city state · Greece and the Aegean

Troezen

900 BCE – 146 BCE (approx.) · capital Troezen

Small city of the eastern Argolid, mythical birthplace of Theseus, which sheltered Athenian families during Xerxes's invasion of 480 BCE.

Origins

Troezen lay on the Argolid peninsula facing the Saronic Gulf, with Ionian traditions shared with Athens and later Dorian settlement. Myth made it the birthplace of Theseus and the home of his grandfather Pittheus. In the Archaic period it was a small independent city with a harbour at Pogon.

Rule and society

Troezenians helped found Halicarnassus and, with Achaeans, Sybaris in Italy. In 480 BCE Athenian women and children were evacuated to Troezen before Salamis, as recorded in the inscribed Troezen Decree found in 1959. Troezen fought at Salamis and Plataea and was usually a member of the Peloponnesian League. It had a sanctuary of Hippolytus.

Decline and legacy

In the Hellenistic period Troezen changed hands among Macedonian kings and Sparta before joining the Achaean League. It passed under Roman control in 146 BCE and continued as a small town.

Connections (2)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻