Naxos
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- the isle of Naxos (now Naxia, or Axia), in the Aegean Sea, the largest of the Cyclades, famed for its wines, and for the abandonment there of Ariadne by Theseus, Plin. 4, 12, 22, § 67; Verg. A. 3, 125; Ov. M. 3, 640; Prop. 3, 17 (4, 16), 27.— Hence, Naxĭus, a, um, adj., Naxian: turba, Prop. 3, 17 (4, 16), 28: juncus, Plin. 21, 18, 69, § 115: ardor, Ariadne's crown, a constellation, Col. 10, 52: cos, = Ναξία ἀκόνη, a whetstone from Naxos, Plin. 36, 22, 47, § 164. —Subst.: naxĭum, ii, n., a Naxian whetstone, Plin. 36, 7, 10, § 54; 37, 8, 32, § 109.—
- II An ancient city of Sicily, destroyed by Dionysius. On or near its site Tauromenium was built, Plin. 3, 8, 14, § 88.
NAXOS or NAXUS (Νάχος: Eth. Νάχιος: Capo di Schisò), an ancient city of Sicily, on the E. coast of the island between Catana and Messana. It was situated on a low point of land at the mouth of the river Acesines (Alcantara), and at the foot of the hill on which was afterwards built the city of Tauromenium. All ancient writers agree in representing Naxos as the most ancient of all the Greek colonies in Sicily; it was founded the year before Syracuse, or B.C. 735, by a body of colonists from Chalcis in Euboea, with whom there was mingled, according to Ephorus, a certain number of Ionians. The same writer represented Theocles, or Thucles, the leader of the colony and founder of the city, as an Athenian by birth; but Thucydides takes no notice of this, and describes the city as a purely Chalcidic colony; and it seems certain that in later times it was generally so regarded. (Thuc. 6.3; Ephor. ap. Strab. 6. p. 267; Scymn. Ch. 270--277; Diod. 14.88. Concerning the date of its foundation see Clinton, F. H. vol. 1. p. 164; Euseb. Chron. ad 01. 11. 1.) The memory of Naxos as the earliest of all the Greek settlements in Sicily was preserved by the dedication of an altar outside the town to Apollo Archegetes, the divine patron under whose authority the colony had sailed; and it was a custom (still retained long after the destruction of Naxos itself) that all Theori or envoys proceeding on sacred missions to Greece, or returning from thence to Sicily, should offer sacrifice on this altar. (Thuc. l. c.; Appian, App. BC 5.109.) It is singular that none of the writers above cited allude to the origin of the name of Naxos; but there can be little doubt that this was derived, as stated by Hellanicus (ap. Steph. B. s. v. Χαλκίς), from the presence among the original settlers of a body of colonists from the island of that name.
The new colony must have been speedily joined by fresh settlers from Greece, as within six years after its first establishment the Chalcidians at Naxos were able to send out a fresh colony, which founded the city of Leontini, B.C. 730; and this was speedily followed by that of Catana. Theocles himself became the Oekist, or recognised founder, of the former, and Euarchus, probably a Chalcidic citizen, of the latter. (Thuc. l. c.; Scymn. Ch. 283--286; Strab. 6. p. 268.) Strabo and Scymnus Chius both represent Zancle also as a colony from Naxos, but no allusion to this is found in Thucydides. But, as it was certainly a Chalcidic colony, it is probable that some settlers from Naxos joined those from the parent country. (Strab. 6. p. 268; Scymn. Ch. 286; Thuc. 6.4.) Callipolis also, a city of uncertain site, and which ceased to exist at an early period, was a colony of Naxos. (Strab. 6. p. 272; Scymn. Ch. l. c.) But notwithstanding these evidences of its early prosperity, we have very little information as to the early history of Naxos; and the first facts transmitted to us concerning it relate to disasters that it sustained. Thus Herodotus tells us that it was one of the cities which was besieged and taken by Hippocrates, despot of Gela, about B.C. 498--491 (Hdt. 7.154); and his expressions would lead us to infer that it was reduced by him under permanent subjection. It appears to have afterwards successively passed under the authority of Gelon of Syracuse, and his brother Hieron, as we find it subject to the latter in B.C. 476. At that time Hieron, with a view to strengthen his own power, removed the inhabitants of Naxos at the same time with those of Catana, and settled them together at Leontini, while he repeopled the two cities with fresh colonists from other quarters (Diod. 11.49). The name of Naxos is not specifically mentioned during the revolutions that ensued in Sicily after the death of Hieron; but there seems no doubt that the city was restored to the old Chalcidic citizens at the same time as these were reinstated at Catana, B.C. 461 (Id. 11.76); and hence we find, during the ensuing period, the three Chalcidic cities, Naxos, Leontini, and Catana, generally united by the bonds of amity, and maintaining a close alliance, as opposed to Syracuse and the other Doric cities of Sicily. (Id. 13.56, 14.14; Thuc. 3.86, 4.25.) Thus, in B.C. 427, when the Leontini were hard pressed by their neighbours of Syracuse, their Chalcidic brethren afforded them all the assistance in their power (Thuc. 3.86); and when the first Athenian expedition arrived in Sicily under Laches and Charoeades, the Naxians immediately joined their alliance. With them, as well as with the Rhegians on the opposite side of the straits, it is probable that enmity to their neighbours at Messana was a strong motive in inducing them to join the Athenians; and during the hostilities that ensued, the Messanians having on one occasion, in B.C. 425, made a sudden attack upon Naxos both by land and sea, the Naxians vigorously repulsed them, and in their turn inflicted heavy loss on the assailants. (Id. 4.25.)
On occasion of the great Athenian expedition to Sicily (B.C. 415), the Naxians from the first espoused their alliance, even while their kindred cities of Rhegium and Catana held aloof; and not only furnished them with supplies, but received them freely into their city (Diod. 13.4; Thuc. 6.50). Hence it was at Naxos that the Athenian fleet first touched after crossing the straits; and at a later period the Naxians and Catanaeans are enumerated by Thucydides as the only Greek cities in Sicily which sided with the Athenians. (Thuc. 7.57.) After the failure of this expedition the Chalcidic cities were naturally involved for a time in hostilities with Syracuse; but these were suspended in B.C. 409, by the danger which seemed to threaten all the Greek cities alike from the Carthaginians. (Diod. 13.56.) Their position on this occasion preserved the Naxians from the fate which befell Agrigentum, Gela, and Camarina; but they did not long enjoy this immunity. In B.C. 403, Dionysius of Syrause, deeming himself secure from the power of Carthage as well as from domestic sedition, determined to turn his arms against the Chalcidic cities of Sicily; and having made himself master of Naxos by the treachery of their general Procles, he sold all the inhabitants as slaves and destroyed both the walls and buildings of the city, while he bestowed its territory upon the neighbouring Siculi. (Diod. 14.14, 15, 66, 68.)
It is certain that Naxos never recovered this blow, nor rose again to be a place of any consideration: but it is not easy to trace precisely the events which followed. It appears, however, that the Siculi, to whom the Naxian territory was assigned, soon after formed a new settlement on the hill called Mount Taurus, which rises immediately above the site of Naxos, and that this gradually grew up into a considerable town, which assumed the name of Tauromenium. (Diod. 14.58, 59.) This took place about B.C. 396; and we find the Siculi still in possession of this stronghold some years later. (Ib. 88.) Meanwhile the exiled and fugitive inhabitants of Naxos and Catana formed, as usual in such cases, a considerable body, who as far as' possible kept together. An attempt was made in B.C. 394 by the Rhegians to settle them again in a body at Mylae, but without success; for they were speedily expelled by the Messanians, and from this time appear to have been dispersed in various parts of Sicily. (Diod. 14.87.) At length, in B.C. 358, Andromachus, the father of the historian Timaeus, is said to have collected together again the Naxian exiles from all parts of the island, and established them on the hill of Tauromenium, which thus rose to be a Greek city, and became the successor of the ancient Naxos. (Diod. 16.7.) Hence Pliny speaks of Tauromenium as having been formerly called Naxos, an expression which is not strictly correct. (Plin. Nat. 3.8. s. 14.) The fortunes of the new city, which quickly rose to be a place of importance, are related in the article TAUROMENIUM The site of Naxos itself seems to have been never again inhabited; but the altar and shrine of Apollo Archegetes continued to mark the spot where it had stood, and are mentioned in the war between Octavian and Sextus Pompey in Sicily, B.C. 36. (Appian, App. BC 5.109.)
There are no remains of the ancient city now extant, but the site is clearly marked. It occupied a low but rocky headland, now called the Capo di Schisò, formed by an ancient stream of lava, immediately to the N. of the Alcantara, one of the most considerable streams in this part of Sicily. A small bay to the N. affords good anchorage, and separates it from the foot of the bold and lofty hill, still occupied by the town of Taormina; but the situation was not one which enjoyed any peculiar natural advantages.
The coins of Naxos, which are of fine workmanship, may almost all be referred to the period from B.C. 460 to B.C. 403, which was probably the most flourishing in the history of the city. COIN OF NAXOS IN SICILY.
[E.H.B]NAXOS or NAXUS (Νάχος, Suid. s. v.), a town of Crete, according to the Scholiast (ad Pind. Isth. 6.107) celebrated for its whetstones. Höck (Kreta, vol. 1. p. 417) considers the existence of this city very problematical.* The islands Crete and Naxos were famed for their whetstones (Plin. Nat. 36.22; comp. 18.28), and hence the confusion. In Mr. Pashley's map the site of Naxos is marked near Spńa Lónga.
[E.B.J]NAXOS or NAXUS(Νάχος : Eth. Νάχιος : Naxía), the largest and most fertile of the Cyclades, situated in the middle of the Aegean sea, about halfway between the coasts of Greece and those of Asia Minor. It lies east of Paros, from which it is separated by a channel about 6 miles wide. It is described by Pliny (Plin. Nat. 4.12. s. 22) as 75 Roman miles in circumference. It is about 19 miles in length, and 15 in breadth in its widest part. It bore several other names in ancient times. It was called Strongyle (Στρογγύλη) from its round shape, Dionysias (Διονυσίας) from its excellent wine and its consequent connection with the worship of Dionysus, and the Smaller Sicily (μικρὰ Σικελία) from the fertility of its soil (Plin. Nat. 4.12. s. 22; Diod. 5.50--52); but the poets frequently give it the name of Dia (Δία; comp. Ov. Met. 2.690, 8.174.) It is said to have been originally inhabited by Thracians, and then by Carians, and to have derived its name from Naxos, the Carian chieftain. (Diod. 5.50, 51; Steph. B. s. v. Νάχος.) In the historical ages it was colonised by Ionians from Attica (Hdt. 8.46), and in consequence of its position, size, and fertility, it became the most powerful of the Cyclades. The government of Naxos was orignally an oligarchy, but was overthrown by Lygdamis, who made himself tyrant of the island. (Aristot. ap. Ath. 8. p. 348.) Lygdamis, however, appears not to have retained his power long, for we find him assisting Peisistratus in his third restoration to Athens, and the latter in return subduing Naxos and committing the tyranny to Lygdamis. (Hdt. 1.61, 64; comp. Aristot. Pol. v, 5.) But new revolutions followed. The aristocratical party appear to have again got the upper hand; but they were after a short time expelled by the people, and applied for assistance to Aristagoras of Miletus. The Persians, at the persuasion of Aristagoras, sent a large force in B.C. 501 to subdue Naxos: the expedition proved a failure; and Aristagoras, fearing the anger of the Persian court, persuaded the Ionians to revolt from the great king. (Hdt. 5.30--34.) At this period the Naxians had 8000 hoplites, many ships of war, and numerous slaves. (Hdt. 5.30, 31.) From the 8000 hoplites we may conclude that the free population amounted to 50,000 souls, to which number we may add at least as many slaves. In B.C. 490 the Persians under Datis and Artaphernes landed upon the island, and in revenge for their former failure laid it waste with fire and sword. Most of the inhabitants took refuge in the mountains, but those who remained were reduced to slavery, and their city set on fire. (Hdt. 6.96.) Naxos became a dependency of Persia; but their four ships, which were sent to the Persian fleet, deserted the latter and fought on the side of Grecian independence at the battle of Salamis. (Hdt. 8.46.) They also took part in the battle of Plataeae. (Diod. 5.52.) After the Persian wars Naxos became a member of the confederacy of Delos under the headship of Athens; but about B.C. 471 it revolted, and was subdued by the Athenians, who reduced the Naxians to the condition of subjects, and established 500 Athenian Cleruchs in the island. (Thuc. 1.98, 137; Plut. Per. 11; Paus. 1.27.6.) From this time Naxos is seldom mentioned in ancient history. It was off Naxos that Chabrias gained a signal victory over the Lacedaemonian fleet in B.C. 376, which restored to Athens the empire of the sea. (Xen. Hell. 5.4. 60, seq.; Diod. 15.34.) During the civil wars of Rome Naxos was for a short time subject to the Rhodians. (Appian, App. BC 5.7.)
After the capture of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, the Aegaean sea fell to the lot of the Venetians; and Marco Sanudo, in 1207, took possession of Naxos, and founded there a powerful state under the title of the Duchy of the Aegaean Sea (Dux Aegaei Pelagi). He built the large castle above the town, now in ruins, and fortified it with 12 towers; His dynasty ruled over the greater part of the Cyclades for 360 years, and was at length overthrown by the Turks in 1566. (Finlay, Medieval Greece, p. 320, seq.) Naxos now belongs to the new kingdom of Greece. Its population does not exceed 12,000, and of these 300 or 400 are Latins, the descendants of the Venetian settlers, many of whom bear the names of the noblest families of Venice.
The ancient capital of the island, also called Naxos, was situated upon the NW. coast. Its site is occupied by the modern capital. On a small detached rock, called Paláti, about 50 yards in front of the harbour, are the ruins of a temple, which tradition calls a temple of Dionysus. The western portal still remains, consisting of three huge marble slabs, two perpendicular and one laid across, and is of elegant, though simple workmanship. A drawing of it is given by Tournefort. Stephanus B. mentions another town in Naxos called Tragia or Tragaea (s. v. Τραγία), but which Ross believes to be the small island Mákares, between Naxos and Donussa. Aristotle also (ap. Athen. 8. p. 348) mentioned a place, named Lestadae (Ληστάδαι), of which nothing further is known.
In the centre of the island a mountain, now called Zia, rises to the height of 3000 feet. From its summit 22 islands may be counted; and in the distance may be seen the outline of the mountains of Asia Minor. This mountain appears to have been called Drius (Δρίος) in antiquity (Diod. 5.51); its modern name is probably derived from the ancient name of the island (Dia). On it there is a curious Hellenic tower; and near the bottom, on the road towards Philoti, an inscription, ὅρος Διὸς Μηλωσίου. Another mountain is called Kóronon (τὸ Κόρωνον), which is evidently an ancient name, and reminds one of the Naxian nymph Coronis, who brought up the young Dionysus (Diod. 5.52). The mountains of Naxos consist partly of granite and partly of marble, the latter being scarcely inferior to that of Paros. Good whetstones were also obtained from Naxos. (Hesych. s. v. Ναχία λίθος; Plin. Nat. 36.6. s. 9.) There are several streams in the island, one of which in ancient times was called Biblus (Βίβλος, Steph. B. s. v. Βιβλίνη).
The fertility of Naxos has been equally celebrated in ancient and modern times. Herodotus says that it excelled all other islands in prosperity (5.28). It produces in abundance corn, oil, wine, and fruit of the finest description. In consequence of the excellence of its wine Naxos was celebrated in the legends of Dionysus, particularly those relating to Ariadne. [See Dict of Biogr. art. ARIADNE.] Moreover, the priest of Dionysus gave his name to the year, like the Archon Eponymus at Athens. (Böckh, Inscr. 2265.) The finest wine of Naxos is now produced at a place called Aperáthos. It is a superior white wine, and is celebrated in the islands of the Aegaean under the name of Bacchus-Wine.
The plant which produces ladanum is found at Naxos; and in Thevenot's time it was collected from the beards of goats, in the manner described by Herodotus (Hdt. 3.112). Emery is also found there, particularly in the southern part of the island, and forms an article of export. The goats of Naxos were celebrated in antiquity. (Athen. 12. p. 540.)
One of the most remarkable curiosities in the island is an unfinished colossal figure, still lying in an ancient marble quarry near the northern extremity of the island. It is about 34 feet in length, and has always been called by the inhabitants a figure of Apollo. On the side of the hill, at the distance of five minutes from the statue, we still find the inscription, ὅρος χωρίου ἱεροῦ Ἀπόλλωνος. Ross conjectures that the statue may have been intended as a dedicatory offering to Delos. (Thevenot, Travels, p. 103, Engl. transl.; Tournefort, Voyage, vol. 1. p. 163, Engl. transl.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 3. p. 93; Ross, Reisen auf den Griech. Inseln, vol. 1. p. 22, seq.; Grüter, De Naxo Insula, Hal. 1833 Curtius, Naxos, Berl. 1846.) COIN OF THE ISLAND OF NAXOS.
(Νάξος). (1) Now Naxia; an island in the Aegaean Sea, the largest of the Cyclades, especially celebrated for its wine. It is about eighteen miles in length and twelve in breadth. It was also called Dia, Strongyle, and Dionysias. Here Dionysus is said to have come to Ariadné after she had been deserted by Theseus. (See Ariadné.) It was colonized by Ionians, who had emigrated from Athens. After the Persian Wars, the Naxians were the first of the allied States whom the Athenians reduced to subjection (B.C. 471). The chief town of the island was also called Naxos. See Dugit, De Insula Naxo (Paris, 1867); and Tozer, Islands of the Aegean (Oxford, 1890).
(2) A Greek city on the eastern coast of Sicily, founded B.C. 735 by the Chalcidians of Euboea, and the first Greek colony established in the island. In B.C. 403 the town was destroyed by Dionysius of Syracuse; but nearly fifty years afterwards (358) the remaining Naxians scattered over Sicily, were collected by Andromachus, and a new city was founded on Mount Taurus, to which the name of Tauromenium was given. See Tauromenium.
Largest island of the Cyclades, E of Paros and S of Delos.
In the 3d and 2d millennia B.C. it was a center of Cycladic culture and art. The graves of this period, which are found all over the island, testify to a dense population, but very few remains of houses have been excavated. The graves indicate that Naxos was the chief center for the production of the marble Cycladic idols which were the forerunners of Greece's great sculpture. One of the local natural resources was emery, which was used to smooth the surface of the large-grained Naxian marble. Naxos was preeminent also in the Mycenaean period (LH III). The tradition that Dionysos was born in Naxos (his cult was transferred to Paros, according to Archilochos), the story of Ariadne, the capture of the island by the Thracians, the establishment there of the cult of Otos and Ephialtes, all reflect the importance of the island at that time.
The Protogeometric and Geometric periods (11th-8th c. B.C.) are richly represented, but from the 7th c. on we can follow the development of the island in literary sources as well. It was a rival of Paros and joined the Chalkidian forces during the Lelantine war (8th-7th c. B.C.). With Chalkis, Naxos joined in the colonization of Sicily, where Naxos (founded 735 B.C.) took its name from the island. During the war with Paros, which may be considered a part of the Lelantine war, a Naxian killed Archilochos. The differing directions taken by their art illustrate the lack of accord between the two islands, as well as their respective fields of colonization: Paros in the Aegean and Naxos in the W. The power of Naxos during the 7th and 6th c. is witnessed by the number of Naxian dedications at Delos, but Naxian hegemony over the Cyclades is unlikely.
The tyrant Lygdamis (ca. 540-524 B.C.), a friend and ally of the tyrants Peisistratos and Polykrates, put an end to the aristocratic constitution of Naxos. The ten-year naval supremacy of the island (thalassocracy) is attributed to him, but his tyranny was ended by the intervention of the Spartans.
Naxos was the first to resist the advance of the Persians, ca. 500 B.C. The Persians were helped by the island's old enemy, Miletos, in their attempted expansion to the W, but Naxos, with luck and strength (8000 hoplites, numerous ships, strong walls, and the betrayal of the Persian plans by Miletos, according to Hdt. 5.28f) repulsed the attack. The island did not long escape subjection, however, and her city and shrines were destroyed during the campaign of Datis and Artaphernes in 490 B.C. During Xerxes' campaign the four Naxian ships joined the Greek fleet. A member of the Athenian Alliance, it was the first city which was subjugated by the Athenians (470) and later received Athenian cleruchies (ca. 450 B.C.).
After the Peloponnesian war, Naxos regained her independence, but had lost the power to pursue her own policies against successive domination by the great powers (Spartans, Athenians, the Hellenistic kings, etc.) in the Aegean. The island, however, retained a measure of importance because of its situation and size.
The few monuments preserved are scattered throughout the island. The polis lay on a hill commanding the harbor; the acropolis was probably under the modern town, Kastro. On the shore to the N (Grotta) portions of the Cycladic, Mycenaean (LH III) and Geometric city (several successive layers, all below sea level) are still being excavated. Inland a part of a square building ca. 60 m on a side has been uncovered. It has four colonnades on the sides and bases for dedications in front of it. This was perhaps the agora for the city of the Early Hellenistic period. Across the torrent bed, which cuts off the plain of the lower city, the hill of the Haplomata extends NE. On it is a necropolis notable for its finds, chiefly Cycladic and Mycenaean chamber tombs, in spite of destruction during expansion of the city in the Late Hellenistic period. A little nearer the shore at a site called Kaminaki, important finds have been made: pottery, jewelry, and a part of an archaic kore, from an unknown shrine. Its building has probably collapsed into the sea. Finds have demonstrated the existence of a shrine of Demeter behind and E of the present Gymnaseum of Naxos.
A huge marble doorway (h. 7.9 m including the lintel, w. ca. 6 m) has always been visible on the hill called Palatia left of the modern harbor entrance. Excavation has shown this to be the door to the cella of an archaic Ionic temple from the time of Lygdamis (ca. 530 B.C.), the foundations of which are preserved. It was a peripteral temple with a double colonnade on the short sides (a form simpler than that of the great dipteral temples of Ionia) with a pronaos, cella, and opisthodomos, and it was never finished. During its conversion into an Early Christian basilica the floor was lowered, and the ancient flooring was destroyed along with the whole form of the temple. There is a jamb under a garden wall near the quarry of Phlerios which resembles those on the hill of Palatia and was destined for the temple. Very few architectural fragments have been preserved. The temple may have been dedicated to Apollo.
Not far from the city, in the little valley of the Phlerios near the village of Melanes, among the marble rocks on the slope lies a kouros, ca. 5 m long, dating to the early years of the 6th c. B.C., which was abandoned shortly before the work was completed. There is another without a face, from the same period, a little higher up. From this point to Potamia there are numerous marble quarries.
At the quarry on the N end of the island, on the promontory of Apollo, there is a colossal archaic statue (h. 10.05 m) a little above the sea. It still occupies the spot where work on it was begun. It is a male, bearded, clothed figure with right hand extended. It dates from ca. 570 B.C. and may represent Dionysos. The area is dedicated to Apollo, as is evident on a rock-cut inscription a short distance away: “Boundary of Apollo's sacred territory.”
At the site called Gyroulas or Marmara, near the village of Sangri, are the remains of a square temple (13 m on a side) which was transformed into an Early Christian basilica. It was lengthened by an apse at the E, the entrance was moved from the S to the N side, the floor was lowered, and the inner columns moved down from the original stylobate into two rows of depressions cut in the living rock (these depressions may have belonged to an earlier building period). Three columns of each row can be made out, and each row was terminated at either end by a parastade of a simpler type than in the doorway at Palatia. The column bases are preserved, each with a two-banded scotia, also numerous fragments of the superstructure (beams, geison, etc.). The temple was square in plan, with a round bothros in front, and numerous dedicatory inscriptions which indicate the temple should be interpreted as a Thesmophorion.
On a second acropolis at Epano Kastro is a Venetian fortress; under its S side is a portion of an ancient wall. This acropolis is probably connected with a series of tombs of the Protogeometric and Geometric periods close to the nearby town of Tsikalario. Beside the tombs are huge, upright, unworked stones (marking stelai or stelai semata).
About a three-hour drive SE of Philoti is the almost completely preserved round tower of Cheimarros. Most of the Cycladic tombs of the island have been found in the now uninhabited SE area of Naxos, but only minimal signs of Cycladic dwellings. There is a square granite tower in the area of Plaka near Agiersani.
The museum of the city of Naxos has been much enriched by recent excavations, most notably its collection of Cycladic, Mycenaean, and archaic remains (pottery and plastic arts). A smaller museum at Apeiranthon houses Cycladic idols and pottery of the area, curious stones, and primitive carvings.
BIBLIOGRAPHYG. Colonna s.v. Nasso, EAA (1963); R. Herbst s.v. Naxos, 5 RE (1935); Temple on Palatia: G. Gruben & W. Koenigs, AA (1968) 693ff; (1970) 135ff; Unfinished Kouroi: C. Blümel, Bildhauerarbeit (1927) 5f; V. Massow, AA (1932) 264 (inscription to Apollo); Sanctuary of Demeter at Sangri: Praktika (1954) 330ff; Tower of Cheimarros: Γ. Δὴμητροκάλλης, Ὁ ἀρχαιοελληνικός πύργος τοῦ Χειμάρρου στή Ναξο, Τεχνικά Χρονικά (1964) 52ff.
Archil. frag. 115 Anth. Lyr. = PGL II 388, 17; Hom. Hymni I 44; Herod. 1.61.64, 5.28-34, 6.95, 8.46.
N. M. KONTOLEONThe first colony founded by the Greeks in Sicily, in 734-33 B.C. according to Thucydides (6.3). The site, in the district of Giardini, is on a level area of lava flow from the Moio volcano between the mouth of the Santa Venera stream (SW) and a small bay NE which was favorable as a landing. The area, closed in by the ridges of Monte Tauro, where Taormina is situated, is ca. 1 km from the Alcantara river, which must have constituted the only important means of communication with the inland areas.
The site appears to have been inhabited from prehistoric times. Remains of neolithic huts have been isolated as has a flourishing settlement of the Bronze Age (with pottery in the style of Thapsos). For the period immediately preceding colonization, traces of the presence of the Sikels have been found who, according to Strabo, were in the area when the Greeks arrived. The founders of Naxos were primarily Chalkidians, but Ionians were also involved, and their leader was Thoukles.
Notices regarding life in the colony in the 7th and 6th c. B.C. are sparse. The only notable episode in this period is the foundation of Kallipolis. At the beginning of the 5th c. B.C., Naxos, together with other Chalkidian cities, was attacked by Hippokrates of Gela and the citizens expelled. Only after 460 B.C. did life in the city begin again. In the war between Syracuse and Athens, Naxos was on the side of Athens. Some years after the defeat of Athens, Dionysios of Syracuse took the city (404-403 B.C.) through a ruse, according to Polyainos (5.2.5), destroyed it, and gave its territory to the Sikels, while the citizenry was dispersed (Diod. 14.87). In the second half of the 4th c. B.C., a new city arose over the destroyed one and coined its own money. Recently, some of its tombs have been discovered. A small nucleus of homes must have survived around the bay down to the Roman and Byzantine periods.
In addition to large sections of the perimeter of the walls, excavations have brought to light elements of the urban plan from the archaic and Classical periods. To date, two phases have been recognized: one dating to the 7th-6th c., and the second corresponding to the reconstruction of 460 B.C. There is particular interest in the first phase of the settlement for the study of Greek city planning, since it is part of a colonial foundation which precedes the work of Hippodamos of Miletos. Some quarters have been partially explored including the N sector, a group of dwellings N of the W sacred precinct, and the E sector.
The sacred precinct in the extreme SW corner of the city near the Santa Venera has been uncovered almost entirely. This is perhaps the temenos epithalassion of Aphrodite mentioned by our sources (App. Bell. Civ. 5.109). There is also a trapezoidal enclosure built in two periods (between the end of the 7th c. and the middle of the 6th c. B.C.). It contains the foundations of two buildings: Temple A, the oldest (about 600 B.C.) and Temple B (525 B.C.). There are also a square altar with three steps and two kilns for architectural terracottas and pottery of the same date as Temple A.
The walls which enclose the temenos are imposing and were constructed of lava rock of quite accurate polygonal workmanship, comparable to the walls at Delphi and at Smyrna. They constitute one of the the most interesting examples of such workmanship in the W Mediterranean area. That technique, in fact, is rarely encountered in this area in the archaic period (cf. the examples at Velia and at Lipari).
To the two sacred buildings have been attributed two architectural terracotta friezes of which numerous examples are extant collected in a storeroom near the N wall of the temenos (wall E). The most recent series, belonging to Temple B, is composed of simas and chests with molded and painted decorations. There is a frieze of lotus and palm leaves, evidently based on Ionic models.
The series of Silenos antefixes must have adorned smaller buildings and are of various types, from one very old example with a counterpart in Samian models dating to the second half of the 6th c. to more recent ones from the mid 5th c. B.C. The materials found in the sacred precinct comprise terracotta figurines (usually standing female figures with a dove or flower on the breast), various types of pottery, and numerous spear and sword points. These materials were found deposited in trenches or in thysiai, together with the bones of sacrificed animals, often near stones which were set upright and used as stelai. These thysiai were set out around the altar.
The potters' quarter has been extensively explored. It was situated on the edge of the city, in the N sector in the vicinity of Colle Salluzzo. There is also a complex of three kilns, two circular and one square, which were active in the 6th and 5th c. B.C. Remains of buildings have been brought to light which were used for the working of pottery and as depositories for equipment, among which the molds for Sileni antefixes and for figurines have been discovered. The site of the altar of Apollo Archagetes is not known, but it was nearby that the Greeks united before their expeditions and, according to Thucydides (6.3), it was outside the city.
In the necropolis a group of tombs dating to the 6th-5th c. B.C. have been recovered W of the Santa Venera, ca. 600 m from the river, while 4th c. tombs have come to light in the immediate environs of the river as well as over the slopes of the hill on which the modern cemetery is located.
The renowned coinage of Naxos (6th-5th c. B.C.) shows consistently the head of a bearded Dionysos in profile, crowned with ivy and grape clusters hanging from vine shoots. Later, other subjects were substituted, such as the crouching Silenos raising a kantharos on high.
Naxos produced pottery of distinctive character particularly in the 8th c. and 7th c. B.C. It is distinguished from the other Sicilian shops (those at Syracuse and at Megara Hyblaia) by decorative motifs which nearly always recall the influence of Euboean-Cycladic pottery.
The initial dig in the archaeological zone has already been opened to the public and the site will, as time goes on, extend over a large part of the city. Today, it includes the Sanctuary of Aphrodite, the W stretch of the city walls, and the quarter of the vase makers in the district of Salluzzo. An Antiquarium situated on Punta di Schisò is now being built.
BIBLIOGRAPHYP. Rizzo, Naxos siceliota (1894); H. Cahn, Die Münzen der sizilischen Stadt Naxos (1944); G. V. Gentili, “Naxos alla luce dei primi scavi,” BdA (1956) 326ff; P. Pelagatti in Cronache di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte 4 (1965) 326ff; id., in Kokalos 14-15 (1968-69) 350ff; id., “Relazione preliminare della campagne di scavo 1961-64,” BdA (1964) 326ff; id., “Naxos II, ricerche topografiche e scavi 1965-70,” BdA (1972) 211ff.
P. PELAGATTI- Paus. 6.13.8
- Naxians of Sicily, annexed Hippocrates of Gela: Hdt. 7.154
- Paus. 6.16.5
- off Paros: Paus. 9.22.6
- the Aloads in: Apollod. 1.7.5
- Dionysus ferried to: Apollod. 3.5.2
- Theseus and Ariadne in: Apollod. E.1.9
- Athenian colony in: Paus. 1.27.5
- images in: Paus. 5.10.3
- Naxians fight at Plataea: Paus. 5.23.2
- subdued by Pisistratus: Hdt. 1.64
- its wealth and civil dissensions, and proposed annexation by the Persians: Hdt. 5.28-33
- devastated by Datis: Hdt. 6.96
- desertion of Naxian ships to the Greek fleet: Hdt. 8.46