Demetrias

Demetrias (Ancient Greek: Δημητριάς) was an ancient Greek city in Magnesia (east central Greece), near the modern city of Volos. It was founded by Demetrius Poliorcetes, and became the favourite residence of the kings of Macedon.

In 196 B.C., the Romans, victorious in the battle of Cynoscephalae over Philip V of Macedon in the previous year, took possession of Demetrias, but four years later the Aetolian League captured it by surprise. The Aetolians allied themselves with Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire in the Roman–Syrian War. This ended in the defeat of Antiochus. The Romans then returned Demetrias to Philip, who had been their ally in this war. It remained a Macedonian possession until the battle of Pydna in 169 B.C.

Under Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (ruled 306–337) it became a Christian episcopal see and is now a titular see of the Catholic Church.

According to Procopius (De Aedificiis, 4.3.5), Demetrias was rebuilt by Justinian I (r. 527–565), but other evidence points to the possibility that "ancient urban life may have already come to an end by the beginning of the 6th century" (T.E. Gregory). Its territory was settled by the Slavic tribe of the Belegezitai in the 7th/8th centuries, raided and sacked by the Saracens in 901/2, and by rebels during the Uprising of Peter Delyan in 1040.

Demetrias (beetle)

Demetrias is a genus of ground beetle native to the Palearctic (including Europe), the Near East, and North Africa. It contains the following species:

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Demetrias (daughter of Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius)

Demetrias (fl. 413–440) was a Roman noblewoman, member of the powerful family of the Anicii and acquaintance of several churchmen.

Biography

Anicia Demetrias, born around 398, was the daughter of Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, consul in 395, and of Anicia Iuliana, and thus member of the noble gentes Anicia and Amnia; she is described as the noblest and richest person in the Roman world in the 410s.

In 410, in occasion of the sack of Rome, Demetrias left Rome with her mother Iuliana and with her paternal grandmother Anicia Faltonia Proba and went to Carthage; here they were imprisoned by the comes Heraclianus, and freed only after a huge payment.

Her mother and her grandmother, while they lived in Carthage, come in contact with Augustine of Hippo, who helped them to follow the path of a religious life. Demetrias, who was about fifteen years old in 413, was to be married, but she secretly followed an ascetical way of life, influenced by Augustine. She did not tell about her choice to her relatives, as she feared to displease them, but as her marriage was near, she decided to tell her mother Iuliana and her grandmother Proba about her intention to renounce to marry and to take the veil. Her relatives were very happy with her, and, in 413, Demetrias took the veil in a ceremony celebrated by Bishop Aurelius of Carthage.