Thessaly (Larissa)
The region of Thessaly lies on the northeast coast of Greece, south of Macedonia. It comprises two large plains divided by hills and is enclosed by mountains: Pindus to the west, Othrys and Pelion to the south, and Olympus to the north. Thessaly’s major river, the Peneus, rises in the Pindus Mountains and flows through the plains of Thessaly. It then thrusts through the Vale of Tempe between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa before emptying into the Thermaic Gulf. Because of its fertile plains, Thessaly became richer in grain, horses and cattle than other parts of Greece.
The only usable harbour in Thessaly was located on the Gulf of Pagasae (=Gulf of Velos). Two seaports emerged there in different phases of history. First was Iolcus (=Velos), a major Mycenaean city, fabled as the home of Aeson and his son the hero Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. Later came nearby Pagasae, which flourished in the 400s and 300s BC.
The inhabitants of these plains were known as Thessaloi, and from them the region took its name, Thessaly. The semi-legendary Aleuas the Red is associated with the division during the sixth-century BC of the Thessalian plains into four historical administrative units or tetrads, ‘quarters’, known as Hestiaeotis, Pelasgiotis Phthiotis and Thessaliotis.
Within this regional structure there were a number of independent city-states that were free to administer their own affairs. The chief township of Pelasgiotis which, despite rivalry from Pharsalus in Phthiotis, subsequently became the most important centre in all Thessaly, Larissa, the seat of the Aleuadae, dominating a large productive plain and profiting from its position near to the Peneus River. The Aleudae submitted to Persia in the 430s BC.
Epirus (Ambracia)
Ancient Epirus was a region of northwest Greece between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea that included the area north of the Ambracian Gulf and part of modern Albania. By the early first millennium BC three main clusters of Greek-speaking tribes had emerged in Epirus: the Chaonians in the northwest, the Molossians in the centre, and the Thesprotians in the south. Epirus received Hellenic influence from the Elean colonies in Cassopaea and from the Corinthian colonies at Corcyra (Is) and Ambracia; and the oracle at Dodona drew pilgrims from northern and central Greece. A strong Molossian state existed under Neoptolemus-I (r.c.370-357 BC).
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