Aenea (; grc, Αἴνεια, ''Aineia'') was an ancient Greek city in northwesternmost

Chalcidice Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region c ...

, said to have been founded by

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

, and was situated, according to

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

, opposite

Pydna Pydna (in Greek: Πύδνα, older transliteration: Pýdna) was a Greek city in ancient Macedon, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern part of Pieria regional unit, Greece. Sinc ...

, and 15 miles from

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. It appears to have stood on the promontory of

Megalo Embolo Cape Megalo Embolo ( el, Μεγάλο έμβολο, 'Great Point') or Karaburnu (Turkish 'Black Cape'), probably the ancient Aeneium or Aineion ( grc, Αἰνειῶν), is a cape southwest of Thessaloniki, Greece, located next to the village of Ang ...

, which forms the northwest corner of the peninsula of Chalcidice, and which, being about 10 geographical miles in direct distance from Thessalonica, may be identified with the promontory Aeneium of

Pseudo-Scymnus Pseudo-Scymnus is the name given by Augustus Meineke to the unknown author of a work on geography written in Classical Greek, the ''Periodos to Nicomedes''. It is an account of the world (''periegesis'') in 'comic' iambic trimeters which is dedicat ...

. Aeneia must therefore have been further north than Pydna. It was colonised by the

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

ians. It is mentioned by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

, and continued to be a place of importance down to the time of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

wars in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, although we are told that a great part of its population was removed to Thessalonica, when the latter city was founded by

Cassander Cassander ( el, Κάσσανδρος ; c. 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and ''de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a cont ...

. The city minted coins in antiquity, some of which survive today. The site of Aenea is located near modern Nea Michaniona.

References

Greek colonies in Chalcidice Corinthian colonies Members of the Delian League Cities in ancient Macedonia Former populated places in Greece {{AncientMacedonia-geo-stub