Amorgos in 218 B.C.

Amorgos — Spring 218 BC · The Eastern Edge of the Islands.

A long, narrow island at the eastern rim of the Cyclades, set with three cities — Minoa, Arkesine and Aigiale — each on its own bay, facing the open eastern sea. It was the birthplace of Semonides, master of the bitter iambic verse. In 218 BC it is a modest island of three independent poleis, vines and watchtowers, an eastern outpost of the islands where the Aegean opens toward Asia — its seas watched by the fleets of Egypt, Macedon and Rhodes.

Amorgos lies along the eastern frontier of the Cyclades, a long spine of an island where the cluster of the isles gives way to the open sea toward Asia. Unusually it holds not one city but three — Minoa, Arkesine and Aigiale — each set on its own bay, each with its own walls and watchtowers, sharing the narrow island between them. It was here that Semonides, one of the early masters of the iambic, made his bitter verses. In 218 BC Amorgos is a modest place of vines and herders and small harbours, free among the islands, lying at the eastern margin of the seas over which Egypt, Macedon and Rhodes contend.