Olynthus
Olynthus was an ancient city located in northern Greece on the Macedonian promontory of Chalcidice, approximately a mile and a half north of the Gulf of Torone. Initially inhabited by the Thracian Bottiaeans, the city underwent significant changes after being taken over by Greeks in 479 BC. Olynthus became part of the Delian League under Athenian control in 454 BC and later emerged as the center of the Chalcidic League, a notable example of ancient federalism. The city is renowned for its well-planned urban layout, featuring rectangular streets and housing blocks designed according to the Hippodamian grid system.
Archaeological discoveries at Olynthus have revealed a wealth of information about Greek domestic architecture, with over a hundred house plans identified. These homes often included a central courtyard, upper stories, and intricate pebble floor mosaics, many of which depicted mythological scenes. Additionally, inscriptions found in the area provide insights into property transactions. Despite its cultural significance, Olynthus faced numerous conflicts, ultimately falling to Philip II of Macedonia in 348 BC, after which it was destroyed. Today, the ruins offer valuable glimpses into the city’s historical and architectural legacy.
Subject Terms
Olynthus
Olynthos (near Miriofita or Neos Olynthos)
A city in northern Greece on the Macedonian promontory of Chalcidice, situated on a double hill a mile and a half north of the head of the Gulf of Torone. Late Neolithic and early Iron Age settlements have been identified. Olynthus belonged to the Thracian tribe of the Bottiaeans until 479 BC, when the Persian general Artabazus, after escorting Xerxes I to the Hellespont (Dardanelles), slew the local inhabitants and handed the town over to Greeks from Chalcidice. From 454 it formed part of the Delian League under Athenian control, but in 433/1, instigated by King Perdiccas II of Macedonia, it revolted and received a great increase of population from other city-states of Chalcidice, becoming the center (and later mint) of their new Chalcidic (or Olynthian) League, a pioneer example of ancient federalism.
During the Peloponnesian War Olynthus formed the base for a Spartan expeditionary force under Brasidas (433/2). Concluding a treaty with Macedonia (390), the Chalcidic League issued coins of great artistic distinction at the city. But the growing and considerable territorial expansion of this confederacy aroused the hostility of Sparta, which disbanded it after a successful two-year siege of Olynthus (379). Following the eclipse of Sparta at the hands of Thebes (371), however, the League recovered. When war broke out between Philip II of Macedonia and Athens (357), it sided first with the former (a fragmentary copy of the treaty has been found) and then with the latter: but despite the Athenian orator Demosthenes' brilliant Olynthiac Speeches, urging support for the city, it fell to Philip by treachery and was razed to the ground (348).
Its population may have reached a figure of about 15,000. The principal urban area was laid out on a regular `Hippodamian’ design (named after the Milesian town planner Hippodamus, c 500). More than a hundred house plans have been traced at Olynthus, including fifty in five complete blocks and others located outside the city (forming an extension on the grid plan); these discoveries have made a major contribution to our knowledge of Greek domestic architecture. The standard house, of prosperous appearance, possessed a court (sometimes colonnaded) with rooms on three sides. Above the principal suites on the north side were upper storeys. Kitchens with flues, and bathrooms with terracotta tubs, have also been uncovered. Walls were constructed of mud brick with stone bases, inner walls were painted (often so as to imitate masonry), and the pebble floor mosaics—occurring mainly in the dining rooms (andrones) but also in other parts of the houses—amount to the most extensive and impressive group of late fifth-and early fourth-century examples of this art found anywhere in the Greek world. The mosaics in the `Villa of Good Fortune’ include notable mythological scenes of Dionysus in a chariot, and Thetis bringing armor to Achilles. A group of inscriptions unearthed in these dwellings provides information about their sales, rentals and mortgages.
Few official buildings have so far been found, though traces of a portico and council house can be seen beside an open space. Shops and artisans' houses were located in a separate quarter. Olynthus was provided with water brought by terracotta pipes from a spring ten miles away. Near the city, according to Strabo, was a hollow known as Cantharolethron (`Beetle-Death’), because the beetles which are ubiquitous in the area died when they entered it.