Mende
MENDE (Μένδη, Hdt. 7.123; Scyl. p. 26; Thuc. 4.123; Steph. B.), or MENDAE (Μένδαι, Paus. 5.10.27; Plin. Nat. 4.10; Μένδα, Polyaen. 2.1.21; Suid. s. v.; Mendis, Liv. 31.45: Eth. Μενδαῖος), a town of Pallene, situated on the SW. side the cape. It was a colony of Eretria in Euboea, which became subject to Athens with the other cities of Pallene and Chalcidice. On the arrival of Brasidas, Mende revolted from the Athenians (Thuc. l. c.), but was afterwards retaken by Nicias and Nicostratus (Thuc. 4.130; Diod. 12.72). It appears, from the account which Livy (l. c.) gives of the expedition of Attalus and the Romans (B.C. 200), to have been a small maritime place under the dominion of Cassandria. Together with Scione, Mende occupied the broadest part of the peninsula (Pomp. Mela, 2.3.11), and is probably represented by some Hellenic remains which have been observed on the shore near Kávo-Posídhi, to the E., as well as on the heights above it, (Leake, North. Greece, vol. 3. p. 156.) The types on its autonomous coins--Silenus riding upon an ass, and a Diotai n a square (Eckhel, vol. 2. p. 72)--refer to the famous Mendaean wine, of which the ancients make honourable mention. (Athen. i. pp. 23, 29, 4. p. 129, 8. p. 364, 11. p. 784; Hippocrat. vol. 2. p. 472, ed. Kühn; Jul. Poll. Onomast. vi. segm. 15.) COIN OF MENDE.
[E.B.J](Μένδη) or Mendae. A town on the west coast of the Macedonian peninsula Pallené and on the Thermaic Gulf, a colony of the Eretrians, and celebrated for its wine (Pausan. x. 5, 27).
A city on the peninsula of Pallene located on the Thermaic Gulf near the modern village of Kalandra. According to Thucydides (4.123.1) it was founded by Eretria probably in the 8th c. It later founded colonies of its own: Neapolis on the E coast of Pallene (ATL I 354) and Eion (Thuc. 4.7). An important trading city, Mende's best known commodity was its wine which was famed (Athen. I 29,d,e) and sent out all over the Mediterranean. It is likely that Mende also dealt in grain and wood.
Mende's wealth is indicated by the high amounts of tribute paid to the Delian Confederacy: 8 talents until 451-450 and then again after 438-437 with fluctuations in between of from 5 to 9 talents. In the Peloponnesian War Mende originally sided with Athens, then on the urging of the oligarchs went over to Brasidas (Thuc. 4.123), but eventually returned to Athens (Thuc. 4. 129ff). It is not mentioned in connection with the Peace of Nikias. From 415-414 Mende again appears in the Athenian Tribute Lists. By 404 the city was minting copper on the Phoenician standard.
Little is known of the city in the 4th c. except that it engaged in a war with Olynthos (Arist., Oec. 2. 1350a. 11ff). The city was not destroyed by Philip II but lost its importance with the founding of Kassandreia nearby in 315. Livy (31.45.14) calls Mende a “maritimus vicus” of Kassandreia.
Mendean amphoras, which carried its famed wine, have been found throughout the Mediterranean. Silver coinage began in Mende in the 6th c. on the Euboic standard and featured various Dionysiac symbols.
Mende's most famous citizen was the renowned 5th c. sculptor Paionios if, as seems likely, the “Mende in Thrace” which Pausanias (5.10.8) gives as that artist's home is in fact the Chalkidean city.
No systematic excavations have been carried out at the site nor are there any substantial remains preserved. The section of fortification wall seen in 1923 by B. D. Meritt is no longer to be found and the blocks have reportedly been carried off for reuse by villagers. The outline of the acropolis is unmistakable, however. There is a sheer drop on the S to the sea, a steep decline on the E, a ravine on the W, and a gentler but discernible slope off to the N. A few architectural blocks and quantities of pottery from archaic to Hellenistic date at the site are the chief indications of ancient habitation.
BIBLIOGRAPHYW. M. Leake, Nor. Gr. (1835) III 155; B. V. Head, Catalogue of Greek Coins, 5, Macedonia (1879) 80-83; A. Struck, Makedonische Fahrten (1970) 53; B. D. Meritt, “Scione, Mende, and Torone,” AJA 27 (1923) 447-60IM; G. P. Oikonomos, Μίνδη-Μένδη ἠ Πατρὶς τοῦ Παιωνίου, ArchEph (1924) 27-40; S. P. Noe, “The Mende (Kaliandra) Hoard,” Numismatic Notes and Monographs 27 (1926); B. Lenk, “Mende,” RE XV (1931) 777-80 (bibliography); P. E. Corbett, “Attic Pottery of the Later Fifth Century,” Hesperia 18 (1949) 336-37; I. B. Brashinsky, “From the History of the Commerce between the North Black Sea Region and Mende in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries,” Numizmatika i Epigrafika 3 (1962) 45ff; M. Zahrnt, Olynth und die Chalkidier (1971) 200-03.
S. G. MILLER- Hdt. 7.123; Paus. 5.10.8, Paus. 5.26.1
- people of M. dedicate statue at Olympia: Paus. 5.27.12