THRSSALY, the largest division of ancient Greece, lay to the s. of Macedonia and the e, of Epirus, being separated from the latter by mount Pindus, and from the former by the Cambunian mountains, the zEgean sea bounding it on the e., and the Maliac gulf and mount (Eta on the south. Thessaly proper is a vast plain shut in on every side by mountains; on the n. and w. by those already named, on the s. b,y mount Othrys, and Olt the e. by mounts Pelion and Ossa, the only opening being the Vale of Tempe in the n.e., between Ossa and Olympus. The plain of Thessaly is said at one time to have been a vast lake, the waters of which found an outlet by the Vale of Tempe. This plain is drained chiefly by the river Peneius (now Salambria), which traverses the country in • n.e. direction, and its tributaries, and is the most fertile in all Greece, producing in ancient times abundance of corn and cattle, and a breed of horses considered the finest in Greece.
Ilistory.—Thessaly was originally called .Zeolia, indicating that the country was at one time inhabited by iEolians, who, however, were either expelled (proceeding s., and taking up their residence in Bceotia, etc.) or reduced to slavery by immigrants from the more rugged region of Epirus, about 1000 B.C. As in Laconia, the inhabitants of _ Thessaly appear to have been divided into three classes—]. There were the Epirote conquerors, who became rich landed proprietors; 2. Those descendants of the original inhabitants, who, although dependent on the nobles, yet possesssed a few privileges— corresponding to the Laconian periceci; and 3. The Penestm, or those of the original inhabitants who had been reduced to serfdom, and who cultivated the lands of their conquerors, corresponding to the helots, although, on the whole, their condition was better. These latter frequently rebelled against their masters, who were very fre quently at war among themselves. Each of the four districts into which Thessaly proper was divided was regulated by a council of its own, but they were occasionally united under a tagus or president, whose power and time of office appear to have been indefinite. The government, from an early time, appears to have been oligarchal in
the separate cities—of which Pharsalus, Larissa, Heracleum, and Pherie were the chief —the principal power being in the hands of the two great families of the Aleuads and Scopads, famous for their hospitality and encouragement of poets and artists. Thessaly, however, never played any important part in Grecian history, and it was only after the end of the Peloponnesian war that it exercised any influence on the affairs of Greece. About that time (400 B.C.), Lycophron, overthrowing the government of the nobles, became tyrant of Pherm, and endeavored to make himself master of all Thessaly. What he failed to accomplish, his successor, Jason, succeeded in doing, causing him self to be elected tagus of all Thessaly about 374 B.C. ; his assassination in 370 B. c. pre venting him from attempting to become master of all Greece as he intended. The rule of Jason's successors became so unbearable, that, in 353 B. C. , the old families called in the aid of Philip of Macedon, who compelled the " tagus " to abdicate, and iu 344 subjected the country to Macedonia. Thessaly remained subject to the Macedonian kings till the vic by T. Flaminius at Cynoscephalm, in 197 B.c., restored it to the protection of Rome. Under the emperors, Thessaly was united with Macedonia, but after Constantine it was a separate province. In 1204 A.D. , with other portions of the eastern empire it came under the dominion of the Venetians, and in 1355 was taken by the Turks. The restor ation to Greece of Thessaly s. of the Salambria was recommended by the Berlin con gress in 1878.