Naupactus
Naupactus, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, is a historic Greek port and the principal town of Western Locris. Renowned for its strategic harbor and acropolis, it was a significant site for ship construction, possibly linked to its name, which means “ship construction.” Founded by settlers from nearby regions around 500-475 BC, Naupactus established itself as an independent city-state with a rich historical narrative. The city played a crucial role during the Peloponnesian War as a naval base for the Athenians, who utilized it to challenge Corinthian trade routes. Over the centuries, it changed hands multiple times, including being captured by Philip II of Macedonia, who then granted it to the Aetolian League. Archaeological findings reveal remnants of ancient temples dedicated to various deities, as well as early Christian structures. Naupactus later became known as Lepanto during Venetian rule, although the famous naval battle associated with that name took place at a different location. The city's layered history reflects its significance in ancient Greek and later Mediterranean contexts.
Subject Terms
Naupactus
Naupaktos (Nafpaktos, Lepanto)
A Greek port, and the most important town of Western (Ozolian) Locris, on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, of which it commands the narrow entrance. Naupactus possessed an acropolis and a good harbor adjacent to a small coastal plain of Hylaethus (Mornos), cut off from the hinterland by Mount Rigani. According to a legend, perhaps derived from the city's name (meaning `ship construction’), its harbor had been the shipyard and starting point of the invading Dorians when they originally crossed over to the Peloponnese. The most eminent native of the place, although only dimly known, was Carcinus, probably author of the Naupactia, a catalog of famous women.
Naupactus was colonized by settlers from Opus in Eastern (Opuntian) Locris and from Chaleum in Western (Ozolian) Locris. The decree regulating its foundation has been preserved in an inscription, tentatively dated to c 500/475, which confirms that from the outset the new settlement was a separate city-state, although interchanges of population with the mother communities were envisaged. In 456 the Athenians settled Messenian refugees at Naupactus, and employed it as their principal western naval base during the Peloponnesian War, sending Phormio in 430 to hamper Corinthian trade and confront the enemy fleet, which he routed in the following year. Sparta subsequently expelled the Athenians and Messenians from Naupactus, but after the eclipse of Spartan power it passed briefly into the hands of the Achaeans across the gulf (367). Philip II of Macedonia, however, captured the port, and gave it to the Aetolian League (338), which it served as an important center during the third and second centuries; a peace congress was held there in 217. In 191 the city may have been besieged by the Romans. In 14 Augustus presented it to his newly founded colony of Patrae (Patras) in Achaea.
Parts of the walls of Naupactus are to be seen incorporated in the later Venetian fortifications. Thucydides mentions a temple of Apollo, and Pausanias, in the second century AD, saw a sanctuary of Poseidon (on the sea), another dedicated to Artemis Aetole, a ruined shrine of Asclepius, and a grotto of Aphrodite. There is also inscriptional evidence for the worship of Dionysus and Serapis. Recent excavations have uncovered part of a very large, apparently five-aisled, early Christian basilica, probably destroyed by an earthquake in 551. In later times the Venetians knew the place as Lepanto, but the famous naval battle against the Turks that goes by that name (1571) was fought farther to the west, at the entrance to the Gulf of Patrae.