thumb|220px|Ancient regions of Peloponnese (southern mainland Greece)

Elis () or Eleia (; ; Elean: ; ) was an ancient district in the northwestern Peloponnese in Greece, roughly corresponding to modern regional unit of Elis. It was bounded to the northeast by Achaea, east by Arcadia, south by Messenia, and west by the Ionian Sea. The region is a fertile lowland with extensive plains, watered by the Peneus, Alpheus and other rivers that flow down from the Arcadian highlands. The region's name is probably cognate with the English 'valley'.

The Eleans traced their roots back to the mythical Dorian invasion. They united into a single polis ("city-state") centred on the city of Elis in 471 BC. Over the course of the archaic and classical periods, the city gradually gained control of much of the region of Elis, most probably through unequal treaties with other cities; many inhabitants of Elis were Perioeci—autonomous free non-citizens. Elis' main claim to fame was its control over the sanctuary at Olympia and the Olympic games.

History

[[File:RegiónDeÉlide.svg|thumb|220px|

Maximum extent of Elean territory (7th–4th centuries BC)

Elis (4th–2nd centuries BC)

Ceded to Arcadia

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Early history

The region was probably not the site of a kingdom during the Mycenaean period. for the first time in Greek history under the title of Epeians (Epeii), as setting out for the Trojan War, and they are described by him as living in a state of constant hostility with their neighbours the Pylians. In the mythical Dorian invasion of the Peloponnese, Elis was assigned to Oxylus and the Aetolians. As a result, in 399 BC, the Spartans forced the Eleans to rejoin the Peloponnesian League and made them give up Triphylia and the peroecic communities in Acroreia.

Democracy in Elis

Eric W. Robinson has argued that Elis was a democracy by around 500 BC, on the basis of early inscriptions which suggest that the people (the dāmos) could make and change laws. The literary sources refer to a democratic revolution in 472 BC. At some point in the mid-fourth century, democracy may have been restored; at least, we hear that a particularly narrow oligarchy was replaced by a new constitution designed by Phormio of Elis, a student of Plato. The classical democracy at Elis seems to have functioned mainly through a popular Assembly and a Council, the two main institutions of most poleis. The Council initially had 500 members, but grew to 600 members by the end of the fifth century. There was also a range of public officials such as the demiourgoi who regularly submitted to public audits.

The Olympic games declined in popularity in the first century BC, due to the unstable political situation, but in the Imperial period, they were patronised by the Roman emperors and maintained their position as the most prestigious - if not the best attended - of the Panhellenic games. Elis was divided into three districts:

  • Koilē ( "Hollow", Latinised Coele), or Lowland Elis
  • Pisâtis (Πισᾶτις "[territory] of Pisa")
  • Triphylia (Τριφυλία Triphūlía "Country of the Three Tribes").

Koilē Elis, the largest and most northern of the three, was watered by the river Peneus and its tributary, the Ladon. The district was famous during antiquity for its cattle and horses. Pisatis extended south from Koilē Elis to the right bank of the river Alpheios, and was divided into eight departments named after as many towns. Triphylia stretched south from the Alpheios to the river Neda.

The first excavations in Elis were carried out from 1910 to 1914 by the Austrian Archaeological Institute under the direction of Otto Walter. From 1960 to 1981 the Archaeological Society of Athens carried out further excavations under the direction of Nikolaos Yalouris with Austrian participation. Some of the finds are exhibited in the local archaeological museum founded in 1981, for which a new building was built in 2003.

Nowadays Elis is a small village of 150 citizens located NE of Amaliada, built over the ruins of the ancient town. It has one of the most well-preserved ancient theaters in Greece. Built in the fourth century BC, the theater had a capacity of 8,000 people; below it, Early Helladic, sub-Mycenaean and Protogeometric graves have been found.

Notable Eleans

Athletes

  • Coroebus of Elis, the first victor at the Olympic Games.
  • Troilus of Elis, 4th century BC equestrian

In mythology

  • Salmoneus, Aethlius, Pelops mythological kings of Elis
  • Endymion
  • Sons of Endymion:
  • Epeius
  • Aetolus
  • Paeon
  • Augeas, king of Elis related to the Fifth Labour of Heracles
  • Amphimachus, king of Elis and leader of Eleans in the Trojan War
  • Thalpius, leader of Eleans in the Trojan War
  • Oxylus, king of Elis

Intellectuals

  • Alexinus (–265 BC), philosopher
  • Hippias of Elis, Greek sophist
  • Phaedo of Elis, founder of the Elean School
  • Pyrrho, founder of the Pyrrhonist school of philosophy

Elean dialect

Eleans were labelled as the greatest barbarians barbarotatoi by musician Stratonicus of Athens

In Hesychius (s.v. ) and other ancient lexica, Eleans are also listed as barbarophones. Indeed, the North-West Doric dialect of Elis is, after the Aeolic dialects, one of the most difficult for the modern reader of epigraphic texts.

Notes

  • Map from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture (archived 18 December 2005)
  • Elis – the city of the Olympic games
  • Mait Kõiv, Early History of Elis and Pisa: Invented or Evolving Traditions?