The Oetaeans or Oitaians (Ancient Greek:
![]() Oetaean Hemidrachm showing a Heracles with the ethnonym ΟΙΤΑΙΩΝ ('of the Oetaeans'), ca. 400-344 BC | |
![]() Oetaea can be seen on the northern border of Aetolia. | |
Named after | Mount Oeta |
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Location
editThe Oeteans occupied the region of Oetaea or Oitaia (
Government and society
editThe Oeteans are first attested by the 5th-century historian Herodotus during his description of the Battle of Thermopylae.[1] They apparently had a separate political identity by the 5th century, as they were invited by the Athenian statesman Pericles to a panhellenic congress in 449/8 BC, they participated in the Delphic Amphictyony (where their vote was cast by a citizen of Heraclea), and minted coins with the demonym 'Oetaeans' in the 4th century.[3] The 1st-century geographer Strabo claims that Oetaea was divided into fourteen demes, but their exact identity is uncertain, and modern attempts to reconstruct them include mutilated names and toponyms that are scarcely attested. The nature and organization of the various communities attested is likewise unclear, making it difficult to say if the early Oetaean polity was tribal in nature or based on a league of city-states (poleis).[4]
Alliances
editHeraclea, and with it likely the rest of Oetaea, entered the Aetolian League in 280 BC. Many Oetaeans received Aetolian citizenship and rose in the highest offices of the League, but Oetaea likely retained a separate identity and organization, as it still struck its own coins (albeit after the Aetolian pattern).[5] Aetolian domination lasted until c. 166 BC, after which the Oetaean League (Ancient Greek:
References
edit- ^ a b Kirsten 1937, col. 2289.
- ^ a b c d Rousset 2015, p. 225.
- ^ Rousset 2015, pp. 226–227.
- ^ Rousset 2015, pp. 225–226.
- ^ Rousset 2015, pp. 227–228.
- ^ a b Rousset 2015, p. 228.
- ^ Rousset 2015, p. 229.
Sources
edit- Kirsten, Ernst (1937). "Oitaioi". Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Band XVII, Halbband 34, Numen bis Olympia (in German). Stuttgart: Alfred Druckenmüller. col. 2289–2294.
- Rousset, Denis (2015). "Microfederalism in Central Greece: the Dorians and Oitaians". In Beck, Hans; Funke, Peter (eds.). Federalism in Greek Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 222–230. ISBN 978-0-521-19226-2.
Links
editMedia related to Oetaeans at Wikimedia Commons