ABAE

ABAE (Ἄβαι. Eth. Ἀβαῖος, Eth. Ἄβαντες: near Exarkhó, Ru.), an ancient town of
Phocis, near the frontiers of the Opuntian Locrians, said to have been built by the
Argive Abas, son of Lynceus and. Hypermnestra, and grandson of Danaus. Near the
town and on the road towards Hyampolis was an ancient temple and oracle of Apollo,
who hence derived the surname of Abaeus. So celebrated was this oracle, that it was
consulted both by Croesus and by Mardonius. Before the Persian invasion the temple
was richly adorned with treasuries and votive offerings. It was twice destroyed by
fire; the first time by the Persians in their march through Phocis (B.C. 480), and
a second time by the Boeotians in the Sacred or Phocian war (B.C. 346). Hadrian
caused a smaller temple to be built near the ruins of the former one. In the new
temple there were three ancient statues in brass of Apollo, Leto, and Artemis,
which had been dedicated by the Abaei, and had perhaps been saved from the former
temple. The ancient agora and the ancient theatre still existed in the town in the
time of Pausanias. According to the statement; of Aristotle, as preserved by
Strabo, Thracians from the Phocian town of Abae emigrated to Euboea, and gave to
the inhabitants the name of Abantes. The ruins of Abae are on a peaked hill to the
W. of Exarkhó. There are now no remains on the summit of the peak; but the walls
and some of the gates may still be traced on the SW. side. There are also remains
of the walls, which formed the inclosure of the temple. (Paus. 10.35; Hdt. 1.46,
8.134, 33; Diod. 16.530; Strab. pp. 423, 445; Steph. Byz. s.v. Gell, Itinerary, p.
226; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 163, seq.)
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, illustrated by numerous engravings on
wood. William Smith, LLD. London. Walton and Maberly, Upper Gower Street and Ivy
Lane, Paternoster Row; John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1854.