DELOS

DELOS Delos is an island of of the Cyclades group, in the southern Aegean Sea. It was the mythological birth place of the Apollo. By the 7th century BC, the sanctuary of Apollo was already in existence and the island ruled ny Naxos.

In 478 BC, Delos became the head of the "Delian League", a union of Greek states against Persia. This status was lost in 454 BC, when Pericles transferred the headquarters to Athens. In 426 BC, the sanctuary was purified, and it was decreed that no person would be allowed to be born or die there.

After Athen's defeat by Sparta, Delos was proclaimed independent in 403 BC, but only really managed to completely break with Athens in 314 BC. Delos was a major trading centre from 314 to 166 BC. In 166 BC, the Athenians again had control of Delos, this time under Roman suzerainty. In 88 BC, war broke out between the Romans and Mithridates of Pontus. In 69 BC, Delos, with a large Roman population, was sacked and the population murdered, by Athenodoros, ally of Mithridates.