tribal confederation · Greece and the Aegean

Opuntian Locris

700 BCE – 146 BCE (approx.) · capital Opus

Confederation of the eastern Locrians on the Euboean Gulf, centred on Opus and remembered for the Locrian maidens sent to Troy.

Origins

The eastern Locrians lived along the coast of central Greece facing Euboea, separated from their western kin in Ozolian Locris by Doris and Phocis. Homer placed Ajax the Lesser among them. By the Archaic period their towns formed a confederation led by Opus, governed by an oligarchic council of a thousand.

Rule and society

The Locrians kept old customs, such as sending two noble maidens each year to serve Athena at Ilion in atonement for Ajax's sacrilege. An early 5th century BCE bronze tablet records the terms for Locrian colonists at Naupactus. They fought with Leonidas at Thermopylae in 480 BCE, then were forced to join the Persians, and later usually sided with Thebes and Sparta against Athens.

Decline and legacy

The Phocian League overran much of the region in the Third Sacred War. Eastern Locris later passed under Macedonian, Boeotian and Aetolian League control and came under Rome in 146 BCE.

Connections (1)

More states of Greece and the Aegean →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Opuntian Locris. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/opuntian-locris
MLA
“Opuntian Locris.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/opuntian-locris. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Opuntian Locris.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/opuntian-locris.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Opuntian Locris’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/opuntian-locris (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻