Opus (Elis)

Opus (Ancient Greek: Ὀποῦς)[1] was a town in the mountainous district of Acroreia in ancient Elis, taken by the Spartans, when they invaded Elis at the close of the Peloponnesian War.[2][3] Diodorus Siculus writes that the Spartans, under command of Pausanias of Sparta, marched against Elis with 4,000 men in 402 BCE, and that Opus (along with Alium, Eupagium, Thraustus, and Lasion) was one of the towns subdued.[2] Xenophon mentions an Arcadian raid into Elis and took several towns of Acroreia around 365 BCE.[4] Strabo says that the inhabitants of Opus were related to those of the Locrian Opus.[3] The Scholiast on Pindar mentions a river Opus in Elis.[5]

Its site has not been located,[6] also some suggest it may be the ruins near modern Gartsiko.[7]

  1. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
  2. ^ a b Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca historica (Historical Library). Vol. 14.17.8.
  3. ^ a b Strabo. Geographica. Vol. 9.4.2. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  4. ^ Xenophon. Hellenica. Vol. 7.4.14.
  5. ^ Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 9.64.
  6. ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 58, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
  7. ^ Mogens Herman Hansen & Thomas Heine Nielsen (2004). "Elis". An inventory of archaic and classical poleis. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 500. ISBN 0-19-814099-1.