Olynthus
| Ὀλυνθος (Greek) | |
Ruins of ancient Olynthus
|
|
 Shown within Greece
|
|
| Location | Olynthus, Central Macedonia, Greece |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°17′46″N 23°21′14″E / 40.296°N 23.354°ECoordinates: 40°17′46″N 23°21′14″E / 40.296°N 23.354°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 7th century BC |
| Abandoned | 318 BC |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Ownership | Public |
| Management | 16th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism |
Olynthus (Ancient Greek: Ὄλυνθος Olinthos, named for the ὄλυνθος olunthos, the fruit of the wild fig tree) was an ancient city of Chalcidice, built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene, about 2.5 kilometers from the sea, and about 60 stadia (c. 9–10 kilometers) from Poteidaea. Artefacts found during the excavations of the site are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Olynthos.
Olynthus, son of Heracles, or the river god Strymon, was considered the mythological founder of the town. The South Hill bore a small Neolithic settlement; was abandoned during the Bronze Age; and was resettled in the 7th century BC. Subsequently, the town was captured by the Bottiaeans, a Thracian tribe ejected from Macedon by Alexander I.
Following the Persian defeat at Salamis (480 BC) and with Xerxes having been escorted to the Hellespont by his general Artabazus, the Persian army spent the winter of the same year in Thessaly and Macedonia. The Persian authority in the Balkans "must have" significantly decreased at the time, which encouraged the inhabitants of the Pallene peninsula to break away. Suspecting that a revolt against the Great King was meditated, in order to control the situation, Artabazus captured Olynthus, which was thought to be disloyal, and killed its inhabitants. The town had priorly been given to Kritovoulos from Toroni and to a fresh population consisting of Greeks from the neighboring region of Chalcidice, who had been exiled by the Macedonians (Herod. viii. 127). Though Herodotus reports that Artabazus slaughtered them, Boetiaeans continued to live in the area.
...
Wikipedia