Cleonae or Cleonæ or Kleonai () was an ancient city on the ''Acte'' or ''Akte'' (Ακτή) peninsula (now
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism.
The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...
), the easternmost of the three peninsulas forming the
ancient Chalcidice
Chalkidiki (; , alternatively Halkidiki), also known as Chalcidice, is a peninsula and regional units of Greece, regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedon ...
, on its western coast, south of
Thyssus
Thyssus or Thyssos () was a town of Chalcidice in ancient Macedon, situated on the west or south side of the peninsula of ''Acte'' or ''Akte'' (Ακτή) peninsula (now Mount Athos), the easternmost of the three peninsulas forming the ancient Chal ...
(Thyssos).
Thucydides
Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...
says that among the cities of the peninsula,
Sane was colony of
Andros
Andros (, ) is the northernmost island of the Greece, Greek Cyclades archipelago, about southeast of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . It is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and ...
, while Thyssus, Cleonae,
Acrothoum
Acrothoum or Akrothoon () or Acrothoi or Akrothooi (Ἀκρόθωοι) or Acroathon or Acrothon was a town of Chalcidice in ancient Macedon, situated near the extremity of the ''Acte'' or ''Akte'' (Ακτή) peninsula (now Mount Athos), the easter ...
,
Olophyxus
Olophyxus or Olophyxos () was a town on the peninsula of ''Acte'' or ''Akte'' (Ακτή) (now Mount Athos), the easternmost of the three peninsulas forming the ancient Chalcidice. Thucydides says that among the cities of Acte, Sane was colony of A ...
and
Dium had a heterogeneous population of bilingual barbarians formed by a few Chalcidians and, the rest,
Pelasgians
The name Pelasgians (, ) was used by Classical Greek writers to refer either to the predecessors of the Greeks, or to all the inhabitants of Greece before the emergence of the Greeks. In general, "Pelasgian" has come to mean more broadly all ...
,
Bisaltians,
Crestonians and
Edoni
The Edoni (also ''Edones'', ''Edonians'', ''Edonides'') () were a Thracian tribe who dwelt mostly between the Nestus and the Strymon rivers in southern Thrace, but also once dwelt west of the Strymon at least as far as the Axios. They inhabited ...
.
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...
points out that its primitive populated was composed of Pelasgians from
Lemnos
Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...
. According to Strabo, it was colonized by
Euboea
Euboea ( ; , ), also known by its modern spelling Evia ( ; , ), is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete, and the sixth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by ...
n colonists from
Chalcis
Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...
.
Heraclides Lembus
Heraclides Lembus (, ''Hērakleidēs Lembos'') was an Ancient Greek statesman, historian and philosophical writer whose works only survive in fragments quoted in later authors.
Life
Heraclides was an Egyptian civil servant who lived during the re ...
also writes that Chalcidians settled there.
It was a member of the
Delian League
The Delian League was a confederacy of Polis, Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Classical Athens, Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...
as it appears on the tribute lists to
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
during the
Peloponnesian War
The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (), was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek war fought between Classical Athens, Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Ancien ...
.
It is tentatively identified with a site near
Daphne
Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater.
There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...
.
References
Populated places in ancient Macedonia
Euboean colonies
Ancient Athos
Greek colonies in Chalcidice
Former populated places in Greece
Members of the Delian League
{{CentralMacedonia-geo-stub