Potidaea
Potidaea, known later as Kassandrea, is an ancient city located in Macedonia, northern Greece, strategically positioned on the isthmus of Pallene within the Chalcidice peninsula. Founded around 600 BC by King Periander of Corinth, it played a significant role in facilitating trade routes between Macedonia and the Adriatic Sea. The city was notable for its fortified port and was linked to the Delian League under Athenian influence, participating in key historical events, including the Peloponnesian War. Potidaea's inhabitants famously issued coinage featuring Poseidon, reflecting their cultural heritage.
After suffering a brutal siege in 430 BC, the city faced several changes in governance, being captured by Philip II of Macedonia in 356 BC and later reestablished by Cassander around 316 BC. Under Roman rule, it became a colony known as Colonia Julia Augusta Cassandrensis, thriving until its eventual destruction by Slavic invaders in 539 AD. Archaeological findings, including a temple dedicated to Poseidon and inscriptions related to a gymnasium, provide insights into the city's historical and cultural significance. Potidaea's legacy continues to be of interest to historians and archaeologists exploring ancient Macedonian history.
Subject Terms
Potidaea
Poteidaia, later Kassandrea, Kassandreia (Nea Poteidaia)
A city in Macedonia (northern Greece), situated at a strategic point on the isthmus of Pallene, the westernmost of the three prongs of the Chalcidice promontory. Potidaea was founded by King Periander of Corinth c 600 BC, under the leadership of his son, in order to serve the Macedonian end of the trans-Balkan route to Illyria (rich in silver) and the Adriatic; it was also in a position to facilitate northeastern trade. The inhabitants issued coinage about a century later, depicting Poseidon (after whom the city was named, and whose statue it contained) carrying his trident, and riding on a horse.
A strongly fortified port, Potidaea resisted a siege by the Persian general Artabazus (480–479) and subsequently joined the Delian League under Athenian control. Its revolt in 432, to which Corinth unofficially sent help, was one of the contributory causes of the Peloponnesian War, and led to the city's reduction by the Athenians in 430, after a terrible siege during which its inhabitants ate human flesh before they surrendered. Athenian colonists occupied the site until the end of the war (404), when Potidaea became independent, joining the Chalcidian League. Recovered and recolonized by Athens (363–361), it was captured in 356 by Philip II of Macedonia, who merged the town with Olynthus and sold its inhabitants into slavery (except the Athenians, whom he sent back to Athens).
About 316 the Macedonian Cassander, one of the successors of Alexander the Great, founded a new city on the site, under the name of Cassandrea, and endowed it with a very large surrounding territory. A short-lived autocratic régime (`tyranny’) led by Apollodorus (279–276) was followed by a renewal of Macedonian rule under Antigonus II Gonatas, whose dynasty converted Cassandrea into one of the most important and strongly fortified strongholds of his kingdom. Under Roman rule, it was made a Roman colony in 44/43 by Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, acting on behalf of Brutus, and the colony was renewed (perhaps on two successive occasions) after the battle of Actium (31 BC), coining in the early Principate under the title of Colonia Julia Augusta Cassandrensis. In AD 269 it repulsed an attack by the Goths, but survived (becoming the see of a bishop) until its destruction by the Slavs in 539.
The remains of a temple attributed to Poseidon have been uncovered in Potidaea, and a bilingual inscription recording the construction of a gymnasium has been found.