Tenos in 218 B.C.

Tenos — Spring 218 BC · Sanctuary of the Sea-Gods.

A Cycladic island north-west of Delos, famed for its great sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite — a celebrated healing-and-festival shrine that draws the islanders to its games and rites — and for its many springs and abundant water. In 218 BC it is one of the independent island poleis of the Aegean, sacred and fairly prosperous, its seas watched by the fleets of Egypt, Macedon and Rhodes.

While the great Hellenistic powers contest the settled lands, the small island poleis of the Cyclades keep a watchful independence, orbiting sacred Delos under the eyes of the fleets that ply the Aegean. Tenos is among the more fortunate of them: blessed with springs and running water where its neighbours go dry, and home to a renowned sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite whose festival and healing rites bring islanders across the water. The old men say it was once called Hydrussa, "the watered isle", for the abundance of its springs — and the name still fits.