Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-18
THE WAR PRIMER
BY National Geographic Society

Island of Thasos-The following
| bulletin was issued today by the Ma
tional Geographic Society on the Is
/ land of Thasos, which lies across the
Bay of Kayala, a distance of 13 miles
from the important tobacco port OF
| Kavala against which the Bulgarians
| made their first strong counter-attack
in the Saloniki war sphere after the
Allies had begun their northwestward
/ drive at the Serbo- Greek frontier
1 town of Dorian. At its nearest point
| to the mainland the northern cape OF
! the Island of Thasos is only four miles
south of the Thracian Coast, while its
/ southern shore is 80 miles northeast
| of Mt. Athos, famous for its monastic
communities.
Although those intrepid mariners
and searchers for mineral wealth.
| the Phoeniciaps-had been attracted
| to Thasos at an even earlier date
| by the gold deposits of its Wildwood
| ed mountains, the first. Wnportant
colony on the island was established
| more than $500 years ago by band
| of emigrants from the Island OF
Paros. These, pioneers were led by
the father of the famous Greek lyric
raging iambics," which made poetic
satire possible Archilocus figured
conspicuously, though SPONTANEOUSLY.
in the early history of Thasos- He
had followed his father to the island
not only because of his abject pow
erty, but because of a notorious cpl
sode at Paros. Lycambes, a substan-
tial Parian citizefflAaving withdrawn
his consent to the marriage of his
daughter, Neobule. to the poet, the
latter composed some merciless verses
about the father and the child, in
which he accused his former finance
of shocking imnoralities- Unable to
endure such charges, Lycambes and
his daughter hanged themselves, while
Archilocus set sail for Thasos. where
he took up arms against the Thra-
clans, who We're making war on the
stru ggling colonistS. In his first i'm
portant battle the poet threw away |
his shield and fed ingleriously. Nor
did he have the decency to be mortf- |
fed at his cowardice, but on the |
contrary wrote some verses express
ing his qualification at having sought |
safety in fight. AS for his shield |
another could be easily procured, he /
fippantly remarked. Yet this was |
the poet who in his day was accorded |
a place of honor equal to that of |
Homer and his songs were sung by |
the victors of the Olympic games.
For several hundred years the |
Thasians were immensely prosperous, |
both of the island and of the neigh /
boring coast of Thrace. Their wealth
soon excited the envy of neighboring /
oa and city yhe OF the ia s4
C. they tried to find a foothold on
Thasos, but the attack was success
fully rePulSed., To guard against sim
liar attempts at ccnf1scation of terri
walls around their chief town and
to build a strong navy. These ac-
however, excited the anger
of Darius, who appropriated the navy
torn down.
After the rout of xerxes' vast army
by the Athenians and their allies,
Thasos joined the Delian confedercy.
Athenians and, after a siege Of two
years, the capita1 of the island sur |
rendered, the walls were again de-
stroyed and the navy confiscated. In
was at various times under the juris-
diction of Sparta, Athens and Mace |
donia. The Romans. after the battle
Of Cynoscephale, where the legion
edonian phalanx, gave the island its
freedom.
In 1852 Thasos was captured by the
Turks and later given to Mehenet
ual, the son of an Albanian farmer,
who was born in the adjacent port
Of Kavala, and who, as the vceroy
OF Egypt, kept all Europe poised on |
the brink OF war during large part
Of the first half of the nineteenth
century. 1t remained the property of
the khedive and under the normal
suzerainty of the Turkish empire I'M
war. in November, 1913 when, like
other islands of the Aegean, it was
placed temporarily in the hands of
Greece to await final definite redis-
tribution of territory taken from the
Ottoman domain in Europe
The mines and marble quarries of
Thasos are glories of the past. Tol
The almost circular island, which has
an area of $50 square miles and sus-I
-ains population of from 5000 to
10000, enjoys moderately brisk
commerce, exporting lumber olive oil,
money and wax, and importing manu-
'acturcd goods and cotton. Up to al
hundred years ago the island was so
frequently raided by pirates that SEN
,inels were kept on duty night and
law to warn the Inhabitants OF APP
1roaching niarauders. On account of |
his constant danger the villages,
some 10 or IL in number were built a
short distant inland,