Editing Amphipolis (section)

==History==
===Origins===
[[File:Silver ossuary and gold crown of Brasidas.jpg|thumb|Silver ossuary and gold crown of [[Brasidas]]]]

Throughout the 5th century BC, [[Classical Athens|Athens]] sought to consolidate its control over [[Thrace]], which was strategically important because of its raw materials (the gold and silver of the [[Pangaion hills]] and the dense forests that provided timber for naval construction), and the sea routes vital for Athens' supply of grain from [[Scythia]]. 
A first unsuccessful attempt at colonisation was in 497&nbsp;BC by the [[Miletus|Milesian]] [[Tyrant]] [[Histiaeus]].{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} After the defeat of the Persians at the [[Battle of Marathon]] in 490 BC, the Athenian general [[Kimon]] managed to occupy [[Eion]] a few kilometres south on the coast in 476 BC, and turned it into a military base and commercial port.<ref>Herodotus VII.107</ref><ref>Thucydides IV.102</ref> The Athenians founded a first colony at ''Ennea-Hodoi'' (‘Nine Ways’) in 465&nbsp;BC, but the first ten thousand colonists were massacred by the [[Thracians]].<ref>Thucydides I, 100, 3</ref> A second attempt took place in 437&nbsp;BC on the same site under general [[Hagnon, son of Nikias|Hagnon]] which was successful. The city and its first impressive and elaborately built walls of 7.5&nbsp;km length date from this time. The new Athenian colony quickly became of considerable size and wealth.<ref>Lazaridis D. La cité grecque d’Amphipolis et son système de défense. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. p 194–214.</ref>

The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis (literally, "around the city"), a name which is the subject of much debate about its [[etymology]]. Thucydides claims the name comes from the fact that the [[Strymon River]] flows "around the city" on two sides; however a note in the ''[[Suda]]'' (also given in the lexicon of [[Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople|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]].

Amphipolis quickly became the main power base of the Athenians in Thrace and, consequently, a target of choice for their [[Sparta]]n adversaries. In 424 BC during the Peloponnesian War the Spartan general [[Brasidas]] captured Amphipolis.

Two years later in 422&nbsp;BC, a new Athenian force under the general [[Cleon]] failed once more during the [[Battle of Amphipolis]] at which both Kleon 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<ref>Koukouli-Chrysanthaki Ch., "Excavating Classical Amphipoli", In (eds) Stamatopoulou M., and M., Yeroulanou <Excavating Classical Culture>, BAR International Series 1031, 2002:57–73</ref><ref>Agelarakis A., “Physical anthropological report on the cremated human remains of an individual retrieved from the Amphipolis agora”, In “Excavating Classical Amphipolis” by Koukouli-Chrysantkai Ch., <Excavating Classical Culture> (eds.) Stamatopoulou M., and M., Yeroulanou, BAR International Series 1031, 2002: 72–73.</ref> and honoured with yearly games and sacrifices.

The Athenian population remained very much in the minority in the city and hence Amphipolis remained an independent city and an ally of the Athenians, rather than a colony or member of the Athens-led [[Delian League]]. It entered a new phase of prosperity as a cosmopolitan centre.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

===Macedonian rule===
[[File:Amphipolis Lion.jpg|thumb|Lion of Amphipolis]]

The city itself kept its independence until the reign of king [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] ({{reign|359|336 BC}}) despite several Athenian attacks, notably because of the government of [[Callistratus of Aphidnae]]. In 357&nbsp;BC, Philip succeeded where the Athenians had failed and conquered the city, thereby removing the obstacle which Amphipolis presented to Macedonian control over Thrace. According to 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 as well.<ref>Theopompus, Philippica</ref>

The city was not immediately incorporated into the Macedonian kingdom, and for some time preserved its institutions and a certain degree of autonomy. The border of Macedonia was not moved further east; however, Philip sent a number of Macedonian governors to Amphipolis, and in many respects the city was effectively "Macedonianized". Nomenclature, the calendar and the currency (the [[Stater|gold stater]], created by Philip to capitalise on the gold reserves of the Pangaion hills, replaced the Amphipolitan [[Ancient drachma|drachma]]) were all replaced by Macedonian equivalents. In the reign of [[Alexander the Great]], Amphipolis was an important naval base, and the birthplace of three of the most famous Macedonian admirals: [[Nearchus]], Androsthenes<ref>{{cite web| url = https://books.google.com/books?um=1&q=Androsthenes+Thasos&btnG=Search+Books| title = Androsthenes Thasos – Google Search}}</ref> and [[Laomedon of Mytilene|Laomedon]], whose burial place is most likely marked by the famous lion of Amphipolis.

The importance of the city in this period is shown by Alexander the Great's decision that it was one of the six cities at which large luxurious temples costing 1,500 [[talent (coin)|talents]] were built. Alexander prepared for campaigns here against Thrace in 335&nbsp;BC and his army and fleet assembled near the port before the invasion of Asia. The port was also used as naval base during his campaigns in Asia. After Alexander's death, his wife [[Roxana]] and their young son Alexander&nbsp;IV were exiled by [[Cassander]] and later murdered here.<ref>Diodorus Siculus, Library of History Book XIX, 52</ref>

Throughout Macedonian sovereignty Amphipolis was a strong fortress of great strategic and economic importance, as shown by inscriptions. Amphipolis became one of the main stops on the Macedonian royal road (as testified by a border stone found between [[Philippi]] and Amphipolis giving the distance to the latter), and later on the ''[[Via Egnatia]]'', the principal [[Roman roads|Roman road]] which crossed the southern Balkans. Apart from the ramparts of the lower town, the [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]] and a set of well-preserved frescoes from a wealthy villa are the only artifacts from this period that remain visible. Though little is known of the layout of the town, modern knowledge of its institutions is in considerably better shape thanks to a rich epigraphic documentation, including a military ordinance of [[Philip V of Macedon|Philip V]] and an [[Ephebos|ephebarchic]] law from the gymnasium.<ref>[http://attalus.org/docs/seg/s65_420.html Ephebarchic Law of Amphipolis] – English translation</ref>

===Conquest by the Romans===

After the final victory of [[Roman Empire|Rome]] over Macedonia in the [[Battle of Pydna]] in 168&nbsp;BC, Amphipolis became the capital of one of the four mini-republics, or ''merides'', which were created by the Romans out of the kingdom of the [[Antigonid Dynasty|Antigonids]] which [[Diadochi|succeeded]] Alexander's empire in Macedon. These ''merides'' were gradually incorporated into the Roman client state, and later province, of [[Thracia]]. According to the ''[[Acts of the Apostles]]'', the apostles [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] and [[Silas]] passed through Amphipolis in the early AD&nbsp;50s, on their [[Missionary journeys of Paul|journey]] between [[Philippi]] and [[Thessalonica]]; where hence they proselytized to the Greeks, including {{Wikt-lang|ang|aporetic}} [[Epicurean]] and [[Stoicism|Stoic]] philosophers.<ref>{{bibleverse||Acts|17:1|NKJV}}</ref>

In the 1st c. BC the city was badly damaged in the [[Thracian kingdom (Roman vassal state)|Thracian revolt]] against Roman rule.

===Revival in Late Antiquity===

[[File:Plan and neighbourhood of Amphipolis.jpg|thumb|Plan and neighbourhood of Amphipolis.]]
During the period of [[Late Antiquity]], Amphipolis benefited from the increasing economic prosperity of Macedonia, as is evidenced by the large number of [[Christianity|Christian churches]] that were built. Significantly however, these churches were built within a restricted area of the town, sheltered by the walls of the [[acropolis]]. This has been taken as evidence that the large fortified perimeter of the ancient town was no longer defendable, and that the population of the city had considerably diminished.

Nevertheless, the number, size and quality of the churches constructed between the 5th and 6th centuries are impressive. Four [[basilica]]s adorned with rich [[mosaic]] floors and elaborate architectural sculptures (such as the ram-headed [[column]] capitals – see picture) have been excavated, as well as a church with a hexagonal central plan which evokes that of the [[Basilica of San Vitale|basilica]] of [[Saint Vitalis of Milan|St Vitalis]] in [[Ravenna]]. It is difficult to find reasons for such municipal extravagance in such a small town. One possible explanation provided by the historian [[André Boulanger]] is that an increasing ‘willingness’ on the part of the wealthy upper classes in the late Roman period to spend money on local [[gentrification]] projects (which he terms ''[[euergetism]]'', from the Greek verb {{lang|grc|εὐεργετέω}}; meaning 'I do good') was exploited by the local church to its advantage, which led to a mass gentrification of the urban centre and of the agricultural riches of the city's territory. Amphipolis was also a [[diocese]] under the [[metropolitan see]] of [[Thessalonica]] – the Bishop of Amphipolis is first mentioned in 533. The bishopric is today listed by the [[Catholic Church]] as a [[titular see]].<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 831</ref>

===Final decline of the city===

The [[South Slavs#Population|Slavic invasions]] of the late 6th century gradually encroached on the back-country Amphipolitan lifestyle and led to the decline of the town, during which period its inhabitants retreated to the area around the acropolis. The ramparts were maintained to a certain extent, thanks to materials plundered from the monuments of the lower city, and the large unused cisterns of the upper city were occupied by small houses and the workshops of artisans. Around the middle of the 7th century, a further reduction of the inhabited area of the city was followed by an increase in the fortification of the town, with the construction of a new rampart with pentagonal towers cutting through the middle of the remaining monuments. The acropolis, the [[Thermae|Roman baths]], and especially the episcopal basilica were crossed by this wall.

The city was probably abandoned in the eighth century, as the last bishop was attested at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787. Its inhabitants probably moved to the neighbouring site of ancient Eion, port of Amphipolis, which had been rebuilt and refortified in the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine period]] under the name “[[Chrysopolis (Thrace)|Chrysopolis]]”. This small port continued to enjoy some prosperity, before being abandoned during the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman period]]. The last recorded sign of activity in the region of Amphipolis was the construction of a fortified tower to the north in 1367 by the ''[[megas primikerios]]'' John and the ''[[stratopedarches]]'' Alexios to protect the land that they had given to the [[Pantokratoros monastery|monastery of Pantokrator]] on [[Mount Athos]].

[[File:Amphipolis frescoes.jpg|thumb|[[Fresco]] from a house (Hellenistic period).]]