View source for Tegea

{{Short description|Settlement in ancient Greek Arcadia}}
{{for|the town of ancient Crete|Tegea (Crete)}}
{{Infobox Greek Dimos
  |name = Tegea
  |name_local = Τεγέα
|type = municipal unit
|image_map      = DE Tegeas.svg
|map_caption = Location within the regional unit
|periph = [[Peloponnese (region)|Peloponnese]]
|periphunit         = [[Arcadia (regional unit)|Arcadia]]
|municipality = [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripoli]]
  |pop_municunit = 2959
  |population_as_of = 2021
  |area_municunit  = 118.35 
  |elevation = 650
  |coordinates = {{coord|37|27.32|N|22|25.23|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
  |postal_code = 220 12
  |area_code = 2710
  |licence = TP
  |website =
 |image_skyline      = Archaeological site of the Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea (2017, image 1).jpg
 |caption_skyline    = The [[Temple of Athena Alea]] at Tegea
 |city_flag          = 
 |city_seal          = 
 |districts          =

}}
'''Tegea''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|iː|dʒ|i|ə}}; {{langx|el|Τεγέα}}) was a settlement in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|ancient Arcadia]], and it is also a former municipality in [[Arcadia (regional unit)|Arcadia]], [[Peloponnese (region)|Peloponnese]], [[Greece]]. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the  [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripoli]] municipality, of which it is a municipal unit<ref name=Kallikratis>{{Cite web|url=http://www.et.gr/idocs-nph/search/pdfViewerForm.html?args=5C7QrtC22wGYK2xFpSwMnXdtvSoClrL81-32jgAMSfbnMRVjyfnPUeJInJ48_97uHrMts-zFzeyCiBSQOpYnT00MHhcXFRTsb2fGphpq4MKX2ZkaHobySNnvZCNHXvYVvlf80XevW0Q.|title=ΦΕΚ B 1292/2010, Kallikratis reform municipalities|language=el|publisher=[[Government Gazette (Greece)|Government Gazette]]}}</ref> with an area of 118.350&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=stat01>{{cite web|url=http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf|publisher=National Statistical Service of Greece|title=Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)|language=el}}</ref> It is near the modern villages of [[Alea, Argolis|Alea]] and [[Episkopi, Arkadia|Episkopi]].

The legendary founder of Tegea was [[Tegeates]], a son of [[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'', 8. 45. 1</ref>

==History==
Tegea ({{langx|grc|Τεγέα}}; {{langx|grc-x-ionic|Τεγέη}}) was one of the most ancient and powerful towns of [[ancient Arcadia]], situated in the southeast of the country. Its territory, called '''Tegeatis''' (Τεγεᾶτις), was bounded by [[Cynuria]] and [[ancient Argolis|Argolis]] on the east, from which it was separated by [[Mount Parthenium]], by [[ancient Laconia|Laconia]] on the south, by the Arcadian district of [[Maenalia]] on the west, and by the territory of [[Mantineia]] on the north. The Tegeatae are said to have derived their name from [[Tegeates]], a son of [[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]], and to have dwelt originally in eight, afterwards nine, [[deme|demoi]] or townships. In the Archaic period the nine demoi that underlie Tegea banded together in a [[synoecism]] to form one city; the inhabitants of the demoi were incorporated, by [[Aleus]] in the city of Tegea, of which this hero was the reputed founder. The names of these nine townships, which are preserved by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], are: [[Gareatae]] (Γαρεᾶται), [[Phylaceis]] (Φυλακεῖς), [[Caryatae]] (Καρυᾶται), [[Corytheis]] (Κορυθεῖς), [[Potachidae]] (Πωταχίδαι), [[Oeatae]] (Οἰᾶται), [[Manthyreis]] (Μανθυρεῖς), [[Echeuetheis]] (Εχευήθεἱς), to which [[Apheidantes]] (Ἀφείδαντες) was added as the ninth in the reign of king [[Apheidas]].<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|8|45|1}}, 8.3.4.</ref><ref>{{Cite Strabo|viii. p.337}}</ref> The Tegeatae were early divided into 4 tribes ([[phylai]]) (φυλαί), called respectively [[Clareotis]] (Κλαρεῶτις, in inscriptions Κραριῶτις<ref>Böckh, Corp. lnscr. no. 1513</ref>), [[Hippothoitis]] (Ἱπποθοῖτις), [[Apolloneatis]] (Ἀπολλωνεᾶτις), and [[Athoneatis]] (Ἀθανεᾶτις), to each of which belonged a certain number of [[metoeci]] (μέτοικοι) or resident aliens.<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|8|53|6}}</ref>

Tegea is mentioned by [[Homer]] in the [[Catalogue of Ships]] in the ''[[Iliad]]'' as one of the places whose troops are led by [[Agapenor]].<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'' 2.607–609.</ref> It was probably the most celebrated of all the Arcadian towns in the earliest times. This appears from its heroic renown, since its king [[Echemus]] is said to have slain [[Hyllus]], the son of [[Heracles]], in single combat.<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|9|26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pausanias|8|45|3}}</ref> The Tegeatae offered a long-continued and successful resistance to the [[ancient Sparta|Spartans]], when the latter attempted to extend their dominion over Arcadia. In one of the wars between the two peoples, Chariläus or [[Charillus]], king of Sparta, deceived by an [[oracle]] which appeared to promise victory to the Spartans, invaded Tegeatis, and was not only defeated, but was taken prisoner with all his men who had survived the battle.<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|1.66}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pausanias|3|7|3}}, 8.5.9, 8.45.3, 8.47.2, 8.48.4.</ref> More than two centuries afterwards, in the reign of [[Leon of Sparta|Leon]] and [[Agesicles]], the Spartans again fought unsuccessfully against the Tegeatae; but in the following generation, in the time of their king [[Anaxandridas II]], the Spartans, having obtained possession of the bones of [[Orestes]] in accordance with an oracle, defeated the Tegeatae and compelled them to acknowledge the supremacy of Sparta, about 560&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|1.65, 1.67, ''et seq.''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pausanias|3|3|5}}, ''et seq.''</ref> Thus, Tegea's struggle against [[Spartan hegemony]] in Arcadia came to an end, and it was forced into some form of collaboration, maybe as one of the earliest members of what would become the Sparta-centered [[Peloponnesian League]].<ref>Ste. Croix, ''Origins of the Peloponnesian War'', pp. 96, 97.</ref>

Tegea, however, still retained its independence, though its military force was at the disposal of Sparta; and in the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] it appears as the second military power in the [[ancient Peloponnesus|Peloponnesus]], having the place of honour on the left wing of the allied army. Five hundred of the Tegeatae fought at the [[Battle of Thermopylae]], and 3000 at the [[Battle of Plataea]], half of their force consisting of [[hoplites]] and half of light-armed troops.<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|7.202, 9.26, ''et seq.''}}</ref> As it was not usual to send the whole force of a state upon a distant march, [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]] and [[Henry Fynes Clinton]] estimate the force of the Tegeatae on this occasion as not more than three-fourths of their whole number. This would give 4000 for the military population of Tegea, and about 17,400 for the whole free population.<ref>[[Henry Fynes Clinton]], vol. ii. p. 417; {{Cite DGRG|title=Tegea}}</ref>

Soon after the Battle of Plataea, the Tegeatae were again at war with the Spartans, of the causes of which, however, we have no information. We only know that the Tegeatae fought twice against the Spartans between 479 and 464&nbsp;BCE, and were each time defeated; first in conjunction with the [[Argives]], and a second time together with the other Arcadians, except the [[Mantineia]]ns at [[Dipaea]], in the [[Maenalia]]n district.<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|9.37}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pausanias|3|11|7}}</ref> About this time, and also at a subsequent period, Tegea, and especially the temple of [[Athena Alea]] in the city, was a frequent place of refuge for persons who had rendered themselves obnoxious to the Spartan government. Hither fled the seer [[Hegesistratus]]<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|9.37}}</ref> and the kings [[Leotychides]], and [[Pausanias (king of Sparta)|Pausanias]], son of [[Pleistoanax]].<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|6.72}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Hellenica|3.5. 25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pausanias|3|5|6}}</ref>

In the [[Peloponnesian War]] the Tegeatae were the firm allies of the Spartans, to whom they remained faithful both on account of their possessing an aristocratical constitution, and from their jealousy of the neighbouring democratical city of Mantineia, with which they were frequently at war. Thus the Tegeatae not only refused to join the Argives in the alliance formed against Sparta in 421&nbsp;BCE, but they accompanied the Lacedaemonians in their expedition against [[Ancient Argos|Argos]] in 418&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite Thucydides|5.32, 57}}</ref> They also fought on the side of the Spartans in the [[Corinthian War]], 394&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite Hellenica|4.2.13}}</ref> The [[Temple of Athena Alea]] burned in 394&nbsp;BCE and was magnificently rebuilt, to designs by [[Scopas]] of Paros, with reliefs of the [[Calydonian boar]] hunt in the main pediment.<ref>The Calydonian boar and the head of [[Atalanta]] have been removed to the [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]]</ref> After the [[Battle of Leuctra]] (371&nbsp;BCE), however, the Spartan party in Tegea was expelled, and the city joined the other Arcadian towns in the foundation of [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]] and in the formation of the [[Arcadian League]].<ref>{{Cite Hellenica|6.5.6, ''et seq.''}}</ref> When Mantineia a few years afterwards quarrelled with the supreme Arcadian government, and formed an alliance with its old enemy Sparta, Tegea remained faithful to the new confederacy, and fought under [[Epaminondas]] against the Spartans at the great [[Battle of Mantinea (362 BC)|Battle of Mantineia]], 362&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite Hellenica|7.4.36, ''et seq.'', 7.5.5, ''et seq.''}}</ref>

Tegea at a later period joined the [[Aetolian League]], but soon after the accession of [[Cleomenes III]] to the Spartan throne it formed an alliance with Sparta, together with Mantineia and [[Orchomenus (Arcadia)|Orchomenus]]. It thus became involved in hostilities with the [[Achaean League|Achaeans]], and in the war which followed, called the [[Cleomenic War]], it was taken by [[Antigonus Doson]], the ally of the Achaeans, and annexed to the Achaean League, 222&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite Polybius|2.46, 2.54, ''et seq.''}}</ref> In 218&nbsp;BCE, Tegea was attacked by Spartan king [[Lycurgus (king of Sparta)|Lycurgus]], who obtained possession of the whole city with the exception of the [[acropolis]]. It subsequently fell into the hands of [[Machanidas]], the [[tyrant]] of Sparta, but was recovered by the Achaeans after the defeat of Machanidas, who was slain in battle by [[Philopoemen]].<ref>{{Cite Polybius|5.17, 11.18}}</ref> In the time of [[Strabo]] Tegea was the only one of the Arcadian towns which continued to be inhabited,<ref>{{Cite Strabo|viii. p.388}}</ref> and it was still a place of importance in the time of [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], who has given us a minute account of its public buildings.<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|8|45|1}}-8.48, 8.53.</ref> The "tombs" he saw there were shrines to the [[chthonic]] founding ''daemones'': "There are also tombs of [[Tegeates]], the son of [[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]], and of Maira (or Maera), his wife." Maira was a daughter of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], and Homer makes mention of her in the passage where [[Odysseus]] tells to [[Alkinous]] his journey to [[Hades]], and of those whose ghosts he beheld there."<ref>Pausanias, ''Guide to Greece'' 8.48.6</ref>

Ancient Tegea was an important religious center of ancient Greece,<ref>"This sanctuary had been respected from early days by all the [[Peloponnesian]]s, and afforded peculiar safety to its suppliants" (Pausanias, ''Description of Greece''  iii.5.6)</ref> containing the [[Temple of Athena Alea]]. The ''temenos'' was founded by [[Aleus]], [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] was informed.<ref>''Description of Greece'' viii.4.8.</ref> Votive bronzes at the site from the [[Geometric Greece|Geometric]] and [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] periods take the forms of horses and deer; there are [[sealstone]]s and [[fibula]]e.

The city retained civic life under the [[Roman Empire]]; Tegea survived being sacked by the [[Goths]] in AD 395–396. The Roman poets use the adjective Tegĕēus or Tegeaeus as equivalent to Arcadian: thus it is given as an epithet to Pan (Verg. G. 1.18), Callisto, daughter of Lycaon (Ov. Ar. Am. 2.55, Fast. 2.167), Atalanta (Ov. Met. 8.317, 380), Carmenta (Ov. Fast. 1.627), and Mercury (Stat. Silv. 1.54)

In the [[Middle Ages]], through some unclear process, Tegea received the name of Amyklion (later usually shortened to Amykli and Nikli) by the 10th century.{{sfn|Bon|1969|p=522}} In 1082, it became the seat of the [[Diocese of Amyclae]], a [[suffragan see]] of the [[Metropolis of Lacedaemon]].{{sfn|Gritsopoulos|1939|p=109}}{{sfn|Konti|1985|pp=94–95}} Nikli and the rest of Arcadia were captured by the [[Fourth Crusade|Crusaders]] in {{circa|1206–1209}}, becoming part of the new [[Frankokratia|Frankish]] [[Principality of Achaea]], which soon came to encompass most of the [[Peloponnese]].{{sfn|Bon|1969|pp=67–70}} The ''[[Chronicle of the Morea]]'' depicts Nikli as a site of some importance and fortified, which fell to the Crusaders only after a siege. It became the seat of a [[Barony of Nikli|secular barony]], while a [[Roman Catholic]] bishop was installed in the episcopal see.{{sfn|Bon|1969|pp=522–523}} Nikli was still in Frankish hands in 1280, but was lost to the resurgent [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] by 1302, who also restored the local see to the Orthodox clergy.{{sfn|Bon|1969|pp=112, 146, 182, 523–524}}

The site of ancient Tegea is now located within the modern village of [[Alea, Arcadia|Alea]] (referred to as ''Piali'' before 1915). Alea is located about 10 kilometers southeast of [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripoli]]. The municipality of Tegea has its seat at [[Stadio, Arcadia|Stadio]].

===Tegea and Crete===
In ancient times, the people of Tegea said that Cydon, Archedius, and Gortys, the surviving sons of their king Tegeates, migrated voluntarily to Crete, and that the cities [[Kydonia]], [[Gortyna]], and [[Catreus]], were named after them.  Yet the Cretans denied this; instead they tried to portray these three characters as the offspring of the local heroes Minos and Rhadamantus.<ref>William Ridgeway, [https://books.google.com/books?id=pIdxBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 ''The Early Age of Greece, Volume 1''] Cambridge University Press, 2014 (originally 1901) {{ISBN|1107434580}}</ref>

==Subdivisions==
The municipal unit Tegea is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets):
*[[Alea, Tegea|Alea]]
*[[Episkopi, Arcadia|Episkopi]]
*[[Garea, Tegea|Garea]]
*[[Kamari, Arcadia|Kamari]]
*[[Kandalos]]
*[[Kerasitsa]], where the politician [[Gregoris Lambrakis]] was born in 1912
*[[Lithovounia]]
*[[Magoula, Arcadia|Magoula]] (Magoula, Giokareika)
*[[Manthyrea, Tegea|Manthyrea]]
*[[Mavriki, Arcadia|Mavriki]]
*[[Psili Vrysi]] (Psili Vrysi, Bouzaneika)
*[[Rizes]]
*'''[[Stadio, Arcadia|Stadio]]''' (Stadio, Agios Sostis, Akra)
*[[Tzivas]]
*[[Vouno, Arcadia|Vouno]]
*[[Stringos]] (Stringos, Demiri)

==Historical population==
{| class=wikitable
! Year !! Population
|-
| 1991 || 4,539
|-
| 2001 || 3,858
|-
| 2011 || 3,544
|-
| 2021 || 2,959
|}

==Notable people==
*[[Aristarchus of Tegea]], poet (5th century BC)
*[[Anyte of Tegea]], poet (3rd century BC)
*[[Cepheus, King of Tegea|Cepheus]], mythical king and an [[Argonauts|Argonaut]]
*[[Echemus]], mythical king
*[[Gregoris Lambrakis]], politician
*[[Telephus]], mythical king

==See also==
*[[List of settlements in Arcadia]]
*[[List of ancient Greek cities]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | last = Bon | first = Antoine | title = La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe | year = 1969 | language = French | publisher = De Boccard | location = Paris | url = http://cefael.efa.gr/detail.php?site_id=1&actionID=page&serie_id=BefarA&volume_number=213&issue_number=1 }}
* {{cite journal | last = Gritsopoulos | first = Tasos | script-title = el:Η μετά της επισκοπής Αμυκλών ένωσις της πατριαρχικής εξαρχίας Τριπολιτζάς | language = Greek | pages = 108–117 | journal = Deltion of the Christian Archaeological Society | year = 1939 | volume = 4 | url = http://www.deltionchae.org/index.php/deltion/article/viewFile/1427/1303 | access-date = 2015-09-11 | archive-date = 2015-04-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150418220553/http://www.deltionchae.org/index.php/deltion/article/viewFile/1427/1303 | url-status = dead }}
* {{cite journal | last = Konti | first = Voula | script-title=el:Συμβολή στην ιστορική γεωγραφία της Αρκαδίας (395-1209) | language = Greek | pages = 91–124 | journal = Byzantina Symmeikta | year = 1985 | volume = 6 | doi = 10.12681/byzsym.699 | url = http://byzsym.org/index.php/bz/article/download/699/617.pdf | doi-access = free }}

==External links==
{{AmCyc Poster}}
*[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/siteindex?entry=Tegea Perseus site: Tegea] Photo gallery of archaeological sites and bibliography.
*[http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Tegea.htm (Roy George), Temple of Athena Alea at Tegea]
*[http://www.losttrails.com/pages/Hproject/Tegea/Tegea.html Tegea]&nbsp;– black-and-white photo essay of the site and related artifacts
*[http://www.sparta.markoulakispublications.org.uk/index.php?id=119 Tegean Ancient Army]&nbsp;– a brief peer-reviewed essay discussing the army of the ancient Tegea

{{Geographic location
|Centre    = Tegea
|North     = [[Korythio]]
|Northeast = Korythio
|East      = 
|Southeast = [[North Kynouria]]
|South     = [[Skiritida]]
|Southwest = [[Valtetsi]]
|West      = Tripoli
|Northwest = [[Tripoli, Greece|Tripoli]]
}}

{{Tripoli div}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tegea| ]]
[[Category:Arcadian city-states]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Peloponnese (region)]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Arcadia]]
[[Category:Locations in the Iliad]]
[[Category:Populated places in Arcadia, Peloponnese]]
[[Category:Tripoli, Greece]]