Triphylia (,
Trifylia, "the country of the three tribes") was an area of the ancient
Peloponnese.
Strabo and
Pausanias both describe Triphylia as part of
Elis, and it fell at times under the domination of the city of Elis, but Pausanias claims they reckoned themselves
Arcadian, not Elean. They fell under the rule of Elis in the 8th century BC, and remained under Elean rule until the
Spartans asserted their control in 402 BC. When the Spartans were defeated by the Thebans at the
Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, the Eleans attempted to reassert their control, but the Triphylians, in order to maintain their independence from Elis, joined the
Arcadian League in 368 BC. In this period, their political fortunes were often shared by the areas on the border between Elis and Arcadia but in to the north of the
River Alpheus; Xenophon mentions the Amphidolians and Acrorians and the city-states of
Lasion, Margana, and Letrini in this context. The Amphidolians, Marganians, and Letrinians are remarkable in Xenophon for fielding
slingers for the
Peloponnesian army.
