Zacynthus
(
Ζάκυνθος). Now Zanté; an island in the Ionian
Sea, off the coast of Elis, about forty miles in circumference. It contained a large and
flourishing town of the same name upon the eastern coast, the citadel of which was called
Psophis. Zacynthus was inhabited by a Greek population at an early period. It is said to have
derived its name from Zacynthus, a son of Dardanus, who colonized the island from Psophis in
Arcadia. It was afterwards colonized by Achaeans from Peloponnesus. It formed part of the
maritime empire of Athens, and continued faithful to the Athenians during the Peloponnesian
War. At a later time it was subject to the Macedonian monarchs, and on the conquest of
Macedonia by the Romans passed into the hands of the latter (
Livy, xxxvi.
32). It was said to have colonized the Spanish city of
Saguntum (q.v.). See Partsch,
Die Insel Zante
(Gotha, 1891).