Antandros

Even in ancient times, there was no consensus as to who founded Antandros. According to Alcaeus, a Greek poet from the island of Lesbos, the city had been founded by the Anatolian tribe of Leleges, in the 7th century BCE. The most famous Greek historian, Herodotus, gave information that the settlement was founded by the Pelasgians, the people also from the territories of Asia Minor. Thucydides, writing several decades later, was the first of the authors who claimed that Antandros was a Greek settlement, colonized by immigrants from Aeolia. However, the tradition of the local origin of the founders of the city survived in historiography, mentioned again by Aristotle. He explained that the alternative names of Antandros - Edonis and Kimmeris - were derived from the names of the by a Thracian tribe of the Edonians, and the nomadic Cimmerians from the east. Two versions of Antandros history that combined the contradictory information was presented by Conon, a Greek grammarian and mythographer, who was active during the reign of Emperor Augustus. According to the first version of events, the city had been ruled by Ascanius the son of Aeneas, until he was kidnapped by the Pelasgians. They received Antandros in exchange for his release. The second version explains that the city was founded by the exiles from the Aegean island of Andros, which was reflected in the name of their new place of residence. Antandros appears on the pages of history in 512 BCE, when it was conquered by the Persians. Due to its location, at the foot of Mount Ida, the city had access to the rich resources of timber and resin, essential materials for the shipbuilding industry. These considerations meant that Antandros was a tasty morsel for all military powers, seeking to expand their war fleets. The city repeatedly passed from hand to hand, it was controlled by the Greeks and the Persians, and it was even an autonomous settlement for a short time.