city state · Greece and the Aegean
Karystos
Origins
Karystos lay at the southern end of Euboea, below Mount Ochi. Greek tradition held that its people were Dryopes, later joined by Ionian settlers. It grew in the early Iron Age as a farming and seafaring community, controlling the channel between Euboea and Andros.
Rule and society
The Persians forced Karystos to submit in 490 BCE, and it fought on their side in 480 BCE. Athens then compelled it to join the Delian League c. 472 BCE. In the 4th century BCE it produced the physician Diocles, and later the writer Antigonus. Its green-veined marble, Cipollino, was quarried heavily in Roman times.
Decline and legacy
Karystos passed between Macedonian kings and Athens in the Hellenistic period and came under Roman control by 146 BCE. Its marble quarries remained important under the Empire, and the modern town keeps the ancient name.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Karystos was conquered by Athens472 BCE
- Karystos was part of Delian League472 BCE – 404 BCE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Karystos. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/karystos
- MLA
- “Karystos.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/karystos. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Karystos.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/karystos.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Karystos’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/karystos (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻