Editing Paros (section)

===Antiquity===
[[File:Paros Marmara tango7174.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A [[windmill]] in Marmara is of the traditional [[Cyclades]] design.]]

The story that Paros of Parrhasia colonized the island with [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]]ns<ref>[[Heraclides Ponticus|Heraclides]] ''De rebus publicis'' 8</ref> is an etymological fiction of the type that abounds in Greek legends. Ancient names of the island are said to have been Plateia (or Pactia), Demetrias, Strongyle (meaning round, due to the round shape of the island), Hyria, Hyleessa, Minoa and Cabarnis.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Stephanos Byz.</ref>

The island later received from [[Athens]] a colony of [[Ionia]]ns<ref>Schol. [[Dionysius Periegetes]] 525; [[Herodian]] I.171</ref> under whom it attained a high degree of prosperity. It sent out colonies to [[Thasos]]<ref>[[Thucydides]] ''Peloponnesian War'' IV.104; [[Strabo]] ''Geography'' 487</ref> and [[Parium]] on the [[Hellespont]]. In the former colony, which was planned in the 15th or 18th [[Olympiad]], the poet [[Archilochus of Paros|Archilochus]],<ref>Zafeiropouloy F., and A., Agelarakis “Warriors of Paros”, Archaeology 58.1(2005): 30–35.</ref> a native of Paros, is said to have taken part. As late as 385 BC the Parians, in conjunction with [[Dionysius I of Syracuse|Dionysius of Syracuse]], founded a colony on the [[Illyria]]n island of Pharos<ref name=EB1911/> ([[Hvar]]).<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]] XV.13</ref>

Shortly before the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Persian War]], Paros seems to have been a dependency of Naxos.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>[[Herodotus]] ''Histories'' V.31</ref> In the first [[Greco-Persian War]] (490 BC), Paros sided with the Persians and sent a [[trireme]] to [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]] to support them. In retaliation, the capital was besieged by an Athenian fleet under [[Miltiades the Younger|Miltiades]], who demanded a fine of 100 [[talent (weight)|talents]].<ref name=EB1911/> But the town offered a vigorous resistance, and the Athenians were obliged to sail away after a siege of 26 days, during which they had wasted the island.<ref name=EB1911/> It was at a temple of [[Demeter]] Thesmophoros in Paros that Miltiades received the wound from which he died.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Herodotus  ''op.cit.'' VI.133–136</ref> By means of an inscription, [[Ludwig Ross]] was able to identify the site of the temple; it lies, as [[Herodotus]] suggests, on a low hill beyond the boundary of the town.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[File:Paros Parikia5 tango7174.jpg|thumb|Church of Zoodohos Pigi, Parikia]]

Paros also sided with [[shahanshah]] [[Xerxes I|Xerxes I of Persia]] against Greece in the second Greco-Persian War (480–479 BC), but, after the [[battle of Artemisium]], the Parian contingent remained inactive at [[Kythnos]] as they watched the progression of events.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Herodotus ''op.cit.'' VIII.67</ref> For their support of the Persians, the islanders were later punished by the Athenian war leader [[Themistocles]], who exacted a heavy fine.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Herodotus ''op.cit.'' VIII.112</ref>

Under the [[Delian League]], the Athenian-dominated naval confederacy (477–404 BC), Paros paid the highest tribute of the island members: 30 ''talents'' annually, according to the estimate of Olympiodorus (429 BC).<ref name=EB1911/><ref>[[Olympiodorus of Thebes|Olympiodorus]] 88.4</ref> This implies that Paros was one of the wealthiest islands in the Aegean. Little is known about the constitution of Paros, but inscriptions seem to show that it was modeled on the [[Athenian democracy]], with a [[Boule (ancient Greece)|''boule'']] (senate) at the head of affairs.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum 2376–2383; Ross, Inscr. med. II.147, 148</ref> In 410 BC, Athenian general [[Theramenes]] discovered that Paros was governed by an [[oligarchy]]; he deposed the oligarchy and restored the democracy.<ref>Diodorus Siculus XIII.47</ref> Paros was included in the second Athenian confederacy (the [[Second Athenian League]] 378–355 BC). In {{Circa|357 BC}}, along with [[Chios]], it severed its connection with Athens.

From the inscription of Adule, it is understood that the Cyclades, which are presumed to include Paros, were subjected to the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemies]], the [[Hellenistic]] dynasty (305–30 BC) that ruled Egypt.<ref name=EB1911/> Paros then became part of the Roman Empire and later of the [[Byzantine Empire]], its Greek-speaking successor state.