Stratos
- A town of Acarnania, on the Achelous, Mel. 2, 3; Plin. 4, 1, 2, § 5; Liv. 36, 11; 38, 4; 43, 22, 1.
- —Hence, Stratii, ōrum, m., the inhabitants of Stratos, Liv. 43, 22, 7.—
- II A river of Hyrcania, Plin. 6, 16, 18, § 46 (al. Straor).
Located between Agrinion and Amphilochia in Akarnania, on the right bank of the Acheloos.
The name and the history of Stratos are noted in the sources (Strab. 10.450; Ptol. 5.13.10; 96.3). During the Peloponnesian War the city was allied with Athens. In 314 Kassander completed the synoecism between Stratos, Saurias, and Agrinion; and in 270, after the death of Pyrrhos, it was assigned to Aitolia. Antiochos, and later Nikander, found refuge at Stratos. In 167 it was included in the Roman province.
The ruins of Stratos, with an extensive city wall that encloses the modern village of Surovigli, extend over three hills. The walls, because of their numerous spurs and many towers, should antedate 429 B.C. although the building technique is pseudo-isodomic trapezoidal, more typical of the 4th c. Actually, since the W sector encloses the Temple of Zeus, it is probable that the dating of the entire wall should be lowered to 314 B.C. A median wall, a diateichisma running N-S, cuts the enclosed area approximately in half. It was intended for the concentration of the defense in case of attack. The large gate in the wall opens to the S, and is defended by powerful buttresses. To the N of the surrounding wall is the acropolis, protected by its own encircling wall which is linked to the defensive system.
The theater, of the 4th c. B.C., is on a hill E of the village of Surovigli. The city probably also had a gymnasium, since an inscription of the 2d c. B.C. (IG 2IX, 1.24.408) records the appointment of a gymnasiarchos.
Also datable to the 4th c. B.C. is the agora, SW of the modern village. The entire W side of the structure, with its portico, was built on a row of subterranean rooms, a Hellenistic peculiarity.
The Temple of Zeus, a peripteros 16.5 x 32.4 m on the W hill, may be dated to the 4th c., as is suggested by its connection with the city wall. It has a miscellany of orders: Doric in the peristasis, Ionic in the architrave, and Corinthian in the interior.
BIBLIOGRAPHYA. K. Orlandos, Deltion 8 (1923); C. Picard & F. Courby, Recherches archéologiques à Stratos d'Acarcanie (1924); P. E. Arias, Il teatro greco fuori di Atene (1934); R. L. Scranton, Greek Walls (1941); W. B. Dinsmoor, The Architecture of Ancient Greece (1950); R. Martin, Recherches sur l'agorà grecque (1951); id., L'Urbanisme dans la Grèce antique (1955); A. Neppi Modona, Gli edifici teatrali greci e romani (1961); G. Roux, L'architecture de l'Argolide aux IVeet IIIesiècle, avant J.C. (1961).
N. BONACASA- Paus. 6.2.1