city state · Greece and the Aegean
Aenus
Origins
Aenus was founded by Aeolian settlers from Mytilene and Cyme on a hill at the mouth of the Hebrus, the modern Maritsa or Evros, on the Thracian coast. Homer mentions a Thracian named from Aenus, and the city flourished from the 6th century BCE.
Rule and society
Aenus traded salt fish and goods with the Thracian interior along the Hebrus, including the Odrysian Kingdom. It struck fine silver coins with the head of Hermes. Aenus paid tribute in the Delian League and fought on the Athenian side at Syracuse in 413 BCE.
Decline and legacy
In the Hellenistic period Aenus was held in turn by the Ptolemaic Empire and the Antigonid Kingdom of Macedonia. Rome declared it free in 167 BCE, and it came under Roman control by 146 BCE. It is today the Turkish town of Enez.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Aenus was part of Delian League478 BCE – 404 BCE
- Aenus was part of Ptolemaic Empire246 BCE – 200 BCE
More states of Greece and the Aegean →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Aenus. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/aenus
- MLA
- “Aenus.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/aenus. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Aenus.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/aenus.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Aenus’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/aenus (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻