Thessaly (redirected from Thessalia)

Thessaly (thĕs`əlē), largest ancient region of Greece in N central Greece. It corresponded roughly to the present-day nomes of Larissa and Tríkkala, which form part of the modern region known as Thessaly. Ancient Thessaly was almost completely walled in by mountains, including Pindus, Ossa, and Othrys (now Othrís), and the plains were extremely fertile. Civilization dates from prehistoric times. Before 1000 B.C. a tribe called the Thessalians entered the area from the northwest. The chief Thessalian cities, Larissa, Crannon, and Pherae, were oligarchical. The great families were the Aleuadae (at Larissa) and the Scopadae (at Crannon). The Thessalians were powerful in the 6th cent. B.C., partly through their control of the Amphictyonic League (see amphictyony). Conflict between the oligarchies, however, contributed to Thessaly's decline. Jason, the tyrant of Pherae, succeeded (374 B.C.) in uniting Thessaly, which again became a force in Greece, but it did not remain powerful for long and was subjugated (344 B.C.) by Philip II of Macedon. Under the Roman emperors Thessaly was joined to Macedonia, but after the death of Constantine the Great it became a separate province. It passed (1355) to the Turks and was ceded to Greece in 1881.

Bibliography

See A. J. B. Wace, Prehistoric Thessaly (1912); H. D. Hansen, Early Civilization in Thessaly (1933); and H. D. Westlake, Thessaly in the Fourth Century B.C. (1935, repr. 1969).

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Thessaly

Historical region and current administrative region (pop., 2001: 754,893), east-central Greece. The ancient region corresponded roughly to the modern one. Mount Olympus rises in the northeast. Thessaly is drained by the Piniós River. It was the site of many cultures in the 3rd–2nd millennia BC; by c. 1000 BC Greeks had established power there. Incorporated into the Roman province of Macedon in the 2nd century BC, it was made a separate Roman province in the 4th century AD. In the 7th–13th centuries it was controlled by Slavs, Saracens, Bulgars, and Normans. In the late 14th century it passed to the Turks; it was returned to Greece in 1881. It saw heavy fighting between Allied and Axis forces in 1941.

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Thessaly

a region of E Central Greece, on the Aegean: an extensive fertile plain, edged with mountains. Pop.: 609 100 (2001). Area: 14 037 sq. km (5418 sq. miles)

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Thessaly 

a historical region in central Greece, on the coast of the Aegean Sea, corresponding to the nomes of Larisa, Kardhitsa, Magnisia, and Trikkala. Present-day Thessaly covers an area of 13,900 sq km and has a population of 659,900 (1971).

Thessaly, which lies on the fertile plains of Trikkala and Larisa, is an agricultural region. The granary of Greece, it produces wheat, barley, corn, and legumes, among other grains. Tobacco and cotton are also grown, as well as olives, grapes, and various subtropical fruits. The region has considerable herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. The population also engages in fishing and the mining of copper. Industries include the production of textiles, foodstuffs, tobacco products, cement, metal and wood products, and agricultural machinery; there is also ship repairing and the building of small craft. The main port is Volos; the largest cities are Larisa and Trikkala.

Archaeological excavations of Prepottery Neolithic settlements in Argiss, Souphlion, and Sesklo have shown that the fertile lands of Thessaly encouraged the tribes that settled there to convert to a production economy as early as the middle of the seventh millennium B.C. From the sixth to fourth millennia, during the Neolithic period, the inhabitants of Thessaly, who spoke Pelasgian, engaged in land cultivation, livestock raising, and domestic handicraft production. In the Bronze Age, the Achaeans assumed predominance among the Greek population.

Beginning in the second millennium B.C., an early class government emerged in Thessaly. The Thessalians, an Epirian tribe, settled in Thessaly in the 12th century B.C. and subjugated the local population. The conquerors constituted a class of landholding aristocrats who held sway over dependent farmers, called pelestai. In the fifth century B.C., as a result of the struggle between the demos and the aristocracy, tyranny was established in several cities in Thessaly.

In the fourth century B.C., all Thessaly was united under the tyrant Jason of Pherae. Between 352 and 344 B.C., it was conquered by the Macedonians. After the battle of Cynoscephalae, in 197 B.C., Thessaly, along with other parts of Greece, came within the Roman sphere of influence, and in 148 B.C., it became part of the Roman province of Macedonia.

From A.D. 395 through 1396, Thessaly was part of Byzantium, and from 1396 to 1881 it belonged to Turkey. In 1881, Thessaly became part of Greece.

REFERENCES

Shmidt, R. V. “Iz istoriia Fessalii.” Izv. Gos. Akademii istorii material’noi kul’tury, 1934, issue 101.
Titov, V. S. Neolit Gretsii: Periodizatsia i khronologiia. Moscow, 1969.
Wace, A., and M. S. Thompson. Prehistoric Thessaly. Cambridge, 1912.
Stählin, F. Das hellenische Thessalien. Stuttgart, 1924.
Westlake, H. D. Thessaly in the Fourth Century B.C. London, 1935.