Thebe Hypoplakia

Thebe Hypoplakia (Ancient Greek: Ὑποπλακίη Θήβη, romanized: Hypoplakíē Thḗbē), also Placian Thebe (Ancient Greek: Πλακία Θήβη, romanized: Plakía Thḗbē), was a city in ancient Anatolia. Alternative names include Placia, Hypoplacia and Hypoplacian Thebe(s), referring to the city's position at the foot of Mount Placus, near the local village "Tepeoba".

Geography

Strabo places it at 60 stadia from Adramyttium. Pomponius Mela says it was between Adramyttium and Cisthene. Josef Stauber places it in Paşa Dağ, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Edremit, Balıkesir, however in another previous publication he places it in Küçuk Çal Tepe. The editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World settle on a site 1 mile (1.6 km) north-northeast of Edremit.

Strabo places Thebes and Lyrnessus "in what was later called the Theban plain." He highlights the fertility and richness of this plain, as do Herodotus, Xenophon, Polybius, and Livy. Historians such as Walter Leaf have speculated on its location, but have not managed to identify the plain nor the city. Strabo, without specifying the time, reports that, due to their fertility, the Theban plain was disputed by the Mysians and Lydians, and later the Greeks who colonized it coming from Aeolis and from the island of Lesbos. He adds that in his times, the second century, the plain was occupied by the people of Adramyttium.