The tradition of an early Phoenician occupation, recounted by Herodotus (VI, 47), is not confirmed by excavation, though the Parian colonists of ca. 710-680 BC seem to have had commerce with Tyre. The Parians, among whom was the poet Archilochos, excused their annexation of the island by calling it the command of Hercules, and the Phoenician myth probably dates from the time of Theogenes (mid-5C), the boxer-politician who claimed Hercules as his father.
Theogenes
The colonists prospered by exploiting the Thasian gold mines and later took control Skaptesyle on the mainland. Their zenith of prosperity was in the 6C BC. Early in the 5C Histiaios, tyrant of Miletus, unsuccessfully besieged the island. In the Persian wars, despite the famous walls of their city, the Thasians submitted tamely to the invader. A dispute with Athens about the mainland mines led to the reduction of the island in 463, but in 466 Thasos seems to have taken over again the mineral works of Galepsos. From Thasos in 464 Thucydides set out on his unsuccessful attempt to break the Spartian siege of Amphipolis. Lysander massacred its Athenian partisans in 404, but Thasos again allied with Athens in 389 and became a permanent member of the second Athenian league. About 360 the island was seized by Philip II and it remained Macedonian until the Romans arrived in 196 BC. During this period it developed a flourishing export of wine, and Thasians merchants carried on the trade between Thrace and Southern Greece. Under the Empire Thasian marble and oil enjoyed an international reputation. The medieval history of Thasos is obscure; the capital was removed to the interior because of pirates. Before passing under Turkish domination in 1455, the island was a fief of the Genoese Gattilusi. In 1760 it was given by Mahmud II to the family of Mehmet Ali, and became in consequence in 1813-1920 a quasi-independent appanage of Egypt, having its own president. In 1770-74 it was occupied by a Russian fleet which made great inroads into the timber. In October 1912 it was occupied by the Greek army, in 1916 by the Allies, and in 1941 by Bulgars.
A View of the Agora (Forum) of Thasos
Thasos was the birthplace of Polygnotos, the painter, of the rhapsodist Stesimbrotos, and of Theogenes, son of Timoxenos, who said by Paysanias to have carried off no fewer than 1400 athletic crowns. The physician Hippocrates leaved for three years in Thasos, whose climatic variations he recorded. Excavations since 1910 have been undertaken by the French School, which publishes an excellent detailed guide.
The island capital is Limenas ('The Harbour'), or Thasos, on the N coast, on the site of the ancient city of Thasos. As well as being the administrative headquarters with ca. 5,000 inhab. Limenas is the seat of a bishop and popular as an international summer holiday centre.
