THES'SALY (Lat. Thessalia, from Gk. Oea. cra?,ia, Attic Oerra2,ia, Thettalia, Thessaly, from Oeuaa2.6c, Thessalos, Attic Oerra).6g, Thet talus, Thessalian). The largest division of an cient Greece, bounded on the north by Macedonia, from which it was separated by the Cambunian Monntains. on the west by Epirus. with the Pin due range as a boundary, on the east by the _Egean Sea, and on the south by the range of (Eta and the Maliac Gulf. The southern bound ary is not very definite. Though Aclra, _Enis, and Malls can properly be included in the gen eral term, Thessaly proper only roaches to the range which extends from Pindus to the head of the Pagasa-an Gulf. Others, who include Aelizea ( Phthiotis) , call Mount Othrys the southern bound ary. Thessaly proper is a vast plain shut in on every side by mountains; on the north and west by those already named, and on the east by mounts Pelion and Ossa, the only opening being the Vale of Tempe in the northeast 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 Peneus (now- Salambria) and its tributaries, and is the most fertile in all Greece, having produced in ancient times abundance of corn and cattle, and a breed of horses considered the finest in Greece, and still yielding large crops.
TluS-ngxv. In the epic, Thessaly seems inhab ited by a number of tribes, among whom are the Pelasgians of the Peneus valley. and the Acha.ans and Ilellenes in the south. During the migrations that marked the period between the heroic age and that of historical Greece, tribes from the mountains of Epirus and the north pushed into this region, out or subjugating the in habitants. Part of these latter migrated to Asia Minor, where they colonized _Eons. The Deo dans, too, were said to have been crowded out by the new-comers, but it is probable that Deo flans and Phocians were really the vanguard of the invaders. The conquerors settled in the rich lands of the Peneus valley, reducing the original owners to the position of serfs of the soil, who cultivated the land on their own ac count, paying a fixed proportion to the owners. These Penestle could not be sold out of the coun try, nor put to death without a trial. The Thes salians themselves constituted a landed nobility gathered about the cities. Tn these cities a few great families exercised almost unlimited power, among whom in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. the most famous were the Aleuadn of Larissa and the Scopadn of Crannon and Pharsalus. The league between the cities was a loose one, and there was no supreme authority, except so far as from time to time some family obtained a leading position. Four districts were from early times, Fiestixotis at the saliotis and Pelasgiotis in the centre, and Phthiotis in the south, each of which in the fourth century was led by a polemarch. A
general council seems to have met when any occasion calling for united action arose, and in war a general called the tagus (raids) was chosen as commander-in-chief. The league was thus es sentially military, but there must have been a well-established system, for in the sixth century n.c. the Thessalians were threatening to extend their power over Southern Greece, and seem at one time to have occupied Phocis. Their strength was in the cavalry, composed of the nobles, to which were added peltasts or light infantry, composed probably of Penestx.
The Thessalians soon brought under their rule the mountainous districts surrounding the Peneus valley, occupied by the Perrhiebians, Magnetes. and AeIneans of Plithiotis, who as independent tribes had places in the Amphiety onie Council. but later paid tribute and mili tary service to the Thessaliaus. The other border tribes, the Dolopians, _Enianians, and NaBans, were also in actual, if not nominal, de pendence. The growing power of Thessaly re ceived a severe check at the hands of the Pho cians, and after the Persian wars it played but a small part in Greek history, until in the fourth century B.C. for a brief period it was united under the rule of the able tyrant of Merle, .1a,on, who secured his election as tagns, collected a strong force of cavalry and mercenary infantry, organ ized a fleet, and at the time of his assassination (me. 370) seemed likely to anticipate the career of Philip of Macedon. His successors were blood thirsty tyrants and the united Thessaly was quickly dissolved, though the old district organi zation was revived under the influence of Pelo pidas and the Thebans. During the Sacred War the country was at one time occupied by the Phoeians, but in B.C. 352 passed under Mace donian control, and in B.C. 344 Philip was elected archon (the new name of the tagus) of Thes saly and the country was virtually united to Macedon. Thessaly remained subject to the Macedonian kings till the victory of Flamininus, at Cynoscephalfe. in B.C. 197. placed it under the protection of Rome. Under the Roman emperors Thessaly was united with Macedonia, hut after Constantine it was a separate province. In 1204. with other portions of the Eastern Empire. it came under the dominion of the Venetians, and in the fourteenth century it was conquered by the Turks. The southern part of Thessaly was freed from Turkish rule at the time of the Greek Revolution. The bulk of the region was ceded to Greece in ISSI as a result of the demand of the Great Powers made on the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War. A small mountainous dis trict in the north still belongs to Turkey. In 1897 Thessaly was the principal seat of the Greco-Turkish War, the Turks forcing the \lilou na and Raveni passes, in the Olympian range, on the frontier, and finally occupying Larissa. Thes saly comprises the nomes of Phthiotis, Larissa, Karditsa, Trikkala, and Magnesia.