Locris [key], region of central Greece. The state was probably in existence before the arrival of the Phocians. The rise of Doris and Phocis split the original region into western and eastern portions. Eastern Locris, along the Malian Gulf (now Maliakós Kolpós) and Gulf of Euboea (now Vórios Evvoïkós Kolpós) between Thermopylae and Larymna, was again split (6th cent. b.c.) by Phocis into Epicnemedian in the west and Opuntian in the east. Western, or Ozolaean, Locris was on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth and had for its principal towns Amphissa (now Ámfissa) and Naupactus (now Návpaktos). Largely hemmed in by stronger states, the Locrians played a minor role in Greek history. However, they founded (c.700 b.c.) one of the earliest Greek colonies in S Italy, Epizephyrian Locris near the promontory of Zephyrium; it was in the toe of the peninsula. The earliest written legal code in Europe, attributed to Zaleucus (7th cent. b.c.), was used there.
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