MELITEIA
Thessaly, Greece.
A city of Achaia
Phthiotis, it lies on the edge of the plain N of Othrys
watered by the Europos (Buziotikos) and the Elipeus
(Chiliadhiotikos) just above the plain on the N end of
a N spur (Xerovouni) of Othrys. Modern Meliteia (formerly Avaritsa) lies at the W edge of the ancient city.
It issued coinage in the 5th c. B.C. when it was associated
with Pherai, was a chief city of the Achaians, was joined
to the Aitolian League probably from 265 B.C. Philip V
failed to take it in 217 B.C. (Polyb. 5.97.5f; 9.18.5-9). It
belonged to the Thessalian League after 189 B.C.
The wall circuit is visible, but poorly preserved. It included an acropolis ca. 180 m above the plain, thence
the walls included a triangular section down to the plain.
The walls down the hill are flanked by ravines. A cross-wall divided the city into upper and lower halves. The
wall where preserved is built of irregularly sized rectangular blocks. It had a circuit of ca. 4 km. There is a late
3d c. B.C. building inscription in the E wall. A cloister of
Haghia Triadha lies a little S of the acropolis, built
partly on an ancient temple (?) foundation. Meliteia's
neighbor to the S was Narthakion; on the track there, 25
minutes S of the city is a small fort. Forty minutes further is a church of Haghios Georgios, probably on the
site of a temple. Meliteia controlled a considerable area;
a good deal of inscriptional evidence exists for its boundaries. Its area has been estimated at ca. 462 sq. km (Stählin,
RE).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
IG IX
2 208; F. Stählin,
AM 39 (1914) 83-103
MI; id.,
Das Hellenische Thessalien (1924) 162-64
P; id.,
RE (1931) s.v. Meliteia; G. Daux & P. de la
Coste-Messelières in
BCH 48 (1924) 351f
M (boundary
with Xynias);
Deltion 19 (1964) chron. 263;
ArchEph
(1925-26) 185.
T. S. MACKAY
