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{{Short description|Town and polis of ancient Achaea}}
'''Aegium''' or '''Aigion''' ({{langx|grc|Αἴγιον}}), or '''Aegeium''' or '''Aigeion''' (Αἴγειον), was a town and [[polis]] (city-state)<ref name=Poleis>{{cite book|author= Mogens Herman Hansen & Thomas Heine Nielsen |title= An inventory of archaic and classical poleis|year= 2004|publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York|isbn= 0-19-814099-1|chapter= Achaia|page= 480}}</ref> of [[ancient Achaea]], and one of the twelve Achaean cities. It was situated upon the coast west of the [[Selinountas (river)|river Selinus]], 30 [[stadion (unit)|stadia]] from [[Rhypae]], and 40 stadia from [[Helike|Helice]].

The city stood between two promontories in the corner of a bay, which formed the best harbour in Achaea next to that of [[Patrae]]. It is said to have been formed out of a union of seven or eight villages. It was already mentioned in the [[Homer]]ic [[Catalogue of Ships]] in the ''[[Iliad]]''.<ref>{{Cite Iliad|2.574}}</ref> When the neighbouring city of Helice sank into the sea following an earthquake in 373&nbsp;BCE, Aegium annexed its territory and became the chief city of the [[Achaean League]]. When the League dissolved later in the same century, however, Aegium came for some time under [[Ancient Macedonia|Macedonian]] rule.

Eventually, the Achaean League was refounded by the cities of [[Dyme]] and [[Patras]] in 280 BC, and the citizens of Aegium, taking courage to expel the Macedonian garrison, joined in 275 BC. From this time on Aegium served as the capital of the Achaean League. It was the meeting place for the assembly of the Achaeans and retained this distinction until [[Philopoemen]] carried a law that the meeting might be held in any of the towns of the confederacy. Even under the [[Roman Empire]] the Achaeans were allowed to keep up the form of their periodical meetings at Aegium, just as the Amphictyons were permitted to meet at Thermopylae and Delphi.<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|7|24|4}}</ref>

The meetings were held in a grove near the sea, called Homagyrium or Homarium, sacred to [[Zeus|Zeus Homagyrius]] or Homarius (Ὁμαγύριον, Ὁμάριον);<ref>{{Cite Strabo|pp. 385, 387}}</ref> a temple was also there called [[Homarium]]. Close to this grove was a temple of [[Demeter|Demeter Panchaea]]. The words Homagyrium, 'assembly', and Homarium, 'union', refer to those meetings, though in later times they were explained as indicating the spot where [[Agamemnon]] assembled the Grecian chieftains before the [[Trojan War]]. There were several other temples and public buildings at Aegium, of which an account is given by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]].<ref>{{Cite Herodotus|1.145}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Polybius|2.41, 5.93}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Strabo|pp. 337, 385, ''et seq.''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pausanias|7|23|24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Livy|38.30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Pliny|4.6}}</ref>

Aegium had several [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic]] winners including [[Xenophon of Aegium|Xenophon]], [[Ladas of Aegium|Ladas]] (stadion race), [[Athenodorus of Aegium|Athenodorus (Αθηνόδωρος)]] (stadion race), Straton (Στράτων) (pancration and wrestling).

Its site is located near the modern city of [[Aigio]].<ref>{{Cite DARE|21941}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Barrington|58}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of ancient Greek cities]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DGRG|title=Aegium}}

{{Authority control}}
{{coord|38.252707|N|22.081952|E|format=dms|display=title|source:http://dare.ht.lu.se/places/21941.html}}

[[Category:Populated places in ancient Achaea]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Greece]]
[[Category:Places in the Iliad]]
[[Category:Achaean city-states]]
[[Category:Achaean League]]


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