Stadion (unit) in the context of Romanization

A stadium (pl.: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event. Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stadion at Olympia, where the word "stadium" originated. Most of the stadiums with a capacity of at least 10,000 are used for association football. Other popular stadium sports include gridiron football, baseball, cricket, the various codes of rugby, field lacrosse, bandy, and bullfighting. Many large sports venues are also used for concerts.

Nisaea or Nisaia (Ancient Greek: Νίσαια or Νισαία) was the Saronic port town of the ancient polis Megara. In Greek mythology, Nisaea was founded by one of Pandion II's sons, Nisos, who named the region given to him by his father Nisaea, after himself. Control of Nisaea slipped back and forth between Athens and Megara both before and during the Peloponessian War. Athenian allies of the Megarians built long walls which connected Nisaea to Megaris. According to Thucydides, the length of the walls that connected the port to Megara were eight Greek stadia, while Strabo claims the walls to have been 18 stadia in length. A temple of Demeter was located on the road near Nisaea, and a temple of Poseidon located within the port town. Nisaean Megara is thought to have been the birthplace of poet Theognis, but his birthplace is not known for certain The location of the ancient port town remains in debate by historians.

Coroebus of Elis (Ancient Greek: Κόροιβος Ἠλεῖος, Kóroibos Ēleîos; Latin: Coroebus Eleus fl. c. 776 BC) was a Greek cook, baker, and athlete from Elis. He is remembered as the winner (ολυμπιονίκες, olympioníkes) of the first recorded Olympics, which consisted of a single footrace known as the stade or stadion. He is frequently described as having won the first Olympic Games, but Eusebius and other ancient writers stated that he was simply the first recorded winner, variously placing the first games in the Heroic Age, 27 olympiads before Coroebus, or 13 olympiads before. Coroebus being the earliest winner known to Hippias, his is still reckoned the "1st Olympiad"; following Hippias's dating, his victory is generally placed in the summer of the year 776 BC. The stadium at Olympia was one stade (600 Greek feet, 630.8 English feet, 192.27 m) long and the competition was still clothed in his time, naked competition beginning with Orsippus around 720 BC. For winning the race, Coroebus received an olive wreath and was later revered by the people of Elis, his grave still being known in the time of Pausanias.

Decelea (Ancient Greek: Δεκέλεια, Dekéleia), was a deme and ancient village in northern Attica serving as a trade route connecting Euboea with Athens, Greece. It was situated near the entrance of the eastern pass across Mount Parnes, which leads from the northeastern part of the Athenian plain to Oropus, and from thence both to Tanagra on the one hand, and to Delium and Chalcis on the other. It was situated about 120 stadia from Athens, and the same distance from the frontiers of Boeotia. It was visible from Athens and from its heights the ships entering the harbour of Piraeus were visible as well.

Phlius (/ˈflaɪəs/; Ancient Greek: Φλιοῦς) or Phleius (Φλειοῦς) was an independent polis (city-state) in the northeastern part of Peloponnesus. Phlius' territory, called Phliasia (Φλιασία), was bounded on the north by Sicyonia, on the west by Arcadia, on the east by Cleonae, and on the south by Argolis. This territory is a small valley about 900 feet (270 m) above the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains, from which streams flow down on every side, joining the river Asopus in the middle of the plain. The mountain in the southern part of the plain, from which the principal source of the Asopus springs, was called Carneates (Καρνεάτης). The territory of Phlius was celebrated in antiquity for its wine. According to Strabo, the ancient capital of the country was Araethyrea (Ἀραιθυρέα) on Mt. Celosse, which city is mentioned by Homer; but the inhabitants subsequently deserted it and built Phlius at the distance of 30 stadia. Pausanias, however, does not speak of any migration, but says that the ancient capital was named Arantia (Ἀραντία), from its founder Aras, an autochthon, that it was afterwards called Araethyrea from a daughter of Aras, and that it finally received the name of Phlius, from Phlias, a son of Ceisus and grandson of Temenus. The name of Arantia was retained in the time of Pausanias in the hill Arantinus, on which the city stood. Hence the statement of grammarians that both Arantia and Araethyrea were ancient names of Phlius. According to Stephanus of Byzantium, Phlius derived its name from Dionysus and Chthonophyle. Phlius was subsequently conquered by Dorians under Rhegnidas, who came from Sicyon. Some of the inhabitants migrated to Samos, others to Clazomenae; among the settlers at Samos was Hippasus, from whom Pythagoras derived his descent.

Like most of the other Doric states, Phlius was governed by an aristocracy, though it was for a time subject to a tyrant Leon, a contemporary of Pythagoras. Phlius sent 200 soldiers to the Battle of Thermopylae, and 1000 to the Battle of Plataea. Although geographically close to Argos, it was an ally of Sparta and a member of the Peloponnesian League. During the whole of the Peloponnesian War it remained faithful to Sparta and hostile to Argos.

Colonus or Kolonos (/kəˈloʊnəs/; Ancient Greek: Κολωνός, translit. Kolōnós) was a deme of the phyle Aegeis, of ancient Attica, celebrated as the deme of Sophocles, and the scene of one of the poet's tragedies, was situated ten stadia from the gate of the city, called Dipylum, near Plato's Academy and the river Cephissus. It derived its name from two small but conspicuous heights, which rise from the plain a little to the north of the Academy. Hence it is called by Sophocles "the white Colonus". It was under the especial care of Poseidon, and is called by Thucydides the ἱερόν of this god. It is frequently called Colonus Hippius or Kolonos Hippeios (Κολωνός Ἵππειος) or Hippius Colonus or Hippeios Kolonos (Ἵππειος Κολωνός), both meaning "Colonus of the Horses", to distinguish it from the "Colonus Agoraeus" in Athens. Besides the temple of Poseidon, it possessed a sacred grove of the Eumenides, altars of Athena Hippia, Demeter, Zeus, and Prometheus, together with sanctuaries of Peirithous, Theseus, Oedipus, and Adrastus. According to Greek mythology, Oedipus was buried there, as described by Sophocles, who was born there, in his Oedipus at Colonus. The natural beauties of the spot are described by Sophocles in the magnificent chorus: "Here the nightingale, a constant guest, trills her clear note under the trees of green glades, dwelling amid the wine-dark ivy and the god's inviolate foliage, rich in berries and fruit, unvisited by sun, unvexed by the wind of any storm. Here the reveller Dionysus ever walks the ground, companion of the nymphs that nursed him."

In the Athenian oligarchic revolution of 411 BCE, the oligarchs convened at the sanctuary of Poseidon Hippios at Colonus to frame their new constitution.

Glisas (Ancient Greek: Γλίσας), or Glissas (Γλίσσας), was a town of ancient Boeotia, mentioned by Homer in the Iliad's Catalogue of Ships in the same line with Plataea. It was celebrated in Greek mythology as the place where the Epigoni fought against the Thebans, and where the Argive chiefs were buried who fell in the battle. Pausanias, in his description of the road from Thebes to Chalcis, says that Glisas was situated beyond Teumessus, at the distance of seven stadia from the latter place; that above Glisas rose Mount Hypatus, from which flowed the torrent Thermodon. Strabo places it on Mt. Hypatus, and Herodotus describes the Thermodon as flowing between Glisas and Tanagra.

Glisas also figures in a tale in Greek mythology. Phocus of Glisas was father of a beautiful daughter Callirhoe. She was wooed by thirty suitors, but Phocus was hesitant to let his daughter marry one of them. At last he announced he would be consulting the Pythian Oracle before making a final decision; the suitors got outraged by that and killed Phocus. Callirhoe had to flee from the suitors; some peasants hid her away in the grain, and thus she escaped them. During the festival of Pamboeotia, she went to the shrine of Athena Itonia at Coroneia and revealed the crime of her suitors to the public; the people sympathized with her and declared a war on her father's murderers. Those sought refuge first in Orchomenus, and then in the town of Hippotae which lay between Thisbe and Coroneia. The inhabitants of Hippotae refused to deliver them up, so the Boeotian army under command of the Theban governor Phoedus captured the town, enslaved its citizens and stoned the suitors to death. The town was destroyed, and the land divided between Thisbe and Coroneia. The night before the capture of Hippotae, a voice coming from Mount Helicon had repeatedly been heard at the town; it would utter "I'm here", and the suitors recognized it as that of Phocus. On the day the suitors were executed, Phocus' tomb ran with saffron. Phoedus, on his way back home, received the news that a daughter was born to him, and decided to name her Nicostrate ("Victorious Army").

Polymedium or Polymedion (Ancient Greek: Πολυμήδειον), also known as Palamedium or Polymedia, was a small town in ancient Aeolis, between the promontory Lectum and Assus, and at a distance of 40 stadia from the former.

Its site is located near Asarlık, Asiatic Turkey.

Delium (Ancient Greek: Δήλιον, Dḗlion) was a small town in ancient Boeotia with a celebrated temple of Apollo. It was located upon the sea-coast in the territory of Tanagra in Boeotia, and at the distance of about a mile (1.6 km) from the territory of Oropus. This temple, which like the town took its name from the island of Delos, is described by Livy as overhanging the sea, and distant 5 miles (8.0 km) from Tanagra, at the spot where the passage to the nearest parts of Euboea is less than 4 miles (6.4 km). Strabo speaks of Delium as a temple of Apollo and a small town (πολίχνιον) of the Tanagraei, distant 40 stadia from Aulis.

There were two important battles at Delium. In the first battle, called the Battle of Delium, the Athenians suffered a signal defeat at the hands of the Boeotians in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian War, in 424 BCE. This battle took place over several days. Hippocrates, the Athenian commander, had seized the temple at Delium, which he converted into a fortress by erecting some temporary works. Leaving a garrison there, he was on his march homewards and had already reached the territory of Oropus, 10 stadia distant from Delium, when he encountered the Boeotian army advancing to cut off his retreat. The Athenians numbered 15,000, while the Boeotians mustered 18,500. The Athenians were defeated in the ensuing battle, losing 1,200, including Hippocrates, while the Boeotians lost only 500.

Gryneium or Gryneum or Gryneion (Ancient Greek: Γρύνειον), also Grynium or Grynion (Γρύνιον), Grynia or Gryneia (Γρύνεια) and Grynoi (Γρῦνοι), was a city of ancient Aeolis. It was located 40 stadia from Myrina and 70 from Elaea. In early times it was independent, one of the 12 important cities of Aeolis, but afterwards became subject to Myrina. It contained a sanctuary of Apollo with an ancient oracle and a splendid temple of white marble. Because of the city Apollo derived the surname of Gryneus. Pausanias wrote that at Gryneium, where there was an amazing grove of Apollo, with cultivated trees, and all those which, although they bear no fruit, are pleasing to smell or look upon.

Xenophon mentions Gryneium as belonging to Gongylus of Eretria; and it is possible that the castrum Grunium in Phrygia, from which Alcibiades derived an income of 50 talents was the town of Grynium. It was a member of the Delian League.

39°09′53″N 22°42′40″E / 39.164654°N 22.71106°E / 39.164654; 22.71106Iton (Ancient Greek: Ἴτων) or Itonus or Itonos (Ἴτωνος) was a town of Phthiotis in ancient Thessaly, mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad and called by him "mother of flocks." The town was situated 60 stadia from Alus, upon the river Cuarius or Coralius, and above the Crocian plain.

In Greek mythology it was the city where, according to Pseudo-Apollodorus, the battle took place between Heracles and Cycnus.

Cleonae or Kleonai (Ancient Greek: Κλεωναί) was a city in ancient Peloponnesus, described by writers of the Roman period as a city of Argolis, but never included in the Argeia or territory of Argos, in the flourishing period of Greek history. Cleonae was situated on the road from Argos to Corinth, at the distance of 120 stadia from the former city, and 80 stadia from the latter. There was a narrow pass through the mountains, called Tretus, leading from Argos to Cleonae. Cleonae stood in a small plain upon a river flowing into the Corinthian Gulf a little westward of Lechaeum. In its territory was Mount Apesas, now Mount Phoukas, connected with the Acrocorinthus by a rugged range of hills. Both Strabo and Pausanias describe Cleonae as a small place; and the former writer, who saw it from the Acrocorinthus, says that it is situated upon a hill surrounded on all sides by buildings, and well walled, so as to deserve the epithet given to it by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad – ἐϋκτιμένας Κλεωνάς ('well-built Cleonae'). Statius also speaks of "ingenti turritae mole Cleonae."

Cleonae possessed only a small territory. It derived its chief importance from the Nemean Games being celebrated in its territory, in the grove of Nemea, between Cleonae and Phlius. Hence the festival is called by Pindar ἀγὼν Κλεωναῖος ('the Cleonaean games') Heracles is said to have slain Eurytus and Cteatus, the sons of Actor, near Cleonae; and Diodorus mentions a temple of Heracles erected in the neighbourhood of the city in memory of that event. The ruins of this sanctuary, a Prostyle of Doric order, still exist.

Araethyrea or Araithyrea (/ˌærəˈθɪriə/; Ancient Greek: Ἀραιθυρέα) was the ancient capital of Phliasia, in ancient Argolis. It is said by Pausanias to have been originally named Arantia (Ἀραντία), after Aras, its mythical founder, and to have been called Araethyrea after Araethyrea, a daughter of Aras. The name of its founder was retained in the time of Pausanias in the hill Arantinus, on which it stood. Araethyrea is mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad. We learn from Strabo that its inhabitants quitted Araethyrea, and founded Phlius, at the distance of 30 stadia from the former town. Hence the statement of the grammarians, that Araethyrea and Arantia were both ancient names of Phlius.

Its site is unlocated.

37°51′N 21°31′E / 37.85°N 21.52°E / 37.85; 21.52Ephyra (Ancient Greek: Ἐφύρη, Ἔφυρα, Ἐφύρα, or Εφύρα) was town of ancient Elis, situated upon the river Selleeis, and the ancient capital of Augeias, whom Heracles conquered. Homer, in the Catalogue of Ships and elsewhere in the Iliad, mentions Ephyra and writers have debated which Ephyra is meant.

Strabo describes Ephyra as distant 120 stadia from Elis, on the road to Lasion, and says that on its site or near it was built the town of Oenoe or Boeonoa. Stephanus of Byzantium also speaks of an Ephyra between Pylos and Elis, Pylos being the town at the junction of the Ladon and the Peneius. From these two accounts there can be little doubt that the Ladon, the chief tributary of the Peneius, is the Selleeis, which Strabo describes as rising in Mount Pholoë.

Aphidna (Ancient Greek: Ἄφιδνα) or Aphidnae or Aphidnai (Ἀφίδναι) was one of the twelve ancient towns of ancient Attica. It was celebrated in the mythical period as the place where Theseus deposited Helen of Troy, entrusting her to the care of his friend Aphidnus. When the Dioscuri invaded Attica in search of their sister, the inhabitants of Deceleia informed the Lacedaemonians where Helen was concealed, and showed them the way to Aphidna. The Dioscuri thereupon took the town, and carried off their sister. We learn, from a decree quoted by Demosthenes, that Aphidna was, in his time, a fortified town, and at a greater distance than 120 stadia from Athens. As an Attic deme, it belonged in succession to the tribes Aeantis, Leontis, Ptolemais, and Hadrianis.

The site of Aphidna is located at Kotroni near the modern town of Afidnes.

38°42′18″N 22°32′29″E / 38.70507°N 22.54128°E / 38.70507; 22.54128

Drymaea or Drymaia (Ancient Greek: Δρυμαία) or Drymus or Drymos (Δρύμος) or Drymea or Drymia (Δρυμία) or Drymiae was a frontier town of ancient Phocis, on the side of Doris, whence it is included in the limits of Doris by Livy. Pausanias describes it as 80 stadia from Amphicleia: but this number appears to be an error of the copyists, since in the same passage he says that Amphicleia was only 15 stadia from Tithronium, and Tithronium 15 stadia from Drymaea, which would make Drymaea only 30 stadia from Amphicleia. He also speaks of an ancient temple of Demeter at Drymaea, containing an upright statue of the goddess in stone, in whose honour the annual festival of the Thesmophoria was celebrated. Its more ancient name is said to have been Nauboleis (Ναυβολεῖς), which was derived from Naubolus, an ancient Phocian hero, father of Iphitus.

38°40′31″N 22°34′52″E / 38.67517°N 22.58105°E / 38.67517; 22.58105Tithronium or Tithronion (Ancient Greek: Τιθρώνιον), or Tethronium or Tethronion (Τεθρώνιον), was a frontier town of ancient Phocis, on the side of Doris. Livy, who calls it Tritonon, describes it as a town of Doris, but all other ancient writers place it in Phocis. During the Greco-Persian Wars, it was destroyed by the army of Xerxes I together with the other Phocian towns in 480 BCE. It is placed by Pausanias in the plain at the distance of 15 stadia from Amphicleia.

Its site has been located at a place called Palaiokastro (old castle).

Amphicleia or Amphikleia (Ancient Greek: Ἀμφίκλεια) or Amphicaea or Amphikaia (Ἀμφίκαια) was a Greek town in the north of ancient Phocis, distant 60 stadia from Lilaea, and 15 stadia from Tithronium. It was destroyed by the Persian army of Xerxes in his invasion of Greece (480 BCE). Although Herodotus calls it Amphicaea, following the most ancient traditions, the Amphictyonic League gave it the name of Amphicleia in their decree respecting rebuilding the town (346 BCE). It also bore for some time the name of Ophiteia (Ὀφιτεία), in consequence of a legend, which Pausanias relates. The place was celebrated in the time of Pausanias for the worship of Dionysus, to which an inscription refers, found at the site of the ancient town.

The site of the ancient town is occupied by the cemetery of the modern town of Amfikleia. It is also the site of a medieval tower (Paliopyrgos), which has been built with extensive reuse of spolia from the acropolis of Amphicleia.

Teumessus or Teumessos (Ancient Greek: Τευμησσός) was a town in ancient Boeotia, situated in the plain of Thebes, upon a low rocky hill of the same name. The name of this hill appears to have been also given to the range of mountains separating the plain of Thebes from the valley of the Asopus. Teumessus was upon the road from Thebes to Chalcis, at the distance of 100 stadia from the former. It is mentioned in one of the Homeric hymns with the epithet λεχεποίη or grassy, an epithet justified by the rich plain which surrounds the town. Teumessus is celebrated in the epic legends, especially on account of the Teumessian fox, which ravaged the territory of Thebes. The only building at Teumessus mentioned by Pausanias was a temple of Athena Telchinia, without any statue. Pausanias also mentions that Zeus hid Europa in Teumessus. The torrent Thermodon ran down Mount Hypatus on its way to Teumessus.

Its site is located near modern Mesovouni.