Argos, Peloponnese
Argos is a city and a former municipality in the Peloponnese region of Greece, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the largest city in Argolis, having nearly twice the population of its capital, Nafplio.
Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the municipality of Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 138.138 km2. It is from Nafplio, which was its historic harbour. A settlement of great antiquity, Argos has been continuously inhabited as at least a substantial village for the past 7,000 years.
A resident of the city of Argos is known as an Argive. However, this term is also used to refer to those ancient Greeks generally who assaulted the city of Troy during the Trojan War; the term is more widely applied by the Homeric bards.
Numerous ancient monuments can be found in the city today. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local economy.
Etymology
There are several proposed etyma. The name is associated with the legendary Argus, the third king of the city in ancient times, who renamed it after himself, thus replacing its older name Phoronikon Asty. Both the personal name and placename are linked to the word argós, which meant "white" or "shining"; possibly, this had to do with the visual impression given of the Argolic plain during harvest time. According to Strabo, the name could have even originated from the word agrós 'field' by metathesis of the consonants.History
Antiquity
first recorded the myth of the traditional story of Argos being the origin of the ancient Macedonian royal house of the Argead dynasty of Philip II and Alexander the Great. As a strategic location on the fertile plain of Argolis, Argos was a major stronghold during the Mycenaean era. In classical times, Argos was a powerful rival of Sparta for dominance over the Peloponnese, but was eventually shunned by other Greek city-states after remaining neutral during the Greco-Persian Wars.There is evidence of continuous settlement in the area starting with a village about 7,000 years ago in the late Neolithic, located on the foot of Aspida hill. Since that time, Argos has been continually inhabited at the same geographical location. And while the name Argos is generally accepted to have a Hellenic Indo-European etymology, Larissa is generally held to derive from a Pre-Greek substrate.
The city is located at a rather propitious area, among Nemea, Corinth and Arcadia. It also benefitted from its proximity to lake Lerna, which, at the time, was at a distance of one kilometre from the south end of Argos.
Mycenaean Argos
Argos was a major stronghold of Mycenaean times, and along with the neighbouring acropolis of Mycenae and Tiryns became a very early settlement because of its commanding positions in the midst of the fertile plain of Argolis.Archaic Argos
Argos experienced its greatest period of expansion and power under the energetic 7th century BC ruler King Pheidon. Under Pheidon, Argos regained sway over the cities of the Argolid and challenged Sparta's dominance of the Peloponnese. Spartan dominance is thought to have been interrupted following the Battle of Hyssiae in 669–668 BC, in which Argive troops defeated the Spartans in a hoplite battle. During the time of its greatest power, the city boasted a pottery and bronze sculpturing school, pottery workshops, tanneries and clothes producers. Moreover, at least 25 celebrations took place in the city, in addition to a regular local products exhibition. A sanctuary dedicated to Hera was also found at the same spot where the monastery of Panagia Katekrymeni is located today. Pheidon also extended Argive influence throughout Greece, taking control of the Olympic Games away from the citizens of Elis and appointing himself organizer during his reign. Pheidon is also thought to have introduced reforms for standard weight and measures in Argos, a theory further reinforced with the unearthing of six "spits" of iron in an Argive Heraion, possibly remainders of a dedication from Pheidon.Classical Argos
In 494 BC, Argos suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of its regional rival, Sparta, at the Battle of Sepeia. Following this defeat, Herodotus tells us the city suffered a form of stasis. The political chaos is thought to have resulted in a democratic transition in the city. Argos did not participate in the Hellenic Alliance against the Persian Invasion of 480 BC. This resulted in a period of diplomatic isolation, although there is evidence of an Argive alliance with Tegea prior to 462 BC.In 462 BC, Argos joined a tripartite alliance with Athens and Thessaly. This alliance was somewhat dysfunctional, however, and the Argives are only thought to have provided marginal contributions to the alliance at the Battle of Oenoe and Tanagra. For example, only 1,000 Argive hoplites are thought to have fought alongside the Athenians at the Battle of Tanagra. Following the allies' defeat at Tanagra in 457 BC, the alliance began to fall apart, resulting in its dissolution in 451 BC.
Argos remained neutral or the ineffective ally of Athens during the Archidamian War between Sparta and Athens. Argos's neutrality resulted in a rise of its prestige among other Greek cities, and Argos used this political capital to organize and lead an alliance against Sparta and Athens in 421 BC. This alliance included Mantinea, Corinth, Elis, Thebes, Argos, and eventually Athens. This alliance fell apart, however, after the allied loss at the Battle of Mantinea in 418 BC. This defeat, combined with the raiding of the Argolid by the Epidaurians, resulted in political instability and an eventual oligarchic coup in 417 BC. Although democracy was restored within a year, Argos was left permanently weakened by this coup. This weakening led to a loss of power, which in turn led to the shift of commercial focus from the Ancient Agora to the eastern side of the city, delimited by Danaou and Agiou Konstadinou streets.
Argos played a minor role in the Corinthian Wars against Sparta, and for a short period of time considered uniting with Corinth to form an expanded Argolid state. For a brief period of time, the two poleis combined, but Corinth quickly rebelled against Argive domination, and Argos returned to its traditional boundaries. After this, Argos remained an important but politically inconsistent polis in the Peloponnese. Although it was counted among the four major Greek cities by Isokrates in 346 BC, alongside Athens, Sparta, and Thebes, this was primarily due to its symbolic status as the legendary birthplace of the Argead dynasty, the royal house of Macedon. In reality, Argos was militarily and politically weakened, plagued by internal strife and civic violence throughout the 4th century BC.
In the 350s BC, Argos joined Messene and Megalopolis in resisting renewed Spartan aggression, particularly during Archidamos III’s campaigns against the anti-Spartan alliance. The Argives participated in defending Megalopolis but quickly withdrew after a defeat at Orneai and the arrival of Theban reinforcements, reflecting a broader pattern of military reluctance and limited effectiveness.
After the Peace of Philocrates in 346 BC, Argos increasingly engaged with Philip II of Macedon. While Demosthenes accused Argive leaders of collaborating with Macedon, this relationship appears to have been driven more by strategic concerns than ideological alignment. Macedonian sympathizers, including Myrtis, Teledamos, and Mnaseas, held power in the city by 330 BC. However, Argos maintained a cautious neutrality during key conflicts, such as the Battle of Chaironeia in 338 BC, where it sent no troops to support either side.
Despite Argos’s neutral stance, Philip II rewarded the polis in 337 BC with Spartan territory as part of a broader reordering of Peloponnesian borders intended to weaken Sparta and reward its rivals. Argos received either the contested region of Thyreatis, the eastern seaboard of Mount Parnon, or both, though the exact territorial allocation remains debated. This expansion made Argos one of the largest territorial states in the Peloponnese, controlling an area reaching up to 1,400 km².
The decision to grant Argos territory was likely influenced by its symbolic connection to the Argeads and its longstanding enmity with Sparta. However, Philip’s limited trust in Argos, due to its earlier alliance with Athens in 342 BC and its absence at Chaironeia, may have tempered the extent of his generosity. Later Macedonian kings, such as Antigonus III Doson, would reaffirm Argive control over disputed areas like Zarax.
Democracy in Classical Argos
Argos was a democracy for most of the classical period, with only a brief hiatus between 418 and 416. Democracy was first established after a disastrous defeat by the Spartans at the Battle of Sepeia in 494. So many Argives were killed in the battle that a revolution ensued, in which previously disenfranchised outsiders were included in the state for the first time.Argive democracy included an Assembly, a Council, and another body called 'The Eighty,' whose precise responsibilities are obscure. Magistrates served six-month terms of office, with few exceptions, and were audited at the end of their terms. There is some evidence that ostracism was practiced.
Hellenistic Argos
Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Argos joined the anti-Macedonian coalition during the Lamian War alongside Athens, Aitolia, Messenia, and others. This shift from its previous ambivalence under Philip II reflected the rise of anti-Macedonian sentiment and leadership within the city. However, Argos’s commitment was limited; like other Peloponnesian poleis, it showed little resolve in sustained military engagement, and after early enthusiasm, returned to a pattern of defensive caution.In 318 BC, when Polyperchon, the regent of Macedon, issued a diagramma ordering the restoration of regimes as they had been under Philip II and Alexander. He addressed a specific letter to Argos and the other cities, urging the exile or execution of pro-Antipatrid leaders and the confiscation of their property. The fact that Argos was the only polis explicitly named underscores its symbolic significance as the legendary homeland of the Argead dynasty. The Argive assembly initially aligned itself with Polyperchon and his son Alexandrer; however, in the summer of 316 BC, Cassander installed Apollonides as the strategos of Argos and garrisoned the city. While Apollonides campaigned in Arcadia the following year, the Argives invited Polyperchon’s son Alexander to retake the city. Apollonides's campaign was successful, but was cut short. Upon hearing of the Argive's treachery, Apollonides returned to Argos enacted a brutal purge: approximately 500 supporters of Polyperchon were burned alive in the prytaneion. The conspirators not burned alive were either exiled or put to death. This event was only the second major purge in Argive history after the infamous Scytalism of 370BC and may have eliminated as much as 5% of the hoplite citizen class.
This “decapitation” of the political leadership likely contributed to Argos’s declining engagement in inter-polis affairs and its later detachment from emerging federal formations such as the Achaean League. Cassander likely certainly installed a pro-Macedonian oligarchy afterward, which remained in control until 303 BC when Argos joined several northern and central Peloponnesian poleis which defected to Demetrius. The liberation of Argos was mythologized by the Argives themselves in inscriptions that attributed the city’s freedom to divine intervention, notably from Apollo, while omitting Demetrius entirely.
The political status of Argos after the Antigonid defeat at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC is unclear. While Plutarch refers to Demetrius recovering various Peloponnesian cities that had turned against him, he does not identify them by name, so Argos’s inclusion remains speculative. Other poleis in the Argolic Akte like as Troizen were likely brought back under Demetrius’s influence in 295 BC. Troizen’s later contribution of ships and troops to his Asian expedition in 286 BC suggests that at least some level of Antigonid control or cooperation persisted. After Demetrius’s death, the broader control of the Argolic cities becomes difficult to trace. It is uncertain whether Gonatas inherited authority over these areas. Troizen did continue to host a Macedonian garrison into the early 270s, which was expelled during a campaign by the Spartan regent Cleonymus. However, no comparable military activity is recorded for Argos during this time.
By 272 BC, during the Epirote king Pyrrhus’s invasion of the Peloponnese, Argos appears to have been autonomous but politically fractured. While Pyrrhus was campaigning in the Peloponnese, the Argives invited him to intervene in a civic dispute. Since Antigonus Gonatas was approaching too, Pyrrhus hastened to enter the city with his army by stealth, only to find the place crowded with hostile troops. During the confused Battle of Argos in the narrow city streets, Pyrrhus was trapped. While he was fighting an Argive soldier, the soldier's old mother, who was watching from a rooftop, threw a tile which knocked him from his horse and broke part of his spine, paralyzing him. Whether he was alive or not after the blow is unknown, but his death was assured when a Macedonian soldier named Zopyrus, though frightened by the look on the face of the unconscious king, hesitantly and ineptly beheaded his motionless body. This story is later recounted by Plutarch in his Life of Pyrrhus.