Amphilochian Argos was the most important city in Amphilochia in Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

, situated on the Ambracian Gulf

Ambracian Gulf

The Ambracian Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Arta or the Gulf of Actium, and in some official documents as the Amvrakikos Gulf , is a gulf of the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece. About long and wide, it is one of the largest enclosed gulfs in Greece...

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Foundation legend

It was, according to Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, founded by Amphilochus

Amphilochus (brother of Alcmaeon)

In Greek mythology, Amphilochus was the younger son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle and the brother of Alcmaeon.Eriphyle persuaded Amphiaraus to take part in the Seven Against Thebes raid, though he knew he would die. She had been persuaded by Polynices, who offered her the necklace of Harmonia,...

 after the Trojan War

Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...

. According to Thucydides (2.68), Amphilochus, not caring for the situation in Argos

Argos

Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...

, founded "Amphilochian Argos and the whole region of Amphilochia".

History

Argos was later colonised by its Ambraciot neighbours at the invitation of the Amphilochian Argives. According to Thucydides, "at that time [the inhabitants of Amphilochian Argos] became hellenized, regarding their present language, by their Ambraciot fellow-settlers." These Ambraciots later drove out the Amphilochian inhabitants of the city. The Amphilochians allied themselves with the Acarnanians and also with the Athenians, who despatched thirty ships under Phormio

Phormio

Phormio , the son of Asopius, was an Athenian general and admiral before and during the Peloponnesian War. A talented naval commander, Phormio commanded at several famous Athenian victories in 428 BC, and was honored after his death with a statue on the acropolis and a state funeral...

 that successfully drove the Ambraciots out of Argos.

It took an active part on the Athenian side during the Peloponnesian War

Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...

 in alliance with its neighbours the Acarnanians against the Ambraciots and Leucadians, who were supported by their mother city, Corinth

Corinth

Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

, and the Peloponnesian League

Peloponnesian League

The Peloponnesian League was an alliance in the Peloponnesus from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC.- Early history:By the end of the 6th century, Sparta had become the most powerful state in the Peloponnese, and was the political and military hegemon over Argos, the next most powerful state...

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