![Cyclades](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Cyclades.svg)
The League of the Islanders ( grc, τὸ κοινὸν τῶν νησιωτῶν, to koinon tōn nēsiōtōn) or Nesiotic League was a federal league (''
koinon
''Koinon'' ( el, Κοινόν, pl. Κοινά, ''Koina''), meaning "common", in the sense of "public", had many interpretations, some societal, some governmental. The word was the neuter form of the adjective, roughly equivalent in the government ...
'') of
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
city-states
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
encompassing the
Cyclades
The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...
islands in the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
. Organized under the auspices of
Antigonus Monophthalmus
Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Μονόφθαλμος , 'the One-Eyed'; 382 – 301 BC), son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian Greek nobleman, general, satrap, and king. During the first half of his life he serv ...
in , it remained under
Antigonid
The Antigonid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιγονίδαι) was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic dynasty of Dorians, Dorian Greek provenance, descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-Eyed") that ruled main ...
control until . It then passed under the aegis of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom until Ptolemaic control over the central Aegean collapsed and the League was dissolved sometime in the mid-3rd century BC. The Cycladic islands reverted to independence, except for a few that passed under Macedonian control. The league was re-established ("Second Nesiotic League") under the leadership of
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
in , and survived until .
History
The history of the League of the Islanders is relatively obscure, as no literary sources about it have survived. The only evidence comes from inscriptions. In 314/3 BC,
Antigonus I Monophthalmus
Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( grc-gre, Ἀντίγονος Μονόφθαλμος , 'the One-Eyed'; 382 – 301 BC), son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian Greek nobleman, general, satrap, and king. During the first half of his life he serv ...
sent a fleet under his nephew
Dioscurides
Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of ''De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vol ...
to the
Aegean islands, in order to defend them against the fleet of
Ptolemy I
Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedon ...
and secure their allegiance to his cause. Although the League of the Islanders does not appear until 306 BC, modern scholarship is unanimous in placing its establishment in the immediate aftermath of that campaign. The League was centred on
Delos
The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...
and stood under the protection of Antigonus, in whose honour annual games, the ''Antigoneia'' (Ἀντιγόνεια), after 306 BC alternating with games (Δημητρίεια, ''Dēmētrieia'') in honour of Antigonus' son
Demetrius Poliorcetes
Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to t ...
, were celebrated. Despite the defeat and death of Antigonus at the
Battle of Ipsus
The Battle of Ipsus ( grc, Ἱψός) was fought between some of the Diadochi (the successors of Alexander the Great) in 301 BC near the town of Ipsus in Phrygia. Antigonus I Monophthalmus, the Macedonian ruler of large parts of Asia, and his so ...
in 301 BC, Demetrius retained control of the Antigonid fleet and thus of the League until , when he was defeated and captured by
Seleucus I
Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the pow ...
. As a result, the islands passed under the hegemony of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom, and the games were renamed as ''Sotēria Ptolemaia'' (Σωτήρια Πτολεμαῖα) and ''Philadelphia'' (Φιλαδέλφεια) in honour of Ptolemy I Soter and his son
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
; egy, Userkanaenre Meryamun Clayton (2006) p. 208
, predecessor = Ptolemy I
, successor = Ptolemy III
, horus = ''ḥwnw-ḳni'Khunuqeni''The brave youth
, nebty = ''wr-pḥtj'Urpekhti''Great of strength
, gol ...
.
The islands remained under Ptolemaic control until sometime in the middle of the 3rd century BC. The last documents pertaining to the League date approximately to the second quarter of the century; no ''nēsiarchos'' is attested after , and the number of Ptolemaic offerings to Delos also drops off sharply at the same time. This indicates that the League collapsed, and the Ptolemies lost control of the Aegean, either during the
Chremonidean War
The Chremonidean War (267–261 BC) was fought by a coalition of some Greek city-states and Ptolemaic Egypt against Antigonid Macedonian domination. It ended in a Macedonian victory which confirmed Antigonid control over the city-states of Gre ...
(268/7–261) or the
Second Syrian War
The Syrian Wars were a series of six wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom, Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, Diadochi, successor states to Alexander the Great's empire, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC over the region then c ...
(260–253). Modern research connects this with the Ptolemaic naval defeats at the hands of the
Macedon
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
ians and the
Rhodians
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
at
Cos,
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
, and
Andros
Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the 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 fr ...
—the precise dating of these battles has been heavily disputed among historians, but they are now usually dated to 261 BC, , and 246/5 BC respectively. It appears that when Ptolemaic control was first interrupted, after Ephesus, the Rhodians stepped into the power vacuum, concluding alliances with some of the islands like
Ios
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
. Ptolemaic control was possibly re-asserted to some degree after the end of the Second Syrian War, and a ''Ptolemaia'' festival was once again celebrated in 249 and 246 BC, but the evidence is meager. As the historian Gary Reger writes, the celebration of the festival "can be attributed as much to piety and tradition as to advertisement of political hegemony". At any rate, the Ptolemaic position collapsed completely after Andros, both as a result of the military losses as due to the lack of strategic interest: unlike earlier in the century, when the Cyclades had served as a springboard for interference in the Greek mainland, at this point the Ptolemies had more vital concerns in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
and
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
to pursue. Consequently, except for
Thera
Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek language, Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English language, English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast ...
, where they maintained a garrison, the Ptolemies abandoned the central Aegean. Many scholars, like
William Woodthorpe Tarn
Sir William Woodthorpe Tarn (26 February 1869 – 7 November 1957) was a British classics, classical scholar and a writer. He wrote extensively on the Hellenistic world, particularly on Alexander the Great, Alexander the Great's empire and its su ...
and
Maurice Holleaux
Maurice Holleaux (15 April 1861 – 21 September 1932) was a 19th–20th-century French historian, archaeologist and epigrapher, a specialist of Ancient Greece.
Biography Années de formation
Admitted in the École normale supérieure in 18 ...
, suggested that the Ptolemaic withdrawal resulted in a Macedonian hegemony over the Cyclades, while others, like Hendrik van Gelder, or P. M. Fraser and G. E. Bean, posited a Rhodian hegemony, either in direct succession of the Ptolemies, or, more often, after the 230s/220s BC. Reger, however, considers that the available
epigraphic
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
and other evidence shows few indications of a Rhodian predominance, while the Macedonian kings seem to have limited their interest to the islands closest to the Greek mainland—Macedonian control is attested for
Andros
Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the 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 fr ...
and possibly
Keos
Kea ( el, Κέα), also known as Tzia ( el, Τζια) and in ancient history, antiquity Keos ( el, Κέως, la, Ceos), is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos regional unit.
Geog ...
and
Kythnos
Kythnos ( el, Κύθνος), commonly called Thermia ( el, Θερμιά), is a Greek island and municipality in the Western Cyclades between Kea and Serifos. It is from the Athenian harbor of Piraeus. The municipality Kythnos is in area and has a ...
, with some influence, probably temporary, in
Amorgos
Amorgos ( el, Αμοργός, ; ) is the easternmost island of the Cyclades island group and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group in Greece. Along with 16 neighboring islets, the largest of which (by land area) is Niko ...
and
Paros
Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...
in the direct aftermath of the Battle of Andros—and the
panhellenic sanctuary at Delos. According to Reger, by and large the individual Cycladic islands appear to have remained free and autonomous for the rest of the century.
In the meantime, Rhodes rose to become the chief naval power in the Aegean and even beyond. In order to protect their political and commercial interests, such as the
grain trade
The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...
, where Rhodes held a dominant position, the Rhodians were active against pirates such as
Demetrius of Pharos
Demetrius of Pharos (also Pharus) ( grc, Δημήτριος ἐκ Φάρου and Δημήτριος ὁ Φάριος) was a ruler of Pharos involved in the First Illyrian War, after which he ruled a portion of the Illyrian Adriatic coast on beha ...
or the
Cretan
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...
cities and the
Aetolian League
The Aetolian (or Aitolian) League ( grc-gre, Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν) was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in central Greece. It was probably established during the early Hellen ...
; both of the latter secretly sponsored by King
Philip V of Macedon
Philip V ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 238–179 BC) was king ( Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon ag ...
. By , according to
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
(''
The Histories'', IV.47.1), the Rhodians "were considered the supreme authority in maritime matters" and were called upon by merchants to intervene in cases such as the imposition of tolls by the
Byzantines on passage of ships through the
Bosporus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...
. In 201 BC, during the
Cretan War, Philip V of Macedon subdued the Cyclades at the head of his fleet, but already in the next year, the Rhodians took over of most of the islands except for the Macedonian-garrisoned islands of Andros,
Paros
Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...
, and Kythnos. Followed by further Macedonian setbacks in the
Second Macedonian War
The Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC) was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. Philip was defeated and was forced to abandon all possessions in southern Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor ...
(200–197 BC), the Cycladic islands, already bound individually to Rhodes by treaties of alliance, were soon after—an exact date cannot be ascertained—formed into a "Second Nesiotic League" under the hegemony of Rhodes. The motivations for Rhodes' move are unclear, but the historian Kenneth Sheedy has suggested that they stemmed at least partly from a desire to preempt other powers, whether the
Kingdom of Pergamon
The Kingdom of Pergamon or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; grc-x-koine, Δυναστε ...
or the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
, from establishing control over the area. Unlike the original League however, the Second League appears to have been a more voluntary association. The Second Nesiotic League is commonly held to have lasted until the end of Rhodian independence at the conclusion of the
Third Macedonian War
The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman f ...
in 167 BC, but Sheedy suggests that it may have started to disintegrate earlier, as the Rhodians focused their attention on maintaining their grip over their
Asian holdings and could no longer afford to maintain the costly hegemony over the Cyclades.
Institutions
![Ptolemy II MAN Napoli Inv5600](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Ptolemy_II_MAN_Napoli_Inv5600.jpg)
The League's institutions are well attested through a series of inscriptions for its Ptolemaic period, but it appears that the main characteristics were present already under Antigonus, and according to
Richard Billows "the evidence for the Ptolemaic period can be used (with due caution) for the Antigonid period" as well. As Walther Schwahn commented, the constitution of the League of Islanders shows "distinct differences" from the constitutions of other contemporary Greek leagues, since "the League did not exist in the interests of its members, but to the advantage of a powerful patron". The exact membership of the League can not be determined with accuracy, but it certainly comprised
Mykonos
Mykonos (, ; el, Μύκονος ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 10,134 inhabitants according to the ...
,
Kythnos
Kythnos ( el, Κύθνος), commonly called Thermia ( el, Θερμιά), is a Greek island and municipality in the Western Cyclades between Kea and Serifos. It is from the Athenian harbor of Piraeus. The municipality Kythnos is in area and has a ...
,
Keos
Kea ( el, Κέα), also known as Tzia ( el, Τζια) and in ancient history, antiquity Keos ( el, Κέως, la, Ceos), is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos regional unit.
Geog ...
, and probably also
Ios
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
under Antigonus, while
Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...
,
Andros
Andros ( el, Άνδρος, ) is the northernmost island of the 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 fr ...
,
Amorgos
Amorgos ( el, Αμοργός, ; ) is the easternmost island of the Cyclades island group and the nearest island to the neighboring Dodecanese island group in Greece. Along with 16 neighboring islets, the largest of which (by land area) is Niko ...
, and
Paros
Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...
are also attested under the Ptolemies. It is possible, but unlikely, that
Samos
Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...
and others of the
Southern Sporades
Southern Sporades (Greek ''Nóties Sporádes'') are Greek islands situated between the Cyclades and Turkey. They correspond to the Dodecanese plus a few northern islands (especially Samos and Ikaria). Also included by some geographers are the is ...
were also members during the Ptolemaic period. The membership of the sacred island of
Delos
The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...
, which played a central role in the League, has been disputed by Walther Kolbe, who argued that Delos remained independent of the League; most scholars however consider it to have been a full member of the League.
The League was headed by the ''nēsiarchos'' (νησίαρχος, "ruler of the islands") and a council (συνέδριον, ''
synedrion A synedrion or synhedrion (Greek: συνέδριον, "sitting together", hence "assembly" or "council"; he, סנהדרין, ''sanhedrin'') is an assembly that holds formal sessions. The Latinized form is synedrium.
Depending on the widely varied ...
''). Unlike similar leagues, there is no evidence for an
assembly of the citizens, probably since the distances made this impractical. The League had a strongly federal character, exemplified by the fact that the conferment of citizenship by any member automatically conferred citizenship in all other member states. There was no distinct League citizenship, but the League could grant foreign benefactors the citizenship for each of its members, as well as the rights of ''
proxenia
Proxeny or ( grc-gre, προξενία) in ancient Greece was an arrangement whereby a citizen (chosen by the city) hosted foreign ambassadors at his own expense, in return for honorary titles from the state. The citizen was called (; plural: o ...
'', ''
prosodos'', and ''
asylia
In ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, Rome, an asylum referred to a place where Refugee, people facing persecution could seek refuge. These locations were largely religious in nature, such as temples and other religious sites. A similar concept, the ...
''. In effect, this arrangement meant that "citizens of the member states enjoyed
isopolity An isopoliteia ( grc, ἰσοπολιτεία) was a treaty of equal citizenship rights between the ''poleis'' (city-states) of ancient Greece. This happened through either mutual agreement between cities or through exchange of individual decrees. I ...
in each other's communities" (Billows).
The League's centre in Antigonid and Ptolemaic times was the sacred island of Delos, where the annual festivals were held, and where the ''synedrion'' assembled—a single, and probably exceptional, convocation by the Ptolemaic commander
Philocles
Philocles ( el, Φιλοκλῆς), was an Athens, Athenian tragic poet during the 5th century BC. Through his mother, Philopatho ( el, Φιλοπαθώ), he had three famous uncles: Aeschylus, the famous poet, Cynaegirus, hero of the battle of M ...
on Samos is also attested—and where its decrees were set up. In the Rhodian period, where Delos was not a member of the League, the ''synedrion'' assembled on
Tenos
Tinos ( el, Τήνος ) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of and a 2011 census population of 8,636 inhabitants.
Tinos ...
. As the League's sole collective organ, the ''synedrion'' was a sort of legislative council with representatives (σύνεδροι, ''synedroi'') appointed by the member states. It assembled on an ''ad hoc'' basis. Since no chairman is mentioned, it was probably headed by the ''nēsiarchos''. The ''synedrion'' awarded honours and distinctions to benefactors, and levied both regular and extraordinary financial contributions (συντάξεις, ''syntaxeis'' or εἰσφοραί, ''eisphorai'') for maintenance of the League's military and for the common festivals. These funds were administered by a treasurer (ταμίας, ''tamias''). Surplus funds were available for other projects, e.g. the setting up of the League's decrees on inscribed ''
stelae
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
'' in the member states. In another indication of the Leagues' federal character, the ''synedrion'' could not only require financial contributions from its members, but also punish them for non-compliance. In practice, both the League as well as the member states often had to resort to taking loans from the Sanctuary of Apollo on Delos to cover expenses. The ''synedrion'' also appears to have appointed the overseers (ἐπιμεληταὶ, ''epimelētai'') for the festivals and the sacrifices to Ptolemy Soter and Ptolemy Philadelphos, as well as arbitrators for judicial disputes between member states.
The ''nēsiarchos'' was appointed by the League's suzerain king, and, again in contrast to most other such leagues, was not an islander. He wielded executive power and was responsible for carrying out the ''synedrion''s decisions, collect the member states' contributions, command the League military, and safeguard shipping in the Aegean. Only a handful are known by name: Apollodorus, son of Apollonius of Cyzicus, who was ''nēsiarchos'' sometime before 279, perhaps during the last years of Antigonid control; Bakchon, ''nēsiarchos'' in ; and Hermias, possibly from
Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...
, attested only once in 267. Under Rhodian hegemony, he was replaced by a Rhodian ''
archōn'' "in charge of the islands and the islands' ships" (). The history of the League shows a number of cases of direct intervention by the suzerain power, often irrespective of local laws. In addition, both the Ptolemies and later the Rhodians secured some islands by installing appointed governors (ἐπιστάται, ''
epistatai''). Elsewhere the traditional institutions of a Greek ''
polis
''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
'' remained in force.
References
Sources
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* {{cite book , last = Marchesini, first = Mattia, title = Il Koinon dei Nesioti , year = 2017 , url = http://eprints-phd.biblio.unitn.it/1942/1/Dissertation.pdf
310s BC establishments
2nd-century BC disestablishments
Leagues in Greek Antiquity
Ancient Cyclades
Hellenistic Greece
Government of the Ptolemaic Kingdom
Antigonid Macedonia
Antigonus I Monophthalmus
Ancient Rhodes