Editing Thasos (section)

===Antiquity===
[[File:Plan der antiken Stadt Thasos.png|thumb|Plan of Thasos]]
[[File:Agora of Thasos.jpg|thumb|Ancient Agora of Thasos]]
[[File:Geschichtetes, zyklopenhaftes Mauerwerk über Parmenon-Turm, aus Süd C.jpg|thumb|City walls of Thasos]]

The island was colonised at an early date by [[Phoenicia]]ns, attracted probably by its gold mines; they founded a temple to the god [[Melqart]], whom the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] identified as "[[Heracles|Tyrian Heracles]]", and whose cult was merged with Heracles in the course of the island's [[Hellenization]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 5.25.12. "The Thasians, who are Phoenicians by descent, and sailed from [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], and from Phoenicia generally, together with Thasos, the son of Agenor, in search of Europa, dedicated at Olympia a Herakles, the pedestal as well as the image being of bronze. The height of the image is ten cubits, and he holds a club in his right hand and a bow in his left. They told me in Thasos that they used to worship the same Heracles as the Tyrians, but that afterwards, when they were included among the Greeks, they adopted the worship of Heracles the son of Amphitryon."</ref> The temple still existed in the time of [[Herodotus]].<ref>Herodotus. ''Histories'', 2.44. "In the wish to get the best information that I could on these matters, I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia, hearing there was a temple of [[Hercules|Heracles]] at that place, very highly venerated. I visited the temple, and found it richly adorned with a number of offerings, among which were two pillars, one of pure gold, the other of smaragdos, shining with great brilliancy at night. In a conversation I held with the priests, I inquired how long their temple had been built, and found by their answer that they, too, differed from the Hellenes. They said that the temple was built at the same time that the city was founded, and that the foundation of the city took place 2,300 years ago. In [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] I remarked another temple where the same god was worshipped as the Thasian Heracles. So I went on to Thasos, where I found a temple of Heracles, which had been built by the Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in search of Europa. Even this was five generations earlier than the time when Heracles, son of Amphitryon, was born in [[Ancient Greece|Hellas]]. These researches show plainly that there is an ancient god Heracles; and my own opinion is that those Hellenes act most wisely who build and maintain two temples of Heracles, in the one of which the Heracles worshipped is known by the name of [[Olympia, Greece|Olympian]], and has sacrifice offered to him as an immortal, while in the other the honours paid are such as are due to a hero."</ref> An [[eponym]]ous Thasos or [[Thasus]], son of [[Phoenix (son of Agenor)|Phoenix]] (or of [[Agenor]], as Pausanias reported) was said to have been the leader of the Phoenicians, and to have given his name to the [[List of islands of Greece|island]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=727}}

Around 650 BC, or a little earlier, Greeks from [[Paros]] founded a colony on Thasos.<ref>AJ Graham,"The Foundation of Thasos", ''The Annual of the British School at Athens'', Vol. 73 (1978), pp. 61-98.</ref> A generation or so later, the poet [[Archilochus of Paros|Archilochus]], a descendant of these colonists, wrote of casting away his shield during a minor war against an indigenous Thracian tribe, the Saians.<ref>Zafeiropoulou F., A., Agelarakis,  "Warriors of Paros". Archaeology 58.1(2005): 30–35.</ref> Thasian power, and sources of its wealth, extended to the mainland, where the Thasians owned gold mines even more valuable than those of the island; their combined annual revenues amounted to between 200 and 300 [[Attic talent|talents]]. Herodotus says that the best mines on the island were those opened by the Phoenicians on the east side of the island, facing [[Samothrace]]. Archilochus described Thasos as "an ass's backbone crowned with wild wood." The island's capital, [[Thasos (town)|Thasos]], had two harbours. Besides its gold mines, the wine, nuts and marble of Thasos were well known in antiquity.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=727}} Thasian wine was quite famous. Thasian coinage bore images of the wine-god [[Dionysos]] and grape bunches.<ref>Hugh Johnson, ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 39. Simon and Schuster 1989</ref>

During the [[Ionian revolt]] against [[Persian Empire|Persia]], Thasos was under Persian domination. After the capture of [[Miletus]] (494 BC), [[Histiaeus of Miletus|Histiaeus]], the [[Ionia]]n leader, laid siege to Thasos, without success. In response, the Thasians built warships and strengthened their fortifications, but this provoked the suspicions of [[Darius I of Persia]], who compelled them to surrender their ships and pull down their walls.<ref>Agelarakis A., – Y., Serpanos "Auditory Exostoses, Infracranial Skeleto-Muscular Changes and Maritime Activities in  Classical Period Thasos Island", Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2010, 45–57.</ref> After the defeat of [[Xerxes I]] the Thasians joined the [[Delian League]]  but left in a disagreement over their mainland mines and markets.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=727}}
[[File:Thasos - AR tritartemorion.jpg|thumb|right|Silver [[Ancient drachma#Denominations of ancient Greek drachma|tritartemorion]] struck in Thasos {{Circa|411–404 BC}}. [[Satyr]] on the obverse and dolphins on the reverse]]
The [[Athenians]] eventually defeated Thasos' navy, and took the capital after a two-year siege. The Thasians were made to destroy their walls, surrender their ships and their mainland possessions, and pay a regular indemnity. In 411 BC, during a period of political instability at Athens, Thasos accepted a [[Lacedaemon]]ian governor; but in 407 BC the partisans of Lacedaemon were expelled, and the Athenians under [[Thrasybulus]] were admitted.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=727}}

After the [[Battle of Aegospotami]] (405 BC), Thasos again fell into the hands of the Lacedaemonians under [[Lysander]] but the Athenians must have recovered it, for it formed one of the subjects of dispute between them and [[Philip II of Macedon]]ia. In the embroilment between [[Philip V of Macedon]]ia and the [[Roman Empire|Romans]], Thasos submitted to Philip, but received its freedom at the hands of the Romans after the [[Battle of Cynoscephalae]] (197 BC), and it was still a nominally "free" state in the time of [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=727}}

Excavations of various island sites between March and May 1887 by Theodore and [[Mabel Bent]] uncovered an 'Arch of Caracalla', and the collapsed remains of a unique portrait-statue of the emperor [[Hadrian]]'s wife, the empress [[Vibia Sabina|Flavia Vibia Sabina]], with an inscription dedicated to her as a "high priestess".<ref>Sheila Dillon, ''The Female Portrait Statue in the Greek World'', 147-149, 278. Cambridge University Press (2010).</ref><ref>See also Mabel Bent’s diary, January 1888, Istanbul, ''The Travel Chronicles of Mrs J. Theodore Bent, Vol. 1'', p.230 (Oxford, 2006).</ref>