Oropus
Oropus or Oropos (
History
Oropus was originally a town of Boeotia; and, from its position in the maritime plain of the Asopus, it naturally belonged to that country. and the inhabitants had probably returned to their old town long before his time.
Although Oropus was so frequently in the hands of the Athenians, its name is never found among the Athenian demes. Its territory, however, if not the town itself, appears to have been made an Attic deme under the name of Graea (ἡ Γραῖα). In Homer Oropus does not occur, but Graea is mentioned among the Boeotian towns;[13] and this ancient name appears to have been revived by the Athenians as the official title of Oropus. Aristotle said that Oropus was called Graea in his time;[14] and accordingly we find in an inscription, belonging to this period, the people of Graea (Γραῆς or Γραεῖς) mentioned as a deme of the tribe Pandionis.[15]
According to Dicaearchus, the Oropians were notorious for their grasping exactions, levied upon all imports into their country,[8] and were for this reason satirised by Xenon, a comic poet: "All the tax collectors,all of them are abductors.(But) the bad taxes are levied by the Oropians.(Πάντες τελῶναι, πάντες εἰσὶν ἅρπαγες. Κακὸν τέλος γένοιτο τοῖς ᾿Ωρωπίοις)."
Location
The position of Oropus is thus described by Strabo: "The beginning [of Boeotia] is Oropus, and the sacred harbour, which they call
The modern village of Oropos stands at the distance of nearly two miles (3.2 km) from the sea, on the right bank of the Asopus: it contains some fragments of ancient buildings and sepulchral stones. There are also Hellenic remains at Skála (Σκάλα) or wharf upon the bay, from which persons usually embark for Euboea: this place is also called ἐς τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους, from a ruined church dedicated to the Holy Apostles. William Martin Leake originally placed Oropus at Oropos and Delphinium at Skála; but in the second edition of his Demi he leaves the position of Oropus doubtful. It seems, however, most probable that Oropus originally stood upon the coast, and was removed inland only for a short time. In the Peloponnesian War Thucydides speaks of sailing to and anchoring at Oropus;[17] and Pausanias, as we have already seen, expressly states that Oropus was upon the coast. Hence there can be little doubt that Skála is the site of Oropus, and that Oropos is the inland site which the Oropians occupied only for a time. It is true that the distance of Oropos from the sea is more than double the 7 stadia assigned by Diodorus, but it is possible that he may have originally written 17 stadia. If Oropus stood at Skála, Delphinium must have been more to the eastward nearer the confines of Attica. Modern scholars accept the site of Skála, now called Skala Oropou after the ancient town.[18][19]
Sanctuary of Ampharaus
In the territory of Oropus was the celebrated temple of the hero Amphiaraus. According to Pausanias, it was 12 stadia distant from Oropus.
See also
References
- ^ Pausanias (1918). "11.4". Description of Greece. Vol. 7. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
- ^ a b c d Pausanias (1918). "34.1". Description of Greece. Vol. 1. Translated by W. H. S. Jones; H. A. Ormerod. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann – via Perseus Digital Library.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 8.60.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 14.17.
- ^ Xenophon. Hellenica. Vol. 7.4.1. et seq.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 18.56.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 19.77.
- ^ a b c p. 11, ed. Hudson
- ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. ix. p. 404. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^ Ab urbe condita Libri[History of Rome]. Vol. 45.27.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Vol. 4.7.11.
- ^ ἐπὶ θαλάσσης, Pausanias, 1.34.1.
- ^ Homer. Iliad. Vol. 2.498.
- ^ ap. Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. sub voce Ὠρωπός.
- ^ Ross & Meier, Die Demen von Attika, p. 6, et seq.
- ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. ix. p.403. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 3.91. , 8.95.
- ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
- ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. ix. p. 399. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Oropus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
Bibliography
- Agallopoulou, P. (1995). "Νέα Παλάτια, οδός 25ης Μαρτίου 6 (Ο.Τ. 12, οικόπεδο Φωστήρας Δημητρίου)". Archaiologikon Deltion. 50 (B1): 58–60.
- Agallopoulou, P. (1997). "Νέα Παλάτια, οδός 25ης Μαρτίου 3 (Ο.Τ. 13, οικόπεδο Φωστήρας Δημητρίου)". Archaiologikon Deltion. 52 (B1): 96-101.
- Kalliontzis, Ioannis (2021). "An Inventory List and a Votive Relief from the Sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia Found in Oropos". In Mackil, Emily Maureen; Papazarkadas, Nikolaos (eds.). Greek Epigraphy and Religion: Papers in Memory of Sara B. Aleshire from the Second North American Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. pp. 108–42.
- Knoepfler, D. (2010). "L'occupation d'Oropos par Athènes au IVe siècle avant J.-C.: une clérouquie dissimulée". Annuario della Scuola archeologica di Atene e delle missioni italiane in Oriente. 88: 439–457.
- Petrakos, Vasilios Ch.; Heil, Matthäus (2023). Inscriptiones Graecae. Voluminis 7 Pars 2 Fasciculus 1: Megaridis, Oropiae, Boeotiae Oropus et Ager Oropius Decreta, tituli sacri, catalogi, dedicationes, tituli artificum, tituli honorarii / edidit Basileios Ch. Petrakos, adiuvante Matthaeus Heil (Editio Altera ed.). Berlin: de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110798814.