Coele

Coele or Koile (Ancient Greek: Κοίλη or Κοιλή) was a deme of ancient Athens, originally of the phyle of Hippothontis, and between 307/6 BCE and 201/200 BCE of Demetrias, sending three delegates to the Athenian Boule.[1] It was located partially inside and partially outside the walls of Themistocles.

The most important monuments were the tomb of Cimon Coalemos[2] (together with his horses, winners of the Olympics) and of the historian Thucydides.[3][4] Following these sources, many historians thought that the deme was, at least in part, outside the city walls, since Cicero had written that it was illegal to bury the dead inside the walls. However, archaeological discoveries have shown that only a small part of the deme, that containing the tombs, developed outside the walls.

The deme had its own agora. In the Hellenistic period a wall was built to reinforce the defenses of the city through the deme, which was abandoned and used, in Roman times, as a cemetery.

The site of Coele is in southwest of the Pnyx.[5][6]

References

  1. Lohmann, Hans. "Coele". Brill's New Pauly. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  2. Herodotus. Histories. 6.103.
  3. Pausanias. Description of Greece. 1.23.9.
  4. Marcellinus, Life of Thucydides 17.55
  5. Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 59, and directory notes accompanying.
  6. Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.


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