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sand in the north and lagoons and marshes towards the south. During the summer months communication with the sea being established by means of canals, these lagoons yield a See also:

rich See also:

HARVEST (A.S. hcerfest " autumn," O.H. Ger. herbist, possibly through an old Teutonic root representing Lat. car pere, " to pluck ")

harvest of See also:

fish to the inhabitants, who at the same See also:

time, however, are almost driven from the coast by the swarms of gnats. The district for administrative purposes forms See also:

PART

part of the See also:

NOME

nome of Elis and Achaea (see GREECE). Elis was divided into three districts—Hollow or Lowland Elis (r) Koi~17sHMs), Pisatis, or the territory of See also:

Pisa, and Triphylia, or the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country of the three tribes. (1) Hollow Elis, the largest and most See also:

NORTHERN

northern of the three, was watered by the Peneus and its tributary the Ladon, whose See also:

UNITED

united stream forms the See also:

MODERN

modern Gastouni. It included not only the See also:

CHAMPAIGN

champaign country originally designated by its name, but also the mountainous region of Acrorea, occupied by the offshoots of Erymanthus. Besides the See also:

capital See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of Elis, it contained See also:

CYLLENE (mod. Ziria)

Cyllene, an Arcadian See also:

settlement on the sea-coast, whose inhabitants worshipped See also:

Hermes under the phallic See also:

SYMBOL (Gr. o-uµ(3oXov, a sign)

symbol; Pylus, at the junction of the Peneus and the Ladon, which, like so many other places of the same name, claimed to be the city of See also:

Nestor, and the fortified frontier See also:

TOWN

town of Lasion, the ruins of which are still visible at Kuti, near the See also:

VILLAGE

village of Kumani.

The district was famous in antiquity for its See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle and horses; and its byssus, supposed to have been introduced by the Phoenicians, was inferior only to that of See also:

PALESTINE

Palestine. (2) Pisatis extended south from Hollow Elis to the right See also:

BANK

bank of the See also:

ALPHEUS ('AAdseaos; mod. Ruphia)

Alpheus, and was divided into eight departments called after as many towns. Of these Salmone, See also:

HERACLEA

Heraclea, Cicysion, Dyspontium and Harpina are known—the last being the reputed See also:

BURIAL

burial-place of Marmax, the suitor of Hippodamia. From the time of the See also:

early investigators it has been disputed whether Pisa, which gave its name to the district, has ever been a city, or was only a See also:

FOUNTAIN (Late Lat. fontana, from ions, a spring)

fountain or a See also:

hill. By far the most important spot in Pisatis was the See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of the See also:

GREAT

great Olympic See also:

GAMES, CLASSICAL

games, on the northern bank of the Alpheus (see See also:

OLYMPIA

OLYMPIA). (3) Triphylia stretches south from the Alpheus to the Neda, which forms the boundary towards Messenia. Of the nine towns mentioned by See also:

POLYBIUS (c. 204–122 B.C.)

Polybius, only two attained to any considerable influence—Lepreum and Macistus, which gave the names of Lepreatis and Macistia to the southern and northern halves of Triphylia. The former was the seat of a strongly See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population, and continued to take every opportunity of resisting the supremacy of the Eleans. In the time of See also:

PAUSANIAS

Pausanias it was in a very decadent See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition, and possessed only a poor See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick-built See also:

temple of See also:

DEMETER

Demeter; but considerable remains of its See also:

OUTER

outer walls are still in existence near the village of Strovitzi, on a part of the Minthe range. The See also:

ORIGINAL

original inhabitants of Elis were called Caucones and Paroreatae. They are mentioned for the first time in See also:

Greek See also:

HISTORY

history under the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of Epeians, as setting out for the Trojan See also:

War, and they are described by See also:

HOMER, WINSLOW (1836-191o)

Homer as living in a See also:

state of See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant hostility with their neighbours the Pylians. At the See also:

close of the rith See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century B.C. the See also:

DORIANS

Dorians invaded the Peloponnesus, and Elis See also:

fell to the See also:

SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share of Oxylus and the Aetolians.

These See also:

PEOPLE

people, amalgamating with the Epeians, formed a powerful See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom in the north of Elis. After this many changes took place in the See also:

POLITICAL

political See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution of the country, till at length it came to acknowledge only three tribes, each independent of the others. These tribes were the Epeians, Minyae and Eleans. Before the end of the 8th century B.C., however, the Eleans had vanquished both their rivals, and established their supremacy over the whole country. Among the other advantages which they thus gained was the right of celebrating the Olympic games, which had formerly been the See also:

PREROGATIVE

prerogative of the Pisatans. The attempts which this people made to recover their lost See also:

PRIVILEGE

privilege, during a See also:

period of nearly two See also:

HUNDRED

hundred years, ended at length in the See also:

TOTAL

total destruction of their city by the Eleans. From the time of this event (572 B.C.) till the Peloponnesian War, the See also:

peace of Elis remained undisturbed. In that great contest Elis sided at first with See also:

SPARTA (Gr. Eirapril or AaKe5atycav)

Sparta; but that See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power, jealous of the increasing prosperity of its ally, availed itself of the first pretext to pick a See also:

QUARREL

quarrel. At the See also:

BATTLE

battle of Mantinea (418 B.C.) the Eleans fought against the Spartans, who, as soon as the war came to a close, took vengeance upon them by depriving them of Triphylia and the towns of the Acrorea. The Eleans made no See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt to re-establish their authority over these places, till the See also:

STAR

star of See also:

Thebes See also:

rose in the ascendant after the battle of See also:

LEUCTRA

Leuctra (371 B.C.). It is not unlikely that they would have effected their purpose had not the Arcadian confederacy come to the assistance of the Triphylians. In 366 B.C. hostilities See also:

broke out between them, and though the Eleans were at first successful, they were soon overpowered, and their capital very nearly fell into the hands of the enemy.

Unable to make See also:

head against their opponents, they applied for assistance to the Spartans, who invaded Arcadia, and forced the Arcadians to recall their troops from Elis. The See also:

general result of this war was the restoration of their territory to the Eleans, who were also again invested with the right of holding the Olympic games. During the Macedonian supremacy in Greece they sided with the victors, but refused to fight againsttheir countrymen. After the See also:

DEATH

death of See also:

Alexander they renounced the Macedonian See also:

ALLIANCE

alliance. At a subsequent period they joined the Aetolian See also:

LEAGUE

League, but persistently refused to identify them-selves with the See also:

ACHAEANS ('AXaioi, Lat. Achivi)

Achaeans. When the whole of Greece fell under the See also:

ROMAN

Roman yoke, the sanctity of Olympia secured for the Eleans a certain amount of See also:

INDULGENCE (Lat. indulgentia, indulgere, to grant, concede)

indulgence. The games still continued to attract to the country large See also:

numbers of strangers, until they were finally put down by See also:

THEODOSIUS

Theodosius in 394, two years previous to the utter destruction of the country by the See also:

GOTHIC

Gothic invasion under See also:

ALARIC (Ala-reiks, " All-ruler "), (c. 370-410)

Alaric. In later times Elis fell successively into the hands of the See also:

Franks and the Venetians, under whose See also:

RULE

rule it recovered to some extent its ancient prosperity.

End of Article: ELIS, or ELEIA

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