peneus, which was in Thessaly. Pliny the Elder said it was in Pieria, but he didn't say which. Ptolemy gave coordinates, but his coordinates produce a map that is grossly distorted. In short, no one knew any longer where Aeginium had been, or how long it had been there. The same case was true of Agassae, which seemed to be equally troublesome to Rome.
The discovery of Aeginium
Fortuitously William Martin Leake in 1835 was able to publish the results of some military intelligence surveys he had made in Greece 1804 - 1810. The Duke of Wellington was head of the British army at that time. They were anticipating a campaign in Greece against the French forces under Napoleon. The British had the support of the Ottoman Empire (but not for long). Leake was to survey the place.
Events did not turn out as expected. In essence the British were more in support of the rebellious Greeks than the Ottomans desired. The revolution that followed was aided and abetted by the British. In the conflict of 1807 Leake was interned by the pasha of Greece. The Ottomans preferred to lease out their colonial holdings to the highest bidder, who would then hire mercenaries (bashi bazouks) to keep order. Greece was being policed by Albanian troops, who did not endear themselves or the Turks.
Leake was soon free. He was impressed into service to negotiate with the Turks. In 1815 he retired as a colonel to pursue a scientic and literary career. Meanwhile, the Greek revolution transpired. When it was over at last a newly independent Greece was created in 1832. Leake now felt free to release the results of his surveys as travel journals. These became a major historical source of unimpeachable credibility. His style is reminiscent of Pausanias (geographer).
Leake wrote a multi-volume work describing northern Greece. He never defined northern Greece, however. His table of contents covers Epirus, Aetolia, Acarnania, Macedonia, Illyria and Thessaly. As modern Greece has been patched together since then from various territorial units by various agencies, the term Northern Greece has come to have different meanings in different contexts.
There are some commonalities. Thrace and Macedonia are always northern Greece, to which Epirus is often joined. The fact that Thessaly is often split points to geophysical reasons for the split.
It is frequently mentioned in the Roman wars in Greece. It was given up to plunder by L. Aemilius Paulus in 167 BCE for having refused to open its gates after the Battle of Pydna.[2] It was here that, during the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar, that the latter in his march from Apollonia effected a junction with Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus.[3] Later, the town was called by the name Stagos which was translated to Kalabaka.
Its modern location is tentatively assigned to a site in Nea Koutsoufliani in the municipality of Kalabaka.[4][5] William Martin Leake found an inscription at Kalabaka, in which Aeginium is mentioned.[6]
References
- ^ "Aiginion (Thessaly)". ToposText. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ^ Livy. Ab urbe condita Libri [History of Rome]. Vol. 32.15, 36.13, 44.46, 45.27.
- ^ Caes. B.C. 3.79.
- ^ Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (ISBN 0-691-03169-X), Map 54.
- ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- ^ Leake, Northern Greece, vol. i. p. 421, et seq.
Source
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Aeginium". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
External links
Media related to Aeginium at Wikimedia Commons
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