Phalanna was the chief city of the Perrhaibians in Thessaly. It flourished in the 5th and 4th c., replacing Olosson in importance by 400 BC.
Although later outstripped by Gonnos, it was still useful to Perseus as a camp site in 171 BC. Inscriptions indicate that the city records were kept in the Temple of Athena Polias, although the city decrees were dated by the tenures of the priests of Asklepios. There was also a theater and a Sanctuary of Hades and Persephone.
The location, misleadingly described by Strabo as near Tempe, has not been certainly identified, but lay between Orthe and Gonnos in a position to control the roads from the north and the rich fields to the south. Although Karatsoli and Gritzova have been proposed, Phalanna was probably on the flat hill called Kastri 3 km E of modern Tyrnavos; there are building blocks scattered in the area, but no city walls.
Although later outstripped by Gonnos, it was still useful to Perseus as a camp site in 171 BC. Inscriptions indicate that the city records were kept in the Temple of Athena Polias, although the city decrees were dated by the tenures of the priests of Asklepios. There was also a theater and a Sanctuary of Hades and Persephone.
The location, misleadingly described by Strabo as near Tempe, has not been certainly identified, but lay between Orthe and Gonnos in a position to control the roads from the north and the rich fields to the south. Although Karatsoli and Gritzova have been proposed, Phalanna was probably on the flat hill called Kastri 3 km E of modern Tyrnavos; there are building blocks scattered in the area, but no city walls.
Modern location: Unknown
(1)
Phalanna
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Obverse: head of Apollo right
Reverse: head of Nymph Phalanna right, hair in sakkos ΦAΛANNAIΩN
Diameter:
19.5 mm
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 6.6 g
Die Orientation: -
Weight: 6.6 g
No notes for this coin
SNG Cop 203 ff.; BMC Thessaly p. 41, 4 ff.
