Amphipolis (
Ancient Greek ?µf?p???? –
Amphípolis) was an
ancient Greek city in the region once inhabited by the
Edoni people in the present-day
periphery of
East Macedonia and Thrace. It was built on a raised plateau overlooking the east bank of the
river Strymon where it emerged from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the
Aegean Sea. Founded in
437 BC, the city was finally abandoned in the
8th century AD. The present municipality Amfipoli (
Greek ?µf?p???), named after the ancient city, occupies the site. Currently, it is a municipality in the
Serres Prefecture,
Macedonia with a population of 3 623 (2001 census).
Throughout the 5th century BC, Athens sought to consolidate its control over Thrace, which was strategically important because of its primary materials (the gold and silver of the Pangaion hills and the dense forests essential for naval construction), and the sea routes vital for Athens' supply of grain from Scythia. After a first unsuccessful attempt at colonisation in 497 BC by the Miletian Tyrant Histiaeus, the Athenians founded a first colony at Ennea-Hodoi (‘Nine Ways’) in 465, but these first ten thousand colonists were massacred by the Thracians.[1] A second attempt took place in 437 BC on the same site under the guidance of Hagnon, son of Nicias.
The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis (literally, "around the city"), a name which is the subject of much debates about lexicography. Thucydides claims the name comes from the fact that the Strymon flows "around the city" on two sides;[2] however a note in the Suda (also given in the lexicon of Photius) offers a different explanation apparently given by Marsyas, son of Periander that a large proportion of the population lived "around the city". However, a more probable explanation is the one given by Julius Pollux that the name indicates the vicinity of an isthmus. Furthermore, the Etymologicum Genuinum gives the following definition a city of the Athenians or of Thrace, which was once called Nine Routes, (so named) because it is encircled and surrounded by the Strymon river. This description corresponds to the actual site of the city (see adjacent map), and to the description of Thucydides. Amphipolis subsequently became the main power base of the Athenians in Thrace and, consequently, a target of choice for their Spartans adversaries. The Athenian population remained very much in the minority within the city.[3] A Athenian rescue expedition led by strategist (and later historian) Thucydides had to settle for securing Eion and could not retake Amphipolis, a failure for which Thucydides was sentenced to exile. A new Athenian force under the command of Cleon failed once more in 422 BC during a battle at which both Cleon and Brasidas lost their lives. Brasidas survived long enough to hear of the defeat of the Athenians and was buried at Amphipolis with impressive pomp. From then on he was regarded as the founder of the city[4] and honoured with yearly games and sacrifices. The city itself kept its independence until the reign of the king Philip II despite several other Athenian attacks, notably because of the government of Callistratus of Aphidnae.
In 357 BC, Philip removed the block which Amphipolis presented on the road to Macedonian control over Thrace by conquering the town, which Athens had tried in vain to recover during the previous years. According the historian Theopompus, this conquest came to be the object of a secret accord between Athens and Philip II, who would return the city in exchange for the fortified town of Pydna, but the Macedonian king betrayed the accord, refusing to cede Amphipolis and laying siege to Pydna.
