Greek city of Larissa under Thessalian League
Thessalian League Bronze 17mm (3.29 grams) Struck 196-146 B.C.
Reference: Sear 2238; B.M.C. 7.62 -
Head of Athena right, in crested Corinthian helmet.
ΘΕΣΣΑ / ΛΩΝ above and below horse trotting right, corn ear to right.
Following the great victory of the Roman general Flamininus
over Philip V of Macedon, in 197 B.C., the freedom of the Greeks was proclaimed
at Corinth and a number of new autonomous coinages were initiated. Those in the
name of the Thessali were struck probably at Larissa. The Thessalian League
was a loose confederacy of feudal-like city-states and tribes in the Thessalian
valley in Northern Greece
and was run by a few aristocratic Thessalian families (Aleuadae
and Skopadae). The seat of the Thessalian diet was
Larissa
.
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Athena or Athene
(Latin:
Minerva
), also referred to as
Pallas Athena, is the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength,
strategy, crafts, justice and skill in
Greek mythology
.
Minerva
,
Athena's Roman
incarnation,
embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of
heroes and the
goddess
of
heroic endeavour. She is the
virgin
patron of
Athens
. The Athenians built the
Parthenon
on the Acropolis of her namesake
city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos). Athena's cult as the patron of
Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times and was so persistent that
archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as
a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
("Athena of the city").
Athens
and Athena bear etymologically connected
names.
Larissa, sometimes written Larisa on
ancient coins and inscriptions, is near the site of the
Homeric Argissa. It appears in early times, when
Thessaly
was mainly governed by a few aristocratic
families, as an important city under the rule of the
Aleuadae
, whose authority extended over the whole
district of
Pelasgiotis
. This powerful family possessed for many
generations before 369 BC the privilege of furnishing
the tagus, the local term for the
strategos
of the combined Thessalian forces. The
principal rivals of the Aleuadae were the
Scopadac
of
Crannon
, the remains of which (called by the Turks
Old Larissa) are about 14 miles south west. The
inhabitants sided with
Athens
during the Peloponnesian War.
As the chief city of ancient
Thessaly, Larissa was directly annexed by Philip II of
Macedon in 344, and from then on Larissa was under
Macedonian control; in 196 B.C. Larissa became an ally
of Rome and was the headquarters of the
Thessalian League
.
Thessaly was home to an extensive
Neolithic
culture around
2500 BC
.
Mycenaean
settlements have also been discovered, for example at the sites of
Iolcos
,
Dimini
and
Sesklo
(near
Volos
). Later, in
ancient Greek
times, the lowlands of Thessaly became the home of baronial
families, such as the
Aleuadae
of
Larissa
or
the Scopads of Crannon. These baronial families organized a federation across
the Thessaly region, later went on to control the
Amphictyonic League
in northern Greece. The
Thessalians
were renowned for their cavalry.
In the summer of
480 BC
, the
Persians invaded Thessaly. The Greek army that guarded the
Vale
of Tempe
, evacuated the road before the enemy arrived. Not much later,
Thessaly surrendered. The Thessalian family of
Aleuadae
joined the Persians. In the
Peloponnesian War
the Thessalians tended to side with Athens and usually
prevented Spartan troops from crossing through their territory with the
exception of the army of Brasidas.
Jason of Pherae
briefly transformed the country into a significant military
power, though he was assassinated before any lasting achievements were made. In
the 4th century BC
Thessaly became dependent on
Macedon
and many served as vassals. In
148 BC
the
Romans formally incorporated Thessaly into the province of
Macedonia
, though in 300 AD Thessaly was made a separate province with its
capital at Larissa
.
It was part of the Byzantine Empire and suffered many
invasions. In 977 it was occupied by the Bulgarians, who remained there until
1014. In 1204 he was assigned to
Boniface of Montferrat
and in 1225 to
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
, despot of
Epirus
. From
1271 to 1318 he was an independent despotate that extended to
Acarnania
and Aetolia
,
run by John III Angelos Komneno. In 1309 settled there the
Almogavars
or
Catalan Company
of the East (Societas Catalanorum Magna), which in 1310,
after lifting the siege of Thessalonica, withdrew as mercenaries in the pay of
the sebastocrátor
John II, and took over the country organized in a democracy.
From there went to the
Duchy of Athens
called by the duke Walter I. In 1318, with the extinction of
the dynasty of Angelos, the Almogavars occupied Siderocastron and southern
Thessaly (1319) and formed the
duchy of Neopatria
.
Later it was occupied by the
Serbs
until 1393,
after being dominated by the
Ottomans
. In 1821 participated in the
Greek War of Independence
, but was not recognized as part of
Greece
until
1881. |