Antiquity In Antiquity, the city was known as
Hypate () or
Hypata (), probably a corruption of
hypo Oita (, meaning "near the
Mount Oeta"). The city was founded in the late 5th/early 4th century BC, as the capital of the
Aenianes tribe and their ("league, commonwealth"). In later times it belonged to the
Amphictyony of
Amphela.
Herodotus records the nearby hot springs (now
Loutra Ypatis), which were visited in Antiquity. It was also a
polis (city-state). In around 344 BC, the city came under
Macedonian rule, which continued, except for a brief interruption during the
Lamian War, until the city became a member of the
Aetolian League . After the conclusion of peace between Roman and the Aetolian League, Hypata remained as the only Aetolian possession north of Oeta. Aenis, including Hypata, was united with the
Thessalian League in the first century BC. Possibly this was done by
Augustus following his victory in the
Battle of Actium, foundation of
Nicopolis, and reorganisation of the
Amphictyonic League in 31 BC, The city remained part of Thessaly thereafter. Under Augustus, the city received the right to refer to itself as "Hypata Augusta," which it continued to do throughout the Roman Imperial period. A local family, who mostly used the names Cyllus and Eubiotus became the league's most prominent family, with members serving as the League's leading magistrate, the general (
strategos), until the office was abolished in the mid-second century AD. In
The Golden Ass,
Apuleius presents the area of Hypata as being infested with bandits at this time and a poem written at this time by
Ammianus, which mocks Cyllus as a "spear-moron", might indicate that he had undertaken unsuccessful expeditions to suppress this problem. The city was probably abandoned after the Slavic invasions of the 7th century, but reappears in the 9th century under the name
Neai Patrai (, "New Patras") or
Patrai Helladikai (, "Patras in
Hellas"). Otherwise, until the 13th century, the city is mentioned only as an ecclesiastical centre (see below). Coming briefly under
Latin rule after the
Fourth Crusade, the city was recovered by the ruler of
Epirus,
Theodore Komnenos Doukas, in 1218. It remained in Epirote hands thereafter, except for a brief period when it was occupied by
Nicaean troops after the
Battle of Pelagonia in 1259. Early 19th-century sources report that the town was the centre of a
kaza (district) in the
Sanjak of Inebahti of the
Morea Eyalet.
Revolutionary period In the
Greek War of Independence, Ypati (Patratziki) was the scene of three battles : • On 18 April 1821, when the Turkish-held town was attacked by the Greek rebels under Mitsos Kondogiannis,
Dyovouniotis,
Athanasios Diakos and Bakogiannis. The garrison was defeated and negotiations for its surrender began, but the arrival of a large Turkish relief army forced the rebels to withdraw. • In May 1821, the Greek commanders
Yannis Gouras, Skaltsodimos and Safakas intended to attack the town in order to halt the Ottoman advance towards
Livadeia. Their forces however were attacked first, and although they beat back the Turkish assault, the plans to take the town were dropped. • On 2 April 1822, when the town itself was finally taken by the forces of the captains Kondogiannis, Panourgias, Skaltsas and Safakas. The castle, however, with its 1,500-strong garrison, held out. A final attack against it was successful, evicting the garrison, but again the revolutionaries had to withdraw due to the arrival of Ottoman reinforcements from
Lamia. Ypati finally joined Greece in 1830 and revived its ancient name. The municipality of Ypati was founded on January 10, 1834.
Modern era The town suffered during the
Axis occupation: 15 inhabitants were shot as reprisals for the
Gorgopotamos sabotage in 1942. The worst blow came on 17 June 1944, when the Germans surrounded the town as part of
reprisals for attacks by
EAM-ELAS partisans based in the region. They executed 28 people, wounded another 30, and burned down 375 out of the town's 400 buildings. A memorial in the town centre commemorates the event and Ypati has been declared a "martyr city" by the Greek state. == Ecclesiastical history ==