Aphytis (), also Aphyte (Ἀφύτη) and Aphytus or Aphytos (Ἄφυτος), was an ancient Greek city in Pallene, the westernmost headland of

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 ...

. Around the middle of the 8th century BC colonists from Euboea arrived. The city became well known for its Temple of

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

, which appears to have been built in the second half of the 8th century BC. At Aphytis,

Ammon Ammon (; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; '; ) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Wadi Mujib, Arnon and Jabbok, in present-d ...

was worshipped, at least from the time of the Spartan general

Lysander Lysander (; ; 454 BC – 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, forcing Athens to capitulate and bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end. He then played ...

, as zealously as in Ammonium, sanctuary in Libya. According to Pausanias, the patron of Aphytis, Ammon Zeus, appeared in a dream to Lysander and urged him to raise the siege, which he did. The Temple of Ammon Zeus, whose few remaining ruins date to the 4th century BC structure. During archaic and classical times Aphytis was a prosperous city, minting its own coins, which depicted the head of its patron, Ammon Zeus, the city's economy appears to have been mainly based on farming and vine-culture.

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

(Politics V,VI 1319 a14) mentions the "agricultural law" of the Aphytians, a special, singular and interesting chapter in the history of ancient Greek public finances. The city became a member of the Chalkidian League; it previously paid tribute under the Thracian phoros 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 ...

. During Hellenistic and Roman times the city minted coins again; an event possibly related to the fame of the Temple of Ammon Zeus. Strabo mentions Aphytis among the five cities, which existed in Pallene in the first century B.C. (

Cassandreia Cassandreia or Cassandrea (, ''Kassándreia'') was once one of the most important cities in Ancient Macedonia, founded by and named after Cassander in 316 BC. It was located on the site of the earlier Ancient Greek city of Potidaea, at the isth ...

, Aphytis, Mende, Scione and Sane). After the founding of the Roman colony of Cassandreia (43 BC), Aphytis was a vicus of this colony, dependent administratively on it.
D. C. Samsaris, The Roman Colony of Cassandreia in Macedonia ''(Colonia Iulia Augusta Cassandrensis)'', Dodona 16(1), 1987, p. 386 Afytos is a village in the modern Kassandra peninsula.

References

*Gerakina N. Mylona 'Aphytos tourist pamphlet' (1994).

External links

Ancient Coinage of Aphytis ΑΦΥΤΑΙΩΝ
Populated places in ancient Macedonia Geography of ancient Chalcidice Greek colonies in Chalcidice Euboean colonies Members of the Delian League Former populated places in Greece {{AncientMacedonia-geo-stub