Mende was an ancient Greek city located in the western coast of
PallenePallene is the ancient name of the westernmost of the three headlands of Chalcidice, which run out into the Aegean Sea. It is said to have anciently borne the name of Phlegra and to have witnessed the conflict between the gods and the earthborn Gigantes...
peninsula in Chalkidiki facing the coast of
PieriaPieria is one of the prefectures of Greece. It is located in the southern part of Macedonia, in the Periphery of Central Macedonia. Its capital is the town of Katerini. Pieria is the smallest prefecture within Macedonia. The name Pieria originates from the ancient tribe and the ancient country of...
across the narrow
Thermaic GulfThe Thermaic Gulf is a gulf of the Aegean Sea located immediately south of Thessaloniki, east of Pieria and Imathia, and west of Chalkidiki . It was named after the ancient town of Therma, which was situated on the coast along the gulf...
near the modern town of
KalandraKalandra is a small town on Kassandra, the westernmost peninsula of Chalkidiki. In ancient Greece it was the site of the town Mende, one of the many colonies in Chalkidiki founded by Chalcis, the main city on the island of Euboia...
.
Mende was built propably during the 9th century BC by
EretriaEretria was a polis in Ancient Greece, located on the western coast of the island of Euboea , south of Chalcis , facing the coast of Attica across the narrow Euboian Gulf. Eretria was an important Greek polis in the 6th/5th century BC. However, it lost its importance already in antiquity...
n colonists. The city owes its name to the plant
minthe, a species of
mintMentha is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . Species within Mentha have a subcosmopolitan distribution across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. Several mint hybrids commonly occur.Mints are aromatic, almost exclusively perennial, rarely...
that still sprouts in the area. The large quantities of lumber that produced, the silver, gold and lead mines that possessed leaded Mende in rapid development and from the 6th century BC was one of the cities that controlled trade routes in the coast of
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
with confirmed dealings even to the Greek colonies in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, specially cause the exports of the famous local wine
Mendaeos oinos.
During the 5th century, Mende became one of the most important allies to
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
by participating in the
Delian LeagueThe Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Greco–Persian Wars...
paying a tax that varied from six up to fifteen
Attic talentThe Attic talent , also known as the Athenian talent or Greek talent, is an ancient unit of mass equal to 25.992kg, as well as a unit of value equal to this amount of pure silver. A talent was originally intended to be the mass of water required to fill an amphora . At the 2009 price of $414/kg, a...
s per year.
However, in 423 managed to acquire its sovereign, nevertheless this situation did not last long for the Athenians quickly suppressed the revolt (
Thuc.Thucydides was a Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century B.C. war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B.C...
iv. 121).
Mende was an ancient Greek city located in the western coast of
PallenePallene is the ancient name of the westernmost of the three headlands of Chalcidice, which run out into the Aegean Sea. It is said to have anciently borne the name of Phlegra and to have witnessed the conflict between the gods and the earthborn Gigantes...
peninsula in Chalkidiki facing the coast of
PieriaPieria is one of the prefectures of Greece. It is located in the southern part of Macedonia, in the Periphery of Central Macedonia. Its capital is the town of Katerini. Pieria is the smallest prefecture within Macedonia. The name Pieria originates from the ancient tribe and the ancient country of...
across the narrow
Thermaic GulfThe Thermaic Gulf is a gulf of the Aegean Sea located immediately south of Thessaloniki, east of Pieria and Imathia, and west of Chalkidiki . It was named after the ancient town of Therma, which was situated on the coast along the gulf...
near the modern town of
KalandraKalandra is a small town on Kassandra, the westernmost peninsula of Chalkidiki. In ancient Greece it was the site of the town Mende, one of the many colonies in Chalkidiki founded by Chalcis, the main city on the island of Euboia...
.
Ancient History
Mende was built propably during the 9th century BC by
EretriaEretria was a polis in Ancient Greece, located on the western coast of the island of Euboea , south of Chalcis , facing the coast of Attica across the narrow Euboian Gulf. Eretria was an important Greek polis in the 6th/5th century BC. However, it lost its importance already in antiquity...
n colonists. The city owes its name to the plant
minthe, a species of
mintMentha is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . Species within Mentha have a subcosmopolitan distribution across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. Several mint hybrids commonly occur.Mints are aromatic, almost exclusively perennial, rarely...
that still sprouts in the area. The large quantities of lumber that produced, the silver, gold and lead mines that possessed leaded Mende in rapid development and from the 6th century BC was one of the cities that controlled trade routes in the coast of
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
with confirmed dealings even to the Greek colonies in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, specially cause the exports of the famous local wine
Mendaeos oinos.
During the 5th century, Mende became one of the most important allies to
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
by participating in the
Delian LeagueThe Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Greco–Persian Wars...
paying a tax that varied from six up to fifteen
Attic talentThe Attic talent , also known as the Athenian talent or Greek talent, is an ancient unit of mass equal to 25.992kg, as well as a unit of value equal to this amount of pure silver. A talent was originally intended to be the mass of water required to fill an amphora . At the 2009 price of $414/kg, a...
s per year.
However, in 423 managed to acquire its sovereign, nevertheless this situation did not last long for the Athenians quickly suppressed the revolt (
Thuc.Thucydides was a Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century B.C. war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B.C...
iv. 121). During the
Peloponnesian WarThe Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 B.C., was an Ancient Greek war, fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...
, Mende,
ToroniToroni , ancient form: Torone is an ancient Greek city located in the southwest edge of Sithonia peninsula in Chalkidiki, 20 km after Neos Marmaras and 3 km before Porto Koufo , one of the largest natural harbours of Greece....
and
SkioneNea Skioni is a tourist oriented village located in the peninsulas of Cassandreia and Halkidiki in Greece. The population in 2001 was 889 for the village and 910 for the municipal district, the elevation is 10 m...
were the main goals of the two combattants, Athenians and Spartans, in the area, specially after
BrasidasBrasidas was a Spartan officer during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War.He was the son of Tellis and Argileonis, and won his first laurels by the relief of Methone, which was besieged by the Athenians . During the following year he seems to have been eponymous ephor Brasidas (d. 422...
,the Spartan general, raised an army of allies and helots and went for the sources of Athenian power in north Greece in 424. After the end of the war, Mende reacquired its independence.
The city tried to avoid
OlynthianOlynthus was an ancient city of Chalcidice, built mostly on two flat-topped hills 30–40m in height, in a fertile plain at the head of the Gulf of Torone, near the neck of the peninsula of Pallene, about 2.5 kilometers from the sea, and about 60 stadia Olynthus (Greek: Όλυνθος olunthos, a...
rule in the 4th century, when the Chalkidician League was established and later the
Macedonian hegemonyMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
, but in 315 its population, among with other Chalkidicians, was forced to resettle in
CassandreiaCassandra was one of the most important cities in Ancient Macedonia founded by and named after Cassander in 316 BC located near the site of the earlier Ancient Greek city of Potidaea...
, after this new city was built were
PoteidaeaPotidaea was a colony founded by the Corinthians around 600 BC in the narrowest point in Pallene in the western point of Chalcidice in what was known as Thrace. Potidaea maintained trade with Macedonia....
stood by king
CassanderCassander , King of Macedonia , was a son of Antipater, and founder of the Antipatrid dynasty.-Early history:...
.
In Mende was born the sculptor
PaeoniusPaeonius of Mende in Macedonia was a Greek sculptor of the late 5th century BC. The only work that can be definitely attributed to him is the statue of Nike discovered at Olympia...
who made the statue of
NikeIn Greek mythology, Nike , was a goddess who personified triumph throughout the ages of the ancient Greek culture. She is known as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The Roman equivalent was Victoria...
which was put on top of the victory pillar in
OlympiaOlympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi. Both games were held every Olympiad , the Olympic Games dating back possibly further than 776 BC...
, and is presented in the Museum of Olympia.
Topography and archaeology
The location of Mende was identified with the area of the modern town of Kalandra by
William Martin LeakeWilliam Martin Leake, FRS , British antiquarian and topographer, was born in London.After completing his education at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and spending four years in the West Indies as lieutenant of marine artillery, he was sent by the government to Constantinople to instruct the...
already from 1835 but systematic excavational research was condacted from 1986 to 1994 by the XVI Ephorate of Classical Antiquities.
The main archaeological area covers a range of 1200 to 600 meters and lies to the open and flat place of a hill by the sea, that sequential periods of inhabitation from the 9th to the 4th century were revealed. The
acropolisAcropolis literally means city on the edge . In Greek, Acropolis means "Highest City". For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
of the city is located to the south uppermost point of the hill, where large storage buildings among with pottery dated from the 11th to the 4th century, were found.
The
Proasteion (Suburb) of the city, which is also mentioned by
ThucydidesThucydides was a Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century B.C. war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B.C...
, occupies the waterfront area between the beach and the hill of the main city, were the harbour was located. Excavations revealed part of the main avenue, paved with pebbles, along with foundations of buildings with storage pottery, possibly shops or harbour buildings.
The
NecropolisA necropolis is a large cemetery or burial ground, usually including structural tombs. The word comes from the Greek νεκρόπολις - nekropolis, meaning "city of the dead"...
of the settlement was found south of the city, near a modern hotel. Excavations were made in 241 tombs and revealed mostly burials of children inside engraved
ceramicA ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
vaseThe vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
s.
Those excavations are considered important mainly because they proved that a heavy
EuboeaFor the mythological figure, see Euboea Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from the mainland of Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait...
n influenced settlement was established already from the 11th century.
External links