Stratus
Stratus was a significant town in ancient Acarnania, located on a bluff overlooking the Achelous River in northwestern Greece. Renowned for its local coinage from the fifth century, Stratus featured imagery of the river-god Achelous and his daughter, Callirhoe, who is tied to the foundational myths of the Acarnanian people. The town played a notable role during the Peloponnesian War, surviving several attempts at siege by Spartan generals. Over the years, Stratus changed hands, eventually becoming part of the Aetolian League and later falling under Roman influence. Architecturally, the city was defined by extensive walls and included an acropolis, a fourth-century agora, a temple dedicated to Zeus, and a theater. Although its prominence waned before the imperial era, Stratus remains an important historical site reflecting the cultural and political dynamics of ancient Greece. Visitors today can explore its archaeological remains, which narrate the town's rich heritage and historical significance.
Subject Terms
Stratus
Stratos
The most important town and federal center of Acarnania (northwestern Greece), situated on a low bluff commanding the right bank of the broad river Achelous as it enters the plain. Local coinage, inaugurated during the fifth century, depicts the river-god and his daughter the nymph Callirhoe, mother of Acarnan, the mythical ancestor of the Acarnanian people.
During the Peloponnesian War the Spartan general Cnemus besieged Stratus in vain (429), and three years later his colleague Eurylochus passed beneath its walls without venturing to attack. In 391 another Spartan, King Agesilaus II, failed to capture the city, but in 314 it passed into the hands of Alexander's successor Cassander, who organized its amalgamation (synoecism) with Sauria and Agrinium. In 263/260, when Acarnania was partitioned between Aetolia and Epirus, Stratus was assigned to the Aetolian League, and after the reduction of the Aetolians to Roman subject status (189) its Roman garrison withstood Philip V and Perseus of Macedonia. Before imperial times the place had lost all its importance.
The city wall enclosed an extensive perimeter, including four parallel ridges with intervening depressions. At the northern extremity of one of the central ridges stood the acropolis, presiding over a fourth-century agora of which the western colonnade was constucted above a row of subterranean chambers. To the west rose a temple of Zeus and to the east a theater, both erected at about the same time.