AMPHIPOLIS
Thrace, Greece.
City in the
Edonian region, on the E bank of the river Strymon,
about 4 km N of its estuary. The city was built on
a level plateau dominating the surrounding country, on
the SW slope of the Pangaium range and at the point
where the Strymon makes a 180° curve before flowing
into the Aegean. In 497 B.C. Histiaeus, the tyrant of
Miletos, and his son-in-law Aristagoras attempted to
colonize the site, but they were driven back by the
Edonians (Hdt. 523124ff; 7114ff). A new attempt by
the Athenians to colonize the area in 465 B.C. ended
in failure (
Hdt. 9.75,
Thuc. 1.100, 4.102). In 437 B.C.
Agnon, son of Nicias, succeeded in founding Amphipolis on the site of the Nine Roads, as the area was formerly
called, using as a base the old Persian fortress at the
mouth of the river Eïon, which became a trading port of
the Athenians in 476 B.C., after its conquest by Kimon
(
Thuc. 4.102).
The Spartan general Brasidas, marching from Chalkidike in 424 B.C., easily conquered the city because of
its mixed population and treason on the part of its
Argilian colonists. The intervention of Thucydides, “general over Thrace,” with seven triremes, resulted in the
rescue of only the Eïon. The expedition of the Athenian
demagogue Kleon with strong forces in 422 B.C. did not
succeed in breaking off Amphipolis from the Lakedemonians. In the battle that ensued in front of the walls,
the generals Brasidas and Kleon were killed. Brasidas
was buried within the city walls and honored as a hero
and founder with annual games and sacrifices (
Thuc.
5.6-11).
In spite of repeated efforts by the Athenians, Amphipolis remained autonomous until 357 B.C., when it was
conquered by King Philip II of Macedon. During Alexander the Great's campaign to Asia in 334 B.C., the city
was used as a naval base, and his fleet gathered in the
waters of the Strymon from its estuary to Lake Cercinitis (Arr.
Anab. 1, 2.3). Alexander the Great's three
most celebrated admirals, Nearchos, Androsthenes, and
Laomedon, were natives of Amphipolis. During the Hellenistic period it was a Macedonian city, a fortress, and
one of the royal mints where Philip II's famous gold
staters were coined.
After the battle of Pydna (168 B.C.) Emilius Paulus
conquered the city. A council constituted of Romans
and 10 select representatives of Hellenic cities met there
to decide on the fate of areas of the Macedonian kingdom. Macedonia was divided into four districts, the
merides, and Amphipolis was declared capital of the first
district (Plin.
HN 4.38). Coins minted here in the
period 168-146 B.C. carry the inscription
ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ
ΠΡΩΤΗΣ. The city's prosperity lasted through Roman
times, and the great Roman Via Egnatia passes through
Amphipolis. It is not known when the city was deserted,
but it is probable that it was destroyed during the Slavic
incursions of the early 9th c. During Byzantine times the
area was known as Popolia.
During the Balkan wars of 1912-13 fragments of a
large statue were uncovered on the W bank of the Strymon near the present-day bridge. Excavation of the
site revealed foundations of a structure which carried a
pyramid-shaped base for a lion. The statue was reconstructed and reerected in 1936 on a contemporary base
built with ancient architectural material. The lion of
Amphipolis belongs to a large funeral monument, influenced by the architecture of the Ionian tumuli, very
probably that of Alexander the Great's admiral, Laomedon. It is dated from the last quarter of the 4th c. B.C.
A large necropolis of Hellenistic times was excavated
systematically in the N of the city, as well as graves outside it, located singly and in groups. A total of about
440 graves of various types (pit-shaped, tile-roofed, box-shaped, sculptured underground) have been studied.
Three “Macedonian” graves built with stone-plinths of
limestone and with arched roofs, found N and E of the
city, consist of an entrance, a death chamber, and often
an antechamber. There are built-in beds for the deceased.
The beds of Macedonian grave I, which dates from the
second half of the 3d c. B.C., are decoratively painted
with dionysiac forms, animals, utensils, etc. Another
box-shaped grave of Hellenistic times is decorated with
water birds flying among flower garlands.
The graves yielded terracotta figurines, pots, tombstones, and gold jewelry fashioned into wreaths of
oak or olive leaves, diadems, earrings, rings, necklaces,
and charms. The gravestones cover the period from the
end of the 5th c. B.C. to Roman Imperial times. They
picture isolated forms: older men, suppers for the dead,
scenes of the reception of the dead, or scenes of everyday
life.
Trial excavations have uncovered parts of habitations
of the 4th c. of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In
a house of the Roman period a mosaic floor depicts the
Rape of Europa. On the edge of a deep ravine in the hill
of the present-day village, walls of a structure, in strict
isodomic style, remain. A dedicatory inscription identifies
the building as the Temple of Clio. Of the fortifications
known from Thucydides' account (4.102, 103; 5.10), a
large section of the wall was found in the part of the
city farthest W. On the crest of a line of hills in the SE
of the city, stone plinths of a long wall directed toward
the river are preserved, as are small sections of wall
in the E and N section.
On the site of “Bezesteni” in the center of the city,
the stylobate of a large stoa of the Roman or Early
Christian period was excavated for a length of 53.50 m.
Its marble columns (five Ionic and one Doric) come
from more ancient buildings. In the same region four
Early Christian basilicas were uncovered. Two of these,
which were excavated in large part, have very beautiful multicolored mosaic decorations. Mosaic floors
depict rich geometric motifs, fountains, pots, and plants
as well as a large number of fish and various birds and
animals, both wild and tame. Neither the agora nor any
of the large temples of the city known from ancient
sources have been uncovered.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. Perdrizet, “Un Tombeau du Type
Macédonien au N. O. Du Pangée,”
BCH (1898) 335ff;
“Études Amphipolitaines,”
BCH (1922) 36ff; J. Papstravru, “Amphipolis Geschichte und Prosopographie,”
Klio Supplement 37, Vol. 24 (1936); O. Broneer,
The
Lion Monument at Amphipolis (1941); D. Lazarides,
“Fouilles dans La Région du Pangée,”
Huitiéme Congrés International d'Archeologie Classique (1963) 293ff; K. Pritchett,
Studies in Ancient Topography (1965) 30-48.
D. LAZARIDES
