DE'LOS (Gk. .10.0c). The smallest of the Cyclades. called in ancient times Asteria, Orty gia. Cynthus. It is situated between the islands Rhenea and Myconus. It is about three and one half miles from north to south, and three-fourths of a mile from east to west. Year the centre rises the rocky mountain Cynthus. about 380 feet high: to the west and north of this hill is almost the only level ground of the island. and here teas situated the sanctuary of Apollo and the ancient town. According to the mytho logical account it was at first a floating isl and. but was fastened to Myconus and (iyarus by Poseidon, that it might afford a refuge from the jealous Hera for Leto. who there brought forth Apollo and Artemis. From very early times Delos was a sacred island. the centre of the Ionian cult of Apollo, and the scene of a great festival, celebrated by the Ionians in the month Thargelion (May or June). and mentioned in the Homeric hymn to Apollo. Even the Persian general Dati,. when on his way to attack Athens, spared this island and made a rich offering to the god. After the Persian wars Delos became the centre and treasury of the new league under the presidency of Athens, and when the league was transformed into the Athenian Empire the temples of Delos to have passed under Athenian eontrol. In lac. 42(1 the island was purified by the Athenians, who removed all the dead bodies to the neighlforing island of Illienca. and ordered that hereafter no birth or death should occur on this sacred spot. In n.e. 422 they even expelled all the inhabitants. hut allowed them to return in the following year. After the fall of Athens, in u.r. 404. Delos seems to have regained it, independence for a short time: but the Athenian: soon recovered the suzerainty. and seem to have retained it until about n.c. 322. when it became a free community. a position which wa, maintained until about B.C. leaf. Dur ing this period the island prospered greatly.
The successors of Alexander vied with one an other in gifts to Apollo, while its central posi tion made Delos a natural centre of commerce. Nor did this prosperity decrease when the Ro mans once more placed Delos under Athenian rule, for at the seine time all imports and ex ports were five(' from taxation. and during the second and first centuries n.e. Delos was the seat of a large ^alony of merchants, Italian. Greek. and Eastern. It was a Centre of the slave Omit-. but had few local industries. except the manu facture of a variety of bronze. Sacked during the Mithridatie wars (c. 87 n.c.). it never fully recovered, and by the middle of the second cen tury A.D. was deserted by all except those con
fleeted with the temple. With the fall of hea thendom, the island was deserted except by those who visited it to collect building material. or to burn its marbles into lime.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the island was plundered for the benefit of Eu ropean collections, but scientific exploration be gan only in 1529 with the French scientific expe dition under the direction of Blouet. In 1573 Lebegue explored the ancient shrine and grotto on Mount Cynthus: and in 1877 Houolle began ex cavation, in the sanctuary of Apollo. Sume then the French School at Athens has conducted nu merous and successful campaigns, which have brought to light not only the sacred precinct with its temples, porticos. and altars, but also the wharves and warehouses, the bazaars of the merehants, the theatre. the gymnasium. and a number of private houses, belonging apparently to the prosperous period of the second century n.c. In sculpture the island has yielded some important archaic statues of the sixth century B.C., such as the "Nike" of Arehermos, the statue dedicated by Nicandra, and some female figures similar to those found on the Acropolis of Athens, and, of later art, a lighting warrior and a fine copy of the "Diadumenos" of Polyelitus (q.v.). as well as many other works, often, un fortunately, in very poor preservation. The chief harvest has been in the in,eriptions, many of which are still unpublished. In addition to the decrees and dedications always common in sanctuaries, these include long lists of the treas ures of the temple and also tin important series of accounts. showing the receipts and expendi tures of the temple, carefully itemized. and throwing a flood of light on the financial admin istration of a Greek shrine. Consult: Lebe!we. leechcrehes snir Delos (Park, IS7fil; von Sehoef ler, De Deli in.-like Rebus (Berlin, 1889) Ho tootle, .1a I iquisximis Difin(r ( Paris, 1885) , and Les archives dr l'inh.polanee lit Iblos ( 1 'a ri s, 1886 ) ; llanctio de cor responilanec hellenique. vol. i., et seq. ( Paris. 1877, et seq.) . Good summaries of the history and antiquities are to be found in Jebb. Joanna of Hellenic i. ( London. 1881) : and Diehl. P.reursion in Greece. English translation by Per (New York. 1893) : eonsult also: Schoeffer, in Pauly-Wissowa. HcnIeneyklopiidic der lags sischcn .11t(rtnnisicissenschof I, vol. iv. (Stutt gart, 19011. A Carle topographigur de l'ilc do Helos, and a detailed account of the island are in preparation by Ilomolle.