Madytus orMadytos (Ancient Greek:Μάδυτος)[1] was aGreek[2] city and port ofancient Thrace, located in the region of theThracian Chersonesos, nearly opposite toAbydos.[3][4][5]
The city was a colony of theAeolians fromLesbos who, according to the ancient authors, founded alsoSestos andAlopekonessos and other cities of theHellespont.[6][7]
This was part of the Greek colonization movement of the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Later more colonists came from the Greek Ionian cities ofMiletus andClazomenae. Archaeological evidence also supports Aeolian or possibly Athenian origin of colonists.[8]
Madytus is tied toGreek mythology as it claimed to have the tomb ofHecuba in its territory.[2]
Madytus is referred to byHerodotus in relation to thePersian Wars,[9] and byXenophon as a base for the Athenian navy in 411.[10] It was a member of theDelian League as attested byAthenian tribute registries between 445/4 and 421/0 BC.[2] Bronze coins dated to the fourth century BC inscribed ΜΑΔΥ have been preserved.[2]
Madytus was an active commercial port during theByzantine period and theMiddle Ages.[11] It was occupied by theOttoman Turks in the 15th century. The city continued to have a mainly Greek population until the 1920s when, after theTreaty of Lausanne and theexchange of population between Greece and Turkey, most of the Greeks moved to Greece, where they founded the town ofNea Madytos.
Its site is located near the modernEceabat inEuropean Turkey.[12][13]Ptolemy mentions a town in the same district with the name ofMadis, which some identify with Madytus, but which seems to have been situated more inland.[14][15]
Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Madytus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Madytus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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