In important ways Thesssaly looked south, for Thessalian commu-
nities shared some key cultural traditions with other states in central and
southern Greece. These notably included membership of the prestigious
Amphictyony of Anthela, the body that effectively managed the affairs of
Apollo’s sanctuary at Delphi. Personal ties linked members of the most
prominent families, the Aleuadai of Larissa, the Skopadai of Krannon,
and others, to their peers, particularly among the wealthier families of
states in central Greece.^10 However, material culture, increasingly visible
as a consequence of rescue excavation in advance of recent development
work, reveals ever more clearly those aspects of Thessalian cultural
practice that link the leading families to their opposite numbers in
Macedonia and Thrace, as well as to their peers in central Greece.
These included the tastes for horse riding, for elaborate forms of individ-
ual burial and commemoration, and for membership of‘Orphic’cults, as
well as features that are more obviously shared with many parts of the
wider Greek world. Among the latter were traditional forms of temple
construction, strong patterns of urban nucleation, and many of the
associated forms of civic organization, including names of magistra-
cies.^11 So Thessaly stands, Janus-like, between the world of central
Greece and the north. The region was embedded in the nexus of central
Greek political affairs, whilst at the same time it showed clear affinities, in
other respects, with her more northerly neighbours. In later chapters, the
cultural parallels between Macedonia, Thrace, and Thessaly will continue
to provide illuminating evidence.
Economically, however, Thessaly was less closely connected to regions
farther north in the period under consideration in this book. Time and
again we willfind economic connections that link the Thermaic Gulf
(^10) Hdt. 5.63.3–64; 94.1; 6.127.4; cf. Paus. 10.16.8 (allegedly the earliest statue dedicated at
Delphi was that of Echekratidas, of Larissa); personal ties: Stamatopoulou 2007, 316–19;
330 – 5 for victor lists with Thessalian names, including Olympia, Delphi, and local compe-
titions; Delphic Amphictyony: Davies 2007, 47–69, assesses recent scholarship, the histor-
icity of the stories surrounding the‘First Sacred War’and offers a suggested reconstruction
of the emergence of the Delphic festival; Graninger (2010, 306–9, 323–4) discusses the early
political and late classical or early Hellenistic cultural links between Thessaly and
Macedonia.
(^11) Morgan 2003, 63, 74, 87; Stamatopoulou 2007, 320–1 (temples at Moschato, Thessa-
liotis; Korope and Dendra, withfigs 58–60; Mopsion and Gonnoi); Stamatopoulou 2007,
319 – 41 more generally on material culture; Hatzopoulos 1994a and 1994b, for cultural
convergence in Thessaly and Macedonia; Archibald 2000, 212–33 on further cultural
parallels between Thessaly, Thrace, and Macedonia; Decourt et al. 2004, 676–731 on the
76 identified urban centres and associated sites; for‘Orphic’gold sheets: Parker and
Stamatopoulou 2004; Graf and Johnston 2007, nos. 25 (Pharsalos), 26a and 26b (Pelinna),
27 – 8 (Pherai); magistrates: Stamatopoulou 2007, 323 and n.103 for a survey of early
epigraphic evidence.
44 Herdsmen with golden leaves—narratives and spaces