Oeum

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Oeum or Oion (Ancient Greek : Οἰόν or Οἶον), also known as Ium or Ion (Ἰόν), was the chief town of the district Sciritis in ancient Laconia. It commanded the pass through which was the road from Tegea to Sparta.

When the Theban army under Epaminondas first invaded Laconia in four divisions, by four different passes, the only division which encountered any resistance was the one which marched through the pass defended by Oeum. But the Spartan Ischolaus, who commanded a body of troops at this place, was overpowered by superior numbers; and the invading force thereupon proceeded to Sellasia, where they were joined by the other divisions of the army. [1] In Xenophon the town is called Ἰόν and the inhabitants Ἰᾶται; but the form Οἰόν or Οἶον is probably more correct. Such towns or villages, situated upon mountainous heights, are frequently called Oeum or Oea. [2] Probably the Oeum in Sciritis is referred to in Stephanus of Byzantium under Οἶος. [3] Oeum is not mentioned subsequently, unless we suppose it to be the same place as Iasus (Ἴασος), which Pausanias describes as situated within the frontiers of Laconia, but belonging to the Achaeans. [4] [5]

Its site is tentatively near modern Kerasia. [6] [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thalamae (Laconia)</span>

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Cromnus or Kromnos or Cromna or Kromna (Κρῶμνα), or Cromi or Kromoi (Κρῶμοι), was a town of ancient Arcadia on the frontiers of Messenia, the inhabitants of which were removed to Megalopolis, on the foundation of the latter city in 371 BCE. Its territory is called Cromitis or Kromitis (Κρωμῖτις) by Pausanias. Cromnus was the site of a battle where the Arcadians defeated the forces of Sparta under Archidamus III in 364 BCE.

Hypsus or Hypsous, also known as Hypsuntus or Hypsountos (Ὑψοῦντος), was a town of ancient Arcadia, in the district Cynuria, situated upon a mountain of the same name. According to Greek mythology, it was said to have been founded by Hypsus, a son of Lycaon.

Teuthrania was a town in the western part of ancient Mysia, and the name of its district about the river Caicus, which was believed to be derived from a legendary Mysian king Teuthras. This king is said to have adopted, as his son and successor, Telephus, a son of Heracles; and Eurypylus, the son of Telephus, appears in the Odyssey as the ruler of the Ceteii. The town was situated between Elaea, Pitane, and Atarneus. The nearby towns of Halisarna, Pergamum, and Teuthrania had been given by the Persian king Darius I to the Spartan king Demaratus about the year 486 BCE for his help in the expedition against Greece. Demaratus's descendants continued to rule these cities at the beginning of the 4th century BCE. During the withdrawal of Pergamum from The March of the Ten Thousand, it was attacked by, among others, troops from Halisarna and Teuthrania under command of Procles, son of Demaratus. In the Hellenica, Xenophon relates that Teuthrania, together with Pergamum, Halisarna, Gambrium, Palaegambrium, Myrina and Gryneium were delivered by their rulers to the army that, under the command of the Spartan Thimbron, around the year 399 BCE, had come to the area to try to liberate the Greek colonies from the Persian domain.

Dereium or Dereion, also known as Dera (Δέρα) and Derrhium or Derrhion (Δέρριον), was a town of ancient Laconia. Pausanias writes that it was on Taygetus not far from Lapithaeum, and 20 stadia from Harpleia. Dereium possessed an open image of Artemis Dereatis, and a spring called Anonus.

Sellasia, or Selasia (Σελασία), was a town of ancient Laconia, situated in the valley of the Oenus, on the road leading from Tegea and Argos, and one of the bulwarks of Sparta against an invading army. Its distance from Sparta is nowhere mentioned among the ancient writers; but from the description which Polybius gives of the celebrated battle fought in its neighbourhood between Antigonus III Doson and Cleomenes III in 222 BCE, it is probable that the plain now called Krevatá was the site of the battle. We learn from Polybius that this battle took place in a narrow opening of the vale of the Oenus, between two hills named Evas and Olympus, and that the river Gorgylus flowed across the plain into the Evenus.

References

  1. Xenophon. Hellenica . Vol. 6.5.24-26.
  2. Comp. Harpocrat. s. v. Οἶον.
  3. πολίχνιον Τεγέας. Αἰσχύλος Μυσοῖς: οἱ πολίται Οἰᾶται; Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v. Οἶος.
  4. Pausanias (1918). "13.7". 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.
  5. Suida s. v. Ἴασος.
  6. Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World . Princeton University Press. p. 58, and directory notes accompanying.
  7. Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Oeum". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray.

37°21′56″N22°23′43″E / 37.365486°N 22.395174°E / 37.365486; 22.395174