Phocis is a region of central Greece, with Delphi and Elatea being major Phocian cities. Phocis was mainly pastoral due to its lack of material resources or commercial enterprise, and Delphi and Elatea were mostly of strategic or cultural importance. The Phocians sided with Persia following the disastrous Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, and Sparta thwarted Phocian attempts at expansion against the Dorians (457 BC) and Delphi (448 BC). In 454 BC, Phocis formed an alliance with Athens, but the decline of Athenian land power led to Phocis becoming an ally of Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, during which it lost Delphi. The Phocians helped the Spartans to invade Boeotia during the Corinthian War of 395-394 BC, but they were faced with the growing power of Thebes after 380 BC. The Third Sacred War of 356-346 BC saw the Phocians be driven out of Thessaly by Philip II of Macedon, and they fought for ten more years before the bankrupted Phocis was forced to restore Theban temple funds and disperse its population into open villages. These promises were soon disregarded, and the Phocians began to rebuild their cities in 339 BC. The following year, Philip defeated them at the Battle of Chaeronea, but Phocis survived to take part in the Lamian War against Antipater in 323 BC and the defense of Thermopylae against the Gauls in 279 BC. In 196 BC, Phocis was annexed to the Aetolian League, and Phocis would then become a part of the Roman Republic. Phocis became a regional unit of modern Greece with Amfissa as its capital, and it had a population of 40,343 people in 2011.
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