Skotoussa

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Scotussa or Skotoussa (Ancient Greek: Σκοτοῦσσα or Σκοτοῦσα or Σκοτοτοῦσαι) was a town and polis (city-state) in the region of Pelasgiotis in ancient Thessaly. It was between Pherae and Pharsalus, near the border of Phthiotis, about 20 km (12 mi) to the west of Pherae. Scotussa shows evidence of human activity from the Neolithic period onwards, including a Mycenaean settlement in the Late Helladic period which persisted into the Early Iron Age.

It is not mentioned in Homer, though the geographer Strabo records an early tradition that the oracle of Dodona in Epirus originally came from this place. It was the home city of Polydamas, who won the pankration at the Olympic Games of 408 BCE. Xenophon records that the people of Scotussa, alongside the other peoples of Thessaly, fought against Agesilaus II of Sparta when he marched his forces through the region in 394 BCE.

The city was taken by Alexander, tyrant of the nearby city of Pherae, in 367 BCE: it had previously been wealthy, and Alexander massacred its people, putting an end to its prosperity. The territory of Scotussa included the Cynoscephalae Hills, at which Alexander was defeated in 364 BCE at the Battle of Cynoscephalae by an...