The ancient Akanthos spread across three hills of Mount Stratonikos, covering an area of 560 acres, about 600 meters southeast of the settlement of Ierissos. The walled city took its name either from the many thorns in the area or from the thorny formation of its fortifications. Systematic excavation has not yet taken place. Some travelers from the last century mention the existence of an ancient mole in the city’s harbor. Indeed, the current remains of ancient Akanthos begin from the beach of Ierissos, where remnants of the quay of the ancient harbor are still visible. Of the ruins, the most impressive are the walls of the acropolis, as sections up to 8 meters in height have survived!
The visible remains are primarily sections of the city’s fortifications, the walls, and an impressive section of the acropolis. Additionally, scattered architectural fragments and building remnants from the Hellenistic period, public buildings, houses, and the foundations of a temple – probably dedicated to the goddess Athena – at the top of a hill, have been found.
TOUR
A wonderful walk awaits you on the three hills where ancient Akanthos once stood. You will particularly enjoy it in spring when the area is lush and green. As you walk straight from the entrance of the archaeological site, you will encounter the Byzantine cobbled street, and above it, a house with an inner courtyard surrounded by rooms. It was built in the late 4th or early 3rd century BC and was destroyed in the 2nd century BC. Its structure reflects the absolute sense of private space.
Continuing the walk, you will ascend the first hill, where you will see a Byzantine church, probably from the 10th century, built with materials from an ancient building destroyed by the 1932 earthquake. Ceramics from the Early Iron Age have been found around it. Walking toward the second hill, you will notice sections of the wall to your left, and then you will ascend to the third hill. At the top, there are the foundations of a hundred-foot (30.48 meters) ancient temple. Excavations of the site revealed only a few mobile finds. The view from there is exceptional.
THE CEMETERY
Although large-scale excavation has not yet taken place at ancient Akanthos, research into the necropolis has been underway since 1973. It stretches along the coastal area of Ierissos, and to date, over 600 graves have been recorded. The cemetery was used from the Archaic period until the Roman years, and perhaps, with some interruptions, until the 17th century BC. The graves are arranged in at least two or three overlapping layers, usually parallel to the coastline. Adults and children were buried in the same area, according to the known burial customs of antiquity. Various types of tombs exist, including rectangular pits, either simple or lined with clay or clay sarcophagi, simple or with relief or painted decorations, chest-shaped, and roofed tombs. Additionally, there have been records of “enghytismoi,” which are burials inside large storage jars or smaller vessels, which make up the majority of infant or child burials.
The grave goods exhibit great variety. Most of them are pottery vessels, many of which were personal items of the deceased or related to their professions and activities – among them, jewelry, fibulae, brooches, mirrors, stamps, needles, hooks, knives, etc. The presence of weapons is rather rare. Very often, in the graves of women, but especially children, clay figurines of chthonic deities, actors, eros figures, humans, animals, etc., are found. Similar burial customs, tombs, and findings are encountered in the necropolises of other ancient cities in Macedonia and Thrace.
The influences, cultural exchanges, and commercial interactions with the Greek-speaking cities of the East, as well as with island centers of the Aegean, Euboea, Athens, Corinth, and Boeotia, are evident. Between the ancient necropolis and the city were the workshops of Akanthos, where, among other things, amphorae for transporting the well-known “Acanthian wine” were produced.
HISTORICAL DATA
Ancient Akanthos was located in the Strymonic Gulf, at the base of the Athos peninsula, in the present-day Gulf of Ierissos, near the Xerxes Canal. Both Strabo (7.331) and Thucydides (4.84) refer to it as a colony of the Andrians. According to Eusebius and some archaeological evidence, its likely founding date is 655 BC. It is generally accepted that it was founded around the middle of the 7th century by Ionian settlers from Andros or both Andros and Chalcis, simultaneously with the foundation of three other known colonies in the region: Sani (Nea Roda), Stageira, and Argilos a little further north, the oldest Greek colony in the Strymon region. The economy of the city relied on its mineral and forest wealth, as well as the agricultural and livestock products traded from its harbor.
Herodotus (6.44) mentions that in 490 BC the city was subjected to the Persians of Mardonius. During the next Persian campaign, in 480 BC, Xerxes passed through the area and was forced to host his vast army, an event that led to the near-total economic destruction of the city. The inhabitants were forced to work on the digging of the canal so that Xerxes’ fleet could pass.
After the Persian Wars, Akanthos threw off the Persian yoke and became a tributary of the victorious Athenians. Xenophon, in his Hellenica (5.2.11), informs us that in 424 BC it came under the control of the Spartan general Brasidas and remained an ally of the Lacedaemonians until the end of the Peloponnesian War. In the early 4th century, it opposed Olynthus and, consequently, the establishment of the Olynthian League.
The Macedonians followed, with Philip II in 348 BC, who captured all the cities of Chalcidice and kept them under his rule until 200 BC. At that time, Akanthos was completely destroyed by Attalus I Soter and his Roman allies during the wars against the Macedonian king Philip V. The Roman historian Titus Livius (31.45) reports that the united fleet and army of Attalus and the Romans captured and plundered the city. In 168 BC, after the Battle of Pydna, it became a Roman possession, and the last references to the city extend into the Byzantine era.
Akanthos was famous for its wine and salt. It was said that the cicadas in this city were… silent. Hence the well-known ancient Greek proverb “Acanthian cicada,” as mentioned by Mnaséas of Patrae and Simonides.
THE COINS OF THE CITY
The coins issued by the city hold an important place in its history. They are considered some of the earliest and most aesthetically pleasing Greek coins of antiquity. Akanthos first minted coins in 530 BC, following the Euboean standard for silver. Its tetradrachm features a lion devouring an ox, the famous “bull-killing lion.” On the reverse side, there is an incuse square divided into four equal parts. Later, the inscription “AKANTHION” was added to the reverse side, along with some symbols (thorn flower, etc.). In other tetradrachms, the lion devours a boar – perhaps these were minted in Stageira, whose harbor was called Capros.
On the drachmas of Akanthos, a kneeling bull is depicted, turning its head backward. On the tetradrachms, the lion or bull is shown again. On the diobols, the head of Athena is depicted. On the obols, the head of a lion facing forward. It is worth noting that all of these coins were silver. After 424 BC, when Akanthos joined the Spartan camp, it began minting silver coins based on the Phoenician standard. These also feature the lion devouring a bull, while the reverse side has the inscription “AKANTHION” and the name of the current ruler. Tetradrachms, tetrabolas, and triobols depict the bull in front. The diobols feature the helmeted Athena with the inscription “AKAN.” These continued to be issued until 400 BC.
THE ARTICLE