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Carystus ( near modern Karystos) was a polis
(city-state) on ancient Euboea. It was situated on the south coast of the
island, at the foot of Mount Oche. It is mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of
Ships in the Iliad, as controlled by the Abantes. The name also appears in the
Linear B tablets as "ka-ru-to" (identified as Carystus). Thucydides
writes that the town was founded by Dryopes. Its name was derived from
Carystus, the son of Cheiron.
Persian War:
A Persian force landed at Carystus in 490 and quickly subdued its inhabitants.
Soon after the Battle of Salamis the Athenian fleet led by Themistocles
extorted money from the city. Soon afterward Carystus refused to join the
Delian League. The Athenians wanted Carystus to join the Delian League, but
seeming as though it had been under Persian control, they refused. Athens would
not accept a refusal, so they attacked and plundered Carystus. This forced
Carystus to side with the Delian league. Athens employed this tactic
frequently, as it was said to be better for the league. This way, a Greek
city-state could not side with Persia and offer their city as a base, and also
could not get the advantages of a Persian-free Greece without paying their
share. The creation of the Delian league leads to the imperial nature of Athens
that fueled the Peloponnesian War. Imperial nature tends to take on a modern
association, however with the creation of the league essentially people of
uneducated agricultural background were given the right to vote in the
assembly. This version of Athenian democracy took on a role that allowed for a
tyrannical nature of a seemingly egalitarian ideal. The league demanded
submission to create a unified Greece, the only problem is that instead of
creating a standing army or improved military strength to prevent further
invasion, the Athenians under the direction of Pericles started the Periclean
building projects that squandered funds and glorified Athens and Greece in
their defeat of Persia. This misapplication of tribute from Attican city-states
created the rejection of this idea by Sparta, and subsequently the
Peloponnesian War, not securing Greece from an outside Persian attack, but
opening it for an internal rejection of the league.
Further history:
The Carystians fought on the side of the Athenians in the Lamian War. They
espoused the side of the Romans in the war against Philip V of Macedon.
Carystus was chiefly celebrated for its marble, which was in much request at
Rome. Strabo places the quarries at Marmarium, a place upon the coast near
Carystus, opposite Halae Araphenides in Attica; but the marks of the quarries
have been found upon Mt. Oche, where seven entire columns, apparently on the
spot where they had been quarried were observed, and at the distance of three
miles from the sea.
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