Palaepharsalus

39°17′15″N 22°32′34″E / 39.28748°N 22.54271°E / 39.28748; 22.54271 Palaepharsalus or Palaipharsalos (Ancient Greek: Παλαιοφάρσαλος - meaning "Old Pharsalus") was a town of ancient Thessaly, from which the town moved to the later location of Pharsalus.[1]

The geographer Strabo writes of two towns, Palaepharsalus and Pharsalus, existing in historical times. His statement that the Thetideion, the temple to Thetis south of Scotussa, was "near both the Pharsaloi, the Old and the New," seems to imply that Palaeopharsalus was not itself close by Pharsalus.[2] Although the battle of 48 BCE between Julius Caesar and Pompey is often called the Battle of Pharsalus by modern historians, four ancient writers – the author of the Bellum Alexandrinum,[3] Frontinus,[4] Eutropius,[5] and Orosius[6] – place it specifically at Palaepharsalus. In 198 BCE Philip V sacked Palaepharsalus but apparently spared Pharsalus itself.[7]

  1. ^ Livy. Ab urbe condita Libri [History of Rome]. Vol. 32.13.
  2. ^ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. 9.5.6. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
  3. ^ Bellum Alexandrinum, 48.1.
  4. ^ Frontinus, Strategemata 2.3.22.
  5. ^ Eutropius, 20.
  6. ^ Orosius, 6.15.27.
  7. ^ Livy. Ab urbe condita Libri [History of Rome]. Vol. 32.13.9.