Listed 17 sub titles with search on: History for destination: "CHIOS Island NORTH AEGEAN".
Chios is an island where the historic past is still living in the
present. One can find traces of all different eras. There is evidence that the
island had inhabitants since the Stone Age.
c. 3000 BC: Neolithic findings in the Cave of Aghio Galas (a village located
in the northwest region of the island)
c. 2600-2000 BC: Early findings in the area of Emborios
(which lies in the southeast region of Chios). The first king of Chios was Amphiklos
or Amphialos, a man that came to the island following an oracle. Then, the Ionians
from Asia Minor inhabited
Samos and Chios, connecting
thus the island with the rest of the Ionian towns of that time. Around the 7th
century BC, Chios not only flourishes in the maritime sector, but in other sectors
as well. It is said that Homer passed by the island and that Chios inspired the
Homeric epics. Chios, unlike other places, had no colonies. The Chians were creating
what was called in Greek "emboria" (meaning trading posts) and they
were very famous for their wine and mastic, two of their most popular products
which contributed to the flourishment of the island flourish.
c.1600-1100 BC: An ancient
settlement found in the southern part of the island, in the area of Fana,
is probably a remnant of the Mycenaean period.
600 BC: Around 600 BC, the "Great Clause" (Megali Ritra) was
established on the island. The first democracy in the world was based on this
law. It is said that Solon, prior to establishing the democratic laws and institutions
in Athens, visited Chios
and used a great deal of the democratic principles of the Great Clause.
493 BC: Destruction of Chios by the Persians. Chios then became an ally
of the Athenians in the Athenian Alliance. The Chians enjoyed prosperity over
the next few years.
431 BC-146 BC: At the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, the Chians were
allied with the Athenians until the defeat of Sicily, when they joined forces
with the Spartans. When the Antalkidios Peace was signed, Chios was again allied
with the Athenians. At the time of Alexander the Great, there was a Macedonian
garrison in Chios. When Alexander passed away, his successors took over and for
Chios, the period of decline was just beginning.
146 BC: Imposition of Roman rule.
250 AD: Martyrdom of St Isidoros during the expulsion of Christians. It
is said that the mastic tree (called Schinos in the Chian dialect) started to
cry when it ‘saw’ the Saint’s body dragged under it.
c. 650 AD: Destruction of Chios by the Arabs.
1042-1055 AD: The Emperor Constantine Monomachos keeps his promise and
begins building the Nea
Moni Monastery. The Emperor had promise the two monks that found the Holy
Icon of the Virgin hanging from branch of myrtle, that should he regain his throne
(as they predicted), he would furnish the Monastery with a dowry.
1089 AD: Raid by Turkish pirates
1124-5 AD: Raid by the Venetians
1170-71 AD: Second raid by the Venetians
1204 AD: The Francs threaten Chios.
1261 AD: According to the Treaty of Nympheon Chios is given to the Genoese,
who are permitted by the emperor to maintain an establishment there, including
a palace, a church, gardens, public baths, dwelling places and their own consul.
1292 AD: Raid of Chios by the Sicilian, Roger de Loria.
1300 AD: Raid of Chios by the Turks
1303 AD: Raid by the Catalan, Roger da Flor.
1304-1329 AD: Chios comes under the temporary rule of the Genoese. A treaty
with the Emperor concedes to the Genoese a ten-year right to "protect"
the island provided it remains under Byzantine sovereignty.
1346 - 1566 AD: Genoese rule. Chios prospers during the Genoese period.
A commercial Genoese firm called Maona, maintains control of the island’s commerce.
Although they oppress the inhabitants, they manage to organize the commerce of
mastic and the rest of the products. They bring to the island the cultivation
of citrus trees and the raising of silkworms. Castle villages are created in the
South to protect mastic production and mansions are established in the area of
Kambos. The population increases
and the standard of living is very high. Although the Turks conquered the Byzantine
Empire and attacked Chios as well, the Genoese manage to keep them away.
1566 - 1821 AD: Turkish rule. The Chians are still oppressed, however,
they are granted privileges due to the production of mastic. The Turks imposed
taxes on the Chians and forced them to pay the taxes with mastic. When the Greek
Revolution against the Turks broke out in 1821, the Chians did not participate.
1822 AD: When Lykourgos Logothetis, a Greek rebel from Samos, came to Chios,
he tried to free the island with the help of Antonis Bournias. This effort failed
and Admiral Kapudan Pasha Kara Ali brought the Turkish fleet in the island and
had started to burn, destroy and massacre the Chians over a period of 15 days
in order to teach them a lesson for their disobedience and ungratefulness. Over
25,000 people lose their lives during the Massacre of Chios. Soon thereafter,
Constantine Kanaris, from the neighboring island of Psara, leads his fleet to
Chios and burns the Turkish flagship in the port of the island. Admiral Kapudan
Pasha Kara Ali, as well as other Turkish officials, lose their lives. They were
all buried in the Turkish cemetery that lies in the Castle of Chios town.
1823 - 1912 AD: The Chians that had managed to escape from the Turks come
back in the island in 1832 and begin to rebuild their lives. The harsh freeze
of 1852 destroyed the crop while the earthquake of 1881 destroyed everything that
had been left standing in addition to taking the lives of 3,500 people. Nevertheless,
the Chians did not give up and in 1912, the island was liberated and was united
with the Greek State.
1939 - 1945 AD: During the 2nd World War, the Chians fought against the
Germans and people escape to the Middle East. Chios achieved its liberation in
1944 along with the rest of the Greek State.
Just as in the past, Chians try to make the best out of everything
regardless of the suffering they have endured over the centuries. Chios is a very
rich island and currently maintains a high standard of living as well as a rich
culture.
This text is cited Febr 2004 from the Chios Prefecture Tourism Committee URL below, which contains images.
At Chios there was a law that all debts should be entered on a public register. (Aristotle, Economics, 1347b)
There were more slaves at Chios than in any one other city except Lacedaemon, and being also by reason of their numbers punished more rigorously when they offended.
The Persian fleet wintered at Miletus, and putting out to sea in the next year easily subdued the islands that lie off the mainland, Chios and Lesbos and Tenedos. Whenever they took an island, the foreigners would (net) the people. [2] This is the manner of their doing it: the men link hands and make a line reaching from the northern sea to the southern, and then advance over the whole island hunting the people down. They also captured the Ionian cities of the mainland in the same way, but not by netting the people; for that was not possible.
The Persians had not molested Chios till after the battle of Lade B.C. 495, but at that time they burned and ravaged the country and carried off the beautiful girls as slaves.
The Persian fleet wintered at Miletus, and putting out to sea in the
next year easily subdued the islands that lie off the mainland, Chios and Lesbos
and Tenedos. Whenever they took an island, the foreigners would (net) the people.
This is the manner of their doing it: the men link hands and make a line reaching
from the northern sea to the southern, and then advance over the whole island
hunting the people down...
Then the Persian generals were not false to the threats they had made
against the Ionians when they were encamped opposite them. When they had gained
mastery over the cities, they chose out the most handsome boys and castrated them,
making them eunuchs instead of men, and they carried the fairest maidens away
to the king; they did all this, and they burnt the cities with their temples.
Thus three times had the Ionians been enslaved, first by the Lydians and now twice
in a row by the Persians.
... Leon and Diomedon with the Athenian fleet from Lesbos issuing from the OeLacedaenussae,
the isles off Chios, and from their forts of Sidussa and Pteleum in the Erythraeid,
and from Lesbos, carried on the war against the Chians from the ships, having
on board heavy infantry from the rolls pressed to serve as marines. Landing in
Cardamyle and in Bolissus they defeated with heavy loss the Chians that took the
field against them, and laying desolate the places in that neighbourhood, defeated
the Chians again in another battle at Phanae, and in a third at Leuconium. After
this the Chians ceased to meet them in the field, while the Athenians
devastated the country, which was beautifully stocked and had remained
uninjured ever since the Median wars. Indeed, after the Lacedaemonians, the Chians
are the only people that I have known who knew how to be wise in prosperity, and
who ordered their city the more securely the greater it grew. Nor was this revolt,
in which they might seem to have erred on the side of rashness, ventured upon
until they had numerous and gallant allies to share the danger with them, and
until they perceived the Athenians after the Sicilian disaster themselves no longer
denying the thoroughly desperate state of their affairs. And if they were thrown
out by one of the surprises which upset human calculations, they found out their
mistake in company with many others who believed, like them, in the speedy collapse
of the Athenian power. While they were thus blockaded from the sea and plundered
by land, some of the citizens undertook to bring the city over to the Athenians.
Appraised of this the authorities took no action themselves, but brought Astyochus,
the admiral, from Erythrae, with four ships that he had with him, and considered
how they could most quietly, either by taking hostages or by some other means,
put an end to the conspiracy.
The battle of Mycale, 479, freed Chios from the Persian yoke, and it became a member of the Athenian League, in which it was for a long time the closest and most favoured ally of Athens; but an unsuccessful attempt to revolt, in 412, led to its conquest and devastation.
The principal Greek colonies along the coast, beginning at the Strymon
and going eastwards, were Amphipolis, at the mouth of the Strymon; Abdera, a little
to the west of the Nestus; Dicaea or Dicaepolis, a settlement of Maronea;
Maronea itself, colonized by the Chians;
Amasis became a philhellene, and besides other services which he did
for some of the Greeks, he gave those who came to Egypt the city of Naucratis
to live in; and to those who travelled to the country without wanting to settle
there, he gave lands where they might set up altars and make holy places for their
gods. Of these the greatest and most famous and most visited precinct is that
which is called the Hellenion, founded jointly by the Ionian cities of <b>Chios</b>,
Teos, Phocaea, and Clazomenae, the Dorian cities of Rhodes, Cnidus, Halicarnassus,
and Phaselis, and one Aeolian city, Mytilene.
By birth I believe they belong to these parts, that is to say, Chios;
they went out as colonists to Thurii,
but have been exiled thence and have spent a good many years now in various parts
of this country. (Plato, Euthydemus 271c)
The Ionians then came there with their ships manned, and with them
the Aeolians who dwell in Lesbos. This was their order of battle: The Milesians
themselves had the eastern wing, bringing eighty ships; next to them were the
Prieneans with twelve ships, and the Myesians with three; next to the Myesians
were the Teians with seventeen ships; next to these the Chians with a hundred;
near these in the line were the Erythraeans, bringing eight ships, and the Phocaeans
with three, and next to these the Lesbians with seventy; last of all in the line
were the Samians, holding the western wing with sixty ships. The total number
of all these together was three hundred and fifty-three triremes...(Herod. 6.8.1)
The most roughly handled of those that stood their ground in the sea-fight
were the Chians, since they refused to be cowards and achieved deeds of renown.
They brought a hundred ships to the fleet, as was mentioned above, and on each
ship were forty picked men of their citizens. Seeing themselves betrayed by the
greater part of their allies, they did not think it right to act like the worst
among them; with only a few allies to aid them they fought on and broke the enemy's
line, until they had taken many ships but lost most of their own. The Chians escaped
to their own country with their remaining ships, but the crews of the Chian ships
that were damaged and disabled were pursued and took refuge in Mykale. There the
men beached and left their ships, and made their way across the mainland. But
when the Chians entered the lands of Ephesus on their march, they came by night
while the women were celebrating the Thesmophoria; then the Ephesians, never having
heard the story of the Chians and seeing an army invading their country, were
fully persuaded that these were robbers come after their women; so they mustered
all their force and killed the Chians.So these men met with such a fate.(Herod.
6.15.1)
This extract is from: Herodotus. The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley, 1920), Cambridge. Harvard University Press. Cited Dec 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
The war opened with the felled attack of Athenians on Chios and lasted three years. The Athenians chose Chares and Chabrias as generals and dispatched them with an army. The two generals on sailing into Chios found that allies had arrived to assist the Chians from Byzantium, Rhodes, and Cos, and also from Mausolus, the tyrant of Caria. They then drew up their forces and began to besiege the city both by land and by sea. Now Chares, who commanded the infantry force, advanced against the walls by land and began a struggle with the enemy who poured out on him from the city; but Chabrias, sailing up to the harbour, fought a severe naval engagement and was worsted when his ship was shattered by a ramming attack. While the men on the other ships withdrew in the nick of time and saved their lives, he, choosing death with glory instead of defeat, fought on for his ship and died of his wounds.
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