(formerly the Temenos), is thought to have been dedicated by Philip II
c. 340 bc, in recognition of his personal devotion to the cult. An open-air
sanctuary has also been identified at Madul–Panaghia, on the south-
western slopes, and another, dedicated to Kybele, at Kerassouda, on the
southern slopes of the mountainous summit. The movement of Gallic
mercenaries is thought to have caused considerable disruption to the
island’s mainland possessions, with theflight of prominent landowners,
including a formerproxenosand benefactor of Thasos, to that island.^53
When arguably the most powerful ruler of the Hellenistic world in the
late third centurybc, the Seleukid King, Antiochos III, attempted to put
his own stamp on the northern Aegean, through an ambitious campaign
along the coast of western Asia Minor as far as the Hellspont, and on into
the Thracian Chersonese, he was making a rhetorical and political bid to
succeed Lysimachos as King of Thrace, his own predecessor Antiochos
II, and, most recently, Attalus I. Notwithstanding his strategic panache
and serious legal claims, the boundary conditions did not favour Anti-
ochos. He was not familiar with the region; he lacked the sort of local
network connections enjoyed by the Macedonian kings and the Ptol-
emies; and his ambitions happened to clash with those of influential
Roman officers. His passage northwards ended in a compromise agree-
ment at Lysimacheia in the Thracian Chersonese.^54
(^53) Psoma 2008, 121–37 (decree in favour of Polyaratos, son of Histiaios,c. 290 – 280 bc).
(^54) Ma 1999, 19–27; Plb. 4.48.7–10; 18.51.3 (claims of Antiochos III over European
territory had no rival); conference at Lysimacheia: Plb. 18.51; App. Syr. 3; Liv. 34.58.
The lure of the northern Aegean 269