Archaeology of Thessalonica

The port city of Thessalonica (now called Salonica or Thessaloniki) was founded by the Macedonian General Kassander in celebration of the successful campaigns against the Persians (315 BCE). With the triumphs and expansion of their influence, new wealth poured into Macedonia and allowed new settlements to be established. This port was constructed on the Thermaic Gulf and knitted together twenty-six villages (including a village called "Thermae" by Herodotus - C5 BCE in his book Polymnia -the description of Xerxes expedition against Greece) as the main seaport and naval base of Macedonia. The original villages were Doric settlements of the period of Macedonian Kings (C5-4 BCE). The new city was named after his wife (Thessalonike, daughter of Philip II and half sister of Alexander the Great). [Bible Background] [General] [Archaeology]