Olynthus

Olynthus (ōlĭn`thəs), ancient city of Greece, on the peninsula of Chalcidice (now Khalkidhikí), NE of Potidaea. A league of Chalcidic cities grew up in the late 5th cent. B.C., and Olynthus, as the head of this Chalcidian League, vigorously opposed the threats of Athens and Sparta. Athens captured the city and held it for a brief time. In 379 B.C., Sparta defeated Olynthus and dissolved the league, which was, however, re-formed after the fall of Sparta. Olynthus had been allied with Philip II of Macedon against Athens, but, fearing Philip's power, sought Athenian aid. Philip attacked, and Demosthenes in his Olynthiac orations eloquently urged his fellow Athenians to aid the threatened city. Philip destroyed (348 B.C.) the city despite Athenian aid. Excavations at Olynthus have revealed the layout of the city.

Bibliography

See M. Gude, A History of Olynthus (1933); D. M. Robinson et al., Excavations at Olynthus (13 vol., 1929–50).

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Olynthus

Ancient Greek city, on the Chalcidice Peninsula, northeastern Greece. From the late 5th century BC it was the head of a strong confederacy of Greek towns known as the Chalcidian League. It was destroyed by Philip II in 348 BC. Excavations have revealed the grid plan of the ancient town and provided material for studying the relationship between Classical and Hellenistic Greek art.

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Olynthus

an ancient city in N Greece: the centre of Chalcidice

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Olynthus 

an ancient Greek city on the Chalcidice Peninsula; its ruins are situated 50 km south of Thessaloniki.

Olynthus was founded between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C., during the period of Greek colonization, by natives of Chalcis, a town on the island of Euboea. The city was conquered by the Persians in 480 B.C., but it was soon liberated. Olynthus belonged to the Delian League. In 432 B.C., it became the center of the Chalcidic League, which for some time successfully resisted Athens, Macedonia, and Sparta. After an unsuccessful war that lasted from 382 to 379 B.C., the city was subjugated by Sparta. Olynthus soon won its independence and again headed the Chalcidic League. In 348 B.C., as a result of the Olynthian War (349–348 B.C.), the city was captured by the Macedonian king Philip II and was plundered, demolished, and set afire. It was never restored.

In 1928 excavations were undertaken in Olynthus by American archaeologists. Finds included the remains of a Neolithic settlement and residential quarters of the classical period, which were laid out according to a grid plan, known as the Hippodamic system, and which consisted of houses with pastas (covered passageways with columns). Multicolored mosaics were found in the Villa of Good Fortune and in the House of the Classical Actor (both belong to the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.). Numerous objects from everyday life were also discovered.

REFERENCES

Kobylina, M. M. “Otkrytiia v Olinfe.” In Vestnik drevnei istorii, 1939, no. 3.
Excavations at Olynthus, vols. 1–14. Edited by D. Robinson. Baltimore, 1929–52.