Editing Amphipolis (section)

===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}}