The Amphictyonic League was an early form of religious council in ancient Greece. It was typically composed of delegates from several tribes or ethnes living in the vicinity of a major, prosperous sanctuary, who then collaborated in supervising the temple's maintenance, managing its finances, organising the sacred rituals and games, and seeing to the protection of its temenos (sacred precinct).
More about: Amphictyonic LeagueDefinition
Timeline
-
c. 800 BCEAmphictyonic Leagues, local councils of the tribes neighbouring a common sanctuary, appear in historical records.
-
c. 680 BCE - 650 BCEAmphictyonic council of Kalauria was active in Troezen, dedicated to the temple of Poseidon.
-
c. 590 BCEEarliest record about the Amphictyonic League of Apollo at Delphi.
-
356 BCE - 346 BCEThe Third Sacred War.
-
c. 353 BCEPhilip II of Macedon leads the joined forces of Macedonia and the Amphictyonic League in Thessaly and wins over the Phocians, Pheraeans and their allies in the Battle of Crocus Field.
-
c. 345 BCEPhilip II of Macedon leads the Amphictyonic League to victory in the Third Sacred War. He calls her newborn daughter Thessalonike, meaning Thessalian Victory.
-
339 BCE - 338 BCEThe Fourth Sacred War.
-
279 BCEThe Delphic Amphictyony crowns the victorious Greek city-states in their defensive battles to stop the Gauls' invasion.
-
131 CEThe declining institution of Amphictyony is replaced with the Panhellenion by the Roman emperor Hadrian but survives no longer than a year.
