Astacus (Acarnania)

Astacus or Astakos (Ancient Greek: Ἄστακος) was a town on the west coast of ancient Acarnania, on a bay, one side of which is formed by the promontory anciently named Crithote. Astacus is said to have been a colony of Cephallenia. At the commencement of the Peloponnesian War, it was governed by a tyrant, named Evarchus, who was deposed by the Athenians in 431 BCE, but was shortly afterwards restored by the Corinthians. It is mentioned as one of the towns of Acarnania in a Greek inscription, the date of which is subsequent to 219 BCE.[1][2][3][4][5]

Its site is located near the modern Astakos.[6][7]

  1. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. p. 459. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  2. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
  3. ^ Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. Vol. 2.30, 2.33, 2.102.
  4. ^ Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax p. 13; Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.14.
  5. ^ August Böckh, Corpus Inscript., No. 1793.
  6. ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 54, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
  7. ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.