Although Thasos was inhabited from the Palaeolithic period onwards, the first significant remains we know about were discovered at various inland sites and date from the Bronze Age.
The Greek history of the island only begins from the 7th century BC, around 680, when the first settlers from Paros, encouraged by an oracle of Delphi and guided by their leader Telesicles (the father of the poet Archilochus) arrived on the island’s shores. They soon encountered the indigenous Thrasian peoples, but it was several decades before they took full control of the island and the coastal region of the continent.
Around 500 BC, the city-state was rich and protected by a newly constructed defensive wall. The city surrendered twice, however, in the course of the Greco-Persian Wars, to Darius in 491 and then to Xerxes in 480. After the victory of the Greek city-states, Thasos entered Athen’s orbit and became part of the Delian League, becoming one of its wealthiest contributors until a revolt against Athenian imperialism in 465. After more than two years under siege, the city-state finally succumbed and was forced to give up its fleet and to demolish its protective walls.
The Peloponnesian War and its aftermath meant that Thasos was one of the lands where the rivalry between the two great powers of the period was played out: precipitated by the interventions of the Spartan Lysander or the Athenian Thrasybulus, Laconophile oligarchies and pro-Athenian democracies were established on Thasos one after another until about 375, when the island entered the Second Athenian Confederacy.
From this date onwards, Thasos was a prosperous city which tried to adapt as best it could to successive hegemonies: Athenian, Macedonian and then Roman. The island regained notoriety during the Battle of Philippi, when it served as a secondary base for the republicans Brutus and Cassius. During the High Roman Empire, Thasos remained a city-state of middle-ranking importance, yet one which nonetheless sought to imitate the brilliance of the larger cities by fostering new urban developments and landscaping projects.
The destruction occurring in the Late Roman period marked a break in the city-state’s history. Progressively reconstructed, Thasos reorganized itself around several Christian basilicas and vast dwellings built on the ruins of the ancient city, the remains of which were sometimes recycled as material for new projects. A new invasion occurred around 620, this time that of the Slavs: it would take several centuries for Thasos to recover from the complete destruction that ensued.
© EFA / Julien Fournier
From this date onwards, Thasos was a prosperous city which tried to adapt as best it could to successive hegemonies: Athenian, Macedonian and then Roman. The island regained notoriety during the Battle of Philippi, when it served as a secondary base for the republicans Brutus and Cassius. During the High Roman Empire, Thasos remained a city-state of middle-ranking importance, yet one which nonetheless sought to imitate the brilliance of the larger cities by fostering new urban developments and landscaping projects.
The destruction occurring in the Late Roman period marked a break in the city-state’s history. Progressively reconstructed, Thasos reorganized itself around several Christian basilicas and vast dwellings built on the ruins of the ancient city, the remains of which were sometimes recycled as material for new projects. A new invasion occurred around 620, this time that of the Slavs: it would take several centuries for Thasos to recover from the complete destruction that ensued.
© EFA / Julien Fournier