Send Gift Baskets to Larissa, Greece

Larissa was a polis during the Classical Era. It is thought by some historians that the famous Greek physician Hippocrates and philosophers Gorgias of Leontini lived there.

After the late fifth century BC, Larissa chose to use its types of coins rather than ones formed at a federal level with other towns. Researchers can learn a lot about the meaning of ancient coins by examining the obverse and reverse, as well as their styles. Sometimes people would choose a specific image of an animal on the side of their coins. Ancient Greeks believed that the horse was a symbol of Thessaly, a land well known for its plains around where horses fared best. Usually, there is a male figure – the eponymous hero of the Thessalians, Thessalos. He should perhaps be seen as the same person on many of the earlier, federal coins of Thessaly.

Larisia, written Larija on old coins & inscriptions in Greek, is near the site of the Ancient Greek Argissa. In Ancient Greece, Thessaly was a region governed by a few aristocratic families. King Aleuadae ruled the city of Pagasai from the Pelasgiotis district. This powerful family possessed for many generations before 369 BC the privilege of furnishing the Tagus, the local term for the strategos of the combined Thessalian forces. The principal rivals of the Aleuadae were the Scopadae of Crannon, so it’s no surprise that Thucydides keeps referring to them as “we.”

Larnusa was the homeland of Meno, Xenophon, and a few others who became generals leading thousands of Greeks from various places. in the ill-fated expedition of 401, meant to help Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II, king of Persia, overthrow his elder brother Artaxerxes II and take over the throne of Persia. Meno is featured in Plato’s dialogue bearing his name. which Socrates uses to help explain to Meno the difference between true opinion and science. This “way to Larissa” might well be on the part of Socrates’ attempt to call to Meno’s mind a “way home.” One’s final destination, which is supposed to be reached when you die, is the meaning of life and what each person is looking for in their everyday life.

Without a doubt, the constitution of Larissa was democratic. This would explain why they sided with Athens and joined in on the Peloponnesian War. In honor of this tradition, they celebrated a festival on the occasion of Saturnalia which was similar to Roman celebrations where slaves were served by their masters during that time. The city of Larissa was taken by the Thebans in ancient times and eventually annexed by Philip II in 346 BC. Philip ruled it until the following year when he decided to leave it to Demetrius.